Script Writing / Screen Writing
The Beginning
Writing is not a 9-5 job, its a CONTINUOUS PROCESS.
So make it a HABIT, DAILY ROUTINE & DISCIPLINE.
Write down Your DREAMS
GET A NOTEBOOK - (Get The Juice) to catch-up IDEAS
(for example, plot ideas, or interesting names for characters) as they come up.
Jot A Date Journal Of Yours - Develop A Plot From It
Write down interesting & cinematic moments form a story or TV show or a movie
Inspiration
Want to write Screen Plays (Cinema) or Scripts (Other than Cinema) read Screen Plays, watch Movie Scenes & try to write down cinematic moments or try to write the sequel of your favorite movie, read lots of novels, take note of real life incident from news paper, cut news articles & make collage out of it.
Trying to connect everything will help you practice creating plot twists, as these are meant to be rather jarring and abrupt
If you have a topic you are passionate about, Try To Write On That TOPIC.
Try write down TV Advertisement & Commercials
WHY WRITE THIS STORY & FOR WHOM
WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT on the READER
Next Big Step - Get Creative
USE WHAT IF – & just let your mind run wild.
"What if this happened?" or use your dreams! Some dreams just have to be told
The HOOK
WRITE THE NEVER BEFORE HOOK (Should be approx 5% of your total script)
A Lead / Who Wants Something / Takes Action / Meets The Conflict That Leads To The Climax & A Unexpected Resolution
Will need to write your script in a way that encompasses the visual and auditory aspects of the story
Good Writers Must - Use Less Verbal Clue & Focus n More Visual Expressions
Focus on writing pictures Visions and Sounds (i.e. concept or main point of interest) should be presented within the first ten pages. The first ten pages are what get the producer to read further
KEEP Focus On - VISUAL DRAMA, EMOTION & SURPRISE
Research
CHARACTER (Actual People)
Study Good & Bad Feeling & Human Behavior
A big part of writing is character development and setting up scenes. Practice makes perfect
so the next time you’re out, pick a person and write about them. Take what you observe about this person, whether they were sitting across from you on the bus or bumped into you as you were leaving a coffee shop, and develop that character. What is his name? What does he do? Where is he going? Where is he coming from? Is he shy or social? What is going on in his head? Cover everything from his family to his inner struggles. This will really test your creativity
LIKE ESSAYS - GET THE FACT - RESEARCH - TELL YOUR POINT OF VIEW (Opinion)
Structure
Put creativity In structure - Stories Work If They Have Satisfying Structure
For 120 Min Script
Act1 25%-30 Min
Act2 50%-60 Min
Act3 25%-30 Min
Story Telling Device
Drama Is Anticipation, Mingled With Uncertainty
(Let Audience Work For The Story / Don't Give 2+2)
ACT 1 - 0% Setup (End-Goal In Mind / Give A Promise Of Worthy Time)
ACT 1 - 10% (Opportunity) New Situation
ACT 1 - 25% (Change Of Plan) Progress
ACT 2 - 50% (Point Of No Return) Complications & Higher Stake
ACT 2 - 75% (Major Set Back) Final Push
ACT 3 - 90%-99% (Climax) After Math
The Script Skeleton / Check Points
Act One:Current Equilibrium or Balance or Situations in
Daily LifeTrigger – Not in control Situation – Start of excitement
Act Two:Negative or Positive Changes Quest – Rising Action
Act Three:Surprise – Challenges – Unexpected events Critical
Choices Climax – Highest peak pointReversal – Outcome – Major
changes – Should be logical Resolution - Evolved new equilibrium
Breaking Rules
No Songs / No I Want Moment / No Happy Village / No Love Story /
No Vilian / Like The Main Character / Inwoke Wonder
The pillars of a screenplay are the Three Acts. Each act can operate independently, and when taken together provide the full arc of a story
Start by splitting up the story into the introduction, the build-up, the climax, the cool-down, and the conclusion
(Based On :A Lead / Who Wants Something / Takes Action / Meets The Conflict That Leads To The Climax & A Unexpected Resolution)
The Three Acts
Act One:
the first act is much Normal paced.
