On 19 November, Creative Europe Desk Slovenia masterclass in scriptwriting took place in E1–2 Hall between 9.00 and 17.30, conducted by an expert in screenwriting and a professional script doctor, Mary Kate O Flanagan. She first explained to the 70 delegates – mostly young people – that she believes scriptwriting to be an acquirable skill. Contrary to European cinematic conviction that the flair for scriptwriting is inherent, O Flanagan is of the opinion that everything requisite for a good script can be learnt, except for creative talent. A scriptwriter must know not only how to attract attention of a test reader but also how to grab his imagination so that he gets intimately and emotionally involved. This can be achieved by the tension between “desire” and “fear”, with which a cinematic storyline has to hold the audience “by the throat”. In possessing such skills, it is possible to make an excellent film with meagre funds – in contrast, a strong film crew with a weak script cannot expect a great achievement.

As a case study, O Flanagan showed the participants a low-budget independent film, Frozen River by Courtney Hunt, and elaborated on the contextual elements of each scene in great detail, the elements that generated suspense between a viewer’s hope and fear, related to the development of the plot and future actions taken by the characters. She differentiates good scripts (and consequentially good films) from the bad ones by the fact that the even minor characters have their own stories and lead their own lives independently of the main character. An effective narration develops by focusing on the two stories equally, while in more mediocre films the supporting character scenes mostly have no other function apart from gradually introducing the main protagonist and his story. After showing the Danish-Swedish series, Broen-Bron-The Bridge, Mary Kate drew our attention to the strong Scandinavian scriptwriting tradition. Flanagan, who is based in Denmark where she was raised, explained that this did not happen by miracle but is the result of a sound scriptwriting training system (especially the notable Danish Film School) – visionary teachers, such as Mogens Rukov and Henning Carlsen, influenced whole generations of writers who are masters of their trade and produce high-quality stories. At the same time, the process of story-writing is very democratic; the writers continuously test on potential audiences the stories they work on, also working with other key members of the crew or outsourced script doctors. According to O Flanagan, European films, even if having an immaculate plot, greatly lack the tension that the Scandinavian scripts excel at.  

In concluding, she gave an analysis of the media-exposed and popular comedy series, Girls, thereby drawing our attention to the well created dramatic tension in TV comedies. More information on O Flanagan’s work and her philosophy can be found at the webpage edited by Mary Kate and her sister, Rachel O Flanagan.

Sabina Briški and Andraž Jež

Photo: Iztok Dimc
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