Forgery with Fennell and Wright
Topic · 1 minute
Promising Young Woman (Drama)
Like Cody did with JUNO, so Emerald Fennell captured the zeitgeist with PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN.
The script takes some liberties, but it is a good example of an auteur film that has all the drama and cinematic spectacle on the page.
This is the scene: Cassandra fights back against the macho world in a 100-second action that seems deceptively simple on the page.
Can you see how Fennell adds a dimension of energy and emotion? The one thing to look out for in this scrippet, is how she does this.
If you have time to dig around a little, you may be able to find an earlier draft of this screenplay.
When you compare the two versions of the scene you copied, you’ll notice a massive improvement.
Shaun Of The Dead (Horror/Comedy)
In this course, you’ll come across a variety of script challenges, and mostly we’ll show you what we believe is an effective way of handling it.
Sometimes we’ll show you ways that are not immediately intuitive, or logical.
Often, they are part of the voice of the screenwriter. And if that screenwriter is Ed Wright, you’re not going to be able to see past it.
But this doesn’t mean you should copy the solution for your own work. Only if it fits with your voice – and it is an elegant, eminently readable solution.
If in doubt, always check Dave Trottier’s SCREENWRITER’S BIBLE.
In the following scrippet from Shaun Of The Dead, we’ll see a way of writing a montage.
Edgar Wright uses the dual dialogue feature in Final Draft, and the scrippet below is a good way for you to figure out how that works.
The advantage of his method is that it is very precise about the synchronisation of the images to the dialogue.
John August shares a few more readable techniques here.
If you have seen Shaun Of The Dead, you will certainly know the scene. It happens at an important place in the story, and on a structural level, it’s really Screenwriting 101: set up your story goal clearly!