Embedded Files
Back to the Future Read Throughs
Back to the Future Scene 1 Script Notes
Marty is ignoring what is being shown in lesson, listening to music.
The teacher catches on that he's not paying attention and goes to tell him off while Suzy parker watches in anxiety.
Who: Marty, students; Where: in lesson; When: during the day; What: getting in trouble for listening to music in lesson.
The promise to the audience is that Marty is going to be a trouble maker and that there will be explosions in the film.
This scene is an exposition.
There is a political motif here as they are watching about 1950s nuclear testing sites and Marty isn't bothered by it. This is showing he's uninterested in the politics of it and he's moved past that era.
The audience understands the genre is science-fiction right from the start because their are already themes of science in the first scene.
Marty is out of place already because he's enjoying it while all the other students are bored.
This scene is action based, which helps to set up the tension right from the first scene.
The scene involves a specific character, Suzy Parker, who the audience becomes instantly intrigued with, who is she, is she a love interest?
The scene starts of with relatable and familiar stereotypes of a rebellious teen and an attractive love interest.
Back to the Future pg. 72 compared to final film
Some of the dialogue and action has been changed from script to final product.
There were also slight changes to the shot sequence, but this may've been editorial changes.
The dialogue has been changed slightly on-screen to carry the same message but ensure the dialogue flows naturally.
I found there were also points where the dialogue had been completely cut out to be more economical.
One example is the order the band gets out of the car is changed to just make the shot easier and flow better in the scene.
An example of a dialogue change is:
script version-
BIFF
You caused $300 damage to my car, dipshit. And I'm gonna take it outta your ass... Hold him, guys.
on-screen version-
BIFF
You caused $300 damage to my car, you son of a bitch. And I'm gonna take it outta
your ass... Hold him, guys.
An example of an action related change is:
script version-
Biff hits the ground, out cold!
on screen version-
Biff's fall is dramatised, he spins several times before falling on the floor.
Elements of An Action-based Script
Brevity- be concise and don't ramble.
Clarity- create a clear image for the director.
Creativity- don't be boring, use metaphors and similes etc. as these are even more descriptive than plain language, your actors and director need to be engaged when reading the script.
Paragraph breaks- create a new paragraph any time a new idea is introduced, this provides a pacing and rhythm for certain groups of actions, creates more dramatic emphasis, more white space on the page makes easier and faster to read.
Capitalisation- use this sparingly, can help emphasis key elements.
Evaluating the application of the 5 action based rules
For this task we were asked to read the opening scene of Wall-E and then watch the final product on screen. Using the knowledge of the 5 key elements we had just learnt about, we evaluated the writer's technique. We looked at what the writer did well and what could've been improved.
Brevity: The script is much more concise than the actual scene, the writer may want to provide a few more details.
Clarity: The writer was so concise that a few things became slightly unclear. I would have personally expanded on a few of Wall-e's actions to ensure the actors and director has the same idea and vision as me.
Creativity: The writer has used things such as similes and lots of descriptive language.
Paragraph breaks: There has been a good use of paragraph breaks and the action is appropriately broken up. The script was a very fast read and there is a fair amount of white space.
Capitalisation: This has been used well and quite sparingly. For example, the 'CUBES OF TRASH' is in capital letters, specifying the trash is in cubes, which links the character of Wall-e to the trash because we later see him making a cube of trash showing this is his domain.
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