2021 OSCARS: Minari (2020) - Using the Match Cut for Meaning

[Quick Summary: Jacob brings his wife (Monica) and kids (David, Anne) to the South to chase his dream of building a vegetable farm.]

It's taken me awhile to understand:

1) Screenplays are limited by their form.
2) You either like it and lean into it, or you find a different form.

ex. A novel is not limited by time and space. It can be stream of consciousness.  

However, a script is limited by time and space.  This form is written, for the purpose of shooting pictures visually.  This is not a natural way to write.

You have to learn to convey what you mean visually but only by using words.   

This script demonstrates one helpful tool: the match cut.

In the scene below, notice the flow of how it works:
- David (7-8 yrs. old) pulls out a heavy drawer --> then match cut to Jacob (the dad) is carrying a chicken crate.
- These are essentially two wooden boxes in two different locations.
- These are two sequential parallel images that result in unspoken meaning to the audience: Both son and father are similar, both dealing with failures.

DAVID'S BEDROOM - DAY

David removes the DRESSER DRAWER slowly. It's too far...

It FALLS! Match this to:

INT. HATCHERY - DAY

A crate of chickens FALLS to the floor.

Jacob has dropped it. Monica hurries to help him pick it up.

MONICA (to Jacob): [Your arms are that sore again?]

MRS. OH: Put the box there; if any are injured, we have to throw them away.

Jacob notices that Mr. H eyes him from the back. Monica notices this too.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think the match cut here was well thought out, i.e., WHAT are we going from, WHAT are we going to, and WHY.

Minari (2020)
by Lee Isaac Chung

TODAY'S NUGGET: Atlantic City (1980) - What I Wished I'd Known About Formatting

[Quick Summary: Lou, a numbers runner who yearns for his neighbor Sally, becomes an inadvertent drug courier for her estranged husband who arrives unexpectedly.]

Q: How good is this script? 
A: Good.* Really good.**

Lead actor Burt Lancaster said of his role:

A part like that, especially at my age, happens every ten years, if you’re lucky.

Q: But the script is written in the format of a play!
A: Here's what I wished I'd known about formatting as a new writer (but you can't tell new writers until they figure it out for themselves): It's not about formatting.

Q: But I LIKE doing the formatting.  Don't you?
A: I love it. It gives me a sense of "control" over the story.

Q: What's wrong with that?
A: Nothing, unless I'm using it to hide from the truth. ex. I simply can't fix this story.  It's the formatting!  Or my characters are flat. It's the formatting!  

Q: So focus on ...what?
A: I think the writer's job is to get the reader to go in with the character, and wonder where he came from, where he's going.  

If the reader is focusing on commas and periods, you've failed.

In the scene below:
- Notice how writer (and playwright) John Guare keeps you wondering why this very neat older man is  living in a doomed building. Who is ringing for him?
- Also note that you're so into Lou's world that the format falls away.

INT. LOU'S APARTMENT. DAY.

LOU IS A MAN IN HIS 60'S, VERY FIT, VERY HEARTY. IT SEEMS
A SURPRISE TO SEE HIM IRON A TIE IN HIS ONE-ROOM APARTMENT
IN THIS DOOMED BUILDING.
BEHIND HIM A BELL RINGS. AND RINGS.
THE BELL IS CONNECTED IN A VERY MAKESHIFT MANNER TO A
CLOTHESLINE LEADING DOWNSTAIRS.
THE APARTMENT IS ALARMINGLY BARE, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS
LIVED HERE HOW MANY YEARS NOW---THIRTY? CALENDARS
ON THE WALLS. OLD MAGAZINES. THAT'S ABOUT IT.
LOU TAKES HIS TIME. HE BUTTONS HIS SHIRT VERY CAREFULLY.
HE IS A VERY NEAT GUY.
HE TAKES A PAIR OF CLEAN SOCKS FROM THE LAUNDRY PILE.
HE STUFFS THE SOCK INTO THE BELL. IT QUIETS IT, BUT IT
DOESN'T STOP ITS PULLING.
HE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW.
LOU'S POV. WE SEE SALLY, DAVE AND CHRISSIE FROM ABOVE
ENTERING THE BUILDING.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If musicians reading music can't wait for the next sequence of notes, the last thing they're looking at is the staff paper.

Atlantic City (1980)
by John Guare

*I am terribly impressed that it was written for a $5M budget and on a time crunch (begun in Aug., 1979, & shot Oct. 1979-Jan. 1980).

