In education, it is deemed essential that the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare are thoroughly studied. A variety of classic novels – such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – are required to be read within many secondary school curriculums. These books, along with many Shakespeare plays, have been adapted to films, continuing the artistic expression of these great works in a contemporary medium. Despite this, screenplays are still not considered as ‘academic’ nor are they taught within the majority of secondary, and even university-level, education.
It is understandable for an original piece of work, for example Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, to be studied, rather than the loosely based film adaptation She’s the Man. However, original screenplays, at least, should be deemed worthy enough to be studied alongside novels and plays. We learn from films just as we do from literature and theatre. Studying classic, critically acclaimed screenplays such as Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Pulp Fiction, and Taxi Driver would teach students something that they might not be able to find in plays or novels: ‘show, don’t tell.’ This is an incredibly overused suggestion that is given to every writer by every teacher – yet still, it is advice to remember. Novelists and playwrights abide by this rule, but screenwriters live by it. In reading screenplays, we understand how significantly an image – the lighting, music, an actor’s intonation or expression or even a camera angle – can completely alter the meaning of the words on a page.
I have many friends who use films and TV shows more so as background noise, rather than entertainment as they scroll on their phones. This is hard to see as it shows how attention spans have become so limited that people cannot sit back and watch a film for an hour and a half without falling subject to staring at yet another, much smaller, screen. The attitude education has towards films, treating them as something associated with laziness rather than as an artform, has led many viewers to treat it as such as well. If academics hold their nose up at screenplays, why should everyday viewers take time out of their day to watch something they have been taught won’t help them achieve anything?
While I believe that we all could use much less screen time, I also believe that films allow us to unplug from our own self-obsession and to fully immerse ourselves in someone else’s story. By studying screenplays, alongside classic literature and theatre, students would have a more in depth understanding on how stories can be interpreted through a variety of lenses. Films have a lot of agency in leading viewers to certain realisations or beliefs. A screenplay is just the beginning. Directors, actors, cinematographers, editors and even the soundtracks chosen for films all mould the meaning of a story. In reading a screenplay, we can strip all of that down to understand how we may interpret the story without being led by these other factors. These factors are by no means a bad thing; the way a movie is stitched together and visualised is what makes it so immersive. However, we should take advantage of the unlimited access we have to screenplays, so that we can continue thinking about a film on our own terms.
Reading screenplays also provides us with the realisation that there are many layers which go into the making of a movie beyond the story itself. In a film course I had during second year, Professor Itandehui Jansen described filmmaking as being similar to the construction of a house. It takes an entire team of people who each take on different responsibilities which are essential in the production of a film. Screenplays are the base of the house: without the framing, walls, windows, roof, furniture and people living inside, it’s simply a patio; but without a sturdy base, the whole house would collapse.
By implementing screenplays into secondary education, the world of cinema may feel more accessible to students who cannot afford film school. Young students might expand on their creativity, become independent thinkers and realise that the little screens in the palms of their hands could be used more efficiently to begin their filmmaking careers. For students who do not want to work in film, perhaps these studies would instil an appreciation for filmmaking that would bring viewers to be pulled into these stories rather than into their phones.
“Eurabia screenplay” by Joe in DC is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.