Page One: “The Elephant Man” (1980)

Screenplay by Christopher De Vore & Eric Bergren & David Lynch, book by Frederick Treves

The atmospheric opening of the movie:

An interview with David Lynch about Elephant Man.

He likely never would have gotten involved with Elephant Man had he been able to raise the funds to make a script he wrote called Ronnie Rocket.

Here is how Lynch thinks of writing a screenplay:

That’s not all. There’s also this:

“For seven years I ate at Bob’s Big Boy. I would go at 2:30, after the lunch rush. I ate a chocolate shake and four, five, six, seven cups of coffee — with lots of sugar. And there’s lots of sugar in that chocolate shake. It’s a thick shake. In a silver goblet. I would get a rush from all this sugar, and I would get so many ideas! I would write them on these napkins. It was like I had a desk with paper. All I had to do was remember to bring my pen, but a waitress would give me one if I remembered to return it at the end of my stay. I got a lot of ideas at Bob’s.”

Seventy scenes… and lots and lots of sugar.

For the entire article on Lynch and screenwriting, go 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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