This is the set-up for the story. Introduce the world and the characters. Set the tone of the story (comedy, action, romance, etc.). Introduce your protagonist(Hero/Lead), and begin exploring the conflict that will drive the story. Once the protagonist is set towards the objective, then Act Two begins.
For dramas, Act One is typically 30 pages. For comedies, 24 pages
introduction to include Plot setting and characters, conflict challenges establishment, crisis leading.
Act Two:
The second act is much medium-paced and tight
This act is the main portion of the story. The protagonist will encounter obstacles on the path to the resolution of the conflict.
Subplots or sequence are typically introduced in the second act.
Add A Sequences (Like a Flash Back sequence)
Sequences are parts of the story that operate somewhat independently from the main conflict. They have a beginning, middle, and end. A typical sequence will be about 10 to 15 pages in length. A sequence tends to focus on a specific character.
Sequences operate with a separate tension from the main story, and often affect how the main story will play out
Throughout the second act, the protagonist should be showing signs of change. to rising action
For dramas, Act Two is typically 60 pages. For comedies, 48 page
Act Three:
The third act is much faster-paced and condensed.
In the third act, the story reaches its unexpected resolution. The third act contains the twist of the story, and ends with the final confrontation of the objective. Because the story has already been established in the second act,
For dramas, Act Three is typically 30 pages
After Script Structure - Next Is Scene Writing
Start writing scenes / 3-4 Page will be one scene on average
Scenes are the events of your movie.
They take place in specific locations and always serve to drive story forward.
FIND the PURPOSE of THE SCENE
If a scene does not do this, then it should be removed from the script.
Scenes that serve no purpose will stick out in the audience’s mind as flaws, and will drag the story down
After Scene Writing - Next Is Dialog
Once you have scenes, you will have characters interacting.
PAY ATTENTION ON THE INTERACTION OF THE CHARACTER @ PLOT
Dialogue can be one of the hardest things to write.
Each character needs to have its own distinct, believable voice
Realistic dialogue is not necessarily a good dialogue.
You should not worry about trying to capture reality with dialogue, because in reality conversations are often dull and lifeless
Dialogue should be focused on moving the story forward and developing characters.
Read your dialogue aloud. Does it sound halting, stereotyped, or over-the-top?
Do all of your characters talk the same way Cut away the dead weight.
Always Check Grammar
Choose one tense and stick to it.
for a fictional story. The past tense is usually a little easier to read than the present tense,
Choose one person and stick to it. Either write in the first person (I, me) or the third person (he, she, they).
If you write in the third person, decide in advance whether you will share everybody's thoughts (third-person omniscient) or the perspective of a single character (third-person limited)
The second person (you) is better left for instructions. Remember the "choose your own adventure" books you read as a kid
Nothing can stop you in your tracks faster than when you can’t think of a clever sentence to begin your next chapter.
Even lousy transition sentences between paragraphs could lose your reader.
Look to the greats for inspiration. Look through Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Palahniuk, and other successful authors and write down the sentences that have the strongest effect on you.
You don’t want to copy their work; you just want to draw inspiration from their methods and style. Whether it’s blunt, jarring sentences to take you off guard or questions directed at the reader, take each method and make it your own by coming up with your own transitions to draw in your audience
WRITE GOOD SENTENCES, AGAIN WRITE GOOD SENTENCES & REPEAT AGAIN & AGAIN
BE A STUDENT OF VOCABULARY – START WITH SIMPLE WORDS
Simple is best. While you will undoubtedly need a well-stocked vocabulary (more on that later), too many big words will drive all but the most dedicated readers away. Start small. Don't hold onto a grandiose word just because it sounds fancy. Aim instead to allow everyone who reads your writing to comprehend exactly what you wanted them to comprehend. Nothing more, and nothing less
Stick with short sentences in the beginning.
Short sentences are easy to digest and are very readable. That's not to say that you can't, or shouldn't, write a long sentence every once in a while. It's just that simple sentences deliver information without stopping the reader in his or her tracks, stranding them on an island of befuddlement (A state of being confused or dazed)
A great story can be ruined by drab,
Overused adjectives and verbs. Evocative, specific words help put the reader in the scene.
