EWB Screenwriting Group

[NM!]

Bringing this thread back up, I found out this past summer that my town (city?) has a film festival named "The Good, The Bad, The Indie" and allows people in the area with short films to enter it for those there to see it. Pretty much like most festivals do. I've always wanted to be apart of one, and I made it a promise when I went that the following year's festival would have something created or produced by myself. Now, maybe it was due to the fact that I just saw "Easy A" which is a teen movie, but also notices the facts of teen movies from the past. I considered doing something like this, in the sense that it would not follow the typical teen movie formula, but still be in the general league of it being a teen movie. I thought that doing the whole "Sex, Drugs, Alchohal" thing, while being very much the lives of teens, is not the life of every teen; like myself for example. These days, that seems to be the whole thing with some rated R movies that have a target audience of teens and adults in their 20's. I've been thinking of doing something that still holds some of the mainstream comedy that isn't looked down upon like the horrible material from the "___ Movie" franchise but wouldn't be so intellectually high that the general teen wouldn't get it. Hopefully I'm making some sense, since I tend not to when I explain things these days.

All in all, I'm just looking for some sort of idea that I could work a 10-15 minute short around that would keep some sort of resemblence to something like Easy A but wouldn't be a cheap knock-off of Superbad. Any ideas?

[Gene Kiniski]

I've been thinking of doing something of this sort:

But with actual real life footage as well as scripted footage mixed and integrated together. If the idea is something that interest you then take it and run with it by all means.

[GhostMachine]

Just wondering if anyone has used Celtx? I downloaded it a while back but haven't worked on anything yet, but I've got about three different ideas. One I may write as a comic book script, but the other two would work better as movies.

[Jimmy]

Celtx is pretty damn good for free software. It's perfectly capable, so I'd go ahead and use it.

And NM, I don't know where you're from, but do something similar to the first two series of Skins. Maybe a year or two younger, depending on your age. I'd say just follow one main character and just explore him, or a party, or whatever. But that tone's usually pretty good. I'd love to see more short films which actually hit close to what teenagers are like.

And I have a serious problem with planning. I know I want to write a feature film, I have for ages. I've had two or three scripts which hit the 11 page mark, but then I hit the a wall or I start judging my work. How much planning do you guys do? And how do you set it out in documents? I'd love some tips.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I always find I need to plan more as I go on. I know for a fact that if I planned every little thing out before I started, I'd never finish anything because when I actually started to write I'd feel like I was just copying up. I'd feel restricted.

After making initial notes - often just the idea for the whole thing in a paragraph, or a couple of seperate one-line sentences of things I want to include I'll do a first plan. This will basically be Start: THIS. Middle: THIS. End: THIS. I may include details of a specific scene if it's important but it'll generally still be a very vague overview of the project.

Then I start writing. Once I've gotten so far, I'll find I have to stop because I don't know where to go next. It's like crossing a river; I can see the other side I just can't see a way through the water. This is the time to do a more detailed scene by scene break-down. Doesn't have to be for the entire rest of the thing, but it may be for the next 4/5, 8/9, X/Y scenes. It's like creating stepping stones across the river. Just something to get you back on the right path. It may be that in my first outline I created I said something like 'X has a confrontation with Y and then asks Z for advice,' and it hasn't been important - so far - to be more specific. It is at this stage I'll decide what form the confrontation takes, if there's anything else that has to happen to get everyone to that point, and what Z will say when Z asks him/her for help.

I hope that made sense, and I wouldn't claim to be a guiding light by any means, but it's what I do and I've begun to actually finish things (eventually)

[GhostMachine]

Best advice I can offer is to write an outline, as if you were doing it as a book. Or at least make a list of bullet points that you want to get across (key scenes, the basic point of the whole film, how someone dies (if anyone does), key character relationships, etc). Then when you get stuck or start judging what you've done so far, take a break for an hour or even day or two and when you go back to work on it again take a look at your outline/bullet points.

