There are blockbusters and there are those who share the blue prints of these blockbusters. Yes, we are talking about major Hollywood studios who don’t shy away from sharing the screenplays of the their films with the common man once the film becomes a hit or is nominated for an award or for that matter, if it flops.
Recently, Sony Pictures released on the internet the screenplays of some of the films that has been nominated/won/released in 2012. This includes the screenplay of Argo and Lincoln that has been nominated for the Oscars at this year’s 85th Academy Awards.
What makes these production houses release their film’s blue prints so openly on the internet? Are they not wary of plagiarism or someone re-writing the script to make a complete new film? For one, America has one of the best copyright law in the world and every action detrimental to the original script is firmly dealt with. Being inspired from a script/film is one thing but blatantly copying the film is an altogether a different ball game.
If you are sure of your way around on the internet, you’ll chance upon countless websites that hosts screenplays of films that have hit the marquee for quite some time. Script-o-rama.com is one such site which boasts of copies of hundreds of original screenplays including transcriptions of films in screenplay formats.
You can’t deny one fact that these sites offer valuable insights to the art of film making. If you’re a wannabe writer or a director or for that matter an established one, you’re always curious to know how a major hit film had appeared on paper and these sites help you realize that information. Information that shapes up your career. Information that helps you nurture your talent in the right direction.
Creativity and the ability to put your thoughts to paper in most cases is an inborn talent but screenplay writing is an art by itself. It can be learnt and honed into a fine art. And these sites and the screenplays hosted by these sites help the writers to a large extent. More so, Hollywood production houses support these initiatives and don’t hesitate in sharing their screenplays with these sites as has been the case with Sony Pictures recently.
Till a couple of years ago, passionforcinema.com, an initiative by a few likeminded people from across the globe and who loved films, posted a few scripts of prominent writers/directors that helped the students of cinema to understand the art of films better. Sadly, the site had to die a premature death thanks to lack of support to this initiative. Despite the fact that some prominent personalities of Bollywood were closely linked to this cause, yet somewhere in 2011, the site had to make a slow retreat.
And so a handful of scripts of Hindi films that were put up on the site as a learning tool too disappeared from the scene and now we are forced to watch cinema on the big screen to understand what screenplay writing is all about. So till then, you can make do with the screenplays of some of Hollywood’s finest films of recent times.
Download them here… Right click on the film title and select ‘Save link as…’
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
