1.12: Rewrites - Workshop through Readings with Performers
- Page ID
- 73446
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
The majority of your process will be rewriting and revising scenes along the way. As a director, make sure that your narrative is staying consistent and trust that your actors will ask questions or bring up consistencies that are out of character within the script. If you find your hero painted into a corner, don’t worry. If you don’t know how to solve the problem, neither will your audience and you have the ability to surprise them.
When rewriting or analyzing a scene, ask yourself these questions.
- Who wants what? From Whom? What happens if they don’t get it?
- Does the scene build to a climax and propel us into the next scene?
- Can the scene stand on its own dramatically? If not, how can it?
- Is the problem the character is trying to solve within the scene too easy to solve? If so, how can it be made more difficult?
- Is anything being explained and if so how can it be shown to the audience rather than told?
- Are there any parts of the scene that are not necessary to the story I am telling? If so, cut them.