INTRODUCTION
A script is the written text of a play, film, or broadcast. It acts as an organizing and structural tool, a reference and a guide that helps everyone involved in the production. It communicates to everyone the idea of the film clearly and simply. It provides a predetermined look at what will be said and what scenes will be shot to match the overall message you are trying to portray.
Scriptwriters must prepare their script in a way that enables readers to envisage the setting, emotion, and the way it will work on screen. They are the ones in control of how the story of the film goes.
A1-ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SCRIPTWRITERS IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY
Obtaining work as a scriptwriter
Scriptwriters get hired in filmmaking by selling their screenplays and ideas to agents and producers. Once they have had some work accepted, and started to build a professional reputation, producers will start to commission them to produce scripts. If a scriptwriter tries to get hired this way, they must be prepared for rejection. They may have an advantage if they have experience in writing and storytelling from another field such as journalism.
Scriptwriters could also get their work noticed by entering competitions run by broadcasters and regional screen agencies. If a scriptwriter wins a contest and wishes to get into the scriptwriting career, they must let the contest administrators know that they would like to talk to as many of their industry relationships as possible. Producers will then contact the scriptwriter to ask questions about their work, and the scriptwriter must show that they know the art and craft of screenwriting and be ready to answer any questions about their work. The producers may feel inclined to request your other projects or offer you your first writing assignment.
Another media sector in which a scriptwriter can get hired is in radio journalism, which is writing scripts for radio stations. You can get hired in radio journaling by doing a college course in ‘Tv and Radio Journaling.’ Through this course, you gain professional experience, a strong portfolio and you will have covered a diverse range of media. This hiring process focuses more on what education and experience you have had rather than applying with the work you have written.
Case study
Charlie Kaufman is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Charlie Kaufman won 13 awards such as the Academy Award for Writing, Grand Jury Prize, and the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay. He went to William H. Hall High School, Boston University and New York University. Charlie Kaufman starts his script writing process by writing notes to himself and taking long walks with a little pad in his pocket. He has a Netflix film released in 2020 called ‘I’m thinking of ending things’ with help from his agent, Sharon Jackson.
In 1991, Kaufman got himself an agent and moved to Los Angeles with no job or prospects. He got no calls or interviews from anyone. Suddenly, he got one phone interview from a guy who was doing a show back in Minneapolis with Fred Willard, and Kaufman got hired over the phone. He was disappointed because moving to Los Angeles was his last effort to get in the show business but thought that this writing job was better than anything he had had before. Kaufman was packing up to head out, back to Minneapolis when he got a phone call from David Mirkin, who liked Kaufman's script and told him not to go back. Although Mirkin did not hire him, Kaufman decided to stay in LA and gave up the Minneapolis job.
Kaufman got hired on ‘Get a Life,’ a sitcom starring Chris Elliot as a 30-year-old paperboy living above his parents’ St. Paul garage. He then went on to write episodes for more TV shows.
While waiting for more work after one of the sitcoms he wrote for was cancelled, Kaufman started writing a film script that evolved to incorporate elements of whimsy and inventiveness. Malkovich read the script and liked it, but that was as far as the script went for a couple of years, before it came together. The screenplay started to create a buzz around Hollywood, but producers were too scared of the story's oddness to make it. Kaufman's approach to writing is fundamentally destructive and cannot be defined by any one genre or style. Then R.E. M’s Michael Stripe bought the script and things finally began to move. Spike Jonze signed on to direct the film and the cast all got on board because of the originality of the material.
Demands and Requirements
One way in which scriptwriters develop their skills is taking classes. In a scriptwriting class, you learn the essentials needed to master screenwriting format. It is also helpful in teaching their students a process for developing, outlining, writing, and revising their projects.
In video game writing, you must be good at game playing to understand the different styles of writing for different type of games. To do this, they must play several types of games and focus on the style of writing, they could also join clubs or groups to discuss what people like about the type of game the writer wishes to write about.
Games writers must think about how they are going to make the narrative an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the player because they are not following a main character, they are the main character. The players should relate to the character they are playing so that they can be drawn into the role and feel like they are part of the story. In TV, the writers must focus on a plot to follow, but in game writing, writers must focus more on making the experience more enjoyable. This makes game narrative writing more like theme park design or interior design than writing films and novels.
In TV, writers must think about the plot throughout the entire story, and make sure their characters are not underdeveloped. TV writers must also be good at solving problems that they’ll face every day and be collaborative with other people who are helping with the script.
A2- LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCRIPTWRITERS IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY
Legal considerations
Copyright is a legal requirement to protect your original work from theft. You automatically own the copyright to any work you create. Copyright only protects the way your idea is expressed but does not protect the idea itself. It is advised that you have proof of your authorship, and many writers like to register their script with and organisation for more reassurance but costs a small fee.