**Also, it received five Oscars nominations for:
- John Guare (Best Writing)
- Burt Lancaster (Best Actor)
- Susan Sarandon (Best Actress)
- Louis Malle (Best Director)
- Best Picture

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Wind and The Lion (1975) - How To Read a Script With Distracting Formatting

[Quick Summary: When an American woman and her children are kidnapped by the last of the Barbary pirates, Teddy Roosevelt sends a rescue team in a political move.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

You've skimmed down to the example below and said, "How does a writer get away with that? Scripts today don't look like that! Why should I read that?"

First, today's script was written by the director.

Second, it was probably the best he could do to convey what he was trying to convey.

Third, reading challenging scripts make you a better writer. 

Fourth, ugly scripts are bought as often as pretty ones.*

HOW TO READ A SCRIPT WITH DISTRACTING/UGLY FORMATTING:

- Ignore the formatting as best you can.
- Ignore the denseness of the black print.
- Focus on what the writer is trying to convey (mood, emotion, etc.)  Did it work?
- Focus on why the scene worked as it was intended, despite the formatting.

In the example below, notice:
- Eden is being seduced by the desert. 
- Each sentence is part of the puzzle, a layer upon layer.
- The arc of the scene is from surprise --> enjoying --> startled at the seduction.
- Did you see her surprise coming?

ex. "THE PALACE OF RAISULI - NIGHT

...Eden put her foot into the water with great trepidation. She looked around again to see if anyone was watching and once more took in the extreme aloneness of the place. It was timeless, as if it had been waiting forever for her to be here now. She stepped back out and loosened her silk Berber robes at the belt, let them cascade down her shoulders and fall silently at her feet. She now stood naked, the moonlight reflecting softly on her skin and the breeze gently cooling her. Above her the vast expanse of the moon and stars, around her the cliffs and flower drenched walls. The sound of the Berber men singing carried from distant tents on the sweet smelling dry wind. She slipped smoothly into the warm scented waters and watched the reflection of the moon sparkle on their surface. The world seemed to ripple like the surface of the water starting from deep within her and pulsating out in ever widening circles over everything she had ever known or been. She gave herself up to the desert, the cliffs and the sound of the Berbers singing. And a part of her soul slipped easily away on the wind and brushed over the mountains. And she knew it was gone. She sat up.

EDEN: I can't let this go on. I must escape, God willing. I must escape!"

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Be bold on the page. Don't limit yourself, even if you need paragraphs to get your ideas across.

The Wind and the Lion (1975)(undated draft)
Written & directed by John Milius

*Scripts are not rejected solely based on formatting, contrary to popular myth.  The determining factor is whether the execution of ideas is effective (is it moving? inspiring? scary? romantic?) 

TODAY'S 2nd NUGGET: The Seventh Seal (1957) - Formatting Myths

[Quick Summary: While he staves off dying by plays chess with Death, a knight searches for the meaning of God's absence among the country folk he meets.]

This is the 2nd of the two of the most infuriating truths that no one tells you:

Quest. #2: This script is in single spaced paragraphs!! Where's the formatting?! Why didn't they follow the (fill in the blank) book on formatting?!

Answer #2:  Here, the script is written by and for the director.

Each line is a shot and reads easily in paragraph form.

It works for Bergman here, but may not work for everyone. (Try it yourself.)
-------------------------------------
But since I'm on my high horse, may I share some Hard Won Truths?

Q: Don't script readers care about formatting?
A:  They DO NOT CARE about formatting as long as it's a good read.

Q: When do they care?
A: When YOUR writing gets in the way of THEIR reading.

Q: Doesn't bad formatting "get in the way"?
A: It's an easy way to spot the experienced vs. non-experienced, but it's not the top reason to reject your script.

Q: Wait, what?
A: Bad formatting isn't enough since it is too easily fixed.  More likely, it's a deeper script problem.*

Q: What do you mean?
A:  Many non-writers (and many writers) are confused by problems that just LOOK like formatting issues on the surface, ex. bad structure, bad transitions.

These all use the same tools and cues but for very different reasons and effects.

ex. Formatting - Make sure "INT. KITCHEN" is all caps, spelled correctly, right font.

ex. Transition - INT. KITCHEN needs to be scrapped for INT. HOUSE and one continuous shot of woman running in front door --> hallway --> kitchen --> back door. No individual headings, as it would disturb the building momentum.

Q: But I like formatting! What's wrong with formatting?! Wordsmithing?
A: I like them too. But if we're honest, those are the easier parts. You want to get paid for the tougher stuff.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Study and pay attention to what works (or doesn't) in other scripts.

It's the only way to master the harder skills.

The Seventh Seal (1957)
by Ingmar Bergman
Adapted from his play

*I only mention things that are within a writer's control above.

