Alternative Scriptwriting: Beyond the Hollywood Formula. Ken Dancyge and Jeff Rush. New York, NY: Focal Press, 2013. 474 pages
By Patrick Charsky
Dancyger and Rush’s Alternative Scriptwriting is a very unique book among Screenwriting textbooks. It is far different from Syd Field’s Foundations of Screenwriting and goes in directions that Russin and Downs’ Writing the Picture fears to tread. It is a great book for independent filmmakers. Alternative Scriptwriting is an excellent criticism of the Hollywood formula. Not only does the book break down the mainstream way of making films, it offers methods to make alternative films that are more creative, personal, and innovative than movies made in the classical way.
Ken Dancyger and Jeffrey Rush are both film professors. Dancyger teaches at NYU and Rush teaches at Temple University. Both have published widely in the fields of scriptwriting, Film, and Media Studies. I read Alternative Scriptwriting after reading books that were more classical; like Foundations of Screenwriting by Field, Story Sense by Paul Lucey, and Writing the Picture by Russin and Downs.
Alternative Scriptwriting is at it’s best when it is criticizing the three act restorative screenplay. The book makes clear that since the Napoleonic Wars this has been the structure of dramatic works. The question that Dancyger and Rush raise is what next? What to do about the tired formulaic ways that Hollywood depends so much upon? The answer they have is to go beyond the traditional three act structure that books like Syd Field’s Foundations of Screenwriting propound as the answer to screenwriters’ problems.
The two books may disagree about how a screenwriter should structure their script, but they do agree that screenplays, for better or worse, are all about structure. In Alternative Scriptwriting there are six chapters devoted to a discussion of structure. In the best chapter comparing classical filmmaking to alternative filmmaking, the authors compare Steven Spielberg to Steven Soderbergh.
They write that Spielberg is the epitome of classical filmmaking style. In contrast, Soderbergh is the poster boy for alternative filmmaking. By analyzing these two Auteurs and their films, the details of each way of making classical or alternative films are elucidated in clear terms that every reader can understand. From here the authors develop their analysis of alternative scriptwriting throughout the book.
With so many people writing screenplays these days, how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you write a screenplay that is turned into a film? Dancyger and Rush push readers to veer away from the Hollywood formulas that are so prevalent in action/adventure films. To do this, the authors say, is to write scripts that focus on background or character. They say that character is more important than plot. And to have a successful screenplay, the writer must think deeply about character.
The book is replete with examples about how to structure a film that emphasizes character. I was turned on to numerous films and found myself watching a few films the book talked about. The Constant Gardener was one such film. It is definitely an alternative film. It has shots of poverty in Africa, a non-linear structure to the film, and deals deeply with the character of Ralph Fiennes. This was one film among many that the authors referenced or offered as a case study.
Prior to reading Alternative Scriptwriting I had seen a number of Alternative Films. But never before had I encountered such insight and intelligent analysis of the differences between Hollywood and films from Indiewood, Europe, or Asia. The authors also showed how mainstream films and alternative films have blended together over the past decades. This has made films newer and fresher than the staid, classical way of filmmaking.
Whether one way is better than the other, I suppose, is a matter of opinion. Whether you prefer American films made in Hollywood or Art Films made in Europe or Asia, this book will show you the differences between them and cause you to reconsider your understanding of filmmaking.
The next point Dancyger and Rush make is to write films that are infused with personal experience. They write that personal films make better films. How does one do that? How does one write a personal film? Dancyger and Rush talk quite a lot about genre. The relationship between personal films and genre is an important topic. They write that most people have boring and relatively normal lives where not much happens. So, with this in mind writers must resort to genre. From here writers can infuse their stories with personal attributes while working within a genre.
Alternative Scriptwriting analyzes many films that use genre and further on, those films that mix genre. This was a new concept for me and I’m sure it will be for other writers. The best example they write about is Blade Runner. Blade Runner is a combination of two genres: Film Noir and Science Fiction. Ultimately, Dancyger and Rush say Blade Runner is a failure because using both genres undermines either one. Their analysis of Blade Runner is insightful and revealing. I took a new view of the film I had seen many times, but I never considered the fact that it is a blend between genres.
Another point Alternative Scriptwriting makes is about innovative screenplays. Screenplays that go beyond the three act structure. A great example the book cites is Quentin Tarrantino’s Pulp Fiction. The authors write about its unique structure in the chapter about non-linear films. It also comes up in the chapter about character. For sure, Pulp Fiction has many colorful characters.This is another area where scriptwriters need to think and think hard to make their scripts innovative.
A prime example of an innovative character is Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist. In this example, Dancyger and Rush write, is a main character that is not likeable. Yet the film is still an interesting study of Italy during the Fascist years. The character of Marcello is made more empathetic by his background story. He was raped as a child and his family life is in shambles. So he turns to Fascism. Not a very likeable character, but a character with distinctive traits. There are countless examples that the authors of Alternative Scriptwriting use in thinking about character. The chapter is good as a reference when thinking about how to create a main character for a script.
Structure, Theme, and Character are the big issues according to the authors of Alternative Scriptwriting. They truly do go beyond the Hollywood Formula and present new ways of thinking about scripts. They reference many different films and television shows, breaking them down, analyzing each way to reveal their structure and explaining why they work or why they don’t.
The writing can get quite academic and philosophical. I would recommend reading the book at least twice. Filmmakers looking for a new way to consider writing scripts would want to consult this book. It is the opposite of many books in the market about the Hero’s Journey and other formulas that are the bread and butter of the big studios.
Alternative Scriptwriting has great references, profound insights, and much advice about how to write scripts. It stands in the same class as Robert McKee’s Story, Syd Field’s Foundations of Screenwriting, and other books that greatly add to the instruction and discussion of how to write screenplays. Although not a breezy memoir filled with anecdotes about making films, it is a great book that delves deeply into questions about the process of writing screenplays.
