The role of the writer

The writer of a film has probably the most influence when it comes to making a film. From writing an original screen play to writing an adaption of a pre-existing story, such as an adaption of a book. When ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was first being translated onto the big screen, numerous changes had to be made to bring the story up to date. This included giving some characters bigger roles as well as dropping some altogether. Female characters especially needed bigger roles as women didn’t have as many rights back when the book was written between 1937 and 1949. One such character, called Arwen, had to be expanded upon so that there was a female lead in order not to be sexist. Key characters such as ‘Glorfindel’ and ‘Tom Bombadil’ were absent, and substantial parts of the story were completely missing. The reason for this was because Peter Jackson, the films writer, believed these characters didn’t add anything to the story they wanted to tell.

During the writing of the film Peter Jackson wanted to add in the history of ‘The Ring’ and what happened before the film. In order to do this he got one of the co-writers, Philippa Boyens, to cut down these events into a short exposition to be added to the start of the film. This way the audience would know a bit of backstory as to why so many people are after this important ring.

Another film that took this similar approach is the Japanese film ‘Death Note,’ based on the anime series and manga books of the same name. This film cuts a good way into the story where the main character has already found the book that allows him to kill others with just their name. After a brief introduction we then are shown a flashback as to how he found it and the first few events of the film. This whole segment is done within about 15 minutes. This just proves that this is a widely used technique used by not just American and British writers.

Many writers draw inspiration from scenarios and events that have happened, either to themselves or in history. Just as ‘Lord of the Rings’ needed a female lead due to the fact that women now have the same importance and rights as men, films such as ‘Aliens’ written by James Cameron took ideas and drew inspiration from the recent history of the Vietnam war.

The idea for ‘Aliens’ was a situation in which a technologically superior force was mired in a hostile foreign environment. In the story of Aliens the Colonial Marines are hired to protect the business interests of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, corresponding to the belief that corporate interests were the reason that American troops were sent to South Vietnam. The attitude of the space marines was influenced by the Vietnam War; they are portrayed as cocky and confident of their inevitable victory, but when they find themselves facing a less technologically advanced but more determined enemy, the outcome is not what they expect.

In the popular series ‘The Big Bang Theory’ the writers decided to only add in the jokes that made the live audience laugh. Due to the fact that the show is mostly filmed in front of a live audience the writers use this to their advantage but making the actors do the same scene numerous times but changing the joke that is used. The one that made the audience laugh the most would be used in the final script and show.

In conclusion the writer has a huge impact on the way a story is written. From the original draft to the numerous changes and ideas added to the final script.

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