Film Courage: What’s the fastest way to learn screenwriting?
Matthew Kalil, Author/Screenwriter/Director: The fastest way to learn screenwriting is
very easy…read scripts.
It’s that simple.
So people who write novels very often just sit down at their computer and start writing.
But chances are they’ve read lots of novels in their lives.
Almost certainly.
So there’s this famous saying if you want to know how to write to read, read, read and
write, write, write.
Script writing is exactly the same, read lots of scripts.
What I find really strange is participants at my workshops and people who come to my
talks and stuff, I’m like “How many of you have read a feature film script?”
And like out of the 40 people (maybe it’s a South African thing) not many people have
read a feature film script but they want to write movies because they’ve watched lots
of movies.
So they think because they are a movie fan and they like to watch movies they can write
scripts and I’m like “But you’ve never seen this document of a script properly?”
You may have read transcripts of the script but you’ve never looked at the formatting
and the layout and the style and the structure and all of this kind of thing.
So I would say just read as many scripts as you can and they’re all available online
(there are websites where you can get them).
Because I think that’s how we learn is just from reading.
And if you read many, many feature film scripts then you’ll end up writing feature film
scripts.
For me that’s the fast track to writing good scripts is reading lots of scripts and
they’re there, it’s available.
You can read the screenwriting books on how to write scripts but really if you just read
scripts (lots of them) and keep up-to-date with what’s happening and the trends of
writing styles and how things are changing through the years…you know don’t just
read CASABLANCA and CHINATOWN because they are certain formatting at a certain time.
Read current scripts as well.
If you’re interested in TV series, read TV series scripts because they’re also written
in a different style and then you start to see the writer’s voice and then perhaps
from that you can start writing in your own voice.
So I would say the fast track is just read loads of scripts.
Then of course, write loads of scripts.
My first scripts that I ever wrote does not exist anymore anyway in this world (I hope).
There is no digital copy of it.
It was terrible.
It probably had a lot of formatting errors.
It wasn’t terrible it was just misguided, the enthusiasm of youth.
So you’ve got to write quite a lot to get that stuff out of your system I think or you’ll
get the genius writer who may write the first scripts and it’s like fantastic but I’d
say write a few times and see how it works.
Get feedback as well from people who are not your mother or your best friend and then rewrite
that script and then you’ll start to get somewhere.
Yes, I suppose that’s the fast track to writing.
It goes without saying one needs to watch lots of movies and be steeped in that world.
And then to make it really good.
I was going to say read the book The Three Wells of Screenwriting…
Film Courage: And that’s your book?
Matthew: Yes…but what I want to say is tap into what only you can bring into the script.
So it’s all very well if you read loads of scripts and writing loads of scripts if
you’re just going to write another crime thriller or…something that someone else
can do better.
What can you write?
The story that only you know, the stories that only you can write, the themes that only
you can write.
If you can tap into that then you are really putting something in there that is authentic
and people will recognize it when they read it immediately.
So I added a lot of script reading in the past and for competitions and I’ve read
too many scripts…yeah…for my own sanity.
But when you’re reading them, suddenly something leaps off of the page and that’s authenticity,
there’s a moment of realness, of real character moment, a moment of subtlety, a real location,
a moment of something that leaps off of the page.
If you can put that in your scripts then I really believe you’ll have an advantage
over other scripts.
So yes, read lots of scripts and write the kind of scripts that you can write.
Film Courage: And what was the first script that you read?
Matthew: Oh, that’s another great question?
Film Courage: Do you remember the year?
Matthew: It was probably quite late, well I’ve read plays.
The first thing I’ve read were plays (stage plays) before I read scripts.
Things like Waiting For Godot.
You know the standard plays you read when getting an English degree or in South Africa
we read some plays.
And the first scripts I read was probably CINEMA PARADISO and it’s a movie by an Italian
filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore and he won the…many, many years ago he wrote and shot the beautiful
movie CINEMA PARADISO and I love that movie.
I think that was the first script I ever bought and the first script I ever read.
But just the caveat goes it was one of those transcribed scripts that you can buy so it’s
like a book version of a script and it’s got all of the dialogue and stuff in it and
some of the action but it wasn’t formatted in a correct script format.
I think the first one I read was probably CHINATOWN in proper script formatting.
But I remember buying the book of CINEMA PARADISO and reading it and being able to picture all
of the scenes in my head and that’s a real skill that people kind of have to develop.
You’ve got to read these scripts to picture in your head, to feel what it feels like so
when you write you can make someone picture those scenes in their head.
It’s a different thing.
I often say that for me when people think they can write scripts without reading scripts
it’s like going to a classical concert and listening to a piece of classical music and
thinking “Oh I love this music.
I’m going to go home and write some music now.”
And just writing music randomly with dots and squiggles because you know there’s dots
and squiggles and lines and just sort of writing some type of document that you think looks
like sheet music and then handing it over to someone and expecting them to play?
They’re not going to understand.
It’s like an architect, if you see a beautiful building and you think “Wow, this building
is really beautiful.
I love this building.”
I like buildings and I understand buildings and I like Art Deco style.
I’m going to go home and design a building and you just kind of design the building without
having looked a blueprints or read sheet music, that’s why you’ve got to read scripts.
A movie is not a script.
It’s a different thing.
They serve different kind of functions almost, so yeah.
Film Courage: You can’t be Frank Gehry right away unless you study.
Matthew: Right.
Film Courage: And the same thing, you can’t be William Goldman if you don’t study.
Matthew: Right.
William Goldman just did whatever he wanted to really.
But I think it’s about being able to evoke an emotion in the reader.
So maybe they can do that.
They really had a way of doing it some how in their writing.
Film Courage: Well I think people think of the notion of genius or savant and think “Maybe
I can duplicate the same without having to take all of the steps in between.”
And we hear these stories of people from age 5 being able to do something amazing.
Maybe it is inside of us but needs a little coaching?
Matthew: I think screenwriting is a bit of a craft.
So you don’t actually hear of savant screenwriters.
Like I’ve never heard of a five-year-old writing a great script or even a 17-year-old
writing a great script.
Sometimes you can get…you know the woman who wrote JUNO [Diablo Cody] she was relatively
young when she wrote that.
But I don’t really know what happened there, I know some of the story.
But because it’s a craft, it’s like pottery or something.
If you’re a genius potter you still have to practice to get the pot to be correct and
I really believe with screenwriting it is a bit of a craft and so we don’t get these
savant we just don’t.
We don’t get the 17-year-old fetch the best screenwriting award.
Not yet although that might change because the youngsters nowadays and the access they
have filmmaking ability is very exciting and amazing.
I mean they’ve got things on the phones (apps) where they can just make music videos
just like that.
So maybe it will change.
Maybe the ability to make what is in your head won’t have this craft in-between step
and will have this youngsters making the best films ever.
Who knows?
It would be nice.