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Scripting Screenplays: An Idea for Integrating Writing, Reading, Thinking, and Media

Literacy
Author(s): Lawrence Baines and Micah Dial
Source: The English Journal, Vol. 84, No. 2 (Feb., 1995), pp. 86-91
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/821058 .
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An Idea
Scripting Screen lays:
for ntegratin tin Reading,
an
Thwncinking,
Lawrence
MediaMit
BainesandMicahDial

verystepfromsavagery to civilization sponse to the electronicmedia'susurpation


is dependent upontheinventionof me- of student attention,many state and federal
diawhichenlargethe rangeof purely officalshaveurgentlydeliverededictsto par-
immediateexperience andgiveit deep- ents that they "turnoff theirtelevisions"and
,enedas wellas widermeaningby con- insteadencouragetheirchildrento read.De-
nectingit withthingswhichcanonlybe spite such advice,the networks,Hollywood,
signifiedorsymbolized." and cable television companies have man-
-John Dewey(1966,232) aged to eke out enoughprofitto stayin busi-
If you try:toibegin a conversation ness:Undeniably,most studentsspend more
with a student about a recentlyre- time with nonprintmedia thanwith books.
leased young adult novel or a liter-
TEN REASONSTO USE
ary classic, chances are that she or he will SCREENWRITINGIN ENGLISHCLASS
have preciouslittle to say.If you try to begin
Screenwritingis one effectiveway to use
a conversationwith a student about a re- students'familiaritywith the electronicme-
cently releasedfilm (say,the cinematicver- dia to fosterreading,writing,and media lit-
sion of MichaelCrichton's JurassicPark)or a eracy Screenwritingin Englishclass has the
television show (BeverlyHills90210, for ex-
followingpositiveattributes:
ample), chances are you will become en- 1. Screenwriting motivatesstudentsto
Ourstudents gagedin a lively discussion. write.Becausemoststudentshavespent
Forbetteror worse,studentsarebecom-
knowthe moretimein frontof theirtelevisionsets
increasinglyattuned to the moving im- andin movietheatersthanathomeread-
movies,and ing and less patient with mere words on a ingliteraryclassics,theyareinterested in
we canuse agepage. More than sixty years ago, Samuel "writinga movie."
their Rosenkranzwrote that teachers "refuseto 2. Screenwriting involvesa full-blown
familiarityin recognize the fact that they [students]are writingprocessandmore.Students
brainstorm, research, writecharacter
biog-
to the picture shows, and that we
screenwriting going raphies,visually constructscenes,critique
activities. must adapt our literatureand composition
coursesin such a mannerthat adequaterec-
thewritingof peers,andmustbe ableto
writedialogueaswellas de-
effectively
ognition is given to the fact that there are scription.
some genuineneeds to be met"(Rosenkranz 3. Screenwriting requiresbothindividual
1931, 824). andgroupwork.Whilemuchof thein-
Today,VCRs exist in over seventy-five itialwritingin theunitrequiresthatstu-
percent of Americanhomes, television sets dentsworkindividually, whenit comes
timeto shootthevideo,studentsmustne-
stay turned on for over seven hours a day,
cable television operatorsofferhundreds of gotiatetheirindividualroleswithintheir
groups,discuss,andselectthescreenplay
viewing alternatives, and students spend to be shot,anddecideon howto go
hours playing video games, so getting stu- aboutshootingit.
dents to spend time reading or writing is 4. Screenwriting forces students to think
more challenging than ever. For further in terms of camera angles, music,
proof of the appeal of the moving image, words, and images. Screenwritingsurrep-
compare the number of teenagers in the titiouslyteachesstudentshow the compo-
nents of the electronicmediawork to
crowds in the video store waiting to check
communicatetheirmessages.Presto!Me-
out the new releases with the number of
dia literacy
teenagersloiteringaroundthe "newreleases"
5. Screenwriting invokes all of the seven
section of books at the local library.In re-
intelligences hypothesized by Howard

