While the equation for a great film has innumerable components, one of the most important ingredients is a good script. A film script or a screenplay is the blueprint for a film. It is the text of a film - describing all the action on screen and every dialogue for each actor. An excellent script cannot guarantee a good film but it can certainly map out a game plan for one with potential.

So how exactly can a script reader predict if they have gotten hold of a good script? More importantly, how does one predict if it’ll make for a good experience on screen?

Well, that’s a complicated question to sort out.

The aspects of a script that needs to shine through varies from genre to genre. For example, an action thriller film script like Die Hard (1988) or Inside Out (2015) will focus on the script structure and dialogue - both are tight and intense in this case. The script writing style for a horror movie The Conjuring (2013) or the Insidious film series, however, counts more on the suspense - here the dialogues can be very meandering and sparse. A movie like Dunkirk (2017) characteristically has minimal dialogues and plays with the various perspectives like land, air and sea. It, thus, focuses heavily on cinematography, musical score with the screenplay being more dependent on scene description and action.

Then what remains constant for the script of either style? They have to be cinematic. The scripts with potential are those that don’t even feel like a script - a piece of literature - but rather like one can actually watch the movie in the mind’s eye. Those are the real page turners; they have the magic to truly make one feel, which is after all the driving force of any cinematic piece. The very components of a script - the structure of the story, dialogue, the arrangement in its entirety - has to simply feel like a movie.

Now let’s break up this complex idea into digestible bits.

Watch it before watching it

Visualisation is an important ode to the creative process. It is the first step for both the script writer and the script readers. Before writing a single letter of a script, it is important to be able to see the entire movie in the mind’s eye and the same translates over to the script readers’ job as well.

This is the reason we see lots of the same kind of movies on-screen. They may be formulaic and unoriginal, at least as a concept, but they are popular for a reason. They are easy to visualise and thus, easier to refresh as a cinematic experience since the only task left is to spice it up.

The degree to which a script reads cinematically speaks to the quality of the film itself after production. There is also a correlation between what the audience can connect to and what reads well on-screen in this case. The Perks of being a Wallflower (2012), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Love, Simon (2018) and Ladybird (2017) are all very different in terms of story but the throughline of growing-up, friendship and navigating life as a youngster connect their screenplays.

What hooks you in?

A standard screenplay varies between 90-120 pages with each page translating to one minute in a movie. What does the movie and the script get to make its mark on the audience? Usually, a mere 10 pages decide the fate of a script. A visually or verbally engaging opening scene will definitely keep the viewer interested through the first few pages of getting immersed in a new world. The Dark Knight (2008) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018) do a great job of dousing the audience headfirst in their universe without warning and actually making it work.

Now, we’re in but what keeps us going? This is where not only the story comes into play but also intelligent storytelling comes into play. A lot of filmmaking is not about the plot but how the film plays with the audience.

An engaging murder scene is all well and good but what if after the killer staring longingly at a weapon, we see the victim hanging from the ceing? Was it a murder then, or a suicide? Even misleading the audience works wonders as depicted in the opening sequence of American Psycho (2000).

Can the script truly utilise the power of cinema?

Whom do we journey with?

Characters are a quintessential element which creates catharsis and which the script reader can connect with on an emotional level. There are misconceptions that the protagonist needs to be the “good guy” or we need to be aligned with their morality or at least, even with a “bad guy” as the protagonist they need to be “cool” or have a redemption arc to redeem them.

Wrong! They just need to be human and interesting, their morality couldn’t matter less.

Cruella (2021) is a fine demonstration of unjustified evil - the irredeemable protagonist keeps getting worse, taking the audience along for the ride. In Léon: The Professional (1994) and American Beauty (1999), the grey morality is almost whiplash-inducing but both films are heralded as amazing pieces of work.

What do you hear?

The rule of thumb for any dialogue is that it has to matter to the story either by furthering the plot, revealing something or by reflecting the theme of the film. It shouldn’t be obvious about it but must impart some information with some conflict or tension thrown into the mix. Above all, dialogue has no fixed rules, it changes depending on the essence of the film.

Good Will Hunting (1997) is a study in exquisite dialogue and effective execution even if the phenomenal cast is set aside (although putting Robin Williams aside should be considered an impossible feat). From long-winding monologues to practically battling with words, there are diverse forms of dialogue. Where Marriage Story (2019) replicates the way normal people speak organically, Before Sunset (2004) switches it up with its philosophical back-and-forth and both fit their respective bills to a tee.

What? When did that happen?!

The plot and the structure that is the “what happens” and the “when it happens” respectively dictate the general flow of the story. The plot ties in the events in a story and gives purpose to the characters and their arcs. The events included in the script, the sequence in which they are shown and the way the timeline of the film is played with constitute the structure.

Concerning the plot, we again circle back to what looks good on-screen. While the script must consider what kind of structure the film should be aiming for, it is no way a hard and fast rule that it should be concretely followed in the end product nor does it imply that the plot should correspond with the structure. To elucidate, Gone Girl (2014) interweaves flashbacks in the narrative to trick the audience with the unreliable narrator. It is meant to hide the twists and turns in the plot, culminating in the manipulation of the story to perfectly fit the classic film story structure of Hollywood.

Now that we’re on the topic of plot structure, some staple and successful story archetypes frequently used are:

• Three-act structure: Star Wars (1977), Die Hard (1988)
• Hero’s journey structure: The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars (1977)
• Multiple-timeline structure: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
• Hyperlink cinema structure: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), Dunkirk
• Fabula & Syuzhet structure: Forrest Gump

and many, many more. There are also beat sheets like Save the Cat! to keep track of the important moments in the film as precursors. A crucial point of focus in the story beats is the conflict or confrontation which often incites action. A powerful script tracks all of the events in a fluid manner so that the pacing flows aptly.

So there you have it: some focal points which set a good film script apart from others! But never forget to be flexible and give the unique ones a fair chance to shine!