/tv/ was useless so im asking you guys
from a mechanical perspective, what exactly makes chinatown "the best screenplay ever written"?
>>8272051
it's not really, people just like saying that - the twist at the end is retarded. however - note the descriptions. gettis is never described, yet you can see him perfectly.
>>8272051
It isn't.
>>8272051
What the fuck made you think that /tv/ would be helpful in any way?
>>8272060
>gettis is never described, yet you can see him perfectly.
What?
I'm afraid it's the person asking the question who is "useless," or, rather, clueless.
>>8272128
what about that doesn't make sense to you?
>what exactly makes chinatown "the best screenplay ever written"?
i thought chinatown was all ad-libbed
>>8272051
Its William Goldman's favorite script and he wrote the most popular book on screenwriting and uses it a ton as an example when he's explaining structure
>>8272151
"seeing him perfectly" -- is a description.
>from a mechanical perspective, what exactly makes chinatown "the best screenplay ever written"?
You tell me. It's not even one of Polanski's best, and the merits it does have sure don't come from the goofy ass noir pastiche for a narrative it follows.
>>8272168
jesus. it's a figure of speech you faggot. gettis is not physically described, yet the reader forms a great picture of the character in their mind.
Nobody in this thread has read the screenplay.
They're making assumptions through one director's interpretation of the story.
Silly anons, all of you.
>>8272177
If I was wrong, you wouldn't be so defensive.
>>8272051
>Forget it Jake, It's Chinatown
Stopped watching there, fuck Polanski the child raping hack
>>8272051
>/tv/ was useless
No suprises there
>>8272202
wow you missed the twist ending
It's not. From a purely mechanical perspective, the script for Rear Window is so comprehensive it makes several other production roles obsolete. I can think of at least five earlier movies off the top of my head I'd prefer to have written.
>>8272301
but even hitchcock thinks that the plot for rear window was overrated/derivative of other works
>>8272337
that's the plot, not the script. the script is hitchcock going full autism, and the best mechanical script you'll ever see. every single shot and angle is in it from the get go.
>>8272051
Who are you quoting? Whoever told you that would have to tell you why.
It's good in, my opinion. It's well foreshadowed, appropriately paced, has some wit in the dialogue, and is the plot is revealed in way to keep you hooked throughout the entire story, but claiming it's the best screenplay is pretty bold.
>>8272229
But that's literally the last thing uttered in the film before it cuts to black? What exactly is the twist ending if it comes after that?
>>8272340
that would be the shot list which details cinematography including shots and angles.
except for maybe a few descriptions of master shots in the actual screenplay. but still.
>>8272361
no, m8, it's the screenplay, that's what makes the script so odd.
>>8272361
http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/rearwindow.pdf
>>8272361
jesus how I love when people think that they're the smartest person around
that is why you'll never succeed in Hollywood
(no being a best boy grip doesn't count)
Pretty sure Bergman is widely considered to have written the best screenplays.
so what's the twist someone ruin those movie for me. got wasted and watched it one night. fell asleep halfway because of alcohol.
towne is a bit above average and that's it
>>8272418
shes her daughter
>>8272445
*slap*
>>8272183
Not him, but he's not getting defensive. He's just appalled at your level of stupidity.
>>8272179
I never read the screenplay but then can you explain why it's good?
What I get from screenplay professors is that they are mostly huge plebs that only care about plot structure and dialogue. What makes a movie screenplay so special? It's just a tool to make an end product. Not the end product itself.
>>8272472
I haven't read the screenplay and I won't pretend I have, unlike most anons.
I don't get off pretending I have knowledge in every area. Spouting baseless opinions is a waste of time for me and I get nothing out of it.
Having an opinion from actual first hand knowledge is where it's at.
Most anons are full of shit, but it's clear to me, nine times out of ten, when they are.
>>8272456
Well, if he's going to bitch, he should at least wear a skirt.
>>8272472
because most "great script writers" couldn't' actually write their way out of a paper bag on a technical level. its due to the director and editor mostly that manages to put those words on paper to pictures on a screen that makes a movie have a good "story"
>>8272499
Here's your summation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDii69YCh_Q
>>8272172
What are Polanski's best?
>>8272543
the pirate one
/lit/ just proved that it has shit fucking taste when it comes to cinema.
>>8272696
>can't even name a screenplay with mechanics as a feature
>waaaaah you all suck
sure showed us
>>8272703
No what tipped your hand was how you believe that Chinatown is a mediocre movie.
You fucking cunts have never the read the script anyways so I don't know why this retard OP made this thread here.
>>8272499
because most "great cinema editors" couldn't' acually edit their way out of a paper bag on a technical level. its due to the writer and director mostly that manages to connect that footage by making it that makes a movie have a good "story"
>>8272713
In terms of script mechanics, no, it's not. I get you want to suck Polanski's dick, but suck it for something worthwhile. Oh right, you can't because then it wouldn't be literature, it'd be /tv/. The Sting which took the Oscar for best screenplay the year before has better script mechanics, but since your monomania precludes you from looking at any other script, I don't expect you to know why.
