In one of my class, directing students has to work with the screenwriting students on one of their feature scripts to polish it. Basically the writer will have his/her completed script and the director will collaborate with the writer to refine it. Any changes were welcome as long as both the writer and the director agrees to it. We are not going to shoot the script or anything. The purpose of this project is for both the students to learn how to collaborate with each other.
The screenwriting student I am collaborating with, I asked her for the treatment first instead of the script. I thought, if I have the treatment, it would be easy for me to figure out the structure, to see what scenes need to be taken out, what scenes need to be added and also to see other story elements (like theme, symbolism etc.). She said she started with the outline and the treatment and then the script but looks like she made a lot of changes in the script without updating the treatment. Other students also pretty much did the same. I don't know whether I should tell her to update the treatment or I should just start reading the script. I would like to know:
1) In the professional word, when the director first time read the script, does he/she first read the treatment and then the script or do they directly read the script?
2) I always felt that 10 - 20 page treatment would be much better to figure out the structure and the other storytelling elements than the script. Would that be right or are there any better way to do?
3) Does the writers in the professional world go back and update the treatment if they make any changes in the script?
Thanks.
The screenwriting student I am collaborating with, I asked her for the treatment first instead of the script. I thought, if I have the treatment, it would be easy for me to figure out the structure, to see what scenes need to be taken out, what scenes need to be added and also to see other story elements (like theme, symbolism etc.). She said she started with the outline and the treatment and then the script but looks like she made a lot of changes in the script without updating the treatment. Other students also pretty much did the same. I don't know whether I should tell her to update the treatment or I should just start reading the script. I would like to know:
1) In the professional word, when the director first time read the script, does he/she first read the treatment and then the script or do they directly read the script?
2) I always felt that 10 - 20 page treatment would be much better to figure out the structure and the other storytelling elements than the script. Would that be right or are there any better way to do?
3) Does the writers in the professional world go back and update the treatment if they make any changes in the script?
Thanks.