The Show Must Go On

Ever thought about writing a play? We are lucky to have noted playwright Bill Ballantyne with us at The Script Department. Bill took a few moments to share some of his thoughts about screenwriting versus play writing.

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After my first two plays were produced, I decided it was time to write a screenplay. I had always loved movies, I was a dramatist, and I was lured by the opportunity to make some big bucks. The project took me four weeks. I was proud of it and sent a copy to a major agent. A month later, it was returned. Three-quarters of it had been obliterated by red ink. One hundred and twenty pages had been reduced to thirty- two. It was accompanied by a single comment: “ And it stinks.” Needless to say, this gave me pause for thought. Perhaps I should transcend my hubris and learn.

A screenplay requires a strong story. You should map this out carefully, every step of the way. It is comprised of incidents, which change rapidly and inter-connect. The hero must go through a series of ups and downs, to keep us involved. A counter story adds friction and suspense. The arc and denouement must be thrilling and satisfying. In the theatre, the story is secondary; it will evolve of its own accord. The plot of “Waiting For Godot” is, basically, two guys killing time; hardly big box office!

A play is an event, performed in the living present, and shared by audience and actors alike. The writing must be, essentially un-planned. How else does one capture spontaneity and surprise? “Plot” isn’t very important. What happens on that stage is all that counts. The experience might be elusive, even cryptic. A movie must be straightforward and show everything. There is a distinction in time. A movie comes from the past, it is immutable. Instead of actively participating in an event, we are passively being told a story. In the theatre we are being communally held. At a movie we kick back with popcorn in our own, private world. This is not to say one form is better than the other; simply different.

After we playwrights have hammered out a strong story we encounter the Big Lesson: the medium of film is not words, it is pictures – moving pictures. As a screenwriter you describe those pictures. Dialogue is merely a part of this process. Great movies contain a minimum of words. When Steve McQueen was handed the script of “Bullitt”, he scratched out half his dialogue and wrote in Extreme Close Up. He was not vain. He knew that his face could communicate more than a raft of words, and he was right. Think of the “Spaghetti “ westerns. The ideal movie would have no words at all.

Now comes the painful part. As playwrights we have complete control. As screen writers, we are part of a team. The producer, the director, the star actor, the cinematographer, all have their say. Our perfect script is changed, re-arranged, and re-written, often by strangers. Control, ultimately, is out of our hands. Can our egos take this? The answer better be “yes” – we are making a movie.

The noted playwright Clifford Odets described Hollywood as “A Babylon of easy money and artistic demise” He died while writing an episode of “Have Gun Will Travel” for Richard Boone. Do not despair. The landscape is changing. Producers are becoming more sophisticated and television is finally attempting to be literate. Playwrights are starting to feel comfortable and welcomed in Los Angeles. Marsha Norman , John Guare, Tom Stoppard, even David Mamet have found meaning “on the coast.”

The moral: One of the hallmarks of a good play is how disappointing it is when transcribed directly to film. Do not write a play. Study photographs, study books on the craft, read as many screenplays as you can. Absorb the shock and understand that you are describing a story in pictures. Then, if you are willing to re-adjust your imagination, plunge in.

William Ballantyne graduated from the Yale School Of Drama where he studied with such giants as Stella Adler, Bobby Lewis and Robert Brustein. He wrote his first play The Al Cornell Story in 1982 which won a Dora Mavor Moore Award. His second play, Bat Masterson's Last Regular Job, was performed in Toronto and in New York simultaneously. He has written sixteen plays, to date, receiving international praise. Bill is also the chief film consultant at Warrington International, where he writes and edits documentaries, features and shorts. He maintains a small coterie of promising students whom he coaches privately, both for stage and screen. He has recently sold his film, Cooking For Two.

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