What’s on the script and film?
In week 4, Wednesday class we watched the opening scene of The Apartment (1960) and compared to what was written in the script. We looked into the description of the apartment interior. In the script, there were more details and how the lens should pan from one object to the other. However, in the film, we did not get to see a close-up of the objects mentioned in the script. There were certain objects that we could see from the long shot of the living room that was reflected in the script such as cocktail glasses, pitcher, an empty bottle of vodka and etc.
I felt that the description of the apartment was to guide the set designers on how it looks like. It also helps the director to imagine the place. However, it was not necessary to have a close-up or panning from one object to another. For example, in Frozen River (2008), scene four of the script where it describes the interior of Ray’s trailer, this scene was not shown in the film. We were not able to see where the TV was or a photograph of the family. There were missing scenes from the script that did not appear in the film similarly to The Apartment. There are possible reasons why certain scenes do not appear in the final film. It could be that the scene was shot but did not make it to final cut because of time constraint or it was not as important as the other scenes in the film. It could also be possibly be replaced by another scene which was not written in the script.
So far, from reading two scripts and comparing it to their respective films, I found that there are certain scenes that are either being replaced or taken out. In my opinion, this could be a sudden change during the shoot where they feel that the story is better off without this particular scene and can be reflected in other scenes. I have yet to experience the process of a script to film but through these exercises it made me think why these changes were made.
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