Remember that there are many things that are NOT within your control.  ex. Sometimes the timing is lousy. Or five scripts enter the market together with the same concept.  Or the producer lost funding.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Dressed to Kill (1980) - Formatting; A Series of Shots

[Quick Summary: When a woman is murdered by a blonde, the lone witness becomes the blonde's new target.]

YOU: THAT IS NOT "STANDARD" FORMATTING!

ME: Yes, I know.

YOU: Do you care???

ME: Nope.

YOU: Why not?! I don't get it. Everyone is so uppity about formatting.

ME: Because IF the writing shows the story so I can connect the dots...
...and IF I get swept up in the story
...and IF it makes me feel intensely for the characters
...and IF it delivers the punch, the climax, the ending
...then the script works.  I don't notice the formatting.

YOU: So what's the deal with formatting "rules"?*

ME: They are like training wheels. You use them:
- As a fallback.
- When you're unsure what the producers want.
- Until you don't need them as much, i.e., When you're the director and know how to write in a series of cinematic shots.

De Palma is a good example of the last category.

Note below:
- how it is a series of cinematic shots
- how the shots build on each other

ex. "INT. ELEVATOR

When the elevator finally arrives, KATE steps in the car. She hears the sound of footsteps rushing down the hall. She frantically pushes the "close" button. The doors shut before the person coming down the hall can reach her. She is crying openly now and is thankful that no one is in the car to witness her shame. She pushes the lobby button and the car descends. As she pulls her finger off the button she realizes she's left her wedding ring on the bedside table.

KATE: Oh God!"

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Pay closer attention to how the shots build upon each other, because the sum of those shots is what the audience sees.

Dressed to Kill (1980)
by Brian De Palma

* Remember: On this blog, "rules" = guidelines.  They are not etched in stone.

2017 OSCARS: Fences (2016) - When a Play Format Works in a Screenplay

[Quick Summary: Troy and Rose, a black couple in 1957, struggle with life's disappointments and unexpected curve balls.]

I used to be a self-righteous script snob: "You can't do...", "You shouldn't do..."

I say "self-righteous" because I'd read a lot of books on writing scripts and listened to a lot of podcasts about scriptwriting, but had not actually READ a lot of scripts.

Then I read and studied a lot of scripts. A lot, a lot, a lot. It took longer than I'd liked.

This screenplay, Fences, is in play format.*

My former self would've screeched, "That's wrong formatting!"

But my wiser self today says: "Who says it's wrong? It works here. That's smart."

This script was written this director and cast, some of whom had done the play.

It delivered what was needed to tell the story (characters, tone, mood, etc.), and little of what is not (ex. details on the house).

Note how the writer lays out the essentials (character, conflict), i.e., Rose's contradictions let us know that Troy is a unreliable narrator.  All else is imagination.

ex. "ROSE: I told him if he wasn't the marrying kind, then move out they way so the marrying kind could find me.

TROY: That's what she told me. "Nigger, you in my way. You blocking the view! Move out the way so I can find me a husband." I though it over two or three days. Come back -

ROSE: Ain't no two or three days nothing. You was back the same night.

TROY: Come back, told her... "Okay, baby...but I'm gonna buy me a banty rooster and put him out there in the backyard...and when he see a stranger come, he'll flap his wings and crow..." Look here, Bono, I could watch the front door by myself...it was that back door I was worried about.

ROSE: Troy, you ought not talk like that. Troy ain't doing nothing but telling a lie.

TROY: Only thing is...when we first got married...forget the rooster...we ain't had no yard!"

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Forget "rules." Use whatever works to convey your story.

(Ok, ok, there are guidelines that might help, but I don't like calling them 'rules.')

Fences (2016)
by August Wilson
Based on his play

* Fences was originally a stage play, and was adapted into a screenplay by the playwright.

TODAY'S NUGGET: I Am Curmudgeonly

Billy Mernit, rom-com script guru & author, has a great hook to get his UCLA Extension Writers' Program students to be prompt to class: He promises them a Million Dollar Screenplay Tip at the beginning of every class. If you're 5 min. late, you'll miss it.

He shares 5 tips this week on his blog: http://livingromcom.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Billy's tips are, as always fantastic, but I especially like this line :

"...readers - the biz's first line of resistance - are often the most curmudgeonly sticklers of all when it comes to format and length."

He is SO right. I have noticed as I cover more & more scripts I have become a virtual Scrooge.

He speaks of what I label the Golden Triad:

1. WHITE FREAKIN' SPACE - Have you read my blog on Vertical Reading? Have you? Read it again.

2. Traditional format - He notes that "continuous" in slug lines is passe. How many of you are still including the "cut to:"?

3. Shorter scripts. 'Nuff said.

WHAT I KNOW: Sing it, Billy. You know me too well.