Reflections: Richard Walter Screenwriting Public Lecture
It’s been some days since I attended Richard Walter’s Public Lecture on Screenwriting held in conjunction with Aftrs, Griffith Film School and Inscription and herein lies some reflections on the experience.
Comprising of 2 two hour lectures one in the morning and one in the afternoon, it’s a both an entertaining and informative day on thinking about the craft of writing.
In the morning Richard took us through some introductory remarks on screenwriting that really serve to frame how he thinks both about the craft and and what constitutes a good screenplay.
He’s got his own cute ways of saying things which you can read about in his books, and this is what I took away from it:
- write a personal story
- write a integrated screen so that EVERY sight and every sound – MOVES the story forward
- Reach as many people as you can, because that is the nature of the art.
- Get as much conflict in your story as you can
- Tell the best lie you can to find Emotional Truth
- Stories have begins, middles and ends
- and perhaps most importantly, for a story to mean anything it needs to come from a Source, via a Message, and to a Receiver.
- And that in fact one of the most important things a writer can do is think about their Receiver/Reader/Audience every single step of the way, every word, every mark on the page.
Appropriately all of this can be found in books, and I would recommend you read them before you listen to him speak.
In the second two hours the final point above gets a real work over, where he breaks down in brief a few screenplays to see how they could be improved. Yes, every word, every mark on the page. It’s a bit of an eye-opener.
Right.
So, what do we have? Some useful information, but if that’s all you need than it is significantly cheaper to read his book.
But more importantly you get an entertainment.
What are we saying here? Richard even in his public lecture takes his own advice to heart. Every anecdote, every little screenwriting gem – told and re-told through countless hours of teaching – each now refined and is delivered just so to both entertain and inform.
It’s like the man doesn’t know how not to entertain. A good place to be if you want to get into a craft whose primary purpose is to do just that.
Lecture attended: Richard Walters Screenwriting Public Lecture.
More info http://richardwalter.com/
