14 Days of Screenplays, Version 3.0?

As anyone who has followed this blog any length of time knows, I am a big proponent of reading scripts, especially those for great movies, as a primary way to learn the craft of screenwriting -- which is why I came up with the idea of 14 Days of Screenplays. Here's the original explanation from July 27, 2008:

Students ask me how I learned to write screenplays. I give the same answer that Walter Hill did:

"The usual story -- read a lot of scripts, saw every possible movie."

By and large, most folks seem to do a pretty good job on the 'seeing movie' front. But reading scripts? Not so much. I think I know why that's the case. When we think of "movies," we almost automatically think entertainment. And even if we students of screenwriting sit in a theater, checking our watch at every major plot, tracking subplots, and questioning story choices, on the whole the experience of watching a movie is entertaining. But when we consider reading a screenplay, my guess is that the first word that comes to most people's minds is work.

Well, that's true enough -- reading a screenplay is work. But you expected to play your way to the top of the screenwriting heap? Think of any other creative outlet: painting, sculpture, novels, poetry, acting, dance, violin, composing. Do you think that any of the people who succeed in creating a career in any of these fields got there without studying the subject matter at a granular level?

The simple fact is if you are really serious about learning the craft of screenwriting, you must read scripts. It is perhaps the single best way to drill down into the heart of the craft. It's one reason that so many script readers become successful screenwriters -- reading all those scripts, even bad ones, is a massive learning experience.

So here's something you can do to kick-start your screenplay reading habit: read 14 scripts in 14 days. I recommend this to my students often and the ones who've actually done it report back that it helped them immensely. Reading that many scripts in a compressed time provides a Gestalt grasp of the craft that you would not likely get any other way.

We've subsequently run the challenge twice. Here's the list of screenplays for Version 1.0:

Day 1: Back to the Future

Day 2: Witness

Day 3: Alien

Day 4: Some Like It Hot

Day 5: Body Heat

Day 6: Fargo

Day 7: The Shawshank Redemption

Day 8: Die Hard

Day 9: Thelma & Louise

Day 10: Dead Poet's Society

Day 11: The Matrix

Day 12: Network

Day 13: Memento

Day 14: Toy Story

And here's the list for Version 2.0:

Day 1: Shakespeare In Love

Day 2: Pulp Fiction

Day 3: Casablanca

Day 4: Being There

Day 5: The Usual Suspects

Day 6: North by Northwest

Day 7: Broadcast News

Day 8: Platoon

Day 9: When Harry Met Sally

Day 10: Double Indemnity

Day 11: Pan's Labyrinth

Day 12: Big

Day 13: Sideways

Day 14: Traffic

So I think it's about time for Version 3.0. And I'm soliciting suggestions for screenplays from you. Some caveats:

* They have to be readily available online.

* Preferably as PDFs.

* Looking for a mix of scripts - different genres, decades, writers.

* They have to be for a notable movie.

How about you? Are you up for the challenge of reading 14 scripts in 14 days? If so, what screenplays would you recommend for GITS readers to read and analyze?

You can check the availability of your script choices by visiting these websites:

Matriarchal Script Paradigm

My PDF Scripts

Script Collector

Simply Scripts