The Screenwriter's Job Is to Direct on the Page

What does it mean to write cinematically?

You probably want to conjure images in a reader's brain via your screenplay. But you have to do that quickly and economically, because your screenplay isn't a novel. You can't describe every little detail.

So what do you do instead?

Film Courage sat down with screenwriter Brandon Violette (co-creator and head writer of CoComelon Lane on Netflix, and a veteran of Disney, DreamWorks, and Hasbro projects) to ask this question.

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Direct on the Page

Violette describes cinematic writing as "directing on the page."

"Scripts shouldn't have to read like technical documents, like you want them to have a rhythm and a flow, even if they're not meant to be read out loud like the dialogue is," he said. "But it's going to be read by the network, and then it's going to go get storyboarded."

Your goal in every script is to present a complete vision. The writing should have intention that makes the reader, the storyboard artist, or the actor feel like they're lifting something off the ground rather than rescuing it.

Everything will change in production. That's fine. But hand over something that already feels alive, and you set the whole team up to add to your work rather than fix it.

Practically: before you submit a draft, ask whether every scene has a clear visual intention behind it. If you can't see it in your head, neither can anyone else.

What Does It Mean to "Direct on the Page"?

Please, for the love of Pete, do not take this advice and dump a bunch of camera direction into your screenplay. Your brain is a natural "camera." What does the writing focus on? The mind's eye will be drawn there, like a close-up, and will likely fill in any gaps as the action is described.

You don't have to write, "EXTREME CLOSE-UP on a gun hidden under a newspaper. CUT TO WOMAN, who looks nervous and reaches a hand to pull the newspaper over it slowly, CAMERA TRACKING."

It's too much. Instead, try, "A gun is tucked under a newspaper on the table. The woman clocks it. Frowns. Pulls the paper over it."

What you choose to describe, and in what order, is already directing. Here's how to think about balancing dialogue and action to keep your script cinematic throughout.

Write What Delights You First

Violette points out that you are the first reader. Does the writing excite you? If not, it's time to revise.

"You have to do it for yourself first, because otherwise it's not really going to lift off the page, and that's what you want," he said.

The work that gets you into a flow state is the work that carries something off the page for everyone else and is easy to read. He describes the ideal writing state as the moment a scene clicks visually, and you're just transcribing what you see. You're not controlling the story. You're following it.

If a scene isn't clicking, that's diagnostic information. Stop pushing and ask what would make it specifically surprising or exciting to you. Write toward that.