“He walked through the door and put his briefcase down” doesn’t give the reader much to work with. “He burst through the door and marched in mechanically, releasing his briefcase and letting it tumble to the floor” paints a much clearer picture.
Write out a scene without putting much thought into the specific words. Then, go through the adjectives and verbs to find better synonyms. Add in adverbs to be even more colorful with your writing.
Be careful with the thesaurus, though. “She briefly pondered the situation” and “She obsessively agonized over the situation” are both good substitutes for “She thought about the situation”; however, they communicate completely different emotions. Be sure you’re choosing an appropriate synonym
A good writer can put the reader directly into the scene. This means having the ability to describe things very well.
THE FLOWCHART METHOD – How Things Work
Write down the manner in which things work, such as the mechanics of a dishwasher or how to change the oil of a car. Then, read what you have written to a child. If she/he doesn’t understand, simplify the terms and enhance the details until she/he does. The purpose of this is to practice writing details in a way that is clear and specific. Beautifully descriptive language is useless if it is muddled
Punctuation
Don't over- or under-use punctuation. Good punctuation is neither seen nor heard, but is powerful nonetheless. Under use punctuation and your readers won't be able to understand the meaning of your sentences.
"Let's eat, Mommy," and "Let's eat Mommy" have two very different meanings. Overuse punctuation and your readers will be distracted. No one wants to read a sentence in which colons, semicolons, and dashes make more appearances that actual words
Let your VERBS do the REAL WORK
Verbs are the great drivers of sentences. They carry meaning from one thought to the next. On top of that, they help writers achieve dazzling degrees of precision
Use the active voice instead of the passive voice, as a rule of thumb
Active voice: "The cat found her master." Here, the cat is doing the work, so to speak. She is actively finding her master
Passive voice: "The master is found by his cat." Here, the cat is more removed from the action. The master is being found; the cat isn't finding
Once you've learned all the rules, BREAK THEM.
Don't be afraid to invert rules or play with them to achieve the sort of writing you want. Some of the greatest writers have successfully broken grammatical, stylistic, and semantic rules, making literature better by doing so. Know why you're breaking the rule in the first place, and understand its likely effect. But if you're not willing to take some risks, what are you doing calling yourself a writer
Filtration
Now that all your ideas are on paper, look for weak links, distractions, or anything that drags. Does the story ever get sidetracked? Are there unnecessary details or repetitions? Do you give your audience enough credit? If it over-explains or doesn’t move your story forward, cut it.
Index Cards & Story Board Drawing
Grab a poster board and outline a story from macro to micro
Then, add in or find out the major events.
Just a few words will do: “Stacy finds her cheating boyfriend” or “Brett crashed his car into the swamp.”
Add in minor events that led to major events. Then add in the progression of the characters’ emotions during these events.
Having this visual aid will allow you to focus on each scene without having to waste any time remembering where you’re going with the story.
Start At Page One Everyday & REVISE
Try to develop the story so that it progresses naturally. Many first-time screenwriters feel that every second should be more exciting than the last; others jump suddenly between excitement and no excitement at all.
Make sure your plot progresses gradually (Graph) so that the excitement builds to a climax. giving the reader a glimpse of what lies ahead (known as foreshadowing) is a great way to create suspense and momentum right away
Use the shorter length as an advantage to focus your story and make it more powerful, more intense. At the same time, don't gloss over too many specifics
How do your characters interact and why? What’s your larger point? Are there any plot holes? Write notes addressing these points in any format you see fit.
Revise your work as many times as necessary.
This may be painful at first, but when all is said and done, you’ll be glad you took the time to properly convey your vision
Keep length in mind
When in script format, each page is roughly one minute of screen time. The average length of a two hour script is 120 pages. Dramas should be around the 2 hour mark, comedies should be shorter, around one and a half hours
Short Film - Less Than 40 Mins
Documentary - 40 Mins
Feature Film - 80 Mins to 210 Mins
Online Promotional Ads – 15 and 30 seconds
Broadcast Promotional Ads - 15, 30 and 60 seconds
Corporate Overview Videos - 1 to 2 minutes.
Training Videos - 2 to 30 minutes.