And I don't know if it will help, but Lester Dent, who wrote the Doc Savage pulps, had a technique he'd use to keep from losing his train of thought; when he stopped writing (for the day, taking a break, etc), he would stop in mid-sentence.

One thing I do is write out profiles on my main characters, including any quirks or useless trivia (hobbies, etc), to make them seem more like real people to me. What I DO NOT do is write down what happens to them in the end (ie, if they get killed off during the story, end up in prison or married at the end), because sometimes I end up changing my mind before I'm halfway through. Only write that out if you are dead set against changing it and their fate is set in stone.

I'd do it something like this:

Jack Stone - 23, close cropped blond hair, brown eyes. Has a scar above his left eyebrow from a bike accident when he was a kid. Bike messenger who gets dragged into the main events of the story by his girlfriend Allison. Is allergic to apricots. Older brother David died of cancer two weeks prior to the beginning of the story.

Allison Campbell - 24, brunette with shoulder length hair, blue eyes. Cashier at a fast food restaurant. Has been dating Jack about three months. Accidentally witnesses a mob hit while walking home from work. Has a prosthetic right leg from just below the knee from being hit by a drunk driver when she was 16. Speaks Italian, though not fluently.

[Cadj]

Meant to post in here months ago but must have never gotten around to it.

I usually do a fair bit of planning, mostly with the characters and the scenes I hope to be the main ones throughout. Although I really should start focusing more on the smaller scenes and how they can advance the storyline as I do a fair bit of lingering around with scenes trying to figure out on the fly how I can make something fit the story and advance at the same time.

As you can probably guess, I haven't finished anything (most of my scripts written out get to around 20 pages and then I start questioning where it's going).

I do have something I'm working on right now though that I quite like (which I've probably said for about the millionth time to people). Keeping it fairly simple and about only 3 characters while using the surrounding areas that I'm aware off to save myself losing my train of thought writing out a description for a new place.

Got plans written out too for almost every scene this time, I always carry a little notebook and a pen with me when I go out in case I ever think of anything I can add when I get home which has especially helped with this for scene ideas.

Would ideally like to be past my usual stumbling block pages by the New Year and hope the story makes sense and doesn't drag.

[GhostMachine]

My advice is you can only do 20 pages or so then run into trouble would be to try and write a few short stories around that long at first as practice. Then try writing something longer. Or try finding a collaborator. Not necessarily someone who co-writes the story, but someone who makes suggestions and that you can bounce ideas off of.

Or try writing what you have again, in a different format. Hell, 20 pages of movie/tv script, you could probably rewrite as an issue or two of a comic. Or maybe as a radio show script. Do that, then go back and work on the original format some more.

The trick is to not let the project control you or get stale in your mind.

[NM!]

Just wondering if anyone has used Celtx? I downloaded it a while back but haven't worked on anything yet, but I've got about three different ideas. One I may write as a comic book script, but the other two would work better as movies.

Celtx is fantastic for a freeware program. I personally tend to use it due to the fact that I'm obviously not the best formater (sp?) when it comes to scripts and it can definately help. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't really plan on spending some money on a scripting program but wants to get their work done in a "proper" way.

[Walker]

Today I put the finishing touches to the screenplay to a film I'm doing for Uni and sent it out to all the actors. Took me ages to format it properly though, and it was only 15 pages long. I hope we are on the right track now. Auditions to be held early January, hopefully filming in February/March, edited and finalised by May and sent to some independent film festivals as soon as we can (don't know the rules about stuff that needs to be marked for uni).

The film is a 10-15 minute mockumentary about broadcast journalism. The central characters are a group of amateurs looking to get their big break by covering a nearby car crash. Before the final scene there will be a news report that we put together using what has been seen earlier in the film, but obviously edited to look professional rather than being disorganised and shoddy. It is sort of like a deconstruction of a news report.

