Hollywood calling - Screenwriters share big screen tips at TOP
SCREENWRITERS Adam and Barbara Fox, from Stratford-upon-Avon, are returning to the RSC's The Other Place to continue their series of screenwriting workshops, being held for the first time in the UK.
The couple wrote their first script for the BBC, in 1989, have produced international bestselling series for series for Channel Four and have recently returned from five years working in Hollywood on television and film projects. They have been writers, directors and producers for more than 25 years.
They held their first screenwriting workshop at The Other Place, in May, which was based on the 1969 American Western film Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
Adam and Barbara’s next workshop is being held on Saturday 20th August, illustrated by clips from the 1985 American science fiction adventure comedy film Back to the Future.
Adam told the Herald Arts: “There will be six workshops in total and they gradually get more complicated. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid has a naked script, with no back story.”
He explained that the film worked as a great introduction to screenwriting, demonstrating all the basics and fundaments. Back to the Future is more sophisticated, moving between worlds.
The workshops are a unique opportunity for anyone looking to start their screenwriting career, as the couple share how to structure, write and craft a compelling story for the screen.
Each workshop in the series focuses on a different movie genre with a different type of script to uncover what makes a good film great.
Each workshop stands alone, but together they build into a complete course on the art and craft of screenwriting, telling the inside story of screenplay.
So what makes a good script great? We asked Adam and Barbara to give us their Top Five Tips on getting that screenplay started.
1. Where do I start? The answer is always at the end. Starting at the end tells you where you're going, it gives you a creative destination to head for, a place to write towards. It gives you confidence to go back to that daunting blank page at the beginning.
2. Start with your hero. At the beginning of every movie there is one question in the mind of the audience, “What's this about?” and the answer is always, "It’s about the hero." This is the person we are going to follow for a couple of hours. This is their story. So waste no time, go on the B of bang and start with your hero, in their world, doing what they do.
3. Create a strong inciting incident. This is the event that gets your story going. Something has to happen to throw your hero into their adventure, so it has to be dramatic. Make it a strong impulse and you give the audience a strong reason to follow your story.
4. Let the three-act structure help you. Aristotle identified it as the way we tell stories and the way we like to hear stories. We all love them told this way and it's how we expect them to be told. Even small children respond to stories with a clear beginning, middle and end.
5. The first ten pages. These are crucial: they're your big chance, your opportunity to get your script read. If the reader keeps going past page ten, there's a good chance they'll keep going. Write them, edit them, craft them. Every scene and every word of dialogue has to move the story forward. Make those first ten pages count.
Places for the workshop on Saturday 20th August are limited to 30, so anyone who is an aspiring screenwriter, a novelist, or simply wants to know how film works from the inside out, can book tickets on screenwriting-workshops.eventbrite.co.uk