Disentangling the screen idea

Abstract

This paper takes the concept of the screen idea (as outlined by Philip Parker 1998) and uses it to mean ‘any notion of a potential screenwork held by one or more people, whether or not it is possible to describe it on paper or by other means’, and whether or not that notion has a conventional shape. This concept leads towards a clearer understanding of the process of screenwriting, which in turn helps consideration of what is being evaluated when looking at the products of that practice. The screen idea is the essence of the future screenwork that is discussed and negotiated by those involved in reading and developing the screenplay and associated documents; it is shared, clarified and changed through a collective process. This concept of the screen idea is developed with reference to the work of Roland Barthes in order to clarify the influence of norms and assumptions used during that process that may otherwise be hidden or unacknowledged. The process of script development has been explored in the CILECT conference ‘Triangle 2’ (Ross 2001), and this article takes two of these projects to examine how the screen idea is ‘rewritten’ by the collective process. In these examples it is not possible to attribute single authorship in the face of this dynamic and complex process of creating meaning. The underlying normative drive for a readerly text is made according to assumed, though often unacknowledged and unquestioned criteria.

Keywords:

• screenwriting
• film theory
• Barthes
• script development
• screen idea