http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTgUq6hzUk
Children of Men
(2006)
FADE IN:
Middle-aged FACES looking up, in quiet shock, listening...
A WOMAN'S VOICE
(upper-class English
accent)
...the world was stunned today by
the death of Diego Ricardo, the
youngest person on the planet...
1 INT. CAFE - DAY 1
MORE SAD FACES, and now we see we're in a crowded cafe.
Standing room only. Everyone staring upward, O.S.,
listening...
WOMAN'S VOICE
Baby Diego was killed in a bar fight
in Buenos Aires after refusing to
sign an autograph...
A man enters he coffee shop, making his way through the
transfixed crowd: THEO FARON (55, American), wearing a worn
suit and tie, glasses. Theo is a veteran of hopelessness. He
gave up before the world did.
Theo wedges his way through the packed bodies to the counter.
He orders:
THEO
Coffee. Black.
Next to him, a 50-year-old woman stares upward, cradling a
small dog, a tear rolling down her face. Theo follows her
gaze: an old plasma TV is mounted above the counter. A
REPORTER delivering the breaking news. Theo watches with
little interest.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV)
...He struggled his entire life with
the celebrity status thrust upon him
as the world's youngest person.
ON TV: The face of "Baby" DIEGO (18), the most famous boy in
the world, a fair-haired teenager who never lacked anything,
smiling a practiced smile.
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
Witnesses say Diego spat in the face
of a fan who asked for an autograph.
(MORE)
-----------------
Screenplay-Children_of_Men p. 2
7-1-07
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
The incident escalated into the brawl
that ended with Diego's demise. The
fan was trampled to death by the
angry crowd shortly thereafter.
Theo's coffee arrives. He lays exact change on the counter
and makes his way back toward the door, weaving through the
crowd, past people crying.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV) (CONT'D)
(solemnly)
Diego Ricardo, the youngest person
on earth, was 18 years, 4 months, 2
days, 16 hours and 8 minutes old.
2 EXT. STREET - DAY 2
Theo walks outside with his coffee. All around him, people
have stopped, their faces turned upward, transfixed by the
news. Atop some buildings, old billboard style LED screens
display the coverage. Some of the pixels are burnt out.
On a nearby wall, a mural of the country's current leader,
known only as the "Warden." A stoic visage with steely,
watchful eyes.
SUPER: LONDON, NOVEMBER 17, 2026 A.D.
Theo continues past dusty storefronts. Homeless huddle in
doorways, bundled in threadbare blankets. Pedestrians hurry
by, on their Monday morning rush to work.
Theo sets his coffee cup atop a post box. A few cars roll
by. Mostly "older" vehicles -- 2008's, a couple of 18's.
Some motorized rickshaws, a double-decker bus with metal
mesh on the windows. Bicycles. He takes a flask from his
pocket, unscrews the top, about to pour into his coffee,
when behind him
-- BOOM! A BOMB EXPLODES inside the cafe, blowing out the
windows, shaking the ground. Theo's knocked off his feet.
Smoke pours through the shattered facade of the cafe. The
counter where Theo stood moments before, simply gone. WAILS
of pain as people stagger out of the blackened wreckage,
bleeding, covered in debris. A woman splattered in blood,
holding her own severed hand.
Theo gets up, shell-shocked, hands pressed against his ears.
SHRIEKING ALARMS from nearby buildings blending with the
"Eeeeeeeee" of his ringing ears...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing a Film Adaptation From a BookWriting for film and for books requires two different sets of skills. Their main differences are:
1. Novels provide the reader with a window into the protagonists’ minds and emotions. The screen can only reveal this visually through the characters’ behaviour and their facial expressions.
2. Novels can illustrate intricate background detail and biographies of the characters leading through the main story. The screenplay’s average ninety minutes of storytelling is severely more restrictive and cannot allow for much of this.
3. The main body of the novel consists of narrative description and the inner thoughts of the characters with a smattering of dialogue and action. The screen contains mostly dialogue and action.
4. Novels average at 180 to 400 pages long. Screenplays average at 70 to 110 pages, with infinitely less words per page.
The Conversion from Book to a Film ScriptWith these differences in mind, much of the novel must be cut out. The following steps might help in deciding what to keep in. After reading the novel, make a note of for retention:
Making a Movie Adaptation from FictionBackground detail, lengthy descriptions, minor characters and incidentals must all go. Some screenwriters have been known to combine two characters of a novel into one within a screenplay in order to make it fit the tight format. The editing process can be quite brutal.
Making the Screenplay WorkFilm is a visual medium and therefore only the visual can be included. Description of the character and their actions must be pared down to a few words and sentences. Dialogue must be given the same treatment, without affecting the plot or losing its natural flow. Less is often more.
The Opening of the ScreenplayAs with any screenplay, the first ten pages are crucial. The opening need not begin at the opening of the book. Consider: Opening at the most dramatic scene of the novel.
Combining two or more key scenes of the novel or
Inventing a new beginning if it grabs the reader more effectively or injects more originality.
The dialogue that drives the plot.The key action scenes.The main seven characters or so.