86 1995
February

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Gardnerin Frames of Mind (1983). Stu- 9. Screenwriting is writing with portfolio
dents write dialogueand description(lin- possibilities. Some literarygiantsdid not
guistic);arecompelledto create,visualize, transfertheirbrillianceto the screenbe-
write, and negotiatemeaningas individu- cause they could not adjusttheirwriting
als (intrapersonal)and with other stu- stylesforfilm.Writingwellforthescreen
dents (interpersonal);calculatetime is challenging,
intensework,andit is cer-
intervalsand match time expectations tainlydifferent
thanwritingpureprose.
againstthe scriptwritingparadigm(mathe- Whileprovidingstudentswithanother
matical);furnishmusic and sound effects avenueof expression withwhichto ex-
to accompanythe action (musical);map a
periment, screenplay anda videowould
out scenes using existinglocationsor alsoaddcontemporary touchesto anystu-
buildingsuitablesets (spatialand kines- dentportfolio.
thetic);and put everythingtogetherin a 10. Screenwriting is fun. Studentsoften
filmedor livepresentation
(a synthesisof
diversetalents). groanwhentheyreceivewritingassign-
mentafterwritingassignment, but
6. Screenwriting involves hands-on, active complaints usuallyrecede(atleastmo-
learning for students in a real-life situ- mentarily) duringa screenwriting unit.
ation. Studentsfind it virtuallyimpossi- Studentsseemto enjoya feelingof accom-
ble to hide or slough off duringthis plishmentwhentheyseeworkstheyhave
activity createdin printandon film.
7. Screenwriting has been the most lucra- SOURCESAND ACTIVITIES
tive writingprofessionin the twentieth
I adapted materialsfor the screenplay
century.Whilemanywritersstruggleat
makinga livingchurningoutnovelsand unit from four major sources-two of Syd
poetry,screenwriters arerelatively well- Field's books, The Screenwriter's Workbook
paidandhealthyWilliamFaulkner, James (1984) and Screenplay:The Foundationsof
T.Farrell,AldousHuxley,E ScottFitzger- (1981); John Gardner'sTheArt
Screenwriting
ald,TheodoreDreiser,RingLardner, John
Steinbeck,RaymondChandler, Richard of Fiction(1984); and the last hundredpages
of William Goldman's Adventuresin the
Wright,Nathaniel West,GoreVidal,Beth
Henley,ArthurMiller,EdwardAlbee, Screen Trade(1984) in which Goldman
HaroldPinter,Tennessee Williams,Billy transposesone of his shorter short stories
Wilder,EliaKazan,NeilSimon,David into an actual screenplay I have used the
Cronenburg, StephenKing,WilliamGold- screenwritingunit concurrentlywith other
man,JamesMichener, andothershave
writtenscreenplays at one timeor another classroomactivitiesor as a unit in itself.
in theircareers.Writers inHollywood, Listedbelow are a chronologyof activi-
1915-1951(Hamilton1990)recounts ties and writing assignmentsthat can help
how a bevyof American literarystalwarts studentsto completetheirown screenplays.
wereluredto Hollywoodby thepromise
of big dollars.In 1939,E ScottFitzgerald Activity One: Brainstorming for Ideas
wasmaking$1,500a weekwritingin Hol- Required writing:
lywood,whilehis bookroyaltiesduring Favoritefilmslist
1939broughtin a grandtotalof $33.00.
Elementsof film identification
8. Screenwritingmaylead to scripts Idea for a scriptin one sentence
whichmaybe filmedby studentsor of-
fered to the drama department for the To begin, students do three short, shot-
production of an original play or video. gun writing assignments.
If the screenplaysget filmed, the videos First, they list their all-time favorite
could be shown at open house, after films (at least ten). Next, they identify com-
ChannelOne viewing (if the school sub-
mon elements on their favorite films list. Do
scribes),or during"dead"times during
the school year (such as on exam days or they enjoy suspense, action, westerns, detec-
the last day of the gradingperiod). Other tive stories, romance, adventure, or docu-
inter-disciplinaryconnectionsare cer- mentaries?
tainlypossible-math and industrialarts The third assignment, composed after
classes could help design and build sets,
the first two assignments have been com-
art classescould paint and shape them,
science classescould help develop special pleted, is a description of two or three films
effects,historyclassescould help supply that they would like to see made. One stu-
pertinentbackgroundinformationabout dent, Jayne, wrote, "I'dlike to see a film of a
certainperiodsof time. romance between a black man and a black
woman, without any explicit sex or psycho

