Table Of ContentWhat’s the Story? The Director
Meets Their Screenplay
A structured perspective on the crucial interface of director and screenplay,
this book encompasses twenty-t wo seminal aspects of the approach to story
and script that a director needs to understand before embarking on all other
facets of the director’s craft.
Drawing on seventeen years of teaching filmmaking at a graduate level
and on his prior career as a director and in production at the BBC, Markham
shows how the filmmaker can apply rigorous analysis of the elements of dra-
matic narrative in a screenplay to their creative vision, whether of a short or
feature, TV episode or season. Combining examination of such fundamental
topics as story, premise, theme, genre, world and setting, tone, structure, and
key images with the introduction of less familiar concepts such as cultural,
social, and moral canvas, narrative point of view, and the journey of the
audience, What’s the Story? The Director Meets Their Screenplay applies
the insights of each chapter to a case study—the screenplay of the short film
Contrapelo, nominated for the Jury Award at Tribeca in 2014.
This book is an essential resource for any aspiring director who wants
to understand how to approach a screenplay in order to get the very best
from it, and an invaluable resource for any filmmaker who wants to under-
stand the important creative interplay between the director and screenplay
in bringing a story to life.
Peter Markham is a creative consultant, teacher, author, and former directing
head at the American Film Institute Conservatory. His alumni, award winners
at major festivals, have notable careers in film and TV. Prior to teaching, he
was a director in the UK, and worked with filmmakers including Anthony
Minghella and Martin Scorsese.
What’s the Story? The Director
Meets Their Screenplay
An Essential Guide for Directors
and Writer- Directors
Peter Markham
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Peter Markham
The right of Peter Markham to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Markham, Peter, 1952– author.
Title: What’s the story? the director meets their screenplay :
an essential guide for directors and writer-directors / Peter Markham.
Description: London ; New York : Routledge, 2020. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020024639 (print) | LCCN 2020024640 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367415891 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367415877 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780367815363 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Motion pictures–Production and direction. |
Motion picture plays.
Classification: LCC PN1995.9.P7 M327 2020 (print) |
LCC PN1995.9.P7 (ebook) | DDC 791.4302/32–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024639
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024640
ISBN: 978- 0-3 67- 41589- 1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0-3 67- 41587- 7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 0-3 67- 81536- 3 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Newgen Publishing UK
To Barbara Tfank, for her unwavering belief and support
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART A
The approach 3
1 What’s the story? 5
2 Premise 10
3 Theme 16
4 Genre 21
5 World/ setting 39
6 Cultural, social, and moral canvas 43
7 Tone 49
8 Structure 55
9 Passage of time 63
10 Character 69
11 Narrative point of view 85
viii Contents
12 Introduction of the protagonist and main characters 99
13 Key images, objects, and motifs 106
14 Opening image, frame, shot 110
15 Closing image, frame, shot 119
16 Endings 124
17 The 5-step creative analysis of the screenplay 131
17.1 A brief summary of the scene 131
17.2 The journey of the protagonist 131
17.3 The journey of the audience 132
17.4 The turning point of the scene 133
17.5 The function of the scene 134
18 The director’s statement 135
PART B
The case study—Contrapelo screenplay by
Liska Ostojic and Gareth Dunnet- Alcocer 137
19 Screenplay 139
20 Contrapelo case study 162
21 Conclusion 181
References 182
Bibliography 183
Index 184
newgenprepdf
Acknowledgments
I would like to give my thanks to the following, without whose inspiration,
insights, guidance, and encouragement I could not have written this
book: Dubois Ashong, Ari Aster, Zal Batmanglij, Pieter Jan Brugge, Lee
Citron, Richard Cottan, Paul Cronin, Neil Dickson, Aihui Dong, Sabrina
Doyle, Joseph Garrity, Julian Higgins, Dean Israelite, Mick Jackson, Asher
Jelinsky, Leqi “Vanessa” Kong, Stefan Kubicki, Perry Lang, Tal Lazar, Moya
Lee, Shiyu “Rhyme” Lyu, Rebecca Maddalo, Manjari Makijani, Theoline
Maphutha, Jim McBride, Joel Novoa, Chloe Okuno, Joseph Oppenheimer,
Matthew Pancer, Philiane Phang, Charlie Polinger, Asaph Polonsky, Justin
Rhodes, Barry Sabath, Daniel Sawka, Chris Schwartz, Omer Ben Shachar,
Matthew Specktor, Rob Spera, Courtney Stephens, Greg Takoudes, Tomas
Vengris, Max Weissberg, Amelie Wen, Hao Zheng, Quan Zhou, Shu Zhu, Dr
Mahlet Zimeta, others whom, with my apologies, I have no doubt omitted
to mention, and the many Directing Fellows and those of other disciplines
I was fortunate to come to know during my career at AFI Conservatory.
I also wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Steven Holt for his meticulous,
informed, and enlightening copy-e diting.
I am indebted to Gareth Dunnet-A lcocer and Liska Ostojic for allowing
me to use their screenplay of Contrapelo as the case study.
Note: several categories in chapters 5 and 6 are taken from the class
handout of Robert Boyle (1909– 2010), AFI Conservatory Production
Design Faculty and Production Designer whose credits include North by
Northwest, The Birds, and Marnie. Of all the remarkable guests to my class,
Bob was surely the most distinguished, and I owe him a debt of gratitude for
the insights I was able to put to use in these chapters. I hold the memory of
AFI Conservatory colleagues Gill Dennis and Frank Pierson, who taught me
so much, similarly dear.
