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I saw a topic down a posts down about a screenwriting thread and thought that I saw one topic for one on here a while ago. So I decided to check and see if there was one and to my surprise there wasn't. I know that there are fellow goons on here who have written either short films or full length scripts and can help out fellow goons who are either experienced or are just starting out with the craft. If you have any questions about screenwriting post them in here and I'm sure that someone will be able to help. If you want to start writing a screenplay, Sporadic offers some very good advice. Sporadic posted:The best thing you could do is track down and read some produced screenplays. That should help you realize what's expected out of you. screenwritersblues fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Sep 21, 2012 |
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Oct 11, 2010 01:41
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Well there is a thread here, but it's more or less dead because the OP abandoned it. I wouldn't mind seeing a new one going but there may or may not be any actual interest. I'm currently finishing up a polish draft of a webseries that I'll be shooting next summer and I'd love to put it up for critique, so hopefully there is still some interest.
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Oct 12, 2010 17:00
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Count me in as hoping this thread takes off. I'm working on a few short scripts right now that I'd love to have a sounding board for, and I'm kind of hoping to turn NaNoWriMo into a second Script Frenzy month and work on a feature all of November.
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Oct 12, 2010 20:00
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Dauher posted:Count me in as hoping this thread takes off. I'm working on a few short scripts right now that I'd love to have a sounding board for, and I'm kind of hoping to turn NaNoWriMo into a second Script Frenzy month and work on a feature all of November. I really hope that it takes off too. Scriptfrenzy was always a little tough for me, mainly because of the fact that it was always around finals. I hope this year to get in on it and do it.
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Oct 13, 2010 03:29
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Count me as interested. Currently a scriptwriter for a small production studio and I wouldn't mind some input on how to improve and stuff. It'd would also be interesting to see how my work/formatting differs from you Americanskis (I'm Asian).
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Oct 14, 2010 04:58
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So the other day, I was sent a script and along with it the author had sent in a predone coverage on it that was CLEARLY written by themselves. DON'T do this.
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Oct 16, 2010 07:10
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Desperately trying to breathe live into what could be a very helpful thread. What are some helpful screenwriting sites/blogs you all visit? Right now I've got two. Wordplayer.com has a huge library of themed posts on any and every screenwriting topic. Johnaugust.com, which is a bit more current and branches off topic wise. I know there's more out there.
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Oct 19, 2010 19:51
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onthepage.tv has a podcast that I used to listen to a lot when I was a baby screenwriter (and I still am, really, no point trying to fool anyone). It can get kind of (read: very) annoying sometimes, but it also has a lot of useful info. Apparently they just switched to a system where you can get the first 20 minutes for free, but you have to buy a subscription for the full episodes. However I'm pretty sure the first 150 episodes or so are still full length and free. What magazines do you guys read? I've been really enjoying Creative Screenwriting as a resource, and they have a podcast as well that can be pretty informative as it's all interviews with produced writers from mostly big projects. Anyway, I guess I'll be the first person to throw something down here. This is a webseries I've been working on for a while now. Feel like I'm getting pretty close to a final draft, the next step I'm going to take is get some actors off of craigslist to do a table read and work out the kinks. I'm going to be directing this myself so there might some format stuff that is a no-no in general, but it doesn't matter for this particular project. Feel free to point those parts out if you want to though. Other than that, I'll take the heaviest criticism you can muster as long as it's constructive. I want this thing to be good. http://www.mediafire.com/?4i87g1veziibb1h
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Oct 19, 2010 22:42
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The problem with Creative Screenwriting and On the Page is that they're generally made by readers. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's important for any writer to read a lot of scripts, especially bad ones, but at the heart of it, these people are not writers. IMDB most anybody at Creative Screenwriting and you'll come up empty. Most of the time they're script consultants who advertise on the side columns of CS, getting midwest housewives to pay $500 for a set of script notes that they don't spend two hours on. Which, is not bad work if you can get it.