EnglishJournal 87

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killers in it. Real love." From these three whenshegoesoutwitha wildfriend
(Shantell),Dianesneaksintoa night-
pieces-the favoritefilms list, the descrip- club.In thenightclub,shespotsTy-
tion of the elementsthatthey enjoyseeingin roneat a tablewitha woman.
films, and the idea generation for their AlthoughDianecomesup andsays
scripts-students jot down a generalidea for "hello,"
Tyrone actslikehe doesn'trec-
a film in one sentence on a sheet of paper. ognizeher.
This one-sentencesummaryshould answer
the question,"Whatis the film about?" Activity Three: CharacterBiographies
Required writing:
Activity Two: Structuring the Idea Listof all main characterswith briefde-
Required writing: scriptionsabout each
Break-downof the script idea into set- In-depth description of at least one
ting, conflict, and resolution with 3-4 main character
sentencesabout each section. Studentslist adjectivesor write a para-
Whereasnovelists have the freedom to graphdescribingthe physicaland emotional
"letthe story take over,"screenwritersmust dimensions of all majorcharacters.For ex-
abide by a set patternof development.Ac- ample,Juan describedone of his characters
cordingto Field,"Ascreenplayfollowsa cer- this way:
tain, lean, tight, narrativeline of action, a Garthis likeClintEastwoodprobably
line of development ... [which] always wasat 16, doesn'tsaymuch,isn'tthat
moves forward,with direction toward the good-looking, butstillhasallthese
resolution"(1984, 12). Basically,the screen- highschoolgirls,andevensomecol-
legegirlscrazyforhisbod.Theguys
play contains three parts:the establishment don'treallylikehimbecausethey
of the setting, the introductionof the con- knowthatif theypickon him,he'sgo-
the resolution.
Becausemost flict,Atand
the beginningof the movie, Raidersof
ing to hitback.Andhe'sgoingto hit
backhard.
studentshave the LostArk, for example, directorStephen
Next, studentszero in on one (or more)
spentmore Spielberg establishesthe settingby showing main character(s)who will be the focus of
timein ront the discoverysomewherein the MiddleEast the screenplay and write in more detail
oJ their of an ancient artifact thought to possess about them. These biographies might in-
sets
television mystical powers. The conflict comes when clude a physicaldescription(height,weight,
andin movie the lead character,IndianaJones, discovers usual type of dress),informationconcerning
that the Nazis, who are seeking the same
theatersthan artifact, try to keep him and his companions
the way the character sits, walks, and
athome speaks; the place in which he/she lives,
from their search. The resolution involves friends,job, hobbies, mannerisms,political
reading
Jones' escape from the Nazis and the Nazis' beliefs, habits, and other pertinent details.
literary
eventualcomeuppance. The phrase that many writing teachersre-
classics,
they Usually,about half of a screenplayis de- peat often, "Show,don'ttell,"is equallycriti-
areinterested voted to the main action, or the conflictof a cal in getting students to createbelievable,
with approximatelya fourth used to
a story,
in "writing the setting and another fourth to
interestingcharactersfor film.
movie." establish
provide resolution.Studentswrite several
a
For his in-depth characterbiography,
Will wrote:
sentences (most students do it in three or
four sentences) for each section in order to Joeyis an officeworker.Hewearsa tie
andsportscoat to workeventhough
flesh out theirideas for the threepartsof the he hatesties.He'sneatandtidy
story. aroundothers,butwhenhe works
For example,Kelidescribedthe conflict alone,his personalappearanceleaves
in her storythis way: much to be desired .... Some days,
he'sthemostintelligentmanon the
Diane can'tstandher mother'snew planet.He canworkanymathematical
boyfriend,Tyrone.Somethingabout equation,solve any problemwith the
him gives Diane the creeps.The mom system,and completetaskswith inhu-
acts totallydifferent,kind of like one manspeedandefficiencyThenthere
of Diane'smore immaturefriends, arethosedayswhenhe'stotally
when Tyroneis around.Tyronenever snapless.Likethe time he left the
talksabouthis work, says he is "an printeron and went for a coffeebreak,
independentbusinessman."One night

