Read All 2011 Oscar Nominated Screenplays
Thank you Cinematical for this very helpful resource. You can read or download the following screenplays at this link.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
‘Another Year,’ by Mike Leigh
‘The Fighter,’ by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
‘Inception,’ by Christopher Nolan
‘The Kids Are All Right,’ by Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
‘The King’s Speech,’ by David Seidler
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
’127 Hours,’ by Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
‘Toy Story 3,’ by Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
‘True Grit,’ by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
‘Winter’s Bone,’ by Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
‘The Social Network,’ by Aaron Sorkin
Screenplay Format Diagram
Here’s a great post from the nice people over at The Writers Store for those of you who need a clear introduction to screenplay format. Go and check it out larger and in all its glory on their site. I am posting the diagram here as a service to students, but Writers Store people let me know if you object and I’ll remove it immediately.
The ‘W’ Beat Sheets
One of the structural models I use in ‘Write What You Don’t Know’ is called the ‘W’. It is linked to other models called the ‘V’ and the ‘Wardrobe’ (I know, what can I tell you?) Here are the basic beats at two levels of complexity, the half angle and sixteen beat versions. Feel free to copy / paste as you like for your projects:
THE ‘W’ IN HALF ANGLES
FIRST DOWN ANGLE – RECOGNITION
A. Primary exposition.
B. From rejection to acceptance.
FIRST UP ANGLE – AVOIDANCE
C. Doing just fine on my own.
D. Pushed to your (opening) limits.
MIDPOINT – JUMP!
SECOND DOWN ANGLE – COMMITMENT
E. From leap to crisis.
F. Through crisis to revelation.
SECOND UP ANGLE – RESOLUTION
G. The plan and the pushback.
H. The resolution and its meaning.
THE ‘W’ IN SIXTEEN BEATS
FIRST DOWN ANGLE – RECOGNITION
A. Primary exposition.
1. “…in a world where ‘ooh look, stuff.’”
2. “If only…”
B. From rejection to acceptance.
3. “Shan’t.”
4. “Oh, all right then.”
Did you spank your hero/ine today?
FIRST UP ANGLE – AVOIDANCE
C. Doing just fine on my own.
5. “You may not realize this yet, but…”
6. “What, me broken?”
D. Pushed to your (opening) limits.
7. “Meh, this is harder than I thought.”
8. “Leap? But it’s dark?”
Did you spank your hero/ine today?
MIDPOINT – JUMP!
SECOND DOWN ANGLE – COMMITMENT
E. From leap to crisis.
9. “Bigger kids came.”
10. “Er… little help?”
F. Through crisis to revelation.
11. “It sucks to be me.”
12. “Oh, riiight…”
Did you spank your hero/ine today?
SECOND UP ANGLE – RESOLUTION
G. The plan and the pushback.
13. “I have a cunning plan.”
14. “Bandits, three o’clock high.”
H. The resolution and its meaning.
15. “Eat judge boot, creep.”
16. “Oh brave new world…”
Did you spank your hero/ine today?
