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Topic : Criteria for a good screenplay I read a few screenplays and i am a bit confused how the quality of a screenplay is judged by the Osacar panel. It is not as obvious to judge the quality - selfpublishingguru.com

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I read a few screenplays and i am a bit confused how the quality of a screenplay is judged by the Osacar panel. It is not as obvious to judge the quality of a screenplay as opposed to the quality of cinematography or sound editing or acting.
Are there any authoritative sources that spell out how to evaluate screenplays so as to separate the good from the ordinary? What do they say?


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There are at least two ways to read a screenplay - as literature and as specification. Oscar reviewers, as peers in the movie industry, read for both.

The document must describe a filmable movie, using the correct technical language and perspective. I can write a script about oranges or plate tectonics but I can't make that filmable, any more than a blueprint of a Tipler time travel cylinder makes the thing actually buildable.

The screenplay must also give the director enough cues to tell a story without being overly specific - it needs to invite input from the director and department heads without being a connect-the-dots exercise or so overly specific that it would have to be taken apart and rebuilt to be filmable.

Once the technical criteria is met the aesthetic kicks in - is the screenplay interesting? Does it have a good story, compelling settings? Is the conflict and arc clear? Do the characters relate to each other believeably, no matter how fantastic the world? Can I read the screenplay and at the end understand the story before any images are recorded?

In summary - the screenplay is the functional specificaiton of a movie. It has to fill three prerequisites and the ones that surpass these by the most would, in a just world, be the Oscar candidates.

Can we read it?
Could we film it?
Do we want to make the effort?


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