Let's have a screenwriting thread.
What are you currently working on? Reading anything that's being influential?
>>7740166
What is the best script ever written?
>Movies SHOW… and then TELL. A true movie is likely to be 60% to 80% comprehensible if the dialogue is in a foreign language.
>PROPS are the director’s key to the design of ‘incidental business’: unspoken suggestions for behavior that can prevent ‘Theatricality.’
>A character in isolation is hard to make dramatic. Drama usually involves CONFLICT. If the conflict is internal, then the dramatist needs to personify it through the clash with other individuals.
>Self pity in a character does not evoke sympathy.
>BEWARE OF SYMPATHY between characters. That is the END of drama.
>BEWARE OF FLASHBACKS, DREAM SEQUENCES and VISIONS. In narrative/dramatic material these tend to weaken the dramatic tension. They are more suited to ‘lyric’ material.
Student films come in three sizes: TOO LONG, MUCH TOO LONG and VERY MUCH TOO LONG.
>If it can be cut out, then CUT IT OUT. Everything non-essential that you can eliminate strengthens what’s left.
>Exposition is BORING unless it is in the context of some present dramatic tension or crisis. So start with an action that creates tension, then provide the exposition in terms of the present developments.
>The start of your story is usually the consequence of some BACKSTORY, i.e. the impetus for progression in your narrative is likely to be rooted in previous events – often rehearsals of what will happen in your plot.
>Coincidence may mean exposition is in the wrong place, i.e. if you establish the too-convenient circumstances before they become dramatically necessary, then we feel no sense of coincidence. Use coincidence to get characters into trouble, not out of trouble.
>PASSIVITY is a capital crime in drama.
>A character who is dramatically interesting is intelligent enough to THINK AHEAD. He or she has not only thought out present intentions, but has foreseen reactions and possible obstacles. Intelligent characters anticipate and have counter moves prepared.
>NARRATIVE DRIVE: the end of a scene should include a clear pointer as to what the next scene is going to be.
>Ambiguity does not mean lack of clarity. Ambiguity may be intriguing when it consists of alternative meanings, each of them clear.
>>7740216
>‘Comedy is hard’ (last words of Edmund Kean). Comedy plays best in the mastershot. Comic structure is simply dramatic structure but MORE SO: neater, shorter, faster. Don’t attempt comedy until you are really expert in structuring dramatic material.
>The role of the ANTAGONIST may have more to do with the structure of the plot than the character of the PROTAGONIST. When you are stuck for a third act, think through your situations from the point of view of whichever characters OPPOSE the protagonist’s will.
>If you’ve got a Beginning, but you don’t yet have an end, then you’re mistaken. You don’t have the right Beginning.
>In movies, what is SAID may make little impression – unless it comes as a comment or explanation of what we have seen happening.
>What is happening NOW is apt to be less dramatically interesting than what may or may not HAPPEN NEXT.
>What happens just before the END of your story defines the CENTRAL THEME, the SPINE of the plot, the POINT OF VIEW and the best POINT OF ATTACK.
>Make sure you’re chosen the correct point of attack. Common flaw: tension begins to grip too late. Perhaps the story has to start at a later point and earlier action should be ‘fed in’ during later sequences.
>What happens at the end may often be both a surprise to the audience and the author, and at the same time, in retrospect, absolutely inevitable.
>Character progression: when you’ve thought out what kind of character your protagonist will be at the end, start him or her as the opposite kind of person at the Beginning, e.g. Oedipus who starts out arrogant and ends up humiliated, Hamlet who is indecisive at the start and ends up heroic.
>Most stories with a strong plot are built on the tension of CAUSE AND EFFECT. Each incident is like a domino that topples forward to collide with the next in a sequence which holds the audience in a grip of anticipation. ‘So, what happens next?’ Each scene presents a small crisis that as it is revolved produces a new uncertainty.
>DRAMA IS EXPECTATION MINGLED WITH UNCERTAINTY.
>A SHOOTING SCRIPT IS NOT A SCREENPLAY. The beginning screenwriter should be discouraged from trying to invent stories in screenplay format.
>A FOIL CHARACTER is a figure invented to ask the questions to which the audience wants answers (asking the question may be more important than getting the answer.)
>NEGATIVE ACTION (something not happening) needs to be dramatised in positive action terms. You show something starting to happen which then is stopped.
>TWO ELEMENTS OF SUSPENSE ARE HALF AS SUSPENSEFUL AS ONE. Aristotle’s principle of unity means that one dramatic tension should dominate. All others are subordinate to it.
>CONFRONTATION SCENE is the obligatory scene that the audience feels it has been promised and the absence of which may reasonably be disappointing.
>What you leave out is as important as what you leave in.
>Screenplays are STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE.
>>7740166
Is "Hoosies" supposed to be "Hoosiers"? If so, kek Angelo Pizzo coached my brother's little league basketball team for a couple years. I rearended him when I was 16 as well.
>>7740166
Rereading Shakespeare's plays and Asimov's commentary. I love Hitchcock'a big ensemble dramas like Saboteur and Torn Curtain.
I thought of writing a play like Ptolemy & Cleopatra or Antony & Fulvia...something Shakespearean, which manages to complement the existing works.
If I was to write a screenplay, it would undoubtedly have five acts.
