Unit 19 learning aim B

Analysing script conventions 

Television 

Breaking bad S3E08: “I see you” 

 

The main plot of this episode is that Walter’s brother-in-law is rushed to hospital after being attacked by two Mexican cartel. The secondary stories that run through the episode are Jesse’s recovery after Hank attacked him, and Walter spending time with his family instead of cooking meth. 

The layout of the text is well structured and is concise. Action lines are used within dialogue and acts are mentioned at the top and bottom of pages. The use of parentheticals is common and helps to communicate to the actors how each line must be spoken. Examples of this include: 

• Walt (interrupting) 

• Gale (hurt) 

• Marie (quiet) 

The layout is effective as I can imagine each scene and dialogue inflection easily. Its use of instructions is prominent throughout the text, using long descriptive with examples such as: 

•  

•  

 this is useful to the actors as it tells them exactly how to act and what to do in the scene through descriptive language. 

Its layout is consistent, and it uses informal explanations to discuss certain plot points within the show. 

Another use of the descriptive language is the impact on the narrative as it makes sure each scene is thoroughly detailed and clear for directors and actors, as to prevent misunderstandings. Emotion is a large focus of the script as Breaking Bad is a drama, which we can see through the script. 

The script is designed to appeal to multiple audiences through its wide range of characters. While people may relate to Walter White as a family man and understand his struggle through cancer, others may enjoy his performance as Heisenberg, as well as the performance of Gustavo Fring, as they may enjoy dangerous and more sinister characters. This also applies to Jesse, as younger audiences, such as teenagers, might find him and his friends easier to relate to. 

Overall, this is an effective script as it manages to cover the basis on what a good script should be. Concise, which we see through the length (54 pages), descriptive, which we see with action lines and descriptions of certain shots, and intriguing, which we see through additional comments given by the writers.  

 

Television 

The Simpsons S8E02 

 

In this episode, Homer moves his family to an area called Cypress creek, where he accidentally works for a supervillain, while his family struggle with the adjustment. 

Its layout is to the point and while it may not be very descriptive overall, it features a focus on description of location which we can see with “A dilapidated city street, not unlike the block Moe's is on. A sleek young couple sadly surveys the scene.” There is little thought to ‘shot types’ however depictions of certain scenes are common to make the animation easier. Voice acting is also mentioned entirely throughout the script, as it is an animation, and the emotion is reliant on the voices. This all comes together to create a clear narrative demonstrating the ideal end result. We can see certain instructions to different departments throughout the script such as: 

 

• As well as descriptions of new characters for the animators: 

 

The script includes many jokes and includes foreshadowing at the beginning of the text for the nuclear company’s impact to the story: 

 

 

 

This text appeals to audiences through its design and comedy. It appeals to a younger audience who may enjoy the show because of the artistic direction described in the script such as the vivid colours and visual comedy, it also appeals to an older audience who may enjoy the jokes that children would not necessarily understand. 

Overall, I believe this to be an effective script as it clearly demonstrates what is happening in each frame, who is speaking, what sound effects and music cues are needed, and which scene is being written for the animators, editors, and voice actors. 

 

Film 

The world’s end 

 

The plot of this movie is that our eccentric main character, Gary King, reunites some of his old friends to come back to their old town and complete a lengthy pub crawl. However, Gary’s friends are not keen, and they soon discover that the town has been overrun by clone robots aptly named “blanks,” which become their main enemy. 

In terms of layout, scene headings are common, seen in the top left, and there is a clear usage of (Continue) in the corner of the script to show a continuous scene and avoid confusion. Offscreen dialogue is mentioned and so is voice over, making the script easier to use, therefore making it more effective. 

There are many instructions to certain departments throughout the script. For example, this fight scene will be useful to camera operators to understand their positioning through the scene, fight coordinators who will need to instruct the actors and stunt doubles, the props department who will need to procure breakable bar stools and robot limbs, as well as the editors, who will need to add in the soundtrack and sound effects. 

 

Regarding the script’s effect on the narrative, the script is filled with foreshadowing and references to later events and previous events in the story, making it feel very interlinked. Some examples include:  

 

 

And: 

 

 

This is a common trope of movies made by Edgar Wright, who worked on this movie. this is his signature style of editing and scriptwriting, which is present throughout movies such as Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. 