Plagiarism is when someone rephrases someone’s ideas and presenting it as if it were their own original thoughts. To avoid being accused of plagiarism, scriptwriters should cite all their sources, paraphrase or quote the original text and running their work through a plagiarism checker tool before submission.
Censorship is the suppression of things that may be considered harmful or sensitive. This could include pornography, sexual language, and violence.
Tess Gerritsen claimed she sold the rights of her novel ‘gravity, to ‘Katja’ in 1999. In 2002, Cuaron and his son wrote a screenplay called ‘gravity’ after the warner brothers became the owners of the feature rights to her book after it took control of new line in 2008. Gerritsen claimed that they owed her screen credit and a percentage of the net proceeds. Twice, the court ruled that the warner brothers is not responsible for new lines contractual obligations to Gerritsen.
Ethical considerations
Script writers must take in ethical considerations when writing a script. They must cite all their references they studied, and make sure all the material is accurate and valid. To ensure that ethical issues are considered, writers must avoid any misleading information, or exaggeration. Full consent should be given by research participants before a study, anonymity and privacy of the participants should be ensured and respect for the people involved should be prioritised.
An example of a film that did not meet ethical requirements is ‘The bad lieutenant.’ In this film, the main character is a police officer uses his power to his advantage and does whatever he wants. This not good representation of police and raises ethical concerns.
EVALUATION
Scriptwriters usually get hired by selling their screenplays and ideas to agents and producers. Once they start to build a reputation, they will get commissioned to produce scripts. They could also get hired through winning competitions or in sectors such as radio journalism, they could get hired by doing a college course.
Scriptwriters develop their skills by taking classes, reading over others work or for people in careers like game writing, they can play other creators' games and study the script.
Copyright is important to protect writers works, but it only protects the way your idea is expressed but does not protect the idea itself. It is advised that you have proof of your authorship, and many writers like to register their script with and organization for more reassurance, but it costs a small fee. There are also other demands that writers must meet such as not plagiarizing others' work or censoring things that may be considered harmful or sensitive.
Scriptwriters must also cite all their references and ensure that they are avoiding any misleading information, or exaggeration. Full consent should be given by research participants before a study, anonymity and privacy of the participants should be ensured and respect for the people involved should be prioritised.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
American Civil Liberties Union. 2022. What Is Censorship?. [online] Available at: <https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Base, K., 2022. Plagiarism Archieven. [online] Scribbr. Available at: <https://www.scribbr.com/category/plagiarism/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Charlie, V., Report", C., Synecdochian, A., novel, C. and logo, A., 2022. Biography. [online] Beingcharliekaufman.com. Available at: <https://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.php/biography> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP. 2022. Stolen Screenplay Ideas: A Look at Recent Cases | Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP. [online] Available at: <https://cdas.com/stolen-screenplay-ideas-a/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Censorship - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship#:~:text=Censorship%20is%20the%20suppression%20of,sensitive%2C%20or%20%22inconvenient%22.> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
LWW. 2022. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors, Reviewers, and Authors : Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®. [online] Available at: <https://journals.lww.com/clinorthop/Fulltext/2000/09000/Ethical_Responsibilities_of_Editors,_Reviewers,.14.aspx> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
McKenzie, H., 2022. What Is Copyright? A Guide for Screenwriters - Script Angel. [online] Script Development and Screenwriter Coaching. Available at: <https://scriptangel.com/copyright-for-screenwriters/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Media Level 3 Year 2. 2022. Unit 19 – Screenwriting Report. [online] Available at: <https://finnharrisonmediayear2.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/unit-19-screenwriting-report/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
racheldayscriptwriting. 2022. Legal and Ethical Concerns in Scriptwriting. [online] Available at: <https://racheldayscriptwriting.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/legal-and-ethical-concerns-in-scriptwriting/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Research-Methodology. 2022. Ethical Considerations - Research Methodology. [online] Available at: <https://research-methodology.net/research-methodology/ethical-considerations/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
SoCreate - Screenwriting for Everyone. 2022. The Skills Every TV Writer Needs. [online] Available at: <https://www.socreate.it/en/blogs/screenwriting/the-skills-every-tv-writer-needs> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Unit 19 - Scriptwriting. 2022. Learning Aim A. [online] Available at: <https://hpbtecunit19.wordpress.com/learning-aim-a/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Variety.com. 2022. Tess Gerritsen Dropping 'Gravity' Lawsuit Against Warner Bros. - Variety. [online] Available at: <https://variety.com/2015/biz/news/gravity-lawsuit-warner-bros-tess-gerritsen-1201530746/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
For the resubmission, I added to the ‘Obtaining work as a scriptwriter’ and ‘Demands and requirements’ in A1. I also completed A2, the evaluation and bibliography.
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