‘The Great Scene That Never Happened’ – A Screenwriter’s Techniques of Blending Fact and Fiction in Creating a Compelling Character Arc in Biopics
The biopic as a genre treads a thin line between fact and fiction. Using the theory and methods of visual storytelling and screenwriting, I will lay open the thought process and the tools of the craft that are employed to create a character arc using historical facts and figures for a movie that wil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Groningen Press
2021-09-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Life Writing |
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| Online Access: | https://ejlw.eu/article/view/37921 |
| Summary: | The biopic as a genre treads a thin line between fact and fiction. Using the theory and methods of visual storytelling and screenwriting, I will lay open the thought process and the tools of the craft that are employed to create a character arc using historical facts and figures for a movie that will resonate with a modern audience. I will also show how I tried to incorporate the producers’ expectations regarding the subject matter. I illustrate my process and techniques using my most recent screenplay Ushba, which narrates the unsuccessful climb of the eponymous Georgian mountain by a group of Austrian mountaineers, among them a young woman called Cenzi von Ficker. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-243X |