It appeals to a certain audience through its use of language. For example, British slang is used to engage with audiences as it makes the characters seem more relatable. It also helps that the main characters are the only humans in the movie, making us more accustomed to them. 

Overall, this is an effective script as it not only uses its story to its advantage by numerous callbacks and references, but creates a fun, engaging, captivating action-comedy movie the whole way throughout. 

 

Film 

Ford VS Ferrari 

 

Ford VS Ferrari is a period biopic based on ford’s victory against Ferrari in 1966. The story is that Ford attempts to buy out financially struggling race car brand Ferrari in order to give the Ford brand a sportier image, however, Ferrari denies and insults the owner of Ford, causing them to build a race car powerful enough to beat Ferrari, with the help of Team Lotus racing driver Ken Miles and performance tuner Caroll Shelby. 

 

Its layout is consistent and effective, with heavy description on scenes with little dialogue to show that the scene does the talking. Locations, vehicles, and characters are capitalised to show importance and so are certain instructions. There are many directions given to crew members. For example: 

In this scene, directions to the pyrotechnics crew are to have the driver on fire, which is an important part of the scene. Other instructions are given in certain scenes. 

 

Here, we can see directions as to what the doctor needs to be wearing, displaying consistency to showing detailed instructions. 

We can see an impact to the final story when henry ford II foreshadows the plot that leads to the events of the final movie: 

 

This is the speech that causes the Ford Motor company to race Ferrari and is the catalyst to the entire plot, showing a clear impact on narrative. 

It is designed to appeal to a particular audience through its use of famous actors, such as Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and John Bernthal, as well as its intriguing story, "car talk” to appeal to fans of motorsport. It does this through advice given to mechanics, names of cars and recreations of famous historic race circuits. 

 

This is an effective script as it accomplishes being a faithful recreation of history through engaging drama, using dialogue, and descriptive scenes of racing. It sets out to achieve becoming an interesting, thought-provoking insight into one of the most significant times in motorsport history and achieves it as such.  

 

Videogames 

Detroit: Become Human 

 

Detroit: Become human is a multiple-choice, dialogue led, action-adventure game set in a near future alternate reality world where Detroit is one of the most advanced cities in the world and where humans and androids coexist. 

Its layout demonstrates the multiple dialogue options available to the player, and each scene is split into multiple sectors, each with their own dialogue choices. 

 

This is an example of the multiple choices possible. As you can see, each one is split into different sections, even if they achieve the same results. 

As the game is a 3D rendered environment, there are very few instructions given to any departments throughout the script. Any “stage directions” are actions taken by the player and therefore cannot be controlled as rigorously as a movie with actors may be.  

 

An example of directions to programmers to add in this cutscene due to a failed event. 

Some dialogue options, as well as taking certain actions can cause unrest and tension between characters which can drastically or minutely alter the story depending on the severity of actions taken. 

 

Here, one of our characters finds red ice, a fictional drug in the game, which angers one of the characters. 

Another example of impacts to the story are through options you chose previously impacting your game later on. An example of this is if you choose to spill your coworker’s drink: 

 

As you can see, depending on whether you chose to spill his drink to get his attention, you may end the investigation early due to your interaction with the character. 

This game appeals to a certain audience by carrying the traits of a video game. While the script may only detail interactions within the game, players can find themselves exploring certain sections of the alternate-reality Detroit, as well as interacting with certain characters in separate ways, quick time events in which the player must react fast to fight or save someone. This appeals to the audience as it gives an engaging insight into artificial intelligence whilst still maintaining the features of a conventional videogame.  

This is an effective script as it covers all bases when it comes to dialogue options, as well as portraying a realistic depiction of interactions between humans and artificial intelligence. It is easy to understand, and dialogue is clearly featured throughout the entirety of the script. 

 

 

 

Videogames 

Resident Evil 4 

 

The plot of resident evil 4 is that a deadly virus has overtaken the fictional Raccoon city, causing a zombie outbreak.  

The layout is simple, with dialogue being the focus due to action lines being unnecessary and cutscenes being described in vivid detail. 

