Page One: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ (2015)

Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff, story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

The movie version of the scene:

The numbered scenes indicate this is a production draft which is why there is a title/credit sequence included in the script. The scene description — the first two paragraphs — suggest the screenwriters worked in concert with the director on the very beginning of the movie. Watch the clip and check out all the V.O. dialogue, how the screenplay doesn’t specifically include those lines, but does suggest both the flow of the introduction and some of the names associated with the voice-over narration.

In a spec script, typically we do not include an opening credit sequence. That’s not a rule. I’ve seen scripts which sell that have done this. The reason why the convention is to exclude such a sequence is because this is the director’s domain in concert with the production team.

You can read the screenplay here.

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.

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