Reading comedy movie scripts like this will also teach how to keep a consistent tone throughout. And funny.įrom there on in, the script is a riot of teenage angst and sexual yearning, with a nice side-helping of surrealism thrown in for good measure.
Look at how he introduces a protagonist in Nick Twisp who’s readily identifiable from his dialogue and actions. Note the level of comedy in the script.įrom the opening page, Nash has us laughing. Nash’s script is a perfect of example of how to do just that. If you write comedy movie scripts, you’ve probably already been told to include more jokes and, generally, pack in as much humor in every line as possible. He said modestly at the time, “Here was a chance to take credit for writing something that was much better than what I’d come up with on my own.”īut his take on Youth In Revolt is a blast and the movie is every bit as good as the book. Payne’s novel, Youth In Revolt, Nash decided to adapt it into a screenplay.
He broke onto the scene after writing nine spec screenplays with a comedy he wrote in four weeks called Charlie Bartlett. Gustin Nash’s writing in this screenplay is funny as hell. We could’ve picked any number of comedy script classics for this section- Groundhog Day, Annie Hall, Some Like It Hot, etc.-but we thought we’d go with a little underrated comedy gem by the name of Youth In Revolt. One of the best comedy scripts you should read: Youth In Revolt. And so why give a potentially grumpy script reader at a company even the slightest reason to reject your spec? This means not underlining sluglines in your spec script, as Ball does here. Overall, it’s best to keep things simple.
#THE SCRIPT TO THE MOVIE ALPHA PDF PRO#
However, there are differences between spec scripts’ style and a pro scripts’ style. Like we always say, there are no “rules” when it comes to movie script format. But the first thing you may notice when you start reading is that he likes to underline his sluglines. There are no major formatting quirks in Ball’s writing.
Check out Lester’s “cute meet” with Angela.īall has a terrific visual style which you’ll pick up and imbibe into your own writing while reading and studying this script. One of our favorites is the “cute meet” between Lester and his daughter Jane’s best friend, Angela. There are some truly terrific examples of how to write a scene in this script. In fact, the opening twenty-five pages are a masterclass in how to establish character, stakes and genre as the script pulls you into a web of lies set in a suburban hell. All the while we hear his voiceover from beyond the grave… We then cut to said father-a supposed loser named Lester Burnham-and follow him as he begins another miserable day at the office. The script opens with Jane staring into the camera-a handheld device operated by an unseen man-nonchalantly discussing killing her father. And, in our opinion, a modern masterpiece of screenwriting. He went on to write for the theater and then television, penning Grace Under Fire and Cybil.Īlthough there are elements of comedy in American Beauty, for which he won the Oscar for best screenplay in 2000, it is overall a drama. One of the best drama film scripts you should read: American Beauty.Īlan Ball graduated from Florida State University with a degree in theater arts.
0 kommentar(er)
