Page One: “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013)

Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

A trailer for the movie:

Two things. First, I love this movie. It may be my favorite Coen brothers film. Having made a living as a musician for seven years, the story of Llewyn Davis as depicted in the movie is a gut-wrenching saga of the end of one man’s creative dream … and by the movie’s finale, he doesn’t even realize it.

The second thing: How the Coens write scripts. It has evolved over time. Compare the above script excerpt with this from their very first movie Blood Simple.:

Apart from the font change, note how in the later script, they have moved away from using sluglines and shots. What’s interesting is from a reader’s perspective, what they intend is clear.

If there is a takeaway for us, it’s this: When we compose a writer’s draft — that is a selling script, not a shooting script — we have a certain amount of latitude in how we handle screenplay format. Caveat: It has to be clear to the reader.

You may read the screenplay for Inside Llewyn Davis here.

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!

Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story.

For more Page One posts, go here.