I began my search for material to research with a simple google search. Since my film's genre is going to be Melodrama (a sub-genre of drama) I decided to look at the scripts of films that are considered to be the "greatest drama films of all time."
I came across the script for Citizen Kane by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles. I have always been a fan of the work of Orson Welles, particularly his "War of the World's" radio broadcast, and so I feel that this script would be most useful to me as it would not only only me to better my work, but also take inspiration in my writing from someone I really admire.
The version of the script I read can be found here: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/citizenkane.html
As you can see, Welles spends a lot of time on his time writing descriptions in his script. Although this adds a lot of description to the overall story and really sets the scene for what the image onscreen will look like, it also gives the director a lot of information to read on the day of the shoot. This could potentially be quite time-consuming on a shoot-day and as a result I feel like something I could learn from Welles script is for me to limit my description a little.
This gives the director more room to experiment and try their own thing, which is a concern Charlie has expressed to me multiple times.
I also noticed that the Citizen Kane script also contains multiple technical instructions regarding the framing and movement of the camera. This is something I have also included in my own script, such as here;
It is for this reason that I will continue writing in the same kind of style I have become accustomed to, but I will still consider Charlie's freedom as a director, and try and write in a way that allows him to really have his own interpretation of my writing.
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Something else I have learned from this investigation, is that Screenwriters have a "different language" to directors, which is reflected in the scripts we write. I wanted to script a POV shot of someone trying to break into the Reed family home, and was unsure how to script this in a way that wouldn't be so heavy on the description of certain shots, or the way the camera moves, as it isn't my job to decide this.
I came across this website; http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/2009/11/question-how-to-handle-pov-shots.html where users discuss the ways in which they handle POV shots in their films, and they use examples from famous film scripts such as The Silence of the Lambs.
I found this to be especially useful, as I realise it is not my job to decide the particular type of camera shots that will be used in the film, but I still want to convey that the best course of action would be to use a POV shot.
The scene itself involved someone attempting to break into the Reed family home, and in my head, for this scene I wanted to show a sense of voyeurism as the person breaking in snoops around the exterior of the house, and I feel that the best way for this to be showcased is through the use of a POV shot. This is of course Charlie's decision though, but on the day I will discuss this with him.
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