HOW TO WRITE A FUCKING SCRIPT YOU COULD SUBMIT TO A FUCKING PRODUCER - MASTERPOST
oh you thought you could just write a fucking story and send it to a producer ? well no sweatie that would be way too easy, good bloody job i’m here to save you lot from embarrassment, yeah you’re welcome, let me teach you a thing or two, actually 6, about the format if which you are meant to send your scripts in if you want them to even be read
WRITING A PITCH FOR YOUR DAMN FILM
The pitch, or “one line-pitch”, is a simple and short sentence which summarizes the main idea of your film.
It must be able to briefly answer the question; “What is it about ?”.
It has to clearly introduce the main character, the major issue which starts the story and the “genre” of the film.
The main conflict of the film will appear in the pitch.
“The rise and fall of a Cuban gangster in the Miami of the 1980′s.”
-Scarface (1983) Dir. Brian de Palma.
“A man with a sound mind who rebels against society voluntarily ends up in a mental institution to avoid jail.”
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Dir. Milos Forman.
“A famous author is kept captive by one of his crazy fans who asks him to rewrite a book for her.”
-Misery (1991) Dir. Rob Reiner.
then you will need a synopsis
WRITING A SYNOPSIS FOR YOUR DAMN FILM
The synopsis is a summary of your story in a couple of lines. In other words, it’s a developed version of the pitch.
It is a document that can be between four lines and a page and a half maximum.
The main characters of the story appear and are named, we also get information about the place and the time in which it is set.
Sometimes a producer will abandon the reading of your project because of the cost of such a film, keep this in mind.
If you want to add suspense for your reader and make them read your story till the end, don’t reveal the ending in your synopsis.
In the cases of longer synopsis, the three act structure is revealed.
“2020. In a post-apocalyptic world, the few survivors live under the threat of creatures that are very sensitive to sounds. They must thus remain in silence. Midwestern family will struggle to survive, with a mother about to give birth.”
-A Quiet Place (2018) Dir. John Krasinski.
“With her journalism degree in hand, Andrea arrives in New York where she gets her first job as the assistant editor-in-chief of a prestigious fashion magazine. A dream job in appearance only because her boss is actually a tyrannical and temperamental monster; Andrea, who sees her new job as a stepping stone to an great career as a journalist, decides to endure the abuse of her devilish boss.”
-Devil Wears Prada (2006) Dir. David Frankel.
“An unusual event will mark the life of the young Gordie Lachance. In the summer of 1959, a teenager mysteriously disappeared in Oregon. Gordie and his inseparable friends Chris, Teddy, and Vern know he died because he approached the railroad too closely and a train hit him. They leave for the great forest of Castle Rock in search of information.”
-Stand by Me (1986) Dir. Rob Reiner.
you will also need a step outline
BUILDING YOUR DAMN STEP OUTLINE
The step outline is a very important tool to the scriptwriter once the synopsis is in place.
It is a fairly long document in which you will summarize each of the sequences of your film in a few simple sentences.
Every character appears in the step outline, the side stories are mentioned and so are the decors.
Often, young screenwriters, once their synopsis is written, immediately start writing the screenplay, which they will later regret.
By completely developing the story, without the obstacles that are the dialogues and the descriptions, and by focusing solely on the narrative structure, the ups and downs of the story, the author can focus on the story’s problems and how to solve them.
You will only detail the descriptions of the decors, the secondary characters and work on the dialogues in depth later.
“AIRPLANE CABIN - EVENING
It’s Christmas and JOHN MCCLANE is sitting nervously amongst the passengers as the plane comes in to land. The salesman next to him can see he’s anxious and explains that he’s been business travelling for nine years and in that time has found that the best way to get over jet lag is to make fist with your toes !
McClane takes it on board and gets his belongings together, inadvertently revealing the butt of his HANDGUN. The salesman looks nervous until McClane explains that he’s a New York DETECTIVE and has been doing it for eleven years.
The scene establishes our protagonist as being “only human” and adds a little light comic relief. The fact that McClane has a sense of humour is important to the audience empathizing with his later reaction to dramatic and potentially hazardous events.”
