30 Days of Screenplays, Day 9: “The Matrix”
Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?
Why 30 screenplays in 30 days?
Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts.
There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get from reading scripts, giving you an innate sense of pace, feel, tone, style, how to approach writing scenes, how create flow, and so forth.
So each day this month, I will provide background on and access to a notable movie script.
Today is Day 9 and the featured screenplay is for the movie The Matrix (1999). You may PDF version of the script here.
Background: The screenplay was written by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski.
Plot summary: A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.
Tagline: The Fight for the Future Begins
Awards: National Film Registry in 2012.
I’d like to note two things. First, what great scene description. Here is an early action sequence from the script:
And we’re off and running into the next scene. So many strong verbs in this sequence. Here are some of them:
snaps, explodes, erupting, kicks, flies, slams, raking, snatched, twisted, fired.
And that’s just from the first few paragraphs. How about descriptors:
force of a wrecking ball, limp meat and bone, flashlights sweeping with panic, try to stop a leather-clad ghost
Reading this script drives home how important good scene description can be, especially strong verbs and vivid descriptors, with a goal to make the read as entertaining as possible.
The second thing is character archetypes as The Matrix is yet another movie which slots right into the paradigm:
Protagonist: Neo
Nemesis: Agent Smith, Machines
Attractor: Trinity
Mentor: Morpheus, Oracle
Trickster: Cypher
That is about as clean as it gets when it comes to the five primary character archetypes.
What’s your take on The Matrix? Stop by comments and post your thoughts.
To see all of the posts in the 30 Days of Screenplays series, go here.
This series and use of screenplays is for educational purposes only!