The Buffyverse will always be one of my favorite fictional worlds. Today I read the script that started it all.
If you've ever read a movie script, you know there's an awful lot of white space on that paper! Screenwriting gurus Robin Russin and William Downs advise screenwriters to be be "as tight and short as possible: Don't use three words if two will suffice" (from Screenplay: Writing the Picture).
Take a look at what Joss Whedon made of that advice:
BUFFY'S MOM
Well, that's everything. Kiss noise.
She actually makes a kiss noise at her daughter.
BUFFY
'Bye.
Buffy's mom heads out the door.
Joss Whedon stops the all-important forward motion of the film to inject his sense of irony. We could probably pare "She actually makes a kiss noise at her daughter" down to "kiss noise," but I'm sure Russin and Downs would agree that if we did, we'd lose something important to making the film.
Whedon breaks some other cardinal screenwriting rules- most notably being ultra-specific about prop and costume details screenwriters should usually leave for the prop and costume department to figure out. Buffy and drooling boyfriend are having popcorn on the couch. Whedon stops to tell us Buffy is "spraying diet butter substitute on it." Wow, is that specific. I also loved Whedon's description of the outfits mall princesses Buffy and friends are wearing at the beginning of the film: "they are all dressed very similarly: bright colors, a lot of white and pink. Not trashy, but mainstream and uninspired. Esprit."
Fans of the TV series will find lots of familiar Whedonisms in the script- from witty quip to Buffy fighting the "king" of the vampires in a prom dress a little worse for the demon-fighting wear.
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