Mastery of Drama and Comedy
Topic · 1 minute
Little Miss Sunshine (Drama)
Our first scene for you to transcribe is super short, and the story follows immediately after the scene you copied earlier from this film. In this way, you already know the setting and the character names. Feel free to go back and cheat!
This scene is deliberately easy, so you can familiarise yourself with the process of Reverse Screenwriting. This is the exact same work the professional screenwriter does: you start from an image (imaginary or on the screen), and you write it down.
Now, open a new document in Final Draft titled Mastery 1, and start writing the script for the short video below.
Have fun!
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Comedy)
As you’re preparing to transcribe a video, you’ll need to know a few things up front. What is the setting? You’ll need this for the slugline or scene heading. You also need to know the names of the characters. FYI: in the script, Ferris’ parents are named Tom and Joyce.
When you write your own scripts, these are the easy things.
Tougher decisions deal with what to describe and what to leave out. Or how to express characters’ emotional state.
In the opening scenes of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, it is clear what the characters think and feel. But how will you articulate this on the page?
This is exactly what the job of the screenwriter is all about. And if this stuff seems somewhat daunting right now, in 10 days it will be child’s play.
If you are interested in checking the original screenplay after completing your Mastery tasks, you can do so.
When you’re done with the work, mark the module complete (or click “next module”) and progress to the next day.
There, just click the “Materials” tab for the links to the relevant scripts.
Here is a video showing you how to find it:
https://share.getcloudapp.com/L1uXpdRN
In the example (Little Miss Sunshine), it leads you to the excerpt in question, but in most cases you will find the full screenplay.
Please be aware that the finished film will not always follow the screenplay exactly.