88 February1995

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onlytocomebackto2,463copiesof wherea coachtellshimabouta possiblevisit
"YourPrinter
andYou." by a recruiterfroma big-namecollege.The
fourthscenetookplaceat home,wherethe
ActivityFour:DescribingPlot
and Settingby Scene senior strugglesto understandhis school
Requiredwriting: notes, then constructsa cheat sheet on a
writtenout on 3"x 5"
Scenes/locations scrapof paper.In this manner,Mattvisual-
indexcards. izedthebasiclocalesforhis story.
Oncestudentshavesketchedouta basic ActivityFive:Backtrackthe Main
storylineand know the maincharacters in CharacterTwenty-fourHoursBeforethe
theirstories,theyarereadyto begindescrib- StoryTakesPlace
ing the settingandthe plot. I showa video Requiredwriting:
Shortpieceof fictionthatputsthe main
montageof the firstminute(afterthe cred- character intoactionfora day
its) fromtheopeningof thefilmsTheChoco-
lateWar,SounderToKilla Mockingbird, The When I firststartedaskingstudentsto
Outsiders, I
Shipof Fools, am theCheese,The write scripts,I discoveredthat manystu-
ColorPurple,Hamlet,and TheRockingHorse dentsattemptedto begintheirstoriesfrom
WinnerAfterseeingthe video,studentsdis- theverybeginningratherthanin mediasres.
cussthewordsandtheimagesevidentin the Backtracking themaincharacter fortwenty-
firstminuteof eachfilmthathelpedestab- fourhoursbeforethestorytakesplacefamil-
lish its setting.Studentswritea shortsum- iarizes the student with the thought
mary of their openingscene on an index processesof themaincharacter(s) at themo-
card. ment that the screenplayopens.Somestu-
To help show how authors change dentsenjoywritingthe backtrackso much
scenes to keep the actionlively,I ask the thattheywantto begintheirscreenplays a
classto analyzehow Shakespeare shiftedlo- day earlier.That is fine, but students still
cationsin the first few pages of Macbeth. shouldbe encouragedto writeanother24-
Specifically,the firstscene of Macbethin- hour backtrackfrom whence the story
volves threewitchesrecitinga riddlein a opens.
desertedheath;the secondis at KingDun-
can'scampoutsideof Forres.Forthe third, Activity Six: Getting Students Familiar
with the Format of the Screenplay
it'sback to the heathand the witches;the
Required writing:
fourthtakesplacein a roominsideDuncan's A briefscreenadaptationof a shortstory
castlein Forres,andthe fifthis at Inverness, done in groups.
Macbeth's castle.
Studentsget out all of their previous Thereis nothing arduousabout the for-
mat forscreenplays.The nameof the charac-
writings(character sketches,plot summary,
ter who is speakingis written in all-capital
description of the settingon an indexcard)
and spreadthemout so theycan see all of letters in the middle of a page (about four
themat once. Thenthey decidea possible inches from the left edge of the paper)over
seriesof eventsthatmighthappento their the dialogue,which is single-spacedand in-
main character(s).On 3" x 5" index cards, dented about 10 spaces from the left margin.
studentswriteno more than one or two sen- Descriptions of how characters deliver lines
tences about the locations that the main may be written in parenthesis with the dia-
charactermight visit. logue. Directions about where and when the
Matt, for example, wanted to write a action takes place are written in all capital
storyabouta footballplayer,a seniorin high letters flush against the left margin. Two
school, who gets caughtcheatingon his final lines should be skipped in between lines of
exam in English, thus endangering his dialogue and stage directions.
chancesat graduationand an athleticschol- To get students familiar with the format
arship. The first scene showed the senior of a screenplay, I assign a group project
cruising the hallways, talking with his where they transpose short stories with
friendsbetween classes.In the second scene, much dialogue or action (such as Heming-
the senior was at the footballpracticefield way's "The Indian Camp" or a scene from
wherethe teamworkedout afterschool. The Ernest Gaines' "The Sky is Gray") into
third scene moved to the coach's office, screenplays. I keep copies of screenplays

