ISP Blog #7: The Godfather

The final screenplay that I examined was The Godfather, by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. This film is an absolute classic, and is considered by the American Screenwriters Guild to be the second-best screenplay ever written, after Casablanca. The story is a crime drama that centers around the themes of revenge and family honour. One of the strongest aspects of The Godfather is its use of suspense throughout the screenplay. The Godfather is an extremely long script, and without the suspense generated by the compelling narrative and the tension between characters many readers would lose interest. Perhaps the biggest lesson I've learnt from reading this screenplay is how to change the setting without losing the momentum and suspense from the previous scenes. The Godfather has several distinct sections, and the plot in each is driven by the events and unresolved conflicts of the previous section. In this way, the reader does not lose interest when the narrative shifts drastically. The use of characters with opposing personalities and agendas does an excellent job of creating conflict. It is this creation of conflict and suspense that I hope to emulate in my screenplay.
The Godfather is a classic in every sense of the word. The only possible weakness in the screenplay is its length. The length of the screenplay sometimes makes it difficult to recall past events, yet the excellent writing and characters keep the plot moving forward so that the reader is not continually trying to remind themselves of what happened in the past. The reader is constantly rewarded for reading more of the script, as the intentions of many characters are hinted at before a climax is reached. I would highly recommend both the screenplay and the movie of The Godfather to any reader who enjoys, not just crime drama, but drama of any kind.

ISP Blog #6: Withnail and I

Withnail and I, by Bruce Robinson, is the hilarious tale of two young men living a penniless existence in Camden Town, London. Marwood, a writer, is living with his friend Withnail. Withnail is a struggling actor who is having difficulty coping with his repeated failure to get a role. Couple that with his melodramatic disposition and his alcoholism and perhaps the best way to describe him would be the first full line in the screenplay, "I have some extremely distressing news. We've just run out of wine. What are we going to do about it?" Both men are fed up with their way of life in London and resolve to go on vacation to, "get away from it all." Withnail's uncle Monty, a fat, effeminate man, lends Withnail his cottage in Wales, and Withnail and Marwood set out in a battered jag, resolving to stay the week. Upon their arrival, however, they discover that they have no idea how to survive on their own, and hilarity ensues.
The thing that I enjoyed most about this screenplay was the characterization. Each of the characters has a distinctive personality that is showcased throughout the screenplay. The conflict and interactions that take place between these different personalities is what keeps the reader interested during Withnail and I. Another strong part of the screenplay is the snappy dialogue between different characters. This witty banter is absolutely hilarious. As a reader, I was so entertained by hurled insults that I couldn't put the screenplay down.
The humour in Withnail and I is a double-edged sword. The humour is primarily British, and is hilarious if you find that type of humour amusing. However, if you do not understand British humour, then the screenplay is filled with lost opportunities. Luckily for me, I am well versed in British humour, having grown up on such shows as Monty Python's Flying Circus and Ab Fab. Overall, Withnail and I is a wonderful misadventure that will keep you entertained for the entire course of the movie. The humour does make it appeal to a somewhat smaller audience, however I encourage you to give it a try anyways. You won't be disappointed.

ISP Blog #5: Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is a film about a dysfunctional and destitute family’s journey to a beauty pageant for their youngest daughter. Along the way, the various members of the family eventually come to terms with their differences and settle their various disputes. The screenplay was written by Michael Arndt, and resulted in an Academy Award winning movie. One of the biggest themes of the screenplay is the reparation of past differences between the many characters. Each of the characters in the Hoover family has their own problems, many of which are related to other family members. For example, when Frank asks Dwayne jokingly if he has a girlfriend, Dwayne responds by giving him a note that says, “I hate everyone.” These conflicts continue to escalate to a fever pitch until each of the family members comes to a realization about their beliefs and dreams. Richard understands that life is not as simple as winning and losing, while Dwayne, despite being pronounced colourblind, endeavors to continue pursuing his dream of flying. Arndt does a wonderful job of giving voice to the feelings of the Hoover family. He also has a great sense of sarcasm and uses this to great effect in order to create humour. It is, however, his mastery of character conflict and resolution that I hope to use in my own screenplay. This sort of conflict drives the narrative of screenplays forward and draws the audience into the world the writer has created.
Arndt leaves his characters’ backgrounds deliberately vague, which I believe might work against him. After reading about just how dysfunctional the Hoover family is, I think that there might be a general desire among readers to learn how they became this way. While we can glean small parts of their history from implied statements, many of the details of the Hoover family’s history are left out of the screenplay.
There is a certain vagueness about Little Miss Sunshine that leaves you wanting to know more about the characters, but ultimately the strong writing and changing relationships of the many characters succeed in grasping your attention. You want them to solve their differences and reconcile themselves with other members of the family. This creative, yet poignant plot makes Little Miss Sunshine an excellent screenplay to emulate.

