Alternative Scriptwriting, 5th Edition

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The Subtleties and Implications of Screenplay Form

It is sometimes said that a screenplay has the same relationship to a finished film that a blueprint does to a completed building. Although this relationship may be true for the final shooting script, most screenplays lack a clear one-to-one correspondence to the finished film. Instead of being a precise list of specifications, screenplays have a language that suggests, but does not lay out, the actual shot structure of the film. A good screenplay must first succeed in evoking a strong emotional response from the reader.

Shots and Scenes

To understand the distinction between a screenplay and a shooting script, we need to review a basic distinction in fllmmaking—the difference between shots ...