The implied writer’s alluding function 83

The implied writer’s communication along the axis of indication and visualisation is the most easily identified communication since it often addresses the reader directly. When

communicating along the axis of indication and visualisation, the implied writer assumes a function of alluding to the potential film through a direct communication of extrafictional information.

15 _{Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale (New York: Newmarket Press, 2005), p. 1.} 16 _{Logan, p. 48.}

The direct allusions are easily identified as they consist of clear directions to the production team. The most easily identified direct allusions exist in parenthesised production notes such as this example from (500) Days of Summer (written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber; directed by Marc Webb, 2009): ‘(PRODUCTION NOTE: Put

Autumn somewhere subtle in the background.)’. 17 Another example appears

in Fantastic Mr Fox: ‘(NOTE: an alternate version of Mrs Fox will be

used for this shot which can be literally lit from within.)’18 A

less technical example is the following from Hugo: ‘[Or similar moment of comic

frustration.]’19 The notes’ placement within parentheses highlights that it is not a case

of the fictional narrator’s communication, but a case of the implied writer’s direct communication to the production team; a communication external to the fiction.

The King’s Speech (written by David Seidler; directed by Tom Hooper, 2010) contains an example of a bracketed note that displays an implied writer’s direct communication which is addressed to a more general reader and not to a specific reader in the production team: ‘[Although Bertie’s stammer in the consultation room will fade,

it is a gradual process.]’.20

Most direct allusions, however, appear in the screenplay text without a parenthesis or

bracket, they mainly address the production team, and they mainly consist of camera

directions. The King’s Speech provides the following examples: ‘HAND-HELD CAMERA,

BERTIE’S POV [point of view]’, and ‘CU [close up] huge metal speakers.’21 The

Kids Are All Right (written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, 2010) contains similar examples: ‘Angle on Paul’, ‘NIC’S POV’, and

‘REVERSE ONTO NIC’.22 A third example that displays a camera movement rather than a

camera position appears in The Savages (written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, 2007): ‘Still on the move, the CAMERA locates --‘, and ‘AGITATED HAND- HELD as Wendy and Jon march down the path, their balloon in

tow.’23

17 _{Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer (New York: Newmarket Press,}

2009), p. 46, 11, 54.

18 _{Anderson and Baumbach, p. 10.} 19 _{Logan, p. 9.}

20 _{David Seidler, The King’s Speech, (London: Nick Hern Books, 2010), p. 20.} 21 _{Seidler, p. 3, 4.}

22 _{Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right (New York: Newmarket Press,}

2010), p. 8, 80.

Allusions to how the potential film should be visualised do not necessarily need to be made directly through mentioning camera positions. Indirect allusions that indicate how a certain scene or moment should be visualised and filmed by the production team, without the insertion of technical abbreviations or comments, are even more common than direct

allusions. The following two examples, taken from Little Miss Sunshine (written by Michael Arndt, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006) and Brokeback Mountain (written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, directed by Ang Lee, 2005), clearly indicate how the scenes should be visualised and filmed by the production team without stating it directly: ‘Dwayne gets up, goes across the waiting room and stares out the window. OUT THE WINDOW It’s a banal suburban

landscape.’24 And: ‘[Joe Aguirre] Raises binoculars, looks in the

direction of the meadow, towards ENNIS. WE SEE: ENNIS […].

Aguirre lowers the binoculars.’25 Readers can, in these examples, infer an

indirect communication from the implied writer that indicates the reader to visualise the view out the window from Dwayne’s point of view, and the view of Ennis from Aguirre’s points of view.

With an exception of parenthesised and bracketed notes, the direct and indirect

communication from the implied writer to the reader along the four axes of communication exist simultaneously with the fictional narrator’s communication to the narratee. The implied writer and the fictional narrator, as already stated, communicate to their audiences for their own purposes. This double communication situation can clearly be seen in the following example from (500) Days of Summer: ‘The sound slows down on the word “friend” (which is an awful, awful word). THE IMAGE FREEZES

AND WE ZOOM IN ON TOM’S STUNNED FACE.’26 The implied writer’s

communication along the axis of indication and visualisation indicates to the production team that the sound should be slowed down, that the frame should be frozen, and that the camera should zoom in on Tom’s face. The fictional narrator’s communication, however, takes place along both the axis of characters, facts, and events, and along the axis of understanding and perception; the fictional narrator tells the narratee what happens while also interpreting the event (identifying the word friend as an awful word). The fictional narrator further, through                                                                                                                

24 _{Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine (New York: Newmarket Press, 2006), p. 59.}

25 _{Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, ‘Brokeback Mountain’, in Brokeback Mountain: Story to}

Screenplay by Annie Proulx, Diana Ossana, and Larry McMurtry (London: Harper Perennial, 2006), pp. 29-97 (p. 22).

telling the narratee that the sound slows down and that the image freezes, highlights Tom’s reaction to the word friend, making it stronger.

It is important to remember that the two communications exist simultaneously

throughout screenplay texts. Since the screenplay format never lets the reader forget that the screenplay’s purpose is to become a film, the reader continuously visualises the story as a film, inferring signs of how this should be accomplished while reading. How the two

communications overlap will be further discussed in chapter 5, which examines the functions of the fictional narrating voice.

When speaking of the implied writer’s indications to the production team, especially

the indications of camera positions and movements, it should be mentioned that members of the production team not always follow the directions that exist in the screenplay. Michael Arndt notes in the afterword to the screenplay Little Miss Sunshine that the production team

followed none of the point of view shots that he had indicated in the text.27 This highlights the

important fact that the indications that allude to how the film should be visualised are not necessarily placed in the screenplay to ensure that the production team follows them to a letter, but rather to bring the text to life; to show how the writers visualise the film

themselves. The extrafictional voice can thus be seen as the voice of a ‘hidden director’ who directs the film for the reader. Claudia Sternberg referred to the screenwriter as a ‘hidden director’ since the screenwriter can anticipate the ‘directorial input’ through describing how

the events should be presented in the film. 28 As was found in the introduction to the present

study, however, screenwriting manuals discourage writers from specifying camera directions when writing. It is clear, from the abundance of available examples, that many successful

writers do not follow the advice given by the manuals.29

Summarised, the implied writer’s communication along the axis of indication and

visualisation is a case of direct or indirect allusions to the potential film. Even though the implied writer’s allusions to the potential film are often technical and appear in an abbreviated form, they take place alongside, or rather on top of, the fictional narrator’s communication to the narratee. It is therefore important to keep in mind that even technical indications directed to the production team can serve the fictional narrator’s purpose.

27 _{Michael Arndt, ‘Scene Notes’, in Little Miss Sunshine, by Michael Arndt (New York: Newmarket}

Press, 2006), p. 114.

28 _{Sternberg, p. 231.}

29 _{In the case of published screenplays it should be noted that the camera directions can have been}