When it comes to developing a screenplay, film director and screenwriter David Irving points to one simple industry expression: “You cannot make a good film without a good script. You can certainly make a bad film from a good script. But to repeat, you cannot make a good film from a bad script.”
Everybody’s looking for a good script. And good scripts are few and far between.
There are different elements to a successful screenplay, as Irving notes. A good script has to be a certain length, proper format, and it has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. It’s a blueprint for the actual film.
It takes a very special person to be able to read through a script and see the movie. A director who reads through the script is putting a lot of brain effort into it — How can I make this happen? How can I realize this particular film?
At the same time, you’re reading through a script to find an emotional arc and connection. Will this be a film that I want to work on for a very long time? Will this film entertain and engage an audience? Will it be of some value to put all that effort into the screenplay? The screenplay is first and foremost the document you need in order to be able to proceed with a film.
While a screenplay may attract a lot of people to a motion picture, it goes through a lot of transitions along the way. You have a first draft, second draft, third draft, polished draft, shooting draft — there are lots of changes that scripts go through to get to the first day of principal photography.
Even during principal photography, that script will change. In post production, that script will continue to change. That’s why you must have a very solid screenplay upfront, and it takes a real professional to be able to read it and see what that movie might be.