EnglishJournal 89

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fromseveralpopularfilms in class as exam-to videotape in the classroomor on school
ples. grounds. Most groups want to film after
school, so I use the video camerasfurnished
Activity Seven: Writing the Screenplay
by parentsof groupmembersor checkvideo
Requiredwriting: camerasout with the libraryafterschool.
Initialdraftof a screenplay.
Afterall videos have been shot and the
Field (1984) suggests that the main videotapes and scripts turned in, students
character,the dramaticpremise,and the cir- respondindividuallyon a groupassessment
cumstancessurroundingthe actionbe intro- form concerning each member'scontribu-
duced within the firstfew pagesof the script. tion (includingtheir own) to the group. In-
In other words, all the work assignedin the evitably,it will take some groups longer to
previous activities-the character sketch, produce a finished video than others. I al-
the screenplayparadigm(in which students ways give non-negotiable deadlines first,
Duringthe decided on conflict,setting,and resolution), then negotiateonce I see studentsfeverishly
screenwriting the 24-hour backtrack,the ten to twenty workingto finishtheirprojects.
the Few activitiesmatch the excitement of
unit,students of a short samplescreenplay
notecards,
have an
adaptation
on
wantto write the construction
story-should impact the premiere of a student-produced, stu-
of the first few pages. In dent-scripted, student-acted video. How-
andfilm the most films, the opening ten minutes or so ever, to keep the level of excitement in
bestvideo involves following the main character scripts and videos high, premieresare usu-
evermade. aroundso that the audiencecan get a "feel" ally limited to two to four (depending on
for the story. length) per week.
Studentsuse their index cardsas a base
THE POWEROF SCREENWRITING
structurearoundwhich to build the action
Becausemanyproductsof the electronic
of the story and often revise their cards
media aspireto be nothingmorethanprofit-
through the first day of filming. Length of able pap and succeed beautifullyat it, edu-
screenplaysvarywith each student'slevel of cators have often viewed television, video,
interest,attentionspan, and patience. Gen-
and film with a certaindegree of contempt.
erally,one page of a script is equivalentto
one minute of screen time, so a script of True,the languageof film and televisionis
not as sophisticated as that of literature
twenty-fivepages would last approximately
(Baines 1993). But, Ong (1967, 1982) has
twenty-fiveminutes.
pointed out that film and televisionstill rely
Activity Eight: Peer Editing, Shooting primarilyon words to communicate their
the Video, Showing Off the Results.
messages.Televisionshows and movies are
Required writing: derivedfromwrittenscriptswhich are con-
A workingscript structed and revisedwell before any actual
Editingremarks productionbegins.
Groupassessment Screenwritingis difficult, challenging
During peer editing, students get into work involvingwriting,rewriting,and more
groupsof four to six and sharetheirscreen- rewriting.It is a way to get previouslylacka-
plays. Every student reads the scripts of all daisical students to produce stacks of writ-
members of the group with the intent of de- ten work about characters, plot, setting,
ciding which screenplay would likely make dialogue, conflict, and description. In addi-
the best film. Each student responds to all tion, students are compelled to think criti-
screenplays, noting out good points, scenes cally about writing, images, and sounds;
that they did not like or understand, and they experience first-hand how nonprint
parts of the story that might be difficult to media can be manipulated for specific pur-
capture on film. The group votes on which poses; they collaborate actively with their
screenplay to shoot and who will act as the peers and use a variety of skills and intelli-
stars, the cinematographer, the set designer, gences. Perhaps most importantly, during
and the director. the screenwriting unit, students want to
Two class periods during the unit are write and film the best video ever made. And
"on the set" days when I check out video when students want to do well, teaching is a
cameras from the library and allow students blast.

90 February1995

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WorksCited ScreenplayResources
Baines,Lawrence.1993. Aspectsof Language in Eastman, Charles.1969.LittleFaussandBigHal-
Literatureand Film.Unpublisheddisserta- sey.New York: Straus,andGiroux.
Farrar,
tion,AnnArbor,MI:University of Michigan. Faragoh,Francis.1981. LittleCaesarMadison,
Dewey,John. 1966. [c. 1916] Democracy and WI:University of WisconsinPress.
Education. NewYork:FreePress. E Scott.1978. [c. 1938] ThreeCom-
Fitzgerald,
Field,Syd. 1981. Screenplay: TheFoundations of rades. Carbondale,IL: SouthernIllinois
Screenwriting.New York:Dell. Press.
Workbook.
1984. TheScreenwriter's New Goodrich,Francis,AlbertHackett,FrankCapra,
York:Dell. andJoSwerling.1986.It'sa Wonderful A
Life:
Gardner, John. 1984. TheArt of Fiction.New New
Screenplay. York:St. Martin's.
York:AlfredKnopf. Sayre,Joel, and WilliamFaulkner.1981. [c.
Gardner,Howard.1983. Framesof Mind.New 1936] TheRoadto Glory.Carbondale, IL:
York:BasicBooks. SouthernIllinoisUniversityPress.
Goldman, William.1984.Adventures intheScreen Stone,Oliver,and RichardBoyle.1987. Oliver
Trade. NewYork:Dell. PlatoonandSalvador.
Stone's NewYork:Vin-
Hamilton,Ian.1990.Writers in Hollywood 1915- tageBooks.
1941. NewYork:HarperandRow. Lawrence Bainesteaches
at FloridaStateUniversity
Ong,Walter.1967.ThePresence oftheWord. New in Tallahassee.
MicahDialis a research
associate
for
Haven:YaleUniversity Press. educationand trainingprograms with EDASin
-. 1982. OralityandLiteracy.
New Haven: Houston.
YaleUniversity Press.
Rosenkranz, Samuel.1931. "English at the Cin-
ema."EnglishJournal 20:10(Dec.):824.

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