The script and Scriptwriting You will get a new part every day before we do production lessons.

OVERVIEW Final Draft or Celtx SCRIPTS MUST Be VISUAL Tell a great story/truth Show, don’t tell Always be written in the present tense

OVERVIEW YOUR SCRIPTS MUST NEVER: “call shots” Write what the character is thinking – keep it VISUAL fake out the audience

OVERVIEW YOUR SCRIPTS MUST NEVER: “call shots” Write what the character is thinking – keep it VISUAL fake out the audience

Written Representation The script is a written representation of what should go on the screen. There are inherent risks in the writer’s interpreting what is in his head, and translating it to the page. There are specific rules in the practical mechanics of writing the script, and there are even more rules governing the translation of ideas to the written page.

Visual – this is hard! The overriding idea behind scriptwriting is that the script tells the story of the film VISUALLY. Remember that the script dictates almost exactly what is going to be ON THE SCREEN. This is the most basic tenet of scriptwriting, and the most difficult for the beginning scriptwriter to get his head around. When it comes to describing an event that is going to occur in the movie, the level of DETAIL one may use to describe that event can be either daunting or as simple as one line depending on the purpose of the event in the film. They fight.

One Technical Aspect… Change in: Time Location Character Plot When do you start a new scene (in general)? Change in: Time Location Character Plot This is the hardest thing to do.

STORY TELL A GREAT STORY. What is a story? It usually has a beginning, middle and end. It has a character that has a problem and needs to overcome obstacles to solve the problem. The character should change through his actions (have a character ARC). The story should be something the writer is familiar with so she may write confidently about it. The story should reveal some TRUTH either about the character or society or even the writer.

Plot/story Theme Character Three aspects of story Three aspects of the script/story Plot/story Theme Character

Three aspects of story Three aspects of the script/story Plot/story Theme Character Everything in the script should move the story or plot, character, or theme, forward.

Three aspects of story Three aspects of the script/story Plot/story Theme Character Everything in the script should move the story or plot, character, or theme, forward. If a scene or even a line in the script does not do this, it should be cut out. This is the hardest thing to do.

The Script and Scriptwriting DON’T CALL SHOTS Most scriptwriters could be wanna-be directors. As the script is written, they have a certain way it should look in her head. There may be a tendency to write things like: “We are close on Frank’s face as he looks at Mary.” Or, “The camera zooms in to Batman’s utility belt, then cuts to an MCU of the Riddler as he laughs maniacally.” The people who will read your script first want to know if you can tell a GOOD STORY. They don’t care about what the camera is doing—actually, they may not even know what a zoom or an MCU is. Grandma reads your script...

The Script and Scriptwriting NEVER WRITE WHAT THE CHARACTER IS THINKING One cannot write: “Jerry thought about how difficult his childhood is.” Or: “Mary thought fondly of Sam.” For the simple reason of: how will thoughts be translated onto the screen? You can’t SHOW thoughts. Thought bubble? “A thought bubble appears…” Keep it VISUAL. These “thoughts” need to be translated in the script into EVENTS that can be SHOWN.

The Script and Scriptwriting SHOW DON’T TELL This is a mantra for many scriptwriters. This SHOW, DON’T TELL idea is the reason writers try to come up with new ways to give exposition (Shakespeare). Instead of the characters sitting around talking about something that happened, or is going to happen, show that event, if possible—especially if it works for the movie.

The Script and Scriptwriting DON’T LIE TO OR FAKE OUT YOUR AUDIENCE (personal pet peeve of mine…) Don’t withhold information or create false situations for the sake of creating a surprise ending. How? Answer this question: Is it possible somewhere in the audience ONE PERSON can figure it out, given the information they have in the film? Or, more simply: Is it in there? Surprise endings are great, but have a focus on what your story is about, and make sure a surprise ending is more than appropriate. Again, this is all debatable, but it’s worth thinking about. I believe audiences appreciate honesty in a film. (Unbreakable, Saw)

The Script and Scriptwriting Here are some technical aspects of scriptwriting that must be adhered to: follow the format, otherwise your script will never be read by industry professionals follow regular grammar; almost every element of the script is a sentence with a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end single space within each script element double space between paragraphs scripts are ALWAYS WRITTEN IN PRESENT TENSE; they represent what is happening on the screen at this very moment

How long are scripts? Finally, assuming an equal amount of dialogue and action is written… scripts work out to roughly a minute per page on the average. The average feature-length script is 75-120 pages in Courier font—a little shorter in Times New Roman because the letters are closer together than Courier— More dialogue means longer or shorter script? More description or action means longer or shorter script? (they fight) Roughly one minute per page.

REVIEW -TELL A GREAT STORY/TRUTH -SHOW, DON’T TELL -DON’T CALL SHOTS SCRIPTWRITING CONCEPTS QUICK OVERVIEW -VISUAL -TELL A GREAT STORY/TRUTH -SHOW, DON’T TELL -DON’T CALL SHOTS -NEVER WRITE WHAT THE CHARACTER IS THINKING – VISUAL -ALWAYS WRITTEN IN PRESENT TENSE -WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW -DON’T FAKE OUT YOUR AUDIENCE