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Movie Scripts

EctoJohn

EctoJohn

Romantic Swordsman
Joined
May 8, 2009
Posts
30,331
Just to start off, I realize having zero Hollywood connections, writing a movie script is an almost pointless endeavor, but part of me wants to try it just for fun.

Does anyone have any pointers for writing a movie script?
Is it different from a tv or stage script all that much?

Please feel free to suggest any online resources for making a well formatted one.
 
EctoJohn said:
Just to start off, I realize having zero Hollywood connections, writing a movie script is an almost pointless endeavor, but part of me wants to try it just for fun.

Does anyone have any pointers for writing a movie script?
Is it different from a tv or stage script all that much?

Please feel free to suggest any online resources for making a well formatted one.
Click to expand...

Start by titling it 'Move Script' and not 'Jerk off Porn.' You don't want to confuse the two.
 
EctoJohn said:
Just to start off, I realize having zero Hollywood connections, writing a movie script is an almost pointless endeavor, but part of me wants to try it just for fun.

Does anyone have any pointers for writing a movie script?
Is it different from a tv or stage script all that much?

Please feel free to suggest any online resources for making a well formatted one.
Click to expand...

I've been working on a movie screenplay for fun. I have no idea or expectations about what might come of it, but I've done a fair amount of reading about the process and am well into writing it.

First, buy the latest version of First Draft, the software for writing a screenplay. It will automatically format everything for you. It's not something you want to do by yourself.

Second, buy Screenplay: Writing The Picture, which has useful nuts and bolts information about screenplay formatting and structure. I think this sort of book is more useful than more theoretical discussions about dramatic structure, etc.

Third, buy Save The Cat, a whimsical but useful book about screenwriting by an honest-to-goodness successful screenwriter. It's entertaining but useful for understanding how to construct a story within the constraints of a screenplay.

For online resources, there are various sources where you can find the actual screenplays of movies. Find them. Read them. They will give you a feel for how screenplays have to look and how scenes are set up.

Good luck!
 
I've found Wordplayer.com to be invaluable, with practically everything you'd need. The 'Columns' section is good for looking up any aspect of screenwriting you might be concerned with, but there's also a forum section if you can't find a suitable answer to your queries.
Good luck!
 
SimonDoom said:
First, buy the latest version of First Draft....

Second, buy Screenplay: Writing The Picture...

Third, buy Save The Cat...

For online resources, there are various sources where you can find the actual screenplays of movies. Find them. Read them. They will give you a feel for how screenplays have to look and how scenes are set up.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

While I thank you for your suggestions, especially First Draft, I cannot actually afford to buy anything, which is partly why I asked for online resources.
Although, to be honest, that First Draft software does sound really convenient.
I'm not exactly a wizard with the written word when it comes to regular short stories, nevermind a movie script. :D

I do hope your script turns out well.

CharleneBarr said:
I've found Wordplayer.com to be invaluable, with practically everything you'd need. The 'Columns' section is good for looking up any aspect of screenwriting you might be concerned with, but there's also a forum section if you can't find a suitable answer to your queries.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

I shall have to look that up, thank you.
 
EctoJohn said:
While I thank you for your suggestions, especially First Draft, I cannot actually afford to buy anything, which is partly why I asked for online resources.
Although, to be honest, that First Draft software does sound really convenient.
I'm not exactly a wizard with the written word when it comes to regular short stories, nevermind a movie script. :D

I do hope your script turns out well.



I shall have to look that up, thank you.
Click to expand...

Got it. There might be free open source options online. If at some point you can scrape together the cash, First Draft probably is worth it, because it has many functions and once you grasp them it makes the job of formatting infinitely easier.
 
SimonDoom said:
Got it. There might be free open source options online. If at some point you can scrape together the cash, First Draft probably is worth it, because it has many functions and once you grasp them it makes the job of formatting infinitely easier.
Click to expand...

Did you mean FINAL Draft?
This is what came up when I googled First Draft.

Does seem to have a free trial available, I might have to check that out after all.
 
If it's purely for fun, as you stated, then you don't necessarily have to worry a great deal about formatting. However, if you want to leave open the possibility of shopping it around, or feel part of the fun is doing it the proper way, then make sure to set the correct expectations.

