Ray-Anne Carr

Entries tagged as Academy Awards

Academy Award Winning Scripts

March 6, 2008 · No Comments

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Linda Seger has an Article on the Writers Store site which discusses some of the common elements found in Academy award winning screenplays. I would argue that commercial fiction writers can learn a great deal from the techniques used by these screenwriters.

For example-

  • ‘In each case, the genre is raised to a higher level through deep and dimensional characterizations, unusual stories, and sometimes a new spin on an idea that we’ve seen before.
  • Each film puts a human face on the story, no matter whether the events are big (Schindler’s List) or small (In the Bedroom).
  • The films humanize and dimensionalize the main character. There are no perfect people here.
  • Many of the writers already knew a great deal about the subject matter and loved the subject matter before writing about it, yet the scripts still needed vast amounts of research to make them ring true. (Out of Africa, Sideways, Shakespeare in Love, A Beautiful Mind).
  • Most of these help us understand, more deeply, the human condition, so the film helps us reflect on our own lives. ‘
  • ‘Many of the films are transformational stories, showing hope, and the possibility of overcoming problems and moving toward resolution.

    Most Academy Award-nominated films are significant. They have something meaningful to say.

    They give us insights into humanity, shed light on the human condition, help us understand the problems and struggles that are common to all of us, and, in most cases, show the hope and the possibilities for resolution.

    _________________________________________________________

    Fiction writers understand fundamentally that it is crucial to develop main characters who a reader can empathise and sympathise with at many levels - in fact, characters who they can live through, and share their emotional and physical experience, whether they are falling in love, or walking into a burning building.

    And most of all, a shared human experience the reader can relate to.

    If the author can bring a passion for the subject, and a deep understanding of human nature to her work, she might, might, be able to convince a reader that someone can love them, or that they will find justice in an unjust world.

    That’s all.

    No pressure then. Gulp.

    Go here to read the complete article here- http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=913 and check the other Free Resource Material on the site.

    Categories: Screenplays · fiction writing · writing craft
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