Script To Screen: “Braveheart”
A scene from the 1995 movie Braveheart, written by Randall Wallace.
A scene from the 1995 movie Braveheart, written by Randall Wallace.
IMDb plot summary: When his secret bride is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, William Wallace begins a revolt and leads Scottish warriors against the cruel English tyrant who rules Scotland with an iron fist.
In this scene, young William mourns the murders of his father and brother. Even though the video cuts in midway through, I’ve started the scene at the beginning to provide context.
Here is the movie version of the scene:
Two things. A screenwriter can suggest action, but in scenes such as this, even more important to convey atmosphere, the psychological mood of the moment. Then let the director direct… and the actors act… and the editor edit. Compare the results in the movie to the few lines in the script. You’ll see what I mean.
Second, the single best thing about this exchange between William and the young girl is what isn’t there: Dialogue. It reminds us yet again that movies are primarily a visual medium. The image of the flower handed from the girl to a grieving William says it all.
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 Go Into The Story series where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.