Step 1: Forgery with Towne, Apatow and Carell
Topic · 1 minute
Chinatown (Drama)
From the opening pages of CHINATOWN, it is apparent what sort of detective Jake Gittes is. He deals with small-time clients, and adultery cases are his mainstay. But as you know, This course is more about style than story…
CHINATOWN has always been a favourite among film analysts, including screen story guru Robert McKee. Rarely, however, have I seen a closer look at the actual text and descriptive style by Robert Towne.
When I first looked at the screenplay, I found a technique that improves on many screenwriters’ standard approach to scene description. And this is exactly what I would like you to examine.
More specifically for today’s exercise, I want you to focus on how Robert Towne organises the description of Gittes’ office.
The 40-Year Old Virgin (Comedy)
Sometimes it only takes a random page from a script to recognise the talent. Here, page 15 of THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN is so concise and to the point, it gives us the essence about the hero, and the objective of the film.
Contrary to THE BIG SICK, it is funny throughout.
Also unlike THE BIG SICK, we don’t have a MONTAGE, but a SERIES OF SHOTS. Can you see the difference?
And uh … what’s with the scene numbers?