No Day’s Off Script Writing (pt.2)

While it can be hard to analyze scripts and learn to write one I’m hoping doing so will give me lessons that I need to write my script correctly. So in this post I will be continuing my analysis of script writing on how the writer of  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off describes characters and helps with movie production.

In addition to the writer’s description of sound talked about in my last post, the author also noted the presentation of different characters within each scene. What I found interesting about this was that the author not only described what the character looked like but key points about their character and the impressions the viewer was supposed to get of them.

 Much of this writing was done in a very informal tone and growing up being taught to write professionally I was thrown by how blunt the writing was. This is mostly seen in the author’s description of Jeanie.

Another surprise I was met with was that there was more in the script than there was in the movie. In the beginning of the script, the reader is met with a list of characters that would be in the following scene. This list included Kimberly and Tom, younger siblings of Ferris and Jeanie. Kimberly and Tom are not in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which leads me to the conclusion that scripts are not the end all be all of what happens in the movie.

Scripts go under several steps of writing, reading, and rewriting.  New ideas are included as quickly as they are discarded until the director settles on what they think is best.

Maybe a four-child household would not have been as relatable to audience members. Maybe it made the scene too busy and distracted from the movie’s brand.

Either way these characters being nonexistent in the final film has shown me that it is okay if I don’t get my script perfect the first time around and that the first step is to try and write one.

Resources:

Click to access FerrisBuellersDayOff.pdf