I started a similar thread some time ago but this is a little different and I hope you can help me to straight things out.
What is the proper way to read a screenplay for learning purpose? Should my aim be to know why something in a screenplay works or doesn´t or is it more of an unconscious process going on that tell you what works and what doesn´t somewhere in my brain. Will it help me when I write screenplays?
If I feel that something doesn´t work, should I dig deeper or should I just continue reading? I consider myself a slow reader and it usually takes me somewhere between five to six hours to read a screenplay and lately I´ve got the habit of just reading them from the beginning to the end and not stop that much to analyze anything.
I also find it very hard to know what works and what doesn´t. In some screenplays it´s been obvious but in most of them I haven´t been able to tell why I did or didn´t like something. And I don´t consider myself smarter or better than the writers of screenplays that have been sold. How much can you analyze?
I´ve read drafts of Seven, Adaptation, Kramer VS. Kramer, Sunset boulevard, The apartment and many more that worked for me in different ways. They all had characters I connected with, but why did they work?
Would it be wise to answer questions like: "is the goal clear enough", "are the stakes high enough?", "is the antagonist strong enough?" plus all the other questions McKee, Trottier and all the other sources of knowledge has made me aware of?
Those of you who feel that you´ve learned a lot from reading screenplays and novels, how did read them? Did you just read a hundred screenplays without giving it much thought or did you analyze every scene you read or something in between?
Now after reading my post I think that I should analyze more and I don´t know why I´ve got the habit of reading without asking questions. Maybe I´m getting lazy. It would be great to hear your oppinions anyway.
I am sorry about the messy structure of this thread, I hope you understand what I´m asking though. Many thanks for all the valuable answers I´ve got to some of my previous questions.
What is the proper way to read a screenplay for learning purpose? Should my aim be to know why something in a screenplay works or doesn´t or is it more of an unconscious process going on that tell you what works and what doesn´t somewhere in my brain. Will it help me when I write screenplays?
If I feel that something doesn´t work, should I dig deeper or should I just continue reading? I consider myself a slow reader and it usually takes me somewhere between five to six hours to read a screenplay and lately I´ve got the habit of just reading them from the beginning to the end and not stop that much to analyze anything.
I also find it very hard to know what works and what doesn´t. In some screenplays it´s been obvious but in most of them I haven´t been able to tell why I did or didn´t like something. And I don´t consider myself smarter or better than the writers of screenplays that have been sold. How much can you analyze?
I´ve read drafts of Seven, Adaptation, Kramer VS. Kramer, Sunset boulevard, The apartment and many more that worked for me in different ways. They all had characters I connected with, but why did they work?
Would it be wise to answer questions like: "is the goal clear enough", "are the stakes high enough?", "is the antagonist strong enough?" plus all the other questions McKee, Trottier and all the other sources of knowledge has made me aware of?
Those of you who feel that you´ve learned a lot from reading screenplays and novels, how did read them? Did you just read a hundred screenplays without giving it much thought or did you analyze every scene you read or something in between?
Now after reading my post I think that I should analyze more and I don´t know why I´ve got the habit of reading without asking questions. Maybe I´m getting lazy. It would be great to hear your oppinions anyway.
I am sorry about the messy structure of this thread, I hope you understand what I´m asking though. Many thanks for all the valuable answers I´ve got to some of my previous questions.
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