Edited December 24, 2010 by WalkerWGZ

[Gene Kiniski]

I have been thinking about going back to school recently and want to pursue something film related. I have always wanted to be more of writer and director but it seems as if most of the schooling focuses on production. So would something such as as Associates of Applied Arts focusing on Visual Arts & Film Specialization still be a wise choice?

[GA!]

Le bump. Anyone been up to much screenwriting lately? Anyone taking part in Script Frenzy at the moment?

[LL!]

I'm actually thinking about writing something for my final production workshop this fall. I have no idea what yet, but I'll know more details of what I need before the summer arrives. Otherwise I've just been doing tons of revisions to my web series while budgeting it.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm doing Script Frenzy. I use to write screenplays all the time in school, but when you get out in the real world, that talent doesn't take you far. I co-wrote one a few months back with my friend that works for NASA TV. We may film it Summer of 2012. I'm currently fourteen pages in my Script Frenzy project and feeling good about it so far.

[NM!]

Completely forgot about Script Frenzy. I'll start in late I suppose. I've been planning on doing my first 'official' short film by the start of fall, so this can help speed things up.

[GA!]

I only started Script Frenzy yesterday and have so far written twenty pages of complete rubbish.

My writing's been in a funk since finishing revisions on a film script two months ago (which I'm slowly sending to every competition going - it's quite an expensive endeavour). I have several project ideas but I'm not feeling particularly positive about any of them. I'm somewhat tempted to scrap everything I have* and work on something new/fresh on my mind whatever that may be.

*Except for a short film I'm going to write soon. I'm not scrapping that two days after finally figuring out what it's about.

[Jimmy]

I usually try and write without doing much planning, which has so far gotten me nowhere. So I've spent the last few months properly planning my first feature, going it through scene by scene. I only started the other day, and it was briefly before bed, and I've gotten a little over a page written. I'm feeling quite good about the story, but I don't feel confident about my writing. I keep second guessing myself instead of letting it flow.

However, despite that, I'm really excited at the possibility of really sinking my teeth into it. Doubt I'll have it ready for something like Script Frenzy; depends how much I get into it over Easter.

[Meacon Keaton]

I usually try and write without doing much planning, which has so far gotten me nowhere. So I've spent the last few months properly planning my first feature, going it through scene by scene. I only started the other day, and it was briefly before bed, and I've gotten a little over a page written. I'm feeling quite good about the story, but I don't feel confident about my writing. I keep second guessing myself instead of letting it flow.

However, despite that, I'm really excited at the possibility of really sinking my teeth into it. Doubt I'll have it ready for something like Script Frenzy; depends how much I get into it over Easter.

That's the beauty of screenwriting. You're just getting the skeleton of the story down on paper. You don't have to be the greatest writer around to do one. You get your story down on and let the director do his magic.

[GA!]

I usually try and write without doing much planning, which has so far gotten me nowhere. So I've spent the last few months properly planning my first feature, going it through scene by scene. I only started the other day, and it was briefly before bed, and I've gotten a little over a page written. I'm feeling quite good about the story, but I don't feel confident about my writing. I keep second guessing myself instead of letting it flow.

However, despite that, I'm really excited at the possibility of really sinking my teeth into it. Doubt I'll have it ready for something like Script Frenzy; depends how much I get into it over Easter.

That's the beauty of screenwriting. You're just getting the skeleton of the story down on paper. You don't have to be the greatest writer around to do one. You get your story down on and let the director do his magic.

That is untrue. Granted there's less perfectionism required than novel writing, but if your script doesn't wow every last person who reads it then it won't go anywhere, particularly if you're trying to attract attention. Not to mention it's the writer's job to basically force the director into creating the 'magic' you envision through what's on the page.

[Meacon Keaton]

While that's true, unless you're directing it yourself, what you're imagining in your head and what the director is going to create is usually going to be two different things. When you write a novel, you need to be as descriptive as possible when it comes to the setting and character actions. That's more of a directors job when it comes to film, though, unless it's something that is completely necessary to the plot of your story.

You don't have to be a fantastic writer to "wow" someone with your script. You have to have a fantastic story.