ABSTRACT
This chapter covers all the stages of writing, from the initial idea to the screenplay’s final version. How does a screenwriter manage to write what he or she would like to see on-screen? How do we translate an idea, a “flash” of a few lines into a feature-length screenplay? How can we know if an idea will fit the format of a feature film or if it’s only “great” for a three-minute video?
We address in detail questions such as: What is an idea? What is a premise and how useful is it? What is a film subject? What is a story? We describe the types of documents a screenwriter is called upon to conceive, develop and write: the synopsis, the treatment, the pitch, the scene-by-scene, dialogued continuity, the different versions of the script and what differentiates them and finally the shooting script. We describe and analyse how these screenwriting steps directly impact – positively, but sometimes negatively – the style, the genre and the reception of the film-to-come as it unfolds in the screenplay.
