As a matter of fact, none of the written documents from the 1890s and early 1900s are screenplays. Steven Price (2013), a professor in modern and contemporary literature and film, and Edward Azlant (1980), a professor of film history and screenwriting, corroborate this interpretation. Morse wrote a stage play in 1879 that was later adapted into a film, thus eliminating the idea of a screenplay since it was a filmed stage play. However, this interpretation is quickly debunked by Ted Nannicelli (2013), lecturer of film and television: “The script cannot be a film scenario properly so-called because Morse did not possess the concept ‘film scenario,’ let alone the intention to create one in 1879” (p.83). Perhaps the first conception of screenplay comes in the form of Salmi Morse’s The Passion Play of Oberammergau (1898). They were showing something in the nature of the spectacle, which is why their subjects were exotic to the viewer. Tom Gunning (1986), a teacher of film history and theory, coined the term for this type of film, “cinema of attractions.” As the name suggests, films were attractions, similar to a circus. Although rudimentary techniques, they were brand new at the time. The most popular tricks were splicing, slow and fast motion, multiple exposures, and in-camera effects such as blocking the lens (Parkinson, 2012, p. Trick films used new technology to create visual and special effects which were never seen before. Topicals are similar to the concept of news today: they would show current events, from sports to war, and natural disasters. Scenics were scenes of everyday life from people all around the world, giving the viewer a glimpse into international cultures. Variety acts and fictional narratives were both shot in studios and were often sketches pulled from stage plays. The variety act, fictional narratives, scenics, topicals, and trick films. Janet Staiger (1985), professor of communication in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, identifies five main categories to which films of the time belonged. As such, films of that period revolved around the novelty of the new medium, “At first films were marketed on the basis of the technological novelty of moving pictures” (Staiger, 1985, p. Between 18, a written plan for shooting was unnecessary, as films were too short to require one. This is simply because films were no longer than a minute, “Many of the machines of that time could not take more than fifty feet of film at one time, and it was not possible to give more than the hint of a story in the fifty to sixty seconds the picture ran” (Sargent 1913, 8). In fact, according to Steven Maras (2009), professor in media and communication, the compound term “screenplay” was not in wide use until the 1940s. Considering the fact that the American style of screenwriting is widely accepted as the standard today, the logical approach is to showcase its history.Įarly on, the concept of screenplay did not exist. It is important to keep in mind that screenplays evolved in distinct environments and industries other than Hollywood. Thus, many foreign conceptions will be overlooked due to a lack of readily available research, mainly in France, Germany and the Soviet Union. Second, since studies are fairly recent, foreign research has yet to be translated or thoroughly investigated. First, the modern idea of screenwriting was established by Hollywood from American manuals (Price 2013, p. This article will focus on American history for two reasons. Despite these setbacks and ongoing debates among researchers, a rough history of screenplay has been revealed (Maras 2009, Price 2013, Staiger 1985). Finally, they were difficult to access since only physical copies existed and were either archived in studios for record-keeping or thrown away, “Everyone knows that when shooting is over, screenplays generally end up in studio wastebaskets” (Carrière 1995, p. While it is true that directors, actors, and a plethora of artists read screenplays during the filmmaking process, rare are the ones who go out of their way to fetch previously published material. Secondly, screenplays are almost exclusively read by screenwriters, making the pool of interested parties quite small. Firstly, filmmakers found themselves in competition with literature and theater, the more senior arts: “literature represented one of the older arts against which the new art of cinema had to assert itself” (Maras 2009, p. Its study is still fairly recent as it had not been brought to the forefront of filmmaking until the 80s with the proliferation of screenwriting manuals (Price 2013, p. Unlike film, however, screenwriting has not been extensively studied and is not widely taught in schools like cinema. If film is considered a new art, the first public projection being in 1895 (Science Media Museum 2020), so is screenwriting. In order to understand the condition of screenplays today, it is crucial to dive into its history.
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