by
ONDI TIMONER
Guide to Making Movies 2013 pg
Chapter
One
13
screenWriting One cliché about screenwriting is that the hardest part about writing is sitting down every day to do it. But I find, actually, that the hardest thing to do by far is get up and re-enter the outside world when I’ve been on a roll for six hours. To make my reallife appointments, to reengage in everyday conversation, to press pause on the structural redesign and character development that obsesses me when I’m really working well: that’s the hard part. Editing a documentary is very similar—at least from my experience. I can recall way too many nights where I was racing to move scenes or lines of dialogue from one part of the timeline to another, making notes on what needed to be said when, trying to finish surfing the wave of creativity I was on before the sun came up. In fact, I find it almost impossible not to work through the night when I’m making a compelling, dramatic documentary because, unlike writing a pre-scripted, acted film, when you’re “writing” a doc you have video and audio streaming out of the screens in front of you, impelling you forward. With a doc, I would say 10 percent of the writing takes place during preproduction, 20 percent takes place in the field during production (the percentage is even higher for experienced director/editors, capable of conceiving
the edit and connective tissue as they shoot), and 70 percent happens during post-production. The 70 percent of the writing of a documentary that takes place in the editing room is a very different experience than the scriptwriting of an actor-driven film. Doc writing is alive and noisy and in your face. You compare lines of dialogue— maybe you have a similar thought spoken five different times by the same person, at different times, or by five different people—and you need to choose which line works best in your film. You line these up, and when inevitably the film is too long, or people say “um” too much, you prune. You cut and hone to
For pre-scripted, acted films (I keep making this distinction because I believe great documentaries can be just as narrative and dramatic as “narrative features”), I start by laying out the scenes in the order I imagine the story should be told, and then I start writing. Inevitably, more scenes get added while some get taken away, but if I keep the three act breaks in mind— along with what I hope to accomplish by the end of each one—I find that the structure presents itself. You just need to ride that horse without telling it too often where to go. My approach is pretty simple: Have people talk as realistically and
“Your script can always get better from draft to draft, as long as there is some time in between.” make sure the story hits emotionally, and that the arguments get made and the conflicts build logically—but not obviously. You then arrange the various elements of the narrative, connecting them with voiceover (if that’s what the piece is asking for), or by writing through your subjects’ words to bring to life your story without additional narration.
efficiently as possible. I believe that making documentaries and studying the way people express themselves has helped me immensely in writing authentic characters. And I always try to keep in mind that the script is never really done; it can almost always get better if I give myself time between revisions. Distance provides incredible perspective. MOVIEMAKER.COM