ISP Blog #4: Capote

In my last post I commented on how certain screenplays seem to just jump off the page and come alive in your mind. Capote, by Dan Futterman, is a perfect example of this enticing screenwriting. I was drawn into the narrative to such a degree that I actually began to visualize the scenes in my mind, creating a sort of imaginary movie to match the narrative of the screenplay. The experience was more comparable to reading a novel than reading a screenplay. Even the many minor characters in Capote were detailed, but the characters of Truman Capote and Perry Smith are both masterfully portrayed. Their shared hardships and their individual moral struggles are both portrayed in stark, unforgiving detail. The narrative drives the emotional plot forward at a relentless pace, to the point where it becomes difficult to read about such powerful emotions. The final scene, in which Perry is being led to the gallows, was so engaging that I literally couldn't tear my eyes away from the final dozen pages. The clever use of quick scene changes with short, but meaningful dialogue between Truman and Perry took care of that.
Capote is a shining example of what a screenplay should be; a mesmerizing, thoughtful, and effective story that captures the imagination of an audience. The only suggestion I have to make the screenplay better would be to introduce Truman in a bit more detail at the beginning of the screenplay. Futterman assumes that his audience already knows about Truman's life, which might leave some audience members in the dark. Other than that small correction, I wouldn't change a thing about Capote, for which Dan Futterman should receive credit for writing, what is in my opinion, one of the best screenplays ever.

ISP Blog #3: Annie Hall

Woody Allen is a renowned screenwriter, famous for such movies as Manhattan and Sleeper. He also stars in many of the screenplays that he writes. Annie Hall is one such screenplay, and is arguably one of Allen's most popular films. The film follows the unusual relationship between comedian Alvy Singer and aspiring nightclub-singer Annie Hall. The screenplay is primarily an examination of Alvy and Annie's unique personalities and both the differences and similarities between them. Each step of their relationship is covered, from the moment they meet to their inevitable break up. This is done through the use of numerous flashbacks. While many critics accuse flashbacks of being a hallmark of weak screenwriting, they are used to great effect in Annie Hall. The flashbacks in the screenplay incorporate the present-day characters into the flashbacks themselves, where they observe and comment on the scene that they are observing along with the audience. This is an interesting and different way of using flashbacks in a screenplay, and it helps to attract the audience's attention. It also makes them feel more involved in the screenplay, since the characters are observing their own past actions with the audience members, and are sharing similar observations.
While I enjoyed the movie, I found that the screenplay of Annie Hall was much less engaging. The screenplay is so focused on character that it is difficult to connect to the characters without an actor portraying them onscreen. The dialogue is similarly dry without an engaging delivery from the actors. It was simply too difficult to care what happened to the characters after only reading the screenplay. Certain screenplays seem to jump off the page when you read them, but Annie Hall was not one of these, making the screenplay quite tedious to read through.