Children of Men
(2006)
FADE IN:
Middle-aged FACES looking up, in quiet shock, listening...
A WOMAN'S VOICE
(upper-class English
accent)
...the world was stunned today by
the death of Diego Ricardo, the
youngest person on the planet...
1 INT. CAFE - DAY 1
MORE SAD FACES, and now we see we're in a crowded cafe.
Standing room only. Everyone staring upward, O.S.,
listening...
WOMAN'S VOICE
Baby Diego was killed in a bar fight
in Buenos Aires after refusing to
sign an autograph...
A man enters he coffee shop, making his way through the
transfixed crowd: THEO FARON (55, American), wearing a worn
suit and tie, glasses. Theo is a veteran of hopelessness. He
gave up before the world did.
Theo wedges his way through the packed bodies to the counter.
He orders:
THEO
Coffee. Black.
Next to him, a 50-year-old woman stares upward, cradling a
small dog, a tear rolling down her face. Theo follows her
gaze: an old plasma TV is mounted above the counter. A
REPORTER delivering the breaking news. Theo watches with
little interest.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV)
...He struggled his entire life with
the celebrity status thrust upon him
as the world's youngest person.
ON TV: The face of "Baby" DIEGO (18), the most famous boy in
the world, a fair-haired teenager who never lacked anything,
smiling a practiced smile.
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
Witnesses say Diego spat in the face
of a fan who asked for an autograph.
(MORE)
-----------------
Screenplay-Children_of_Men p. 2
7-1-07
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
The incident escalated into the brawl
that ended with Diego's demise. The
fan was trampled to death by the
angry crowd shortly thereafter.
Theo's coffee arrives. He lays exact change on the counter
and makes his way back toward the door, weaving through the
crowd, past people crying.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV) (CONT'D)
(solemnly)
Diego Ricardo, the youngest person
on earth, was 18 years, 4 months, 2
days, 16 hours and 8 minutes old.
2 EXT. STREET - DAY 2
Theo walks outside with his coffee. All around him, people
have stopped, their faces turned upward, transfixed by the
news. Atop some buildings, old billboard style LED screens
display the coverage. Some of the pixels are burnt out.
On a nearby wall, a mural of the country's current leader,
known only as the "Warden." A stoic visage with steely,
watchful eyes.
SUPER: LONDON, NOVEMBER 17, 2026 A.D.
Theo continues past dusty storefronts. Homeless huddle in
doorways, bundled in threadbare blankets. Pedestrians hurry
by, on their Monday morning rush to work.
Theo sets his coffee cup atop a post box. A few cars roll
by. Mostly "older" vehicles -- 2008's, a couple of 18's.
Some motorized rickshaws, a double-decker bus with metal
mesh on the windows. Bicycles. He takes a flask from his
pocket, unscrews the top, about to pour into his coffee,
when behind him
-- BOOM! A BOMB EXPLODES inside the cafe, blowing out the
windows, shaking the ground. Theo's knocked off his feet.
Smoke pours through the shattered facade of the cafe. The
counter where Theo stood moments before, simply gone. WAILS
of pain as people stagger out of the blackened wreckage,
bleeding, covered in debris. A woman splattered in blood,
holding her own severed hand.
Theo gets up, shell-shocked, hands pressed against his ears.
SHRIEKING ALARMS from nearby buildings blending with the
"Eeeeeeeee" of his ringing ears...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing a Film Adaptation From a BookWriting for film and for books requires two different sets of skills. Their main differences are:
1. Novels provide the reader with a window into the protagonists’ minds and emotions. The screen can only reveal this visually through the characters’ behaviour and their facial expressions.
2. Novels can illustrate intricate background detail and biographies of the characters leading through the main story. The screenplay’s average ninety minutes of storytelling is severely more restrictive and cannot allow for much of this.
3. The main body of the novel consists of narrative description and the inner thoughts of the characters with a smattering of dialogue and action. The screen contains mostly dialogue and action.
4. Novels average at 180 to 400 pages long. Screenplays average at 70 to 110 pages, with infinitely less words per page.
The Conversion from Book to a Film ScriptWith these differences in mind, much of the novel must be cut out. The following steps might help in deciding what to keep in. After reading the novel, make a note of for retention:
Making a Movie Adaptation from FictionBackground detail, lengthy descriptions, minor characters and incidentals must all go. Some screenwriters have been known to combine two characters of a novel into one within a screenplay in order to make it fit the tight format. The editing process can be quite brutal.
Making the Screenplay WorkFilm is a visual medium and therefore only the visual can be included. Description of the character and their actions must be pared down to a few words and sentences. Dialogue must be given the same treatment, without affecting the plot or losing its natural flow. Less is often more.
The Opening of the ScreenplayAs with any screenplay, the first ten pages are crucial. The opening need not begin at the opening of the book. Consider: Opening at the most dramatic scene of the novel.
Combining two or more key scenes of the novel or
Inventing a new beginning if it grabs the reader more effectively or injects more originality.
The dialogue that drives the plot.The key action scenes.The main seven characters or so.
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