Reading Between the Lines

By Thomas Willett

There seems to be an obstacle that faces me every now and then. This week, I came across numerous follow-ups to old stories that I’ve done. Eddie Murphy gave a Rolling Stone interview that makes me kind of excited for his Oscar hosting. Kal Penn discusses his time in the White House (though no leads on if he was fired). I was right about Beavis and Butt-head. And best of all… New Girl is back (disregard that this wasn’t their best episode) and episodes away from introducing Lizzy Caplan to the cast.

I also started November off right with a decision to marathon Breaking Bad and get it done by New Year’s Day. However, it was hard to come up with a topic this week. You know that it’s bad when every movie news website is doing Oscar predictions instead of great coverage. I was thinking of commenting on West Side’s Story’s influence (the 50th Anniversary is next week), or the abomination that is Happy Feet Two, but both seem redundant to older blogs on this website.

I decided to look forward in time. What movie am I excited about? There’s no argument that Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is amongst them. Call it style over substance, but I’ve adored his work for the most part. I’ve been eagerly awaiting every casting detail, hoping that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amongst Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz. I know very little about it, but damn if I won’t get excited when the teaser trailer hits (I love the Inglourious Basterds one, even if it just teases me into thinking Samm Levine has a dominant role in it).

So, what can I do to pass time? I can look for the script. In truth, it’s been floating around for months now, and my discovery is by no means revolutionary.

Numerous questions involving movie ethics come into play when discussing my choice to read the script. The most prominent one is won’t the movie become spoiled if I know the ending? Does it really make it that much better to know every beat and know that the protagonist makes it out alive?

Let me start by saying that this is nonsense. You immediately accept the risk of discovering brutal truths when you agree to read the script. This is also equivalent to book adaptations. No one really complains about spoilers from book adaptations, do they? While those stories are often heavily altered to fit the cinematic format, the overall plots should be roughly the same.

Most recently, I have hopped on the band wagon for the Hunger Games movie. While little of the advertisement swayed me, I wanted to discover the hype before anything serious happened. I actually read Suzanne Collins’ book and thoroughly enjoyed it. While my vision of Panem is very much Renaissance meets the Industrial Age, this is mostly attributed to the fact that I created the universe out of words. I have a feeling I am way off. I don’t even know what the great District 1 looks like. I have trouble formulating that. I am very excited to see if the movie improves on my vision, or if I will be disappointed.

This is precisely the goal I hope to achieve with reading the Django Unchained script. In fact, I don’t even read most scripts of movies I’ve already seen. To me, reading them is all about creating your vision in your head and bringing it to life. I also read Inglourious Basterds script a good two months before the movie’s release, and I was more excited when I finished. Not only was I disappointed that they never released an extended edition with the original owners of the theater (an amazing scene in the script), but Tarantino is one of those directors that makes the movie come to life more.

That’s another thing that makes reading scripts good. There are subtle details that are changed, and as a nerd, it’s fun to spot them out ahead of time. Along with that, I’ve also read Machete, Pineapple Express, and Funny People scripts and all were fairly similar to the final product in plot. However, you can see recycled jokes or alternate endings. The entire story is there, but it’s more fascinating to watch on the big screen and be surprised that the one joke you liked didn’t actually make it.

I honestly don’t believe the drafted scripts are of much use after viewing the final product. I believe that you are more likely to notice differences in the script before instead of after. Another thing that any script can do is teach you how to write your own. Like any good story, the words should help you visualize performances, scenery, and make you ambitious to create your own picture. I haven’t mastered it, but after reading these and holding a copy of Chasing Amy to high regards, I have a basis for where I can turn to if I need inspiration.

So, to argue that reading scripts is spoiling the plot, it will. However, that didn’t stop anyone from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II or The Return of the King. We all know Potter knocks Voldemort out. We all know Frodo destroys the ring. There’s just a difference in perception between text and motion. It’s more preference, and I want to view things in as many formats as I can.

I’ve heard great things about Django Unchained, and I only think more highly because of the profiles attached. To me, I will enjoy plotting out the cast in my head and watching them spout that dialog. Just like with The Hunger Games, this is a sensation I will not get when the movie arrives. I encourage readers to visit http://www.imsdb.com and discover the joy of reading scripts. It is something I don’t do too often, but when I do, it makes even the most mundane movies more memorable.

You can read Thom’s blog every Wednesday and hear him on Nerd’s Eye View every Tuesday and Thursday at nevpodcast.com. If you have a favorite script you read, tell us at nevpodcast@gmail.com. You can also read Thom’s movie reviews at Cinema Beach.