 

Here we can see a cutscene description. In terms of instructions for departments, it details the events of the game for the animators, as well as informs of any sound effects and editing needed.  

 There are many moments of tension created in the story, however, most of them have no effect on the plot. This is because it is a videogame, and extravagant and dangerous feats are less expensive than they are in films, and therefore can be used more often. There are important plot points displayed in cutscenes, for example: 

 

 

It is designed to appeal to a particular audience through its dangerous cutscenes and engaging gameplay, as well as its large variety of characters. This appeals to the younger target audience who would find an interest in zombie games, as well as returning fans of the series. 

This is an effective script as it helps to display what the cutscenes in the game will look like, describing action lines and general activity in great detail. It also features extensive written dialogue, on and off-screen, and displays different sections throughout the game as different “scenes.” These features all come together to create a concise and understandable script that help to produce a tense, captivating action-adventure game.  

 

Summary 

Through my analysis of multiple scripts and the conventions they feature, I have discovered many different formats and features. Below is my evaluation and comparison between each of them. 

All formats displayed some type of written dialogue, and expressed the emotions needed to convey them. They all managed to split up the scripts into sections, whether it be different dialogue choices for videogames or chapters for a movie, each script was divided into some form of segregated text. However, there are numerous differences between different sectors of scriptwriting, and even between scripts in the same sector. For example, video game scripts tended to lack many action lines, as they would commonly be completed by the player. This is different to the scripts for television and movies, particularly the Simpsons script, which contained many more as actors need to know what to do, as well as what to say, and animators who need to draw every story point mentioned on the script. On top of this, the lengths of each script varied, with television scripts being the shortest and videogames being the longest. Movie and TV scripts featured many key directions, such as informing actors of when their lines continued from a previous page, transitions and edits between scenes, and parentheticals, which describes how a line must be said. 

I found that the scripts for the Simpsons episode, as well as the script for The World’s End to be the most effective for distinct reasons. The script for the Simpsons was effective as each joke and gag, visual or spoken, was mentioned on the script. It also was very brief with its descriptions, containing as much detail as needed without being too wordy. For The World’s End, I found it to be a notable example of a movie script as it managed to be intriguing and witty, as to interest any entertainment conglomerate or director who may read it, as well as coherent and direct for actors, sound and editing teams, and anybody who may work on the movie. However, the scripts I found the least effective were the videogame scripts. This was because they only included the directions for voice actors and animators through cutscenes, and not actual gameplay. I found this to be ineffective as there could be voice lines needed in sections of the game that are playable, such as when a character takes damage or interacts with something. 

There were minor details, such as the videogame scripts not featuring any emotional parentheticals or the heavy use of (CONT’D) in the movie scripts, however, I found that the largest difference between the sectors of scripts to be the detail given in moments without dialogue, with movies having the most detail, videogames second, and television shows last.  

Overall, each script has many clear differences which separate then from each other and many similarities that are shared between sectors. While each script may have varying levels of effectiveness, they all come together to make an understandable useful script. 

 

Bibliography 

Reference list 

Butterworth, J., Butterworth, J.-H. and Keller, J. (n.d.). BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY. [online] Available at: https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ford-v-ferrari-script-final.pdf. 

detroitbecometext (2023). Detroit Become Text. [online] GitHub. Available at: https://github.com/detroitbecometext/detroitbecometext.github.io [Accessed 11 Dec. 2023]. 

headcrook (2005). Game Script (PS2). [online] IGN. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/12/13/biohazard-4-bonus-disc-game-script-ps2-674283 [Accessed 11 Dec. 2023]. 

Pegg, S. and Wright, E. (2013). The World’s End. [online] Available at: https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/The_Worlds_End.pdf. 

Script Slug. (n.d.). Breaking Bad: 308: I See You (2010). [online] Available at: https://www.scriptslug.com/script/breaking-bad-308-i-see-you-2010 [Accessed 11 Dec. 2023]. 

Swartzwelder, J. (1995). The-Simpsons-You Only Move Twice Script (1).pdf. [online] www.docdroid.net. Available at: https://www.docdroid.net/0oiDnxE/the-simpsons-you-only-move-twice-script-1-pdf#page=6 [Accessed 11 Dec. 2023].