A Bit of Nerdism for the Screenwriters
Okay, as someone who tries to write films, this is what I've been thinking about tonight. If you have no desire to write movies, you may not be interested in what follows.
So, anyway, I've been watching Batman Begins tonight, and I'm in total awe of the tight storytelling. In the first ten minutes, screenwriter David Goyer covers a tremendous amount of ground. We establish Bruce Wayne and his future love interest Rachel Dawes as children. We discover the source of Bruce's childhood fears. We meet Bruce as an adult and view the beginnings of his quest to understand the nature of evil. We meet Ducard, the main villain of the film. We are not only introduced to the myth of Ra's al Ghul but see him in the flesh. And there is an entire self-contained sub-plot in which Bruce Wayne searches for and discovers a special blue flower containing magical properties.
Holy shit. That's some fucking lean, masterful writing. By the 15 minute point, we've seen teh circumstances surrounding the death of Bruce's parents and we've met the Man Who Would Be Comissioner Gordon. Amazing.
Seriously, throwing on Batman Begins tonight, as a writer, has been inspiring. This is how it's done.
4 comments:
I found a copy of the Batman Begins script online a few months before the movie hit the screens. I read the whole thing in one sitting and was deeply impressed. I knew it was going to be a great movie, not just a great Batman movie.
Reading scripts is the best way to learn structure, pacing and even character development. It certainly inspires my writing.
On a different note, I read an early draft of Elizabethtown (which I know you aren't a fan of) and I think E-Town is a good example of a great movie on the page that just didn't quite make it on screen. I think you cast different actors (say Tom Cruise and Jessica Biehl in the leads) and you get a better movie.
i agree...i just finished up a screenwriting course and it wasnt until now i really understand how hard screenwriting is...the thing that impressed me most, besides what you said, is how he did all that while still staying true to tens of years worth of source material that is "held sacred" by legions of fans...goyer is the man
Meh. I've written better myself ... while unicycling backwards ... uphill.
Kidding.
I've only written better while riding forwards, going downhill.
Seriously though, I agree, great script. However for me it wasn't that great a movie. I don't watch myself carefully enough to know why I didn't like it, but I didn't like it. Maybe its just that I don't like Batman. He and Superman are heroes I never really liked that much--I'm more a Spidey and X-men kind of guy (thanks for ruining my month with your X-men prognostications Lons).
I remember being completely impressed at the beginning of this film too. And wondering when the opening credits were going to roll...then getting the joke of the title. The opening credits are at the END! Brilliant.
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