Writing for film and TV is NOT like writing fiction. It has very specific rules, formulas, and formatting. A program like Final Draft will help steer you on the right path, but there is quite a bit you should know about simple things from what words to capitalize, to how to manage dialogue vs. action, to deeper questions like how a writer doesn't (or does...) influence elements out of their control, such as camera shots. This is not to dissuade you at all, just to set you on the right path. Screenwriting is lots of fun, so if you're serious I hope you do pick up a book about it as well, and have fun!
 
I used to experiment with writing scripts several years ago - not professionally I mean. It was fun but I never worried by length. The one that I came closest to finishing would have been something like five hours long. I rationalized it as: okay, it's a mini-series!

The scenes within it were far too long as well. Maybe I should have tried for stage plays rather than movies. It is however a good way to get practice writing dialogue.
 
gunhilltrain said:
I used to experiment with writing scripts several years ago - not professionally I mean. It was fun but I never worried by length. The one that I came closest to finishing would have been something like five hours long. I rationalized it as: okay, it's a mini-series!
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as a mini-series anymore (oh, they have the category because that's the name on the statue) but now it's called a Once in a Lifetime Epic Serialized Event that you can't afford to miss. The only thing mini in the film world is thinking, and there is no room for that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
KindofHere said:
There's no such thing as a mini-series anymore (oh, they have the category because that's the name on the statue) but now it's called a Once in a Lifetime Epic Serialized Event that you can't afford to miss. The only thing mini in the film world is thinking, and there is no room for that.
Click to expand...

Dude. Don't leave. You're going to be missed. :)
 
SolarRay said:
If it's purely for fun, as you stated, then you don't necessarily have to worry a great deal about formatting. However, if you want to leave open the possibility of shopping it around, or feel part of the fun is doing it the proper way, then make sure to set the correct expectations.

Writing for film and TV is NOT like writing fiction. It has very specific rules, formulas, and formatting. A program like Final Draft will help steer you on the right path, but there is quite a bit you should know about simple things from what words to capitalize, to how to manage dialogue vs. action, to deeper questions like how a writer doesn't (or does...) influence elements out of their control, such as camera shots. This is not to dissuade you at all, just to set you on the right path. Screenwriting is lots of fun, so if you're serious I hope you do pick up a book about it as well, and have fun!
Click to expand...

While it would be for fun, part of the fun is imagining someone would actually buy my screenplay, because in my head I'd be writing the movie I'd want to see.
Plus, even if it's just to show friends or family, I'd like it to look right.
To be honest, I wouldn't even know who or where one would shop around a script if I did manage to write something I think would actually be bought.
I'm pretty sure nobody would look at anything just randomly sent in, it's that kind of thing where you know somebody who knows somebody, or somebody who has that ability to accept scripts happened to find you and wants something done by you.

My biggest question is length.
For instance, since I love animation, you hear that cartoon episode scripts generally have 2 minutes of content per page,
so to fill a standard 22 minute tv spot, that's an 11 page script, give or take.
Are film scripts, particularly live-action since that's what I'm thinking of writing, roughly the same where each page covers roughly 2 minutes screen time?
 
EctoJohn said:
While it would be for fun, part of the fun is imagining someone would actually buy my screenplay, because in my head I'd be writing the movie I'd want to see.
Plus, even if it's just to show friends or family, I'd like it to look right.
To be honest, I wouldn't even know who or where one would shop around a script if I did manage to write something I think would actually be bought.
I'm pretty sure nobody would look at anything just randomly sent in, it's that kind of thing where you know somebody who knows somebody, or somebody who has that ability to accept scripts happened to find you and wants something done by you.

My biggest question is length.
For instance, since I love animation, you hear that cartoon episode scripts generally have 2 minutes of content per page,
so to fill a standard 22 minute tv spot, that's an 11 page script, give or take.
Are film scripts, particularly live-action since that's what I'm thinking of writing, roughly the same where each page covers roughly 2 minutes screen time?
Click to expand...

A standard movie screenplay for a two hour movie is around 120 pages. So it's closer to one page per minute.
 
It has been a year or two since I worked in film, but I doubt that too much has changed.

The first step in writing a script is to write a treatment. Not only are producers and intermediaries going to want to see your treatment before they read your script, you’ll also find it an invaluable aid to your own writing.

I usually aimed for a relatively short treatment:

• A paragraph or so on the big idea

• An outline of the main characters

• An outline of Act One: Setting up the conflict

• An outline of Act Two: Pouring petrol on the fire

• An outline of Act Three: Bringing it to a head and resolving the conflict

Endless people have held forth on how to write the perfect treatment. Some say it should be five pages, others say it should be 50 pages. I usually tried to keep it at fewer that ten pages. It worked for me.

