Images might not seem like obvious source material for screenwriters. However, film and TV are visual mediums, so it’s maybe not surprising that images can provide inspiration. Our series of guides to working with different source material moves on to look at writing fact-based scripts based on photos and other image-based material.

The camera doesn’t lie…

In an age of AI and Photoshop, this saying may no longer be accurate. However, images still offer a unique window on the world and memorialize important moments in history. While, as writers, we use words to create emotion, film and photography can accomplish that in a single image.

Photography and art have long inspired filmmakers, while specific images have provided the impetus for numerous films. As writers, we too can harness images to develop authentic and original screen stories.

Types of image-based source material

So, what types of material are we talking about? Essentially, anything pictorial or visual, including:

• Family snapshots / albums
• Historical photos
• Photobooks
• Photo galleries
• Photo-based features
• Photojournalism
• Art

In addition, films have started life based upon documentaries and other filmed non-fiction content. A recent example is Wildflower (2022).

What’s the situation with rights?

While infringement is harder to prove than it is with written material, the starting point is that copyright protections cover images (remember the “monkey selfie” case from a few years ago?).

So, if you’re working with images taken (or created) and published by someone else, rights will be attached – unless the work is in the public domain.

An image might be in the public domain if the copyright period has elapsed or if the photo was taken by a government employee and considered public property.

Even when an image is copyrighted, its use as source material is a grey area. The keys are specificity and identification.

If, for example, you came across a collection of random old-timey photos being sold at a market and decided to create a fictional story around them, you are probably okay to go ahead.

However, if you want to write a script based upon published photojournalism which tells a story with identifiable characters, this will fall under the same rights protections as if that story was print based.

There might also be life rights concerns if you choose to tell a story based upon intimate family photos.

A further concern is writing a film based around a singular, well-known image.

For example: If you decided to tell the story behind the man and woman kissing in the iconic V-J Day in Times Square photo, this could lead to problems if the image it still within copyright. The story would likely require the director to re-create that moment, which would infringe the owner’s rights.

The best advice, as always, is to make yourself aware of any rights ownership and issues and to seek legal guidance if you feel your script could drift into any possible infringement territory.

How screenwriters work with image-based source material

Overall, the best use of images is as

a.) inspiration

b.) a research tool

We write for the screen because we want to embrace the challenge of thinking visually and expressing written ideas as images.

This makes photographs and other image-based material fantastic jumping off points for storytelling and sparks for creativity.

Photos and images are also an important research tool, taking us into the world of the characters and helping us bring that world authentically to life. Images capture details and serve to “humanize” stories.

Think about all the photos captured during the Vietnam War, such as The Burning Monk, The Terror of War, and all the stark battlefield images features in the likes of Life and Time magazines. There are similar examples across history.

There are thousands of interesting stories out there waiting to be told. Photos, art, and images can help us tell these stories, providing inspiration and enhancing our research.

Examples…

We end with a look at a few examples of how photos and art have been used as source material in fact-based film.

Girl with the Pearl Earring (2003)

Based on: The painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (circa 1665) by Johannes Vermeer and the bestselling novel of the same name by Tracy Chevalier

This tells of the young peasant maid who became the assistant to Dutch painter Vermeer and provided the inspiration for his famous work. The painting was used as promotional artwork for the movie, with lead actress Scarlett Johansson recreating the pose.

While this is an adaptation of a fictional work, the starting point was Vermeer’s painting and the imagined story behind its creation.

Find out more about the painting: https://www.wikiart.org/en/johannes-vermeer/the-girl-with-a-pearl-earring

Nightcrawler (2014)

Inspired by: The work of crime scene photography of Arthur Fellig (a.ka. Weegee)

Writer and director Tony Gilroy partly based his modern-day noir on the work of 1930s artist and photographer Arthur Fellig (a.ka. Weegee), particularly his landmark book, Naked City (1953), which revealed the dark underbelly of New York.

Gilroy used Weegee and his images as the inspiration for his fictional story, set in contemporary LA, which tells of a petty criminal who finds his seedy calling as a freelance crime scene photographer but gets too close to his subjects.

Script: source: Script Slug

Find out more about Weegee: https://www.amber-online.com/collection/weegee-collection/

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Inspired by: Joe Rosenthal’s 1945 photo of U.S. Marines planting the American flag on Iwo Jima

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film tells the story behind the five U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman featured in Joe Rosenthal’s famous image of the American flag being raised atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in the final year of WWII.

It’s a great example of how a narrative can be shaped around a symbolic image, highlighting the stories of the individuals captured in that moment.

The Bikeriders (2023)

Based on: The photo-book Bikeriders (1967) by Danny Lyon

Jeff Nichols’ 1960s-set crime drama takes us into the world of the Outlaws motorcycle gang. Based on a photo-book, the film also uses the clever device of a photographer putting together a book, who becomes our guide into this closed and violent world.

This highlights how a series of photos which tell a story can offer rich source material, leading to a visceral film that captures the essence of its real-life inspiration. Read our full review.

Script source: Indie Wire

View a selection of Lyon’s photos: https://store.magnumphotos.com/pages/the-bikeriders

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Inspired by: Robert Capa’s D-Day photos “The Magnificent Eleven”

Director Steven Spielberg went to great lengths to achieve authenticity, vividly portraying the horrors of WWII, particularly the opening sequence on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Landings.

While the film’s narrative is fictional (though loosely based on the Niland brothers), Spielberg was partly inspired by war journalist Robert Capa’s images, taken on 6 June 1944, which were published in Life magazine.

Script source: Script Slug

View some of Capa’s D-Day images: https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/conflict/robert-capa-d-day-omaha-beach/

Elvis & Nixon (2016)

Based on: The real-life meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon

Liza Johnson’s comedy-drama fictionalizes the unlikely real-life meeting between the King of Rock and Roll and Richard Nixon, which took place at the White House in 1970.

A federal employee captured this iconic moment between these polar-opposite icons. The resulting film is equally bizarre and irreverent, highlighting what we said above that source material – of any kind – can often simply provide a starting point for inventive storytelling.

Go further

The Public Domain Review has collections of images which have entered the public domain: https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/images/