Get Feedback
Make a list of potential places to send your work to
Show your finished work to a few friends. Choose people with different tastes and backgrounds to get a variety of opinions. Be sure to ask for the cold, hard truth; you want constructive criticism, not flattery or lies
Screen Writing / Screen Play - Paper Margin Configurations
SET YOUR PAGE SIZE: LETTER
FONT : Courier 12 Normal
TOP 0.5 in
____ Pg No. Top Left Corner / The title page does not get numbered
__________
| |
LEFT 1.2-1.6 in | | RIGHT 0.1 in
| |
| |
| |
---------------
BOTTOM 0.1 in
Screenplays are written on 8 ½” x 11” Letter paper, typically 3-hole punched.
Top and bottom margins are set between .5” and 1”.
The left margin is set to 1.2”-1.6” and the right margin is set between .5” and 1”.
Page numbers go in the top right corner. The title page does not get numbered.
Set your font. Screenplays are written in Courier 12 point font. This is mainly because of timing. One script page in Courier 12 is roughly one minute of screen time.
One scene should take 3-4 pages.
5 Rules For Better Formatting.
1. Slug Line
2. Scene Heading / Description / Action
3. Character Name
4. Dialog
5. Parenthetical
SAMPLE SCRIPT FROM MOVIE OBLIVION
OBLIVION
Written by
William Monahan
Current Revisions by
Karl Gajdusek
Based on the story by
Joseph Kosinski
DRAFT: March 27, 2011
Email :
Phone No. :
x. | (NO Page No.)
FADE IN: | (Transition)
EXT. | (#Scene Interior Or Exterior) THE PLANET | (#Where) - MORNING | (#When) | (#Slug Line)
{MOVING - if in a vehicle}
Huge mountains, destroyed STRUCTURES. Buildings | (#Scene Heading / Description / Action / Just The Vibe - Not The Extra Detail)
enveloped by flows of earth. Awe-inspiring beauty.
(character name should be CAPITAL when it appears for the FIRST time in description)
(use CAPITAL letters for describing SOUNDS)
JACK (V.O.) | (#Character Name)
They arrived almost half a century | (#Dialog)
ago. Aliens, Scavs, whatever you
want to call them. Their idea of
how-do-you-do was to blow up our
moon.
Giant waterfalls crash where lava cooled through iron and
concrete. Telephone polls half-buried in sand.
JACK (V.O.) (#Vioce Over (V.O.) / Off Screen (O.S.) / On Camera (O.C.)
Without her moon, the earth went
insane. Most were killed in the
floods, as the cities came down,
as everything caught fire. A year
later their ground troops landed,
to exterminate whoever was left.
A station wagon half protrudes from a lava flow. A
child's plastic flip-flops on the dash.
JACK (V.0.)
They were probably surprised, what
we were willing to do, to survive.
We used the nukes.
(BEAT)
We won the war, but lost the
planet.
Low on the HORIZON, the TET rises with the sun. It's a
WHITE TETRAHEDRON (SIX-SIDED) SPACE STATION that circles
the earth once a day, like an artificial moon.
JACK (V.0.)
Humanity had to flee the Earth.
We had to unlearn what it meant,
to call something our home. Now
we live on the Tet, our man-made
moon. A temporary home before the
next step. Everyone's there now.
(BEAT)
Well, almost everyone.
2. | (Page No.)
INT. BEDROOOM - MORNING
An ALARM chirps. A man's hand reaches out of bed,
silences it. The MAN swings his feet onto the floor. He
sits with his face in his hands, waking up. We hear a
SHOWER RUNNING. He looks up.
A WOMAN showers near him, only steamed glass walls
between them. She sees him, smiles at him, without
modesty. He looks back at her.
OVER TITLES. We watch a familiar morning routine:
INT. A HOME - MORNING
BATHROOM. The man flicks on a light, stares at himself
in the mirror. This is JACK. Early 40's, a good face
that enjoys rugged living. Tan and weathered skin. His
eyes are curious, kind, almost child-like.
The woman squeezes in next to him, VICTORIA. 30s, a tom-
boy shock of red hair, towel around her neck. She
brushes her teeth.
KITCHEN. Victoria watches the coffee drip, bites toast.
SHOWER. Jack lets warm water blast him in the face.