Good luck :)
 
'Script' is different to 'screenplay.'

Screenplay is always written in eighths of a page (each page is divided into usually two lines times eight of those...!), and it consists of short verbal directions about the action, or the style or feel about what is to be filmed. One 'two-liner' being the relevant camera shot, more or less. And all the main camera shots in sequence being the film.

And then 'shooting script' is just the words the actors on set for the particular shoot will say, with often hand-written notes by the director all over it.
 
SimonDoom said:
A standard movie screenplay for a two hour movie is around 120 pages. So it's closer to one page per minute.
Click to expand...

Alright, that's very good to know.
Thank you.

SamScribble said:
It has been a year or two since I worked in film, but I doubt that too much has changed.

The first step in writing a script is to write a treatment. Not only are producers and intermediaries going to want to see your treatment before they read your script, you’ll also find it an invaluable aid to your own writing.

I usually aimed for a relatively short treatment:

• A paragraph or so on the big idea

• An outline of the main characters

• An outline of Act One: Setting up the conflict

• An outline of Act Two: Pouring petrol on the fire

• An outline of Act Three: Bringing it to a head and resolving the conflict

Endless people have held forth on how to write the perfect treatment. Some say it should be five pages, others say it should be 50 pages. I usually tried to keep it at fewer that ten pages. It worked for me.

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

While that's interesting and all, since this is just for fun for my own self, it doesn't really need a treatment I wouldn't think.
Who's going to be reading it?
 
Desiremakesmeweak said:
'Script' is different to 'screenplay.'

Screenplay is always written in eighths of a page (each page is divided into usually two lines times eight of those...!), and it consists of short verbal directions about the action, or the style or feel about what is to be filmed. One 'two-liner' being the relevant camera shot, more or less. And all the main camera shots in sequence being the film.

And then 'shooting script' is just the words the actors on set for the particular shoot will say, with often hand-written notes by the director all over it.
Click to expand...

This isn't true of any of the sources I've read. All of them refer to a "screenplay" as the completed movie script with complete dialogue, narrative , and scene headings, fully formatted. What's your source for this?
 
EctoJohn said:
While that's interesting and all, since this is just for fun for my own self, it doesn't really need a treatment I wouldn't think.
Who's going to be reading it?
Click to expand...

Sorry. I misunderstood your objective. :)
 
I would suggest doing what I did - start reading movie scripts. Get a feel for how they work. You can really boil it down to only two basic elements: What you see and what people say. That's what makes it my favorite type of writing.

William Goldman scripts are excellent. For me, I used 'Basic Instinct' and 'Lethal Weapon', because they were both well written and suited the genre I like.

Just read while you watch the movies (although most of what you find online are not the final shooting scripts, but the original, so there will be discrepancies).

Good luck and have fun!
 
SimonDoom said:
This isn't true of any of the sources I've read. All of them refer to a "screenplay" as the completed movie script with complete dialogue, narrative , and scene headings, fully formatted. What's your source for this?
Click to expand...

A screenplay is any script that is written with the intention to film. So it absolutely refers to movies. Actors, directors etc. tend to refer to the thing as a script and may mean either the shooting script or the screenplay, which is where it gets a bit confusing.

If it’s not intended to be filmed (so a stage play, radio play etc.) it’s just called a script. Video games and (sometimes, depending on the writer) comic books also have “scripts”.
 
SamScribble said:
It has been a year or two since I worked in film, but I doubt that too much has changed.

The first step in writing a script is to write a treatment. Not only are producers and intermediaries going to want to see your treatment before they read your script, you’ll also find it an invaluable aid to your own writing.

I usually aimed for a relatively short treatment:

• A paragraph or so on the big idea

• An outline of the main characters

• An outline of Act One: Setting up the conflict

• An outline of Act Two: Pouring petrol on the fire

• An outline of Act Three: Bringing it to a head and resolving the conflict

Endless people have held forth on how to write the perfect treatment. Some say it should be five pages, others say it should be 50 pages. I usually tried to keep it at fewer that ten pages. It worked for me.

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

I invented the kiss method: Keep It Simple Scribbe. That is write it so a director can follow the action with ease. Howard Hughes recommended it and won Oscars from the first film he made.
 
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