Why Setting is Important for Screenwriting

Watching film, we see everything: the buildings, the fields, the deserts, and even outer space. These are all settings. A setting is any environment where a story takes place. But the setting is more than just the scene’s location.

In this article, we are going to show what setting is and why it’s important for you to polish your settings within your writing so that they shine in the film’s production.

What Is A Setting?

The setting refers mostly to the time and place of a story. It can be as important to your story as the characters themselves.

It can also refer to an entire world, like the Star Wars universe or the world established by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

More Than Just A location

Your setting is the place, time, and mood of a story. Location is simply where the story takes place.

Setting can be more than just a location because it includes things like the physical environment, social environment, and mood or atmosphere of a scene.

For example: Let's say you're writing about an old man who lives alone in a forest at night because he doesn't trust people anymore after being betrayed by someone close to him many years ago. You could set your story in his home (location), but it would be better to set your movie somewhere else if you want to show us how isolated he is from society at large (setting). In this case, we should see how dark it gets outside when night falls—and maybe even feel some raindrops on our faces while driving along an empty highway—to understand why he chooses not to leave his house during daylight hours.

Why Is It Important?

The setting is important because it can be used to make a statement about the story, create a mood, and even amplify the tension of conflict.

Think of the settings of the battles and wars in the Lord of The Rings trilogy, the setting like Helm’s Deep added such depth and tension to that scene that it not only amplified the characters but it also amplified the story.

Some writers will create their settings first and then write their stories based on the setting believing that the setting is just as integral and foundational as the story itself.

Conclusion

Once you’ve figured out the location for your story, you can start writing. But before you do that, it’s important to think about what kind of setting will best support your vision and help make your script stand out from the crowd.

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