Screenwriting Class

Chinatown was the first movie we watched in my Screenwriting class this summer. Holy crap it's good. I mean, it is considered one of the best screenplays ever written by the Writer's Guild, so it makes sense that this (and many other) classes lead off with it. Granted, that list doesn't contain a single animated movie, which I think makes it pretty flawed. But that said, the movie is superb. It's one of Jack Nicholson's earlier films and his performance takes the movie to that next level. It also teaches a lot of the basics of screenplay writing that i didn't know existed and i think are pretty self-explanatory. For example, on or around page 3 of every (decent-good) movie will state a "thesis". In the social network, it's the line "there is a difference between being motivated and being obsessed," ironically muttered by Mark himself. Then by page 10, there is a conflict: "You may think that girls won't date you because you are a nerd, but it's really because you're an asshole." Page 30 has the first plot twist (the winklevii approach mark) and on page 90 we get the second plot twist (Sean parker approaches mark). It makes so much sense organizationally, but I guess i'd never seen it put into such defined words like that. Anyway, watch this movie. It's a little too long, but the payoff at the end is worth it. I also had a sudden urge to watch Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine again (aka the Charlie Kaufman binge). Really excited to be studying film, disappointed i won't get to take film classes before i graduate.