-Die Hard (1988) Dir: John McTiernan.
The treatment could be seen as a more “literary” version of the step outline, meaning it contains more details but still no dialogues.
Write each sequence as a separate paragraph. Sequences don’t need to be numbered.
“Deep Space. The eerie blue-green planet of Aquilae slowly drifts into view. A small speck, orbiting the planet, glints in the light of a nearby star.
Suddenly a sleek fighter-type spacecraft settles ominously into the foreground moving swiftly toward the orbiting speck. Two more fighters silently maneuver into battle formation behind the first then three more craft glide into view. The orbiting speck is actually a gargantuan space fortress which dwarfs the approaching fighters. Fuel pods are jettisoned. The six fighters break off into power dive attack on the huge fortress. Lazer bolts streak from the fighters creating small explosions on the complex surface of the fort. Return fire catches one of the fighters and it bursts into a million pieces. Another of the craft plows into a gun emplacement jutting from the fortress causing a hideous series of chain reaction explosions. The chaos of battle echoes through the vastness of space.“
-Star Wars (1977) Dir: George Lucas.
you’ll wanna add a statement of intent
YOUR DAMN STATEMENT OF INTENT
It is a document that is about a page and a half, two pages maximum.
It must clearly state the reasons why you wrote your script and the kind of mise-en-scène you wish for your story.
You must right it using the first person.
First explain how the idea came to you in the first place then develop what this film personally means to you.
Do not write long sentences just to fill gaps.
You must defend the importance of your story, how original your point of view is and the impact the film could have on the audience.
Explain how you think the film should be made.
You are allowed, and advised to, quote famous references.
The statement of intent isn’t a way for you to show off your knowledge, but a way to show that you know your story perfectly.
“Dear Director of Development;
I wish to submit my feature length comedy screenplay, Dish Dogs, to you for consideration.
Dish Dogs is the story of two college graduates, fed up with society and eager to gain some measure of free will; so they drive around the country in a 1958 Ford pick-up truck washing dishes. It’s Easy Rider meets The Graduate for a new generation.
I’m a produced screenwriter and have optioned and sold many scripts over the last few years. I recently sold a film noir screenplay, Rushlights. It stars Josh Henderson, Beau Bridges, Aidan Quinn, and Haley Webb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1536437/). And before that I sold Man Overboard, a broad comedy screenplay. It’s currently in rotation on cable television and can be found in video stores across the country including Netflix and Amazon.com (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186829/).
My website, www.ashleymeyers.com, has synopses for many of my other screenplays. If you like my writing style but the above mentioned script does not quite fit your current needs check out my website and let me know if you’d like to read any of my other scripts.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please let me know if you would like to read the full screenplay and I’ll get you a copy immediately.
-Dish Dogs (2000) Dir. Robert Kubilos.
finally you can actually write your screenplay
You will have to divide your film into sequences.
Writing dialogues can be done by a separate screenwriter who specializes in writing dialogues.
The scene heading of each sequence always shows in this order;
-(1/) the number of the sequence
-(INT) if the scene takes place in interior (INT) or in exterior (EXT)
-(SHARON’S ROOM) the name of the place and the name of the owner of the place
-(DAY) if the scene takes place during daytime or nighttime.
As soon as there is a change in time or place, the number of the sequence changes.
In screenwriting, a page more or less corresponds to a minute of film.
The ideal number of pages for a script is more or less 90.
As soon as a film enters a production process, someone will have to read the script with a stopwatch to know exactly how long the film will be.
The sciptwriter must describe the locations, the characters, the actions and write the dialogues for each sequence.
The only time used is the present.
It is recommended to also attach sketches of the scenes.
Forget all psychological aspect, all information must be shown through actions or dialogues.
As a scriptwriter you have every element of your film in your hands; your only concern is how to “distribute” it to your audience.
Giving information doesn’t mean oversaturating your audience’s mind.
When a decor keeps coming back in your film, you can describe it with more and more detail each time.
The script, in the best of cases, must let the audience understand elements of the characters’ psychology without using dialogue or voice-over.
