By Matt House of Chuck Norris Ate My Baby.
From pen to paper, to fingertip on keyboard, a screenplay is the extension of the script writer’s imagination, put into words as descriptive as what one sees in his or her mind. What one imagines when typing out a script is the goal of what the script yearns to describe, though, what one person imagines, is often very different from what another perceives. A script is a basic guideline to what the writer would project on screen, and outside of the basic story, is the gateway from thought, to celluloid. When talking about an original screenplay, you are looking at the heart and soul of one’s thoughts about characters and settings and how they come together to flow into a cohesive narrative as mentally envisioned by the writer.
The Best Original Screenplay comes from usually one, maybe two people (depending on re-write factors, of course), unlike best picture, where there are many factors and even more people (including the screenwriter) involved to bring the story to life. It’s an award for best story telling when it comes down to it and to tell an amazing story is the core of filmmaking and why many of us love cinema.
Character development is key when telling a good story and 9 times out of 10, the nods for Best Original Screenplay are for films with strong and well written characters. I personally have an affinity for characters and the depth they can bring to a movie. Seeing a character evolve over the span of a film’s running time is one of my favorite aspects of cinema. Having a character or characters that can contrast with another character, or even the film’s story itself, is a very powerful tool that brings much depth to a movie, as well as give it a lot more meaning.
A movie can have all the glitz, all the veneer, and all the money in the world to afford big name actors and the best technical aspects, but if you do not have a great, and compelling story, then there is something missing. Story telling is what drives cinema and to be recognized for a great story, is to be recognized for the passion and heart one puts into their writings and the world they create.
If cinema were the human body, the script would be the skeleton, without a skeleton, there’d be nothing but a pile of mushy organs and flesh, with nothing solid for support.
These are the best skeletons of 2009, as nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Up – Bob Peterson and Pete Docter
As for what film I think will and should win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay…Inglourious Basterds, without a doubt. It was my favorite film of 2009, but in all honesty, I tend to take a little longer to catch up with with a lot of the big movies and it was the only one that I saw, so my choice is an easy one.
