Hi everyone,
I'm writing a script for s series pilot at the moment, and I'm wondering how "colourful" I should really write in the script. I know that the general rule is to "write only what you see on screen", but I tend to think that it should be "write what the reader can imagine". In a lot of books and videos from Screenwriters I've heard that the book has to be entertaining and interesting to read. I find that a bit hard when you stick too close to the "write only what you see" rule.
For example, here is a short scene from a True Detective season 1 Script:
Hart looks to the thick forest, endless possibilities for ambush-- He turns back to Rust--
HART
Jesus, you’re a prick. ...We find the place, we come back. Call it in. One of us’ll stay on surveillance.
COHLE
Yeah. I can live with that.
They look at each other a moment, an acknowledgement, the increasing stakes of their reliance on one another-
Cohle steps over the gate, Hart following, until they’re swallowed--
Descriptions like "endless possibilities for ambush", "an acknowledgement, the increasing stakes of their reliance on one another", and "until they're swallowed" are in my understanding not exactly things that you really see on screen, but everyone knows or can imagine what is meant and what it should look like. And it makes the reading, and therefore also the story, more interesting to read.
Also, I've seen this video about character introduction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4GrVg-MwSc
There are shown many examples of famous movies, and they are more or less breaking the rule completely.
How do you guys handle this?
I'm writing a script for s series pilot at the moment, and I'm wondering how "colourful" I should really write in the script. I know that the general rule is to "write only what you see on screen", but I tend to think that it should be "write what the reader can imagine". In a lot of books and videos from Screenwriters I've heard that the book has to be entertaining and interesting to read. I find that a bit hard when you stick too close to the "write only what you see" rule.
For example, here is a short scene from a True Detective season 1 Script:
Hart looks to the thick forest, endless possibilities for ambush-- He turns back to Rust--
HART
Jesus, you’re a prick. ...We find the place, we come back. Call it in. One of us’ll stay on surveillance.
COHLE
Yeah. I can live with that.
They look at each other a moment, an acknowledgement, the increasing stakes of their reliance on one another-
Cohle steps over the gate, Hart following, until they’re swallowed--
Descriptions like "endless possibilities for ambush", "an acknowledgement, the increasing stakes of their reliance on one another", and "until they're swallowed" are in my understanding not exactly things that you really see on screen, but everyone knows or can imagine what is meant and what it should look like. And it makes the reading, and therefore also the story, more interesting to read.
Also, I've seen this video about character introduction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4GrVg-MwSc
There are shown many examples of famous movies, and they are more or less breaking the rule completely.
How do you guys handle this?