Credits: October 2005 Archives

As most of you know, the credits for the movies and television shows you see are often arbitrated by the WGA. When it comes to films, the credits are frequently divided into two categories: “story by” and “screenplay by”.

Today, I’m going to discuss what the difference between those terms actually is (as opposed to what most people think), and I’m going to talk about how arbiters should approach the extremely difficult task of not only parsing a single literary work into two components, but of assigning portions of credit in two different categories to multiple writers.

First, let’s get some terms straight. When you see that a movie has been “written by” someone (or multiple writers), that credit indicates both screenplay and story. Given that this discussion is about those instances where credit must be divided, we’ll be ignoring “written by” credit for the sake of argument. Also, if you see “screen story by”, feel free to equate it to “story by”. It’s the credit we use when a writer is adapting source material (like a novel) but has created a significantly original story for the screenplay version.

With the housekeeping out of the way, let’s take a look at how the Screen Credits Manual defines “story”:

The term “story” means all writing covered by the provisions of the Minimum Basic Agreement representing a contribution “distinct from screenplay and consisting of basic narrative, idea, theme or outline indicating character development and action.”

Okaaaaaay. That’s a bit dry. But fear not. Let’s jump ahead and look at the definition of “screenplay”.

A screenplay consists of individual scenes and full dialogue, together with such prior treatment, basic adaptation, continuity, scenario and dialogue as shall be used in, and represent substantial contributions to the final script.

Oh God. What the hell does that mean?

Don’t despair.

The credits manual makes a few additional things clear for us. First, “story” can be incorporated in the screenplay itself. That means that treatments aren’t the only material eligible for story credit, nor are they required to receive story credit.

Oh…wait…that makes it less clear, right? Because now, the arbiter must read a script and parse out what is story and what is screenplay.

The Credits Manual does give one more set of clues. When it comes to determining who gets “screenplay by” credit, arbiters must take into consideration the following elements:

• dramatic construction;
• original and different scenes;
• characterization or character relationships; and
• dialogue.

Fair enough. Let’s begin. The most important instruction to keep in mind is this (and if you’re ever an arbiter, this is the key to it all):

STORY AND SCREENPLAY ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

No, they’re not literarily mutually exclusive. Story and screenplay work together in order to make a good script. However, when it comes to parcelling out credit for one or the other, that which is story is completely distinct from that which is screenplay.

Story consists of basic narrative, idea, character development and action.

Screenplay consists of dramatic construction, original and different scenes, characterization or character relationships and dialogue.

Let’s go into what I think those terms mean.

We’ll knock the easy ones off first.

Dialogue

Credit for dialogue must go into the screenplay pile. This doesn’t mean “credit for the meaning of the dialogue”. We’re talking about one-liners, clever phrases, individual jokes or any situation in which the dialogue in and of itself is unique and credit-worthy. For instance, Writer A might have written “Be quiet! I was ready to renew our relationship the second you showed up.” Writer B might have written “Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello.”

The meaning and dramatic purpose of the lines are the same, but the dialogue is different, and Writer B has just earned some points for “screenplay by”.

Idea

The idea of the movie. Obviously, this is “story”.

Original & Different Scenes

These fall under screenplay. The idea here is that, as always, screenplay credit is about execution of the underlying story. The basic subunit of story is “plot point”. The basic subunit of execution is scene. A subsequent writer can keep the same plot point (Joe must escape from Harry and bring the secret plans back to Kelly) but execute it in a completely different way (motorcycle race through rush hour instead of wearing a secret disguise and walking right past the villain…)

Now let’s look at the first of our story/screenplay dichotomies.

Basic Narrative Vs. Dramatic Construction

Basic narrative, a function of story, is the group of story events that unfold in a particular sequence. I’ll use Finding Nemo as an example, because it’s so elegantly simple.

The basic narrative of Finding Nemo is: Marlin’s wife and most of his children are killed by a predator. Marlin is raising his remaining child, Nemo, by himself. Nemo is caught by a fishing boat and taken to Sydney. While Nemo works with his fishtank mates to escape, Marlin goes on a journey to find him. He meets a forgetful friend named Dory, is challenged by sharks and jellyfish, encounters some wise turtles and then is swallowed by a whale before finally reaching Nemo. When Dory is captured by a fishing net, Marlin lets Nemo try and save her. He does, and they all live happily ever after.

All of the above is STORY. It’s a basic narrative, with plot points fixed in relation to each other. If a subsequent writer decided that the turtles should come before the sharks or that the field of jellyfish should be replaced by scene where Marlin has to beat a flounder in a swimming race, that would earn that writer some story credit points.

Dramatic construction is different. Dramatic construction defines how the basic narrative is executed. While “Nemo rescues Dory” is basic narrative, the dramatic construction of Nemo swimming into the net and urging the other fish to swim down while nearly losing his life in the process is dramatic construction. It’s SCREENPLAY. If a subsequent writer were to keep the plot point and locus of “Nemo rescues Dory” but have Nemo rescue Dory from the mouth of a barracuda, that would earn that writer some screenplay credit points.

Note that these definitions pass the “mutually exclusive” test. That which is basic narrative shall not be dramatic construction, and vice-versa.

Character (Development & Action) Vs. Characterization (and Relationships)

The other major story vs. screenplay dichotomy is character and characterization. “Character” describes the basic profile of the character, as well as his arc and plot actions. “Characterization” describes the execution of the character and the manner in which he relates to other characters. For instance, while the character of Marlin is “neurotic father who desperately searches for his son”, the characterization of Marlin is embodied in the way he gets frustrated by Dory, fumbles joke-telling around the other fish, constantly underestimates himself, etc. Let’s say, then, that Writer A creates the character of Marlin and adds the characterization that he’s flirtatious with Dory. Writer B comes along and decides that the character should remain the same (still neurotic, still searching for his son), but the characterization should change. Specifically, he should resist Dory’s charming personality, and scold her as often as possible.

Writer B has earned no story points, but has earned screenplay points.

Now that I’ve talked about the differences between the mutually exclusive category of “writing that is story” and “writing that is screenplay”, here is another handy Artful guideline for discriminating between them.

Story is material that can be completely described in a treatment. Screenplay is material that can only be completely described in script format.

I don’t know how many credit arbiters approach material with this mindset, but I hope many do. Hell, I hope they all do. However, I have a sneaking suspicion.

I worry that some arbiters mistakenly award screenplay credit for literary material that is (and can only be) contributory towards story credit. It’s easy to read Writer A’s script, then read Writer B’s script, then say, “Boy, Writer B’s script is just a version of A’s. A gets screenplay credit.” One arbiter once told me, “I just ask myself…if I saw Writer B’s movie after seeing Writer A’s movie, would I think I’d just seen a whole new movie, or just a version of the first?”

Yikes.

That’s just wrong. By confounding “story” contributions and “screenplay” contributions, the arbiter is shortchanging the participants, failing to properly determine authorship, and not judging his peers in accordance with the terms of our MBA and our Screen Credits Manual.

The Credits Manual is, by and large, a good thing, but in the months to come, I’m hoping to get a little more explanation and plain English into it. Our writers deserve arbiters who completely and intuitively understand the subtle distinctions between our credits terminologies.