Page One: “Vertigo’ (1958)

Screenplay by Alec Coppel & Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel “D’Entre Les Morts” by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

The movie version of the opening:

Yes, great writing in the script. No, we do not write scene description like this nowadays. Instead: (1) We do not include specific camera shots. (2) We break up scene description into small paragraphs, typically 1–3 lines.

Still, I do recommend reading classic movie scripts. Pay less attention to screenplay format and more attention to the actual writing.

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.

You may follow the daily conversation on Twitter as I cross-post there: @GoIntoTheStory.