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Oct 20, 2010 00:10
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Oh Mister B posted:Desperately trying to breathe live into what could be a very helpful thread. What are some helpful screenwriting sites/blogs you all visit? Right now I've got two. Wordplayer.com has a huge library of themed posts on any and every screenwriting topic. Johnaugust.com, which is a bit more current and branches off topic wise. I know there's more out there. I used to read John August once and a while, but he just kept repeating himself after a while and it got to the point where I just got annoyed with his cockiness. The one thing that pissed me off is that he said that the best major for a screenwriter to be in is journalism, mainly because of the fact it trains the writer to look at the world with a writer's eye. But, what about the other writers where were English, Communication (which is where most of them come from) and other majors that have nothing to do with writing get their ideas from? Pretty much shows how closed minded August is. I have a private board that I go to on a regular basis, that I get my scripts from. I can't share the link, for legal reasons, but it's the best site out there for scripts.
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Oct 20, 2010 03:18
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That leads me to another good question: Any Universities/Programs you all would recommend enlisting in for a good screenwriting education? I've yet to enroll in college a year after graduation and Kentucky's offerings are pretty bleak. P.S. post your scripts and let us read them so we can give you feedback. I am bored.
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Oct 20, 2010 21:15
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I know that Slashie is a guild screenwriter in Hollywood, and is usually helpful with this sort of thing, but other input would be great if Slashie doesn't want to basically pilot the entire thread. JCaesar's (supposedly?) a TV writer, and I know we have a few other writers too. In my experience I can tell you that making connections needs to be your #1 goal. You could be a complete hack, and still be successful if you know a big shot. Talent is unfortunately very little of the process. I've made some pretty cool connections and worked with some great indie directors, but you really need to get over any shyness or social anxiety and put yourself out there. The quiet reclusive writer thing won't get you very far unless you're REALLY good at grabbing a reader on the first page, or marketing yourself really well. edit:\/\/\/Yeah, it's a great program. Bonk fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Aug 18, 2011 |
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Oct 20, 2010 23:59
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IIRC JCaesar isn't really a TV writer but a guy who was just really delusional and made a lot of stuff up. 'Least that's what his helldump thread lead me to believe. Bonk - Did you go to VFS?
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Oct 21, 2010 00:10
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Rogetz posted:I'm going to be directing this myself so there might some format stuff that is a no-no in general, but it doesn't matter for this particular project. Feel free to point those parts out if you want to though. Other than that, I'll take the heaviest criticism you can muster as long as it's constructive. I want this thing to be good. I got through five episodes. My issue is that because you're directing this, you know how everything is playing out in your head. But your script is pretty unclear and uses colorful action language when instead it should be plain and descriptive. So while you know what each scene will look like, I don't. For instance, I don't know how a jewelry store "sits vulnerably". You also have two characters "emerging" only to enter a jewelery store. I'm guessing they didn't emerge from the jewelry store then reenter it. So I'm not clear what they're emerging from? I would definitely spend more time with the script before showing it to anyone. Some of the dialogue is cringe-worthy ("Glad we’re on the same side of the law too, this is too small a job to have to hide a pig carcass.") and I don't know how you chain smoke a cigarette in the time it takes to say 6 words. Is Moody seven feet tall? I had him pictured as pretty lank and lean until you describe him as being a foot taller than a pair of hired thugs (unless there were tiny thugs?). Your character Lars is often referred to as "kid" by strangers. Is he very young? The more I read the less I want to read. I don't believe that your characters are real people and I haven't seen anything that isn't a cliche.
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Oct 22, 2010 18:57
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Well, that's certainly pretty harsh, but I'm glad I'm getting it now instead of after sinking a lot of money and time in to shooting. Admittedly I should have done a couple more passes before putting it up here, some of those really bad lines are new ones that I just dropped in. The critique that I got from a couple people earlier on was that the beats were solid but the characters were really lacking, so I've been trying to develop them more, apparently with very poor results. I was originally going to work that stuff out with the actors once I did casting. In retrospect that was a bad idea. The cliches thing stung a little, since I was specifically trying to avoid that. I guess I bit off more than I could chew with a crime script since it's a done to death genre that's very easy to miss-step and turn in to a pile of poo poo. Regarding the action scenes, I left those sparse just because I don't know what locations I'll be using yet and it didn't really make sense to me to do all this blocking and detail work there, it never occurred to me that other people reading it wouldn't know what the gently caress is going on. Also yeah, Moody is supposed to be a really tall musclebound dude. I wrote him with an actor I've worked with before in mind. I need better character descriptions. So, back to the drawing board.
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Oct 23, 2010 15:39
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Rogetz posted:Well, that's certainly pretty