Sounds kind of awesome.

Would love it.

On board, as usual! :)

I'm in -- I love the idea!

Yes please.

Ha! I've been planning for some time to start doing this exact same thing on my own blog. The _exact_ same idea, including tackling the same areas on the same days! Don't be upset if you see me start doing the same thing.

@Matt: More the merrier. And all of us the wiser.

*Likely* I can't always follow a routine and be able to do something regularly on the same day (i.e. might not be available to take part in structure discussion every Monday and so on) but I do think that's a great idea and I'd try to keep up! :)

giddyup. :)

I think this sounds great!

Wonderful idea! I'm in!

I like it! Sounds fantastic!

Highly likely. But I have one suggestion: make theme the second thing covered, after structure, as theme is its own kind of structural element and everything - dialogue, character - must all hang on theme. By bringing theme to the forefront early on, I think it'll be easier to see why the writer made the decisions he or she made in the other elements and give further meaning to the study of those elements.

Also, I find in most of what is being made by Hollywood these days, theme feels tacked on, an afterthought. I know Scott doesn't teach theme as an afterthought, but studying it last kind of reinforces the afterthought feeling, even if only subconsciously.

@Annika: I'm happy to move up theme. As you've probably heard me say elsewhere, I think theme is one of the most misunderstood areas related to screenwriting, so it's not only a good idea per your reasons to move it up, but also to engender more of a focus on the subject.

Count me in.

I'm in too!

Extremely likely

@Annika W, re theme, Carson Reeves made similar observation today, apparently spec script market has become dependent on fast reads, theme falling by the wayside.

What a fun idea, the GITS script analysis, I hope to participate.

Brilliant. I'm in.

Sounds great!

I'd like to suggest Moon and Source Code, both by Duncan Jones. I think the pair makes an excellent study.

Also, I think it would be a good idea to bundle the outcome for each analysis in one finalized (pdf) document, so that it's not all bits and pieces, but a complete and reasonably standardized analysis of each script.

This way you will end up with a template so it will be easier to compare the elements in different scripts. I volunteer by the way ;) I'm very excited about this project. My compliments, Scott.

Yes, great idea -- I'll jump in!

In.

@Bailish, Source Code is Ben Ripley, great suggestion.

I'd love it.

I'm in too.

definitely in=)

Great idea!

Sounds great.

This sounds awesome.

I'll second the other 30 ayes. Sounds like an amazing community project. Not only would this be a tremendous resource to writers present and future, I bet some of the conversations will contribute new interpretations and approaches to the craft.

Your teaching style really brings out great discussions. Will be cool to see it on an open forum.

Likely!

Would especially love to look at some older films - His Girl Friday, Days of Wine and Roses, The Apartment?!

If this idea doesn't come to fruition, then I will be forced to cry like a little girl over the news that her favorite teen film star is gay...just saying

I've already started a routine of reading a script per day. So, this is gonna be just great.

This sounds just perfect!

very willing

I'd be very interested in participating. Oletstdoit!

It'd be amazing, but I don't know if I could read a script a day.

@Natalie: Not a script a day, but a script a WEEK.

Yep, I'm in. One a day was a struggle (in 40 days of screenplays) but one a week is perfect.

Oh well @Scott that makes it much easier to say yes then.

@Scott, Yes...I am in.

Great idea, I'm in

Great idea, I'm in

Absolutely!

Yes! I may not always be able to participate, but will actively attempt to do so. Cool idea, Scott.

I would like to suggest that Monday be "Story" as this is "Go Into The Story" and the following days can be the scripting of that story. Included in "Story" Mondays should be topics like Concept, Premise, Genre, Theme, etc. Then, Tues-Fri we will "go into the story."

I second Slinglink's idea. Taking a "total approach"/overview of the story, then breaking it down, seems like the way to get the most of out of the analysis, as we'd have a foundation to build on and refer back to as the week progressed.

@SlingInk and Annika: So if I understand correctly:

Monday: Story (concept, genre, an overall take on the script).
Tuesday: Structure
Wednesday: Theme
Thursday: Character
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Scenes
Sunday: Style

On the one hand, I suspect people will dribble away over the course of the week. On the other hand, I do feel like it's important to break up the analysis or else the conversation will be too amorphous and not drill down into the story guts to any beneficial depth of analysis.

Thoughts?

I think we might want to leave Sat&Sun open to read the next script. And, I agree, 5+ days of analyzing the same script is pushing it for many.

That said, "Style" could be included in Monday's discussion and "Scenes" could be included with "Dialogue" since Dialogue will make or break a Scene. This is entirely an opinion :) and I will participate regardless.

Most recent schedule idea feels complicated, in a way original idea doesn't. The subcategories of story fit well with theme, could be included in theme? Moving theme up nice idea, maybe swap with scenes, a meta moment after structure, characters, dialogue, before delving into our favorite moments in the script. So maybe:

Monday: Structure
Tuesday: Characters
Wednesday: Dialogue
Thursday: Themes (incl Story)
Friday: Scenes

New to this, so I'd love to try it out in a group. Let's do it!

I think that Structure (the "How") should not precede Concept (the "What"). How do we know if the Structure is appropriate if we don't know what kind of story we're working with? As a reader, I go through piles of scripts that get the fat "No" stamp because of a poor Concept, before Structure enters the picture (pardon the pun). We need to know how to identify a solid Concept and how to create our own. Really...the point is to read scripts; I'm making a big deal out of a schedule for it. I apologize. Let's read!

At this point, I'm almost tempted to drop the categories for discussion and just wing it. Again that does concern me that the dialogue will ramble all over the place and the discussion might not dig terribly deep. OTOH I don't want to be Mr. Left Brain here either. As noted, the point is simply to get people to read scripts and flex their critical analytical muscles.

Maybe we have a general discussion on Monday in which there may be some specific areas that come up in our conversation. And out of that, we decide, "Okay, let's focus on structure tomorrow." Or what grabs people is the script's style.

Does that sound more fluid, organic, open, groovy?