Screenwriting v. filmmaking

Now that I've put on the mindset of the filmmaker, I'm reminded more than ever of the differences between screenwriting and filmmaking -- and I better understand the trouble student filmmakers often have in my screenwriting class. The central concerns of the screenwriter and filmmaker are far different.

Even though I wrote the short scripts I am shooting this summer, once I finish the writing I look at them from a very different perspective. I brood about how to shoot each scene, which is to say, I'm thinking about images and camera angles, the very things screenwriters don't focus on. Screenwriters focus on story. This largely means a focus on dramatic structure and character arcs -- how the story moves forward in its twists and turns and how these changes affect the central characters.

The filmmaker worries about how the scenes within this structure are interpreted in specific visual terms, i.e. how to shoot them so they develop a visual language for telling the story. This is the sense in which a script truly is a blueprint for a movie, just as an architect's blueprint sets down the parameters for a house.

The trouble student filmmakers have in a screenwriting class is that they put the cart before the horse -- they are thinking about images before they have a clear sense of story, which is what keeps the images moving in a constructive, cumulative way. Story comes first. Screenwriting comes first -- the blueprint for a movie. But the end product will reach the audience, or not, through the visual skills of the director.

I hope shooting digital films all summer makes me a better screenwriting teacher.