In the first part of the series, we offered an overview of researching the fact-based screenplay. We now move on to looking at getting started with the process, including identifying sources and focusing in on the most relevant material.
Remember that research is project-specific. For the fact-based film, the demands will depend on the source idea and also on the requirements of the story. However, there are some common themes. These include the need to source research material that will give you a rounded picture of your characters’ world and help you to draw out a strong central narrative.
Identifying research material
Firstly, it’s important to understand how things like copyright attach to source material and we provide an overview of the issue of legal rights elsewhere on the site.
However, even if you have obtained the rights to adapt a non-fiction book, article, or other non-fiction source, the chances are that you’ll need to go beyond this singular resource to widen your view and your knowledge, in order to create your story. You might want to find:
- Books and journal articles that offer background information on your story’s ‘world’
- Biographical material on your protagonist and key supporting characters
- Information on the relevant social, political and economic landscape
- Specific details that will take your story to another level of authenticity
For example:
Matt Charman, who wrote the script for Bridge of Spies (2015) (Ethan and Joel Coen are also credited as writers), first came across the story of protagonist James Donovan in a footnote to the book, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek.
Charman was then able to meet with Donovan’s son and write his script, set during the Cold War, which attracted no less than Steven Spielberg to direct. The starting point may have been a footnote, but to flesh out the story, Charman had to widen his research process to bring the story to life (with significant input from the Coens).
Defining the most relevant material
Depending on the type of story you’re writing, your list of sources might quickly grow into a behemoth. While it’s important to spend sufficient time on the research process, it is equally important not to become bogged down.
Research is a great procrastination tool. But, remember, you’re not writing a thesis. You’re writing an approximately 120-page screenplay focused on (usually) one protagonist and a strong central storyline. This means narrowing down your research to sources that are specific to your story.
After you’ve gained a broad overview of the wider context in which your story takes place and the relevant themes, defining the aspects on which you want to focus makes the research process much simpler.
For example:
We Were Soldiers (2002) is set in 1965, in the early days of the active US military involvement in Vietnam. The film is based on the non-fiction book, We Were Soldiers Once…And Young: The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam, co-written by reporter Joseph L. Galloway and Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore (fictionalised as the film’s protagonist).
The Vietnam War is a huge subject and it would be easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of available research material. However, the title of the source book immediately narrows down the focus.
The thrust of Randall Wallace’s script is the Battle of Ia Drang and the experiences of the soldiers engaged in the fight. It also deals with the wives back home on the base, led by Moore’s wife, Julia, who took on the responsibility of notifying the next of kin of soldiers’ deaths.
The film opens with a scene of French soldiers being ambushed by Vietminh soldiers in 1954, during the First Indochina War. So, we have:
- A brief scene that sets up the history of the conflict and what the Ia Drang soldiers will face
- A narrow focus on one battle within the wider Vietnam War
- A character-driven plot that contrasts the experiences of Lt. Col. Moore and his men and the families back home coping with their absence
Going beyond the obvious sources
We’ll look at this in more depth in later articles in the series. However, it is worth quickly returning to the distinction between passive historical research and proactive journalistic research.
Books, websites and articles are great sources, but don’t forget about first-hand accounts and experiences which can add colour and important detail.
For example:
As we wrote in our analysis of American Sniper (2014), which is based on the non-fiction book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice:
Screenwriter Jason Hall notes that Chris Kyle (fictionalised as the film’s protagonist) “dictated the book [on which the script and film are based] from a bar stool when he’d been home [from Iraq] for six months”. This infers that the Chris Kyle who comes across in the book is not the ‘real deal’. Chris still had his ‘war face’ on and the book reads as such.
Hall’s solution was to spend a considerable amount of time with Kyle and his family. As we wrote:
It was only when the ‘real Chris’ finally emerged that the writer was able to assemble all the pieces and start the process of fictionalising the man’s life.
Even if you don’t have access to the real-life protagonist and/or their family, as Hall, Wallace and Charman enjoyed, think about how you can take your research from the factual to the personal. We’ll focus on finding and utilising this personal research in a future article.
In the next part of the series, we offer some advice on organising your research process to give you the maximum results in the minimum amount of time, so you can get on with fun part – writing your screenplay!