You must create meaningful scenes, where information is given to the audience without them even realizing it. Scenaristic suggestion must be your goal.
The audience should be able to get into a character’s head without hearing a voice-over which tends to sound too superficial.
Watch as many silent films as possible.
Reread a sequence after you have taken all of the dialogues out, see how the scene works without them.
The number one rule of screenwriting is that the names of the characters are written in capital letters the first time they are mentioned.
Then it will not appear in capitals again except in dialogues.
Screenwriters must be smart, you should have a few scenes where characters are seen and called by their name so your audience can remember them more easily;
You could have another character mention them by their name
The character’s name could appear on screen one way or another
The film could be named after the main character
A voice over could introduce the character to us.
INTRODUCING THE DIALOGUES
The name of the character appears in all caps, in the centre of the page, the dialogue is two tabulations away from the right side of the page (”tab” key).
On the right side of the character’s name, in italic, stage directions may appear.
Don’t add too many stage directions, at the end of the day, the actor acting out the dialogue should have a minimum of freedom to interpret it.
When one of the characters who is talking is not on the scene’s location, it must have the word “OS” (off-screen) in brackets.
Sometimes it can be hard to be good at writing screenplay and dialogues, write your film in its entirety and only write the big lines of the dialogues then collaborate with another person.
Music is said to be “diegetic” when it comes from a source present in the scene itself (radio, headphones, television...).
It is also a means for the screenwriter to indicate to the audience the era in which the film takes place.
When it comes to writing about it, the screenwriter simply needs to mention where the music is coming from and the name of the song.
Remember that using music in a film may cause copyright issues.
Also it is not rare to see instances in which music starts as diegetic music and continues as extradiegetic music in the next scene.
Music is considered as “extradiegetic” when its source is exterior to the film’s scene (the characters don’t actually here the music).
DO NO MIX SCREENWRITING AND TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN
The technical breakdown shows the film’s shots and camera movements.
Words such as “close-up” or “dolly shot” shouldn’t appear in the script.
There are three different ways a screenwriter can collaborate with a “major” studio;
The first one is if a studio asks for a screenwriter to write a film on a specific subject
The second one concerns a screenwriter who wrote a film and wants to sell it to a studio but don’t want to make it them self
And the third one is when a screenwriter wrote a film and wants to make it them self.
As soon as the script is being written, you must know what you will get to choose and what will be chosen by the director, even if you are convinced that you will be directing your own film.
1/EXT-L STREET BAR & GRILLE, SOUTH BOSTON-EVENING
The bar is dirty, more than a little run down. If there is ever a cook on duty, he’s not here now. As we pan across several empty tables, we can almost smell the odor of last night’s beer and crushed pretzels on the floor.
Oh my God, I got the most fucked up
thing I been meaning to tell you.
As the camera rises, we find FOUR YOUNG MEN seated around a table near the back of the bar.
-Good Will Hunting (1997) Dir. Gus Van Sant.
1/INT-CADY’S ROOM-EARLY MORNING
There are boxes around the undecorated room. The clock says 6:29 am.
CADY HERON, 15, lies in bed asleep. She is naturally pretty. Her long hair has never been dyed. Her eyebrows have never been plucked.
The clock hits 6.30 and the alarm goes off. Cady opens her eyes.
Cady closes her eyes for what seems like a second. When she opens them again, the clock says 7:15.
Cady screams and jumps out of bed.”
-Mean Girls (2004) Dir. Mike Waters.
“EMPTY ROOM WITH SINGLE CHAIR
We hear a DOOR OPEN and CLOSE, followed by APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS. DANNY OCEAN, dressed in prison fatigues, ENTERS FRAME and sits.
Please state your name for the
-Ocean’s Eleven (2001) Dir. Steven Soderbergh.
well here you go, writing a screenplay in this order should be easier than just starting with the script, if you make sure to present your project containing all of that information you should at least manage to get a producer to read you, which means that the only reason why they would reject your work would only be due to the lack of quality of your script
Part 3 (step outline) here
Part 5 (statement of intent) here
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