Danny Boyle’s Olympic Opening: the Future of Screen “Writing”?
The Liverpool Echo has this interview with screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce on his role in the conceptualization of Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony production. His description of the process and tools used to plan the Olympic ceremony reminds me of Kathryn Millard’s exploration of prototypes and simulations in her contribution to Analysing the Screenplay (ed. Jill Nelmes).Says Boyce (my emphasis in bold):
“My job has been to come down every now and then and see how it’s all fitted together. Does it flow? Does it have a story? And just to be a fresh pair of eyes.
“They sit and play and build models and do drawings and talk a lot, and then I come every now and then and write it all down so other people outside that room have some idea what’s been going on.”
The first few months were spent gathering images and ideas together on a noticeboard, like “a giant scrapbook”.
This is Screenwriting 2.0 in action: the harnessing of collective intelligence to build a better “script.” Boyce takes pride in his contributions, but exclusive claims of authorship hold no meaning for him:
Is there anything there of Frank’s that has made the final cut?
“You kind of lose track of stuff,” he says. “There are things that I’m really thrilled are in there, but I can’t remember whether it was me.”
I wonder if either Boyce or Boyle might explore using similar processes in the development of their next feature projects?
Andrew
Andrew Kenneth Gay is an independent filmmaker and visiting instructor of film at the University of Central Florida, where he has taught Script Analysis for several years, along with such classes as Foundations of Story, Writing for Film & Television, Screenplay Development, and Adaptation. He has also taught screenwriting with the New York Film Academy. He is an accomplished writer/director, having won awards for two of his short films, and is currently completing post-production work on his first feature film, A BEAUTIFUL BELLY. He has an MFA in Film & Digital Media, a BFA in Film Production, and a BA in English Lit and Philosophy/Religion.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.screenplayology.com/2012/07/28/danny-boyles-olympic-opening-the-future-of-screen-writing/
Jul 28
Danny Boyle’s Olympic Opening: the Future of Screen “Writing”?
28 July 2012
The Liverpool Echo has this interview with screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce on his role in the conceptualization of Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony production. His description of the process and tools used to plan the Olympic ceremony reminds me of Kathryn Millard’s exploration of prototypes and simulations in her contribution to Analysing the Screenplay (ed. Jill Nelmes).Says Boyce (my emphasis in bold):
This is Screenwriting 2.0 in action: the harnessing of collective intelligence to build a better “script.” Boyce takes pride in his contributions, but exclusive claims of authorship hold no meaning for him:
I wonder if either Boyce or Boyle might explore using similar processes in the development of their next feature projects?