ISP Blog #2: Casablanca

Casablanca has been critically acclaimed as one of the best love movies ever made. As such, some of the strongest points of the script are the interactions between the characters. The conflict between Ilsa, Rick, and Victor is enhanced by strong, yet simple dialogue. None of the characters try to be too eloquent in their dialogue, and strangely enough for a love story, this seems to work in their favour. The dialogue is crisp and blunt, which also helps to set the mood for the screenplay, since it is set in a dark period of human history. Rick's developement as a character is especially strong. At the beginning of the screenplay, he is a cynical, pessimistic person who, in his own words, "sticks his neck out for nobody." Helping Victor and Ilsa escape, however, reawakens the Another strong point in the screenplay is its use of dialogue directions. This helps the actors set the scene and read the dialogue the way the screenwriters imagined it to be read. Without many of these dialogue directions, the screenplay might have been interpreted differently by the actors, which in turn might have lead to some scenes being rendered less effective.
One criticism that I have of Casablanca was that I would have like to have seen more conflict between Strasser and Victor. Near the beginning of the screenplay Strasser and Victor have a heated conversation about Czechoslovakia, which has been occupied by Nazi Germany. I expected more conflict between these two characters, yet suprisingly, they interact very little after their first meeting. It just seems like a missed opportunity, since the two characters naturally oppose each other. Despite my criticism, I still feel that Casablanca has more good literary qualities than bad ones. It is a very good model for the character development and interaction that I hope to have in my screenplay.

ISP Blog #1: Juno

The first screenplay I read for my ISP was Juno, by Diablo Cody. Even after reading the first few pages of the script, it was evident that humour is an integral part of Diablo Cody's screenplay. Cody's style of humour is somewhat brash and crude, yet it fits perfectly with one of the main themes of Juno, which is adolescence. Sarcasm is also used very well, an example being when Juno's friend, Leah, asks Juno where she is going to get her abortion, to which Juno responds, "Women Now, I guess. The commercial says they help women now." The strong characters that are presented in the script are also a strong point. The character development of each major character furthers the plot of the screenplay, and vice versa. I intend to emulate this strong correlation between character development and plot in my own screenplay. Cody is also very specific about stage and camera directions when needed, but still leaves enough room to allow the director and actors to exercise their own creative freedom.
One aspect of Juno that I didn't think worked was the periodic use of voiceovers throughout the screenplay. I felt that the voiceovers interrupted the flow of dialogue and didn't really add to the plot or Juno's character. While often funny, there really doesn't seem to be any need for disconnected thoughts to wander into the narrative.
Overal, I think that Juno is an excellent screenplay. It is lighthearted, but still touches on vital issues in our society today. It is also an extremely detailed piece. Having seen the finished movie, I was surprised about just how much of the specific directions came directly from the script. It also surprised me how precisely they were laid out initially. With the exception of the use of voiceovers, which I felt were uneccessary, I feel that Juno gives many crucial examples of how to lay out a screenplay effectively and accurately.

In a Sunburned Country #2

The first stop on Bill Bryson's train voyage is the town of Broken Hill, where he and Trevor, the photographer accompanying him on this trip, are to meet their guides. These two guides, named Sonja and Garland, are to take them 250 kilometers north across the outback to the community of White Cliffs. The plan is to then turn around and return to Broken Hill, where Bill and Trevor would rejoin their train.
During the trip, Bryson combines his own experiences with historical information that he has researched. These short history lessons are useful and informative. Not only do they give the reader a better understanding of the area, they also inform the reader about topics that are not general knowledge for most people. For example, in this section Bryson details the numerous early expeditions that were undertaken by Europeans to cross the Australian Continent. Most of the expeditions were shockingly poorly equipped and often ended in tragedy. The most notable of these doomed expeditions was that of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. Their so-called Great Northern Exploration Expedition set off in on August 19, 1860. The Age newspaper in Melbourne commented on the final result of the expedition, "some are dead, some are on their way back, one has come to Melbourne, and another has made his way back to Adelaide...the whole expedition appears to have been one prolonged blunder throughout."
Finally, Bryson arrives in Perth and spends several days sightseeing in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, this particular trip is nearing its end, but Bryson assures the reader that he will be back for more.

