Films are often derived from other sources of material — whether it a novel, play or short story. Those adapted screenplays are impressive, but what stands out more is when a writer can create a movie in their mind and put it into a screenplay.
The Academy of Motion Pictures has rewarded the best writing since the beginning, but Original Screenplay is far superior to its sister category, Adapted Screenplay. To take a movie idea from the mind to paper is far more impressive than going from paper to paper.
One of the best screenwriters who does that trade repeatedly is Christopher Nolan. He hasn’t written the majority of his screenplays without another source, and he has been nominated for an Oscar twice in the Original Screenplay category
Some recent winners in the Original Screenplay category are Manchester By The Sea, Spotlight and Django Unchained. The winners in the category vary in subject matter, but to the core is the fundamental idea that writing elevates the movie.
The nominees for the 90th Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, and the stories told in the Original Screenplay category are ones that should be recognized. Those stories range from the fantasy elements in The Shape of Water to the love story of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon in The Big Sick and Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age story Lady Bird. With the social issues talked about in Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the list for this year is strong.
Original Screenplay is often a category that is overshadowed by Best Picture and the Acting categories, but none of those categories would happen without the brain behind the story. To see someone’s creative mind develop an entire story on a subject and have it come to life is beautiful and should be celebrated by more people.
Georgia Davis is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Which movie do you think will win Original Screenplay at the Oscars? Tell Georgia by tweeting her at @georgiadee35.
