Screenwriting: Craft or Art?

Behind every movie is a script – a combination of scene description, or visual tips for the director to consider when filming the written scenes, and the spoken dialogue. Unlike other forms of prose such as a novel or a poem, a screenplay follows a series of rules – they must be structured like so:

If a screenplay doesn’t follow the above format, production companies are highly unlikely to even look at what’s written on the page, as this format is integral to facilitating the filming process. Moreover, there are a number of other rules that go along with screenwriting. Scene description, for example, must be a succinct summary of visual actions that would be seen on-screen. Unlike text from a novel, which offer an inside look into the characters’ minds, scene description is meant strictly to describe actions and images – no more, no less.

Another important aspect of screenwriting for Hollywood is the structure and thematics of the content itself. Screenplays must be 90-110 pages long, must have a clear act 1, act 2, and act 3 (beginning, middle, end), must have a psychologically defined protagonist (a main character who wants something badly), and an antagonist (something that gets in the main character’s way of getting what they want).

All of these structures and rules feel stifling and formulaic – it’s almost like the act of screenwriting is no different than writing a really long essay. Is screenwriting a technical craft rather than an inspired art form? This is a question I, as a screenwriting sub-concentrator pondered when I began my intro to screenwriting class last year. So I read successful screenplays that went on to become movies, and what I discovered is that the screenplays that inspire a company to put in the effort to transform script into film are something really special. They’re an opportunity for a skilled craftsman (and craftswoman) to breath some artistic vision into a classic storytelling formula

Let’s look at Shane Black’s debut script Lethal Weapon

A classic action movie which catapulted Mel Gibson’s career, created a prolific career for the writer, and started a million dollar franchise. I want to look at a piece of scene description from a major fight sequence, in which Riggs, the protagonist, takes on a horde of evildoers:

“Okay. Okay. Let’s stop for a moment. First off, to describe fully the mayhem which Riggs now creates would not do it justice. Here, however, are a few pointers: He is not flashy. He is not Chuck Norris. Rather, he is like a sledge-hammer hitting an egg. He does not knock people down. He does not injure them.
He simply kills them. The whole room. Everyone standing.”

He directly addresses the reader, like he himself has been telling us this story all along. He openly acknowledges an action scene from a film should not be described, but observed on-screen. Instead of a series of visual directions, Black opts to describe the feeling of the fight, giving the director free reign to choreograph the fight as long as they understand Riggs’ efficient and lethal fighting style. And the pace of the writing has a beautiful flow – quick, punctuated, action-oriented sentences, written with such confidence and wit. Lethal Weapon exemplifies a fresh take on a formula, its an inspiration to screenwriters everywhere to take on the challenge of expressing themselves in their manuscripts, give Hollywood the same old formula…only with a unique, personal spin.