For Your Consideration: Studios Post Screenplays Online for Awards Season

I have done both, but I think reading the script first is more educational for writers. If you watch the film first there’s the same disconnect as when you see the adaptation of a book you loved (except in reverse.) The script is liable to seem so flat by contrast. I’d rather read the script and love it, and then watch the film and have my mind blown.

I read the script after watching the film. This allows me to read knowing exactly what kind of result the director was able to achieve. It also shows me potential ways to word a sequence so that a desired visual result is achieved. As a director I’m constantly trying to find new ways to communicate to others, and reading the script after watching the film is an excellent way to learn communication tricks/skills, in my opinion of course :D

In my case, I read the screenplay of The Storm of the Century by Stephen King before watching the film. The screenplay contained scenes which didn’t appear in the film version. I was disappointed . I like those screenplays which contain well-written dialogs, that’s why I reread Sorkin’s A Few Good Men or Pinter’s Sleuth.

I *really* prefer to read the screenplay first if I can. It’s hard with classic films but can be very rewarding. However, there are a couple of films which have changed so much between drafts and I’ve been able to read the earlier versions—some of which I’d liked to have seen e.g. Frank Darabont’s unused Indiana Jones, or the original Back to the Future or Predator.
There’s at least one film I thought I’d actually seen (They), to the point of asking my wife if she remembered seeing it, but I’d just read the script.

I read Aaron sorkin’s The social network before seeing the movie. i was trilled when i read the script. it was not the same feeling when i watched the movie. I guess Directors change and move things around. They have that power. For that reason, i think it’s not a good idea to “improve” your writing from a movie, except in my opinion you are directing the movie yourself. Reading screenplays serve that purpose better.
if you guys lay your hands on ARGO, we would really love to see that screenplay.

I don’t like reading the screenplay until I’ve seen the film because I don’t want any expectations going into a film. Then if I really loved a film, I’ll seek out its screenplay and see 1) how the scenes I loved were written and 2) what was changed.

8 comments on story and writing, 291 comments on camera and price. And they said “the story is king”. Ha!

Personally I like to read the script first, visualising it for myself without pretense to figure out how I would visually approach a scene. Then when I watch the movie, I compare my ideas to what was actually done. Normally I learn a lot each time I do this.

Thank you for letting us know about the availability of these screenplays!