>>8272736
>the sting had a better script because of the oscars
Like I said.
/lit/ is full of pretentious twerps pretending that they know things.
>>8272745
No, I said you couldn't provide reasons why it would win an Oscar, or why it's considered to have good script mechanics, because you're retarded. I know the reasons, and you'll shit yourself when you find out some of them are the same reasons you'll load praise on Polanski but couldn't come up with any praise for The Sting which did it earlier. Back to you babby pool >>>/tv/
>>8272754
>demands proof
>doesn't provide proof as well after making bold claims
typical /lit/shitter
It's a good noir film. just not a good film.
>>8272051
I did'nt know it was. Only watched it once
>>8272762
>film noir
>not black and white
It's just a film.
Well this is the final nail in the coffin for me. You morons wouldn't know good if it jumped up and bit you on the balls.
>forget it jake, its chinatown
jesus christ really?, reddittown is more like it
>>8272745
>>8272761
>i like when the audience finds out the same time as the character what solution is
>ONLY WHEN POLANSKI DOES IT THO BECAUSE REASONS OTHER THAN ME BEING SCREEN ILLITERATE
>EVERYONE ELSE MUST BE PSEUDS
kek, you just rekt yourself m8. read more scripts, i can keep providing reasons why what you have to praise about Polanski's script are retarded while you got nothing. in fact, i'm even providing your reasoning for Polanski having good mechanics since you can't even handle your half of the conversation. still doesn't make his script mechanics better than what won even the year before him. imagine if we wind it back to Wilder and Diamond how much more rekt you'll be.
>>8272448
She's my sister
>>8272780
>/lit/ shitter thinks polanski wrote chinatown
My lord.
>50 replies later
>still no one is talking about the script
>>8272813
That's because /lit/ doesn't read they just pretend they do. This is by far the worst board on 4chan.
>>8272804
the mechanics of it yes. towne's originally didn't have the audience and nicholson's character finding out at the same point, polanksi reworked that. some scenes he only rewrote a day or two before shooting.
>/tv/ shitter doesn't even know how script mechanics the movie is praised for came about
i agree you should go back there
>>8272832
>/lit/dunce thought polanski wrote the script and is now on a damage control mission
>>8272838
kek, no m8, you rekt yourself when you tried to pin polanski's rewrites on towne's original script. like you've been rekkin yourself all thread.
>>8272843
>/lit/tard still thinks he rekt anyone when he thought polanski wrote chinatown
>>8272845
>/tv/ thinks towne is responsible for good script mechanics in a script mechanics thread about how polanski made the script mechanics better
maybe your mom believes you?
>>8272843
Just because you just googled the read writer of the script doesn't mean you're not fucking retarded.
Stop posting. You write like an angsty teenager.
>>8272819
We don't generally read or pretend to read screenplays. I've never read this one, have no interest in doing so and don't know what specifically makes a screenplay good. It's not literature.
>>8272847
But that's not what this thread is about nor is that what he said.
>>8272848
wow /tv/ really hates people who know shit about mainstream movies
>>8272411
My sides
>>8272854
You don't know much about anything friendo. Just because I called you a fool doesn't mean I'm from /tv/.
>>8272857
>being this much of a retard
I remember when I was your age. Wasn't as stupid though.
>>8272858
>i really don't have an argument against what you said, i'll just pretend i'm not shitposting in an off topic thread because i'm from /lit/
kek, yes, of course, you're interested in whiteknighting the other guy not because he has retarded /tv/ opinions, not because you're probably him, but just because you're afraid someone might shitpost in an off topic thread. oh actually, maybe you're just trying to get into his pants? carry on if that's the case.
>>8272860
>I actually still have nothing about script mechanics to add to this discussion
I know anon, but try not to make it so obvious, at least throw in a few words about the script in there somewhere even if you can't come up with a counterargument.
>>8272051
>from a mechanical perspective
No such thing
There's no such thing as "the best screenplay ever written" from an objective point of view.
This script is maybe regarded to as the best screenplay ever written.
>>8272973
>>from a mechanical perspective
>No such thing
>no such thing as script mechanics
kek, this is up there with "plays don't have prose"
Yes, yes. Well done Polanski...
HOWEVER!
>>8272993
when will this geometric formalism meme end in cinematography? completely devoid of any artistic merit and everyone. fucking. does. it.
>>8272993
Yes, yes... Well done Nicholas...
HOWEVER!
>>8273014
It was ended on March 25. in the year of our Lord 2016
>>8272981
Kek, I bet you're one of those dudes who spent 10 grand of screenwriting school
>>8273021
wow maybe i need to check my privilege because those are all pretty good shots. snyder is on to something after all
Anyone remember a few weeks ago on /lit/ some guy going full autist about Vincent Gallo?
>>8273075
Yeah too bad the script was sub-9gag-tier.