Screenwriting is the stupidest thing to treat as an art.
Screenwriting best fits no medium. Scripts are nothing to film and screenwriting is a constricting way of writing literature.
Why bother unless you're being offered a spot on some TV show? Bottom of the barrel aspiration. Nobody likes a screenwriter.
>>7740394
this post is balls
>>7740394
I know how limiting it is, but I'm not very fond of fiction literature. I know how empowering writing and directing a film would be and it's more like a dream.
>>7740394
ok antman
How do I start a conversation between two characters that aren't supposed to talk?
Like two strangers in a market line. I'm probably giving them some extroverted personality...
>>7740805
What's the context of the scene?
>>7740805
Have something bizarre happen in the background, like an inappropriately loud argument or someone running after a thief or something dumb like that so they can break the ice by talking about who strange it was.
>>7740805
>Like two strangers in a market line.
If the line is really long it's not weird to try and start a conversation to pass the time.
>>7740805
One is holding something the other knows about. The other comments on it.
It's not that hard.
>>7740805
One character is wearing a wacky hat. (you can explain the story behind the hat before or after)
"Nice hat" says the other character, if he's being genuine or sarcastic depends on his personality and can be left ambiguous if you want to
>>7740805
I absolutely love the awful replies to this. Just imagining them all together gives me joy.
So who are the characters, why do you want them to talk and why do they coincidentally meet there?
>>7741955
What's wrong with them?
arguing of an employee and a client, both very rude (just for kicks; he basically makes them shut up in a rude way and draws attention to him,) and then goes back to his line. The girls are behind him.
It's not in English so I won't post it.
>>7741705
How the fuck did you know? Guess I'll have him say:
LUCAS
(interrupting their typing)
Have you seen that?
>>7740746
Then plan a film. Shoot a film.
Don't write a 'screenplay'. Film is not born from the written word. Commercials and sitcoms are.
>>7743298
>Film is not born from the written word.
uuuhhhh
>>7743314
Dialogue is film's biggest enemy.
>it's an over the shoulder shot that switches between two characters while they explain the plot to each other
"no"
>>7743314
Film is born of image and moment.
Anything carried along by a script is just illustrated text, and better suited to the written form.
>>7740805
One of them wants to speak to the other one for some reason, so they do. The bare minimum: they want companionship, so they strike up a conversation.
The iceman cometh is great
What are you working on, /lit/?
>>7740805
One guy slaps the other guy's ass.
>>7740394
>Scripts are nothing to film
?
>>7743379
that's just stage directions?
>>7743298
I don't think you understand what you're talking about, anon. Many filmmakers, from Kurosawa to Hitchcock, emphasise the importance of having an well-polished screenplay. Films don't usually get made without one unless if you make an experimental film or a documentary, and even then some documentaries might surprisingly have a writer attached.
>>7741955
CUNT
U
N
T
>>7743379
Dialogue isn't all that's within a screenplay, anon. Believe it or not, the visuals, character actions, motivations and film structure are what a good screenplay should provide. Dialogue is a plus if it's well written, but a pitfall for new screenwriters is that they over-write dialogue or rely on lazy exposition.
>>7743298
>Then plan a film.
>Don't write a 'screenplay'.
Screenplay is literally the plan for a film, ya dingus!
>>7740183
Dan Harmon's Community pilot and following episodes.
>>7746948
The start of season one wasn't all that good, it only got funny about halfway through.
I'm here to learn your trade.
Any thoughts on Hamletmachine here?
>>7740166
Has anyone read J.J. Cohen's book 'Monster Culture'? It was apparently written during the 90's and while it has a very verbose style I think it very nicely explores some of the conventions of monsters (and antagonists generally).
>>7740394
You're right. All actors should really just make up their dialogue on the day of the shoot.
idiot
>>7746948
This, to be honest.
>>7743298
I don't think you're aware of the basics of pre production. The screenplay is the foundation for the story board which also aids the shot list, shooting schedule and so on. I would love to see a complete amateur produce a film by jumping straight into shots and camera techniques. You're going to end up with a visually overwhelming piece of shit with, well I guess no planned dialogue seen as your actors haven't been given a script. Good job Phantom of the Menace Part 2.
>>7740805
Staging methods can come into play here. You could have character 1 enter the scene to find character 2 purchasing something that character 1 had an interest in purchasing- this can literally go anywhere. We could see the two become friends due to a mutual interest, we could see character 1 act violently towards character 2 in order to obtain the item of interest.
However you say they aren't supposed to talk. Why not try limiting the dialogue on their first encounter. In fact, if you have a scene where they first encounter one another with no dialogue, a second encounter can immediately begin a conversation, "Hey haven't I seen you before?" or "I think I recognise you from somehwere." Don't jump straight into deep dialogue though, in an encounter with two strangers you would expect some painfully dull small talk to begin with
>>7751372
Do you know of any similar works discussing heroes and protagonists in general?
>>7748712
Can't help you to be honest family. Hopefully someone else has opinions on it.
>>7751538
No, to be honest I don't. Although one of the best guides I have heard was that your hero must have the most ironies out of every character in your story, right?
Read what Harold Bloom stated about Hamlet. It might be in 'Why We Read...' Or something?
>>7751538
Like Vogler's Hero's Journey?
>>7752789
>Read what Harold Bloom said
<3
