Screenwriting Fundamentals

ThreeThe Visual Component—I

We are storytellers and our medium is visual. As screenwriters, when we write a script, what we are doing is telling a story, the motivations and intentions of the characters, the plot twists, the tone of the story, the genre of the story. Perhaps our intentions in telling the story—we might have a particular political or social statement or philosophical statement we want to make. All of which we hope will give a producer and a director reason to spend a chunk of their time devoted to the story we are telling.

If we are lucky enough to get the project okayed, we’re also informing an armada of people who have technical needs very specific to their particular aspects of filmmaking. The Casting Director is one of the ...