Art in the ‘big print’: An examination and exercises for cinematic prose writing style

Guides to writing screenplays worry most about plot sequence, character development and the dialogue. Yet, the ‘big print’ is a necessary part of any screenplay and as an educator I work with my screenwriting students to learn how to craft the big print so it is both powerful and minimal. This article is an examination of the art and style of screenplay prose; in particular, I use the screenplays of Arac Attack (released as Eight Legged Freaks), Aliens and Platoon as distinctive examples of diegetic writing in order to illustrate variations of style and how these affect the progress of the script and further, how the encumbering big print forecasts the overall tonal choices of the film. Each style discussed (minimalist, poetic/expansive and florid/expressionistic) is accompanied by suggestions for classroom or independent-study exercises meant to help develop movie writing style. Too long has the screenplay been seen simply as a blueprint for the final film; it is now time to begin appreciating the art of the written word in screenplay studies.