Writing a screenplay is both creating a world and mapping it

Creating a world is about making true what is not real. Creating the map of that world is necessary so that everyone on the film crew can work in the same direction.

If the world and/or its map are not absolutely clear, the risk is high that its backbone will begin to collapse at some point, with no return possible. 

To build them properly, you can rely on what I call the four cardinal points of the screenplay:

> Point of view: the answer to the fundamental question “what are we telling?”. From this flows “how we tell it”.

> Accuracy of the characters: they must be credible and complex, and their emotions tangible. It is through their desires, joys, sorrows, doubts, contradictions and hopes that the audience will truly live the story with them.

> Coherence: whether the universe mirrors our own or is entirely invented, everything must hold together. The rules of this world must be clear and consistent (even if they are absurd), allowing the audience to believe in it. The rules governing the characters, and the consequences of their actions, are of course just as crucial.

> Details: because they show what is meaningful and what is not, and they give rise to subtext, which, in turn, gives the image its true meaning and the film its depth.

These four cardinal points combine to generate the intention (of the story, not the screenwriter's): the film’s organic momentum. And this intention must guide every artistic decision or proposal made by the filmmaking team (set design, acting, directing, editing, etc).

Writing a screenplay is both creating a world and mapping It

The clearer the intention, the better the film’s chances of becoming more than the sum of its parts.

Déborah Braun / 90pages

Script doctor

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