In a Sunburned Country #1

In a Sunburned Country is a novel written by American author Bill Bryson. The novel is about all things Australian, and details Bryson's travels throughout Australia. The first fifteen pages or so of the novel are spent familiarizing the reader with the country of Australia itself. Bryson admits that, "the fact is, we pay shamefully scant attention to our dear cousins Down Under." This observation is very true, since I can attest to the fact that, while I am aware of its existence, I know little else about Australia. Perhaps this is because, as Bryson suggests, "Australia doesn't misbehave. It is stable and peaceful and good. It doesn't have coups, recklessly overfish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities, or throw its weight around in a brash and unseemly manner."
Whatever the reason, Bryson sets out to tour the whole of Australia in order to give us a comprehensive look at a country that we have heretofore paid little attention to. He begins by giving a quick overview of the discovery of the continent by Captain Cook and the resulting colonization. The strange wildlife of Australia is also first mentioned here, namely the extravagantly varied array of animals that can kill you in many different ways.
Bryson also describes the torturous fourteen hour flight from North America to Australia, which is where his distinct style of writing becomes apparent. The witty and self-deprecating humour that Bryson is so well known for is tremendously entertaining. After finally arriving in Sydney, Bryson meets up with a reporter and photographer from the Sydney Morning Herald, who take him boogie boarding, where he is almost stung by a Portuguese man-of-war. Unperturbed, Bryson boards a train which will take him across the Australian outback to Perth, and from there make a round trip back to the Eastern coast.

David Bergen: And You Arrive on the Other Side With Nothing

David Bergen's piece, And You Arrive on the Other Side With Nothing, is a story in which his faith plays a significant part. Bergen's faith manifests itself both in his memory and in his everyday life in Vietnam. Plenty of evidence can be found for both of these claims, since Bergen's own memories and his experiences in Vietnam provide him with a wealth of examples.

It is made clear in the story that Bergen was baptized at the age of seventeen. While Bergen claims, "I am a different man today, and no longer believe in a selfish salvation," he is still a spiritual man. While Bergen may not believe in an, "angry but forgiving God," he does believe in a mysterious power that somehow directs the course of worldly events, such as when he and two of his children are left standing on a sandbar after having been washed away from shore by some large waves.

During his stay in Vietnam, faith is Bergen's only way of staying sane are the acts of faith that he consistently experiences from other people. These small acts of kindness are most consistent with the social gospel idea that it is each man's responsibility to help his neighbours. Examples of these favours can been seen in such acts as Bergen's landlord's invitation to dinner, the fisherman helping them off the aforementioned sandbar, and the older Vietnamese man who is kind enough to stop and talk to Bergen for a while. As Bergen adjusts to life in Vietnam, he becomes increasingly paranoid that something will happen to his children. He seeks to control fate by becoming overly protective. It is not until the end of the novel, with the appearance of the old Vietnamese man, that Bergen learns that he must learn to trust and accept the hand that fate deals to him.

Josef Penninger

Josef Penninger is considered one of the greatest scientists of our time. The advances that he has made in the field of immunology is beyond belief. In the July 2001 edition of Esquire, Mary Rogan wrote a profile of Penninger, which includes his early life, research, and the numerous scientific breakthroughs that he has achieved since then.
Rogan has evidently done her homework on Penninger's research. It is clear that she took the time to read through and understand his various scientific theses. She has then broken these complicated works down into more understandable terms for her readers. Despite this, most of Rogan's sources are people who know Penninger well. In my opinion, this makes Rogan's piece much more credible and dynamic. By using people who have been exposed to Penninger constantly thoughout their lives, Rogan manages to paint a more competent picture of Penninger's identity and his motivations. These firsthand accounts of Penninger are also much more interesting for the reader to listen to than to simply hear a boring account of Penninger's life from just another journalistic source.
Another way that Rogan increases the reader's enjoyment of her piece is through her use of style and diction. The biggest example of this in the piece is Rogan's comparison of Penninger's research to a bicycle. At several different points in the piece, Rogan returns to the metaphor of a bicycle on a hill to describe the pace of Penninger's research. Especially when the metaphorical bicycle is racing down a hill, it gives the reader a very visceral image of the increasingly furious pace of Penninger's research as he approaches a conclusion. Another good example of Rogan's style is how she periodically writes short paragraphs about Penninger's younger life. These memoirs serve the purpose of further connecting and familiarizing the reader with Penninger and his personality. These recurring examples of style and diction make Rogan's piece much more entertaining to read than a traditional biography of Penninger.