Jill Nelmes
Jill Nelmes – academic and screenwriter – on the status of the screenplay as an object of study:
"My journey into the world of researching the screenplay began when I became fascinated by the rewriting process and applied for funding from the AHRC in 2001 to study the practice behind my own unrealised screenplays. My application was rejected because a screenplay could not be considered an output in its own right which is a peculiar anomaly – the screenplay is written to be filmed but also does, I argued to the AHRC, have a separate existence. This thrust me into thinking further about the place of the screenplay in academic thinking and the assumption that the screenplay is merely the easily forgotten precursor to the film.
"I was amongst a group of small, but growing, band of academics and academic practitioners in the UK, whose voices were increasingly being heard in the academic community regarding the study of the screenplay. The Screenwriting Conference, held for the first time last year and organised by Ian Macdonald, was part of a renewed interest in the subject which picked up on the shortage of arenas to write, discuss, network and present ideas on the subject. I thought a journal on the subject of screenwriting would give a dedicated outlet to the developing interest in this area. There was immediately tremendous support for the idea from everyone involved with the project which includes the publisher, Intellect Press, and the co-editors, Ian Macdonald, for this issue, Jule Selbo and Barry Langford for issues two and three respectively. The first issue of the Journal of Screenwriting will be published in September 2009.
"While researching an article on the rewriting process I began looking for different drafts of particular screenplays and discovered BFI Special Collections , which had just been taken over by Nathalie Morris. Special Collections is a treasure trove – some areas frequently visited while others have yet to be fully explored. Finding the Janet Green collection was a revelation, Green wrote the screenplays for Sapphire (1959) and Victim (1961) and many other popular films in the 1950s. The collection holds a range of drafts, not only of her realised scripts but also of many unrealised projects. Equally fascinating is the collection of correspondence which covers the writing and film development process; the letters from Janet Green to Michael Relph, and those in reply, give a fascinating account of the development of Green's screenplays, the collaborative nature of screenwriting and film production and the negotiating (and arguing) that often takes place.
"I'm currently working on different projects about screenwriting and researching a book on the British screenwriter. The BFI National Library and Special Collections have proven to be invaluable, allowing access to material that is essential for my research and impossible to get elsewhere. My thanks go to all the library staff but especially Nathalie Morris and Emma Furderer for their help and guidance."
Jill Nelmes is a senior lecturer at the University of East London, a screenwriter and screenwriting and film theorist. She is Principal Editor of the new Journal of Screenwriting. Her publications include:
- Introduction to Film Studies (Routledge, 2007) [ed.] )