READY ROOM. Jack pulls a worn high-tech workman's suit
from a locker, revealing a photo taped to the door: It's
of him and Victoria, younger, in a white-walled high-tech
corridor, smiling eager at the camera. He stares at it
for a moment, closes the locker door.
KITCHEN. Victoria hands Jack his coffee. He kisses the
top of her head, heads out to work.
EXT. SKY TOWER - CONTINUOUS | (Continuous Scene)
He walks out onto the deck of a futuristic home perched
1,200 feet in the air, literally above the clouds. As
our minds are blown, Jack moves away from the glass-
walled home towards his BUBBLESHIP, a futuristic-cross
between a Bell 47 Helicopter and a jet fighter, and we
CRANE UP UP UP... INCREDIBLE VERTIGO until we're looking
down at this impossible structure. Jack, climbing into
his ship.
TITLE CARD: "OBLIVION"
3.
EXT. THE SKY - DAY
The SKY stretches to infinity above roiling planetary
cloud-cover. The BUBBLESHIP streaks through our frame,
dropping faster than free fall.
INT. BUBBLESHIP - CONTINUOUS
Through the canopy of the Bubbleship: The cloud cover
below seems to FALL UPWARDS at us, that's how fast we're
diving. There's a small worn BOBBLE-HEAD on the dash
which vibrates with the ship.
Jack is un-phased by the drop, touches a few controls.
VICTORIA (V.O.)
Good morning, Jack. I'll be your
flight attendant for the day.
This is day... three thousand two
hundred and twenty five, in case
you were wondering.
JACK is running instruments. A day at work..
VICTORIA
Today we will be running support
on five Resource Gatherers working
the seaboard. Coordinates coming
to you... now. Please do confirm.
On Jack's heads-up display, five icons glow to life.
JACK
Yeah, I got 'em. You got 'em,
Bob?
The Bobblehead bobs.
INT. SKY TOWER, CONTROL STATION - CONTINUOUS
VICTORIA watches the Bubbleship's icon on a screen.
She's now wearing a work jumpsuit open over a man's
undershirt. She has a natural ease with tech and stress.
She sips her coffee, punches up a feed, multi-tasking
with cool.
VICTORIA
Drone perimeter defense is intact,
although one went offline last
night. How's the drop?
(CONTINUED) | (Page Continuity)
4.
CONTINUED:
JACK
Oh, you know. Same ole' same.
In front of Victoria, almost a hundred years of
technological advances. Most prominent a MAP overlaid
with environmental, meteorological, radiation levels...
Other screens stream cam-footage from the Bubbleship.
VICTORIA
Alright, you're blind in five,
four, three...
INTERCUT WITH JACK IN THE BUBBLESHIP. JACK watches the
cloud wall RUSH UP at him.
VICTORIA (CONT'D)
Two... one...
JACK
You should come with me sometime.
VICTORIA
No, thank you. Have a nice ride.
The Bubbleship HITS CLOUDS, goes completely blind. Just
vapor and water HAMMERING the canopy like bullets.
On the heads-up display, GPS numbers roll. The readouts
deal with climate, terrain below... Even in this hell,
Jack takes the controls, starts to pilot on instruments.
One of Victoria's boards flashes. She squints as a large
MASS forms near Jack's ship.
VICTORIA (CONT'D)
Jack, you got some weather on your
five, closing.
The Bubbleship is VIBRATING, buffeted.
JACK
What do you call this?
What does a storm look like inside a storm? Like this.
The WALL OF WEATHER comes out of the wind and rain from
behind Jack's ship, simply eats it up.
Suddenly Jack's going end over end, helpless. Warning
lights flash. Jack punches controls that won't respond.
JACK (CONT'D)
(humming to himself) | (#Parenthetical Discription small actions done by the charecter)
"I've got sunshine...
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
5.
CONTINUED: ( 2)
JACK (CONT'D)
on a cloudy day. When it's cold
outside I've got the month of
May..."
Victoria watches the readouts, helpless.
JACK (CONT'D)
(STILL SINGING)
"I guess you'd say... What can
make me feel this way?"
(a little tense)
Free Screen Writing Tool : Celtex