Script To Screen: “Big Fish”

A scene from the 2003 movie Big Fish, screenplay by John August, novel by Daniel Wallace.

Plot Summary: A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.

Here is the scene in the script:

EXT. SORORITY HOUSE - DAY Sandra walks out to him. She's smiling, confused,
joyful and scared. All down Greek Street, STUDENTS
are coming out to see the display. SANDRA
Daffodils? EDWARD
They're your favorite flower. SANDRA
How did you get so many? EDWARD
I called everywhere in five states
and explained this was the only way
I could get my wife to marry me. Out of nowhere, a tear drops down Sandra's cheek. She
wipes it off. SANDRA
You don't even know me. EDWARD
I have the rest of my life to find
out. From down the street... A MAN'S VOICE
Sandra! SANDRA
It's Don. Promise me you won't hurt
him. EDWARD
If that's what you want, I swear to
it. The adult DON PRICE arrives. He's 230 pounds of
football-playing, Skynyrd-loving, fraternity-proud
muscle. And he's pissed. A gang of his BROTHERS walk behind him. DON PRICE
Bloom! EDWARD
Don. DON PRICE
What the hell are you doing? This is
my girl. Mine! EDWARD
I didn't know she belonged to anybody. Don Price decks him, knocking him down. Edward gets
right back up, but makes no move to defend himself. Unfazed, Don slugs him again. SANDRA
Stop it! DON PRICE
(ignoring)
What the matter, Bloom? Too scared
to fight back? EDWARD
I promised I wouldn't. A beat. Don shrugs, fine. Then proceeds to kick
Edward's ass nine ways to Sunday. EDWARD (V.O.)
While I took the beating of a
lifetime, it was Don Price who was
ultimately defeated. As the ass-whupping continues, we INTERCUT WITH: INT. FRATERNITY HOUSE BATHROOM - DAY [FLASHFORWARD] Sitting on the can, Don Price pinches a loaf while
reading the new Playboy. EDWARD (V.O.)
All the physical activity had worsened
a congenital valve defect. Put simply,
his heart wasn't strong enough. Don Price squeezes down hard, trying to shit the
unshittable. Suddenly, he grasps his chest and
collapses face-first on the tile. MATCH CUT TO: EXT. WITCH'S HOUSE / GATE - NIGHT [FLASHBACK] The same image of Don's dead face on the tile is
reflected in The Eye. RETURNING BACK TO: EXT. THE SORORITY HOUSE - DAY The thrashing continues. Edward somehow fights his
way back to his feet, ready to be knocked down again. SANDRA
Don! Don is about to slug Edward again when he turns. Sandra pulls off her engagement ring. There's an
audible AHH! from her sisters, and an OHH! from
Don's brothers. SANDRA
I will never marry you. A beat. Don stands stunned, his mind reeling. Edward, whose eyes are swollen almost shut, keeps
waiting for the next punch. Where is it? What's
going on? DON PRICE
What. You love this guy? SANDRA
He's almost a stranger and I prefer
him to you. She hands him the ring. Another beat, then Don storms
off. But not before decking Edward one last time. Sandra leans over Edward's broken body. His head lies
on the daffodils. SANDRA
How can I convince you to stop? EDWARD
Go out with me. He smiles, his teeth bloody. SANDRA
Okay. As the crowd of students APPLAUDS and CHEERS, we
CRANE UP above the flowered battlefield. EDWARD (V.O.)
As it turned out, Sandra was able to
keep her same date at the chapel.
Only the groom had changed.

Here is the movie version:

There are some interesting cuts in the movie:

• No tear drop. Probably because it seems out of place for Sandra to express that level of emotion for a guy she barely knows, precisely what she conveys in the next line.
• The flashback to the witch’s eyes is cut. Perhaps because it interrupted the flow of the scene between Edward, Sandra, and Don.
• This exchange is gone:

Sandra: How can I convince you to stop?
Edward: Go out with me.
Sandra: Okay.

I suspect two things contributed to this cut. First, the smiles the actors summon up convey the point visually. Second, the following voice-over narration by adult Edward intimates that the couple did go out because they ended up getting married. So the sides were deemed extraneous.

How about that scene description from John August?

• The adult DON PRICE arrives. He’s 230 pounds of football-playing, Skynyrd-loving, fraternity-proud muscle. And he’s pissed.
• Don Price squeezes down hard, trying to shit the unshittable.

A reminder that we can use scene description not only to convey action, but also entertain the reader.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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