>>8273014
the "cinemaphiles" eat it up
>>8272051
From what i learned, it's 'structured.' On paper, it's the correct length. plot points really make the story turn in a different direction. bumpoints, and midpoint are in places that really makes the script interesting. great action sequences that drive the movie forward, and the dialogue is used to keep the story moving forward. It cover's a lot more than that. here's a page where it can show you what it fits.
http://www.kimhartman.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Summary-of-screenplay-by-syd-field.pdf
>>8273086
>watching kino for plot
>>8273094
>Ignoring certain aspects of a production and only reveling in one or two facets, which by themselves are hardly enough to redeem a pile of shit
I bet you enjoy vocal-centric Top 40 tunes too.
>>8272981
I don't think you understood what he said at all
>>8273102
No I only listen to superficial aesthetic music like Bach, Händel, Scarlatti or Purcell while admiring screensavers or videos of bodybuilders on stage you pleb
>>8273080
i want to read this
>>8273129
https://yuki.la/lit/8197570#p8198529
He spammed images from Gallo movies in unrelated threads and got angry when they got shit on
>>8273054
lol no, it's just retarded to maintain there's no way of judging the mechanics of a script. Especially on a board where SWTG is a meme and someone might have read Aristotle on tragedies or any shit like that.
>>8273114
Yeah, he said there's no objective standards, which means that a couple thousand years of canon is wrong about plays, and film criticism is just a stab in the dark. He even tried to argue that you can't analyse script mechanics objectively, which is practically saying that we might as well get rid of acts, scenes, and arcs and anything to do with script mechanics. Just because he's retarded and wrong doesn't mean he's incomprehensible.
>>8273158
What I'm saying is that 'script mechanics' have nothing to do with Chinatown's script being regarded as the best script written, because script mechanics is something that is supposed to 'help' beginners write their scripts.
>>8273158
>He even tried to argue that you can't analyse script mechanics objectively, which is practically saying that we might as well get rid of acts, scenes, and arcs and anything to do with script mechanics. Just because he's retarded and wrong doesn't mean he's incomprehensible.
Wow this dude is angry
He's probably starting to realize whatever mechanics he learned in those screenwriting classes he took won't make him a decent screenwriter.
>>8273185
>>8273185
>What I'm saying is that 'script mechanics' have nothing to do with Chinatown's script being regarded as the best script written
Yes they do, in the same way that the mechanics of Agatha Christie's books have a lot to do with detective fiction where the reader can actually work out whodunnit with the detective and Sayers' mechanics have a lot of influence on whodunnits and howcatchems. The mechanics in Chinatown let information come to the audience as they come to Gittes in much the same fashion, and it's why it's usually praised for mechanics.
>>8273193
>people who point out i'm wrong must be angry
lol, enjoy that fantasy, I don't expect you to come up with a more original one, let alone one that fits reality. It does sound both comforting and stunting, if it's opinions of each other time.
>>8272762
what the fuck does this even mean you pseud
>>8272350
Are you retarded or are you just pretending ?
>>8272301
Adaptation and Truman Show are the two works I wish I wrote
>>8272051
It has become a staple of what a good hollywood script(used as an example in popular script theory writrs) is but you have to remember that hollywood favors a certain type of structure to make the process of going through scripts faster.
Meaning that the scripts are built so those who read through a shit ton of them find them interesting and so it catches their eye.
I dont know the details, maybe this script writer already had certain fame and privilages so he didnt have to worry about being "catchy" to script readers but it was still a prodcut of that perticular script writing climate.
IT was good for a specific time and place but all these theories based on existing material(much like the poetics by aristotle) can only make conclusions based on past work and obviously the future will be different..
But of course, large industries like the hollywood move making industry, favor stability and status quo so popularizing a certain script writing technique structure and form is something that they would encourage and find convinient.
>>8274716
Truman Show is literally "dude society and mainstream media consumption is totally le suxx0rz xD"
>>8272543
I think it's a toos up between The Pianist and The Ghost Writer
The former being more cinematically powerful, the latter being more clever.
>>8275880
>muh evil CIA
pffff
Why do westerners love to hate themselves?
>>8272051
It's well layered, concise, has a twist ending that never fails to surprise the audience, is funny, tragic, full of good characters and is worth rereading.
The real magic emerges when you see the translation from text to screen.
>>8275954
You forgot to mention that its nothing more than a polished pointless turd.
>>8272060
>gettis
>>8272472
>What makes a bouillon cube so special? It's just a tool to make a soup. Not the soup itself.
>>8272060
Cause he is a fucking caricature, like the rest of the characters. There is something very american about caricaturizing things and cultures.
>>8275962
welcome to cinema
>>8275988
Film noir is essentially comics.
The WGA put up billboards with famous movie lines next to screenwriters here in LA a few years ago, and there was one with Towne and 'Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.' The thing is, Towne didn't write the line, and it wasn't in the original screenplay. Polanski wrote it.
