Script Report on The Princess Bride PDF

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Summary

Split into these subheadings: premise, structure, character, dialogue, visual grammar, pace.
A critical analysis of the original film script for The Princess Bride....

Description

Student ID: 733333 Script Report on ‘The Princess Bride’ Synopsis The Princess Bride is set in two locations, each in a different time. The first location seen is an eight year old boy’s bedroom in the modern era, the other is set in the mythical land of Florin in an older era. The eight year old boy is sick in bed and his grandpa reads him a story set in Florin. It begins on a farm where Buttercup falls in love with the farm boy; Westley. To get money for marriage, he leaves the farm and heads out to sea. When Buttercup heard news that Westley was murdered by the Dread Pirate Roberts, she locked herself away for days, vowing that she will never love again. Five years later, Prince Humperdinck announces to his people that he will marry Buttercup. During her daily horse rides, she is kidnapped by three men; Inigo Montoya, Fezzik and Vizzini. They are pursued by a man in black who later is revealed to be Westley in disguise as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Inigo is ordered to stay behind and battle Westley but gets defeated. Westley knocks him out and then goes to knock Fezzik out too. He plays a battle of wits with Vizzini. They both consume poison but Westley survives and Vizzini dies. Westley takes Buttercup with him and reveals his true identity to her. Prince Humperdinck trails behind them, hunting them with his men. Westley and Buttercup head to the Fire Swamp; a dark woodland area where they face three dangers; lightning sand, spurts of flame and rodents of unusual size. After defeating all three, Westley and Buttercup exit the Fire Swamp where Prince Humperdinck’s men trap them. In order to save Westley’s life, Buttercup agrees to go with Prince Humperdinck and marry him, explaining to Westley that she doesn’t want to lose him again. Prince Humperdinck promises to spare Westley’s life but breaks the promise and orders his men to take him to the Pit of Despair. In the pit of Despair, Westley is tortured. Prince Humperdinck plans to murder Buttercup after marrying her. Inigo and Fezzik rescue Westley in order break into the castle. Fearing Westley is dead, they take him to a healer who at first refuses to help but with a little persuasion, gives Inigo and Fezzik an antidote. They take Westley to a hideout point outside the castle doors and give him the antidote. Still weak, Westley comes up with a plan to break into the castle. They scare the men guarding the door away and go into the castle. Inigo faces the man who killed his father and goes off to get revenge. In the meantime, Prince Humperdinck and Buttercup marry, much to her disbelief. She walks back to her room, about to commit suicide but Westley stops her. Prince Humperdinck comes into the room and is defeated by Westley. Inigo enters the room after getting his revenge. Fezzik arrives outside the room’s window with three horses and they all ride off into the night. Westley suggests to Inigo that he should take over the title of the Dread Pirate Roberts, while Buttercup and Westley supposedly lives happily ever after. The grandpa finishes reading and the kid asks him to read the story again tomorrow. Premise Conflict, whether that be internal or external, is the driving force of a story. A story with good conflict makes for a better book or film as characters tend to be more interesting to read or watch. The main conflict in the script is man vs man. The protagonist, Westley, often fights other characters and eventually goes up against the antagonist; Prince Humperdinck. This is an interpersonal conflict. There are other conflicts in the script, such as an environmental conflict where Westley and Buttercup travel into the Fire Swamp. This conflict offers a lot of dramatic potential as various characters put their lives at stake and it keeps the audience engaged. The themes in the story are true love and loyalty. The meaning of the story is true love will always find a way and that loyalty is just as important as love.

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Student ID: 733333 The ideas in the script are most likely going to resonate with more women than men. Although it’s intended for a younger audience, the story is entertaining enough for adults to enjoy as well. Structure The script has a three-act structure. The first act establishes the tone of the film. It shows who the characters are and quickly sets up the conflict to move on to the second act. The second act raises the stakes for the characters and there’s enough happening to make it interesting. It’s consistent, dramatic and features a scene that shifts the power from the protagonist to the antagonist which gets the audience re-engaged with the story. This scene is when Westley and Buttercup are trapped by Prince Humperdinck’s men outside of the Fire Swamp. The second act ends at a final turning point, when Westley is put into more danger than he has ever been in before. The scene increases the stakes further and helps build up to the climax. The third act has action leading up to the climax and is followed by the resolution. The climax of the script is when Westley gathers all of his strength to protect Buttercup from being murdered by Prince Humperdinck in the room. This scene emphasises true love and loyalty as strong themes in the script. Character As the titular character, Buttercup doesn’t have much of a character journey and doesn’t grow and develop as a character. She seems to be taken along for the ride and at times, regresses characterwise. Her motivation comes from the love she shares with Westley and although she doesn’t want to marry Prince Humperdinck, she goes along with it, thinking Westley will save her at the last minute. These unlikeable actions are pointed out by another character in the script, so her actions are there for emphasis on the loyalty aspect of the story. Westley’s character journey is more interesting. Even though it is not shown, he develops from a farm boy to a hero with many skills. His motivation came from Buttercup, which emphasises the true love aspect. He is everything a hero should be; strong, skilled and motivated. Though he does show vulnerability throughout the script, mainly physical, but all of the trials prepare him to face the climax of the story. Dialogue This is a fantasy genre story set in a fantasy world. The dialogue fits the settings and the characters well, though the dialogue can be monotonous at times and doesn’t give the characters a fresh look. In the scenes set in the modern world, the dialogue sounds authentic for those characters in that time. The dialogue of the secondary characters are different to each other, especially Vizzini’s dialogue. Some of his dialogue can be long and his character is revealed through it. Buttercup’s dialogue could be improved as the lack of voice to her dialogue strips her character of any interest to the reader. Visual Grammar The script includes edit directions but not camera directions which is appropriate. It has exterior voiceovers of the grandpa reading the story which pop up here and there, usually when the boy interrupts him. The voiceovers don’t add empathy or tension to the story, but they belong to the characters in the modern world who, at times, converse with each other so it’s not their sole purpose to. The voiceovers stop when the scenes are set up so most of the empathy and tension comes from the characters themselves and not the voiceovers. The description describes the action and the characters well but sometimes uses rhetorical questions, as if the writer were writing a novel or writing from the viewpoint of a character.

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Student ID: 733333 Pace The script is a page-turner and demonstrates the ability to change tempo. The scene on the boat paced calmly before a kidnapped Buttercup jumps overboard sending the other characters into panic. As the characters act or don’t act, sequences like this tend to build up on tension and if the tension is founded easily in the right moments in the script then it would translate well onto screen. The build of tension is also due to the pacing of some sequences. When Buttercup jumps overboard, the characters don’t immediately act but talk amongst themselves which can get the audience emotionally engaged. Conclusion The script fits well in its fantasy genre. It has good conflict but lacks on inner conflict; the type of conflict that is most likely going to motivate a character’s development. The themes of true love and loyalty are shown throughout and are strong themes within the genre. The script has a three act structure which is applied well and has many scenes that build up to the climax. As the titular character, Buttercup could be improved in terms of giving her dialogue a voice and getting her to participate in more of the action. The character of Westley is suitable for the hero role and even though the script fast-forwards past his biggest development, he still manages to develop as a character through the trials and uses his love for Buttercup as his motivation. The dialogue at times can be monotonous but certain characters have interesting dialogue that make for a good read. The pacing changes with corresponding sequences and the successful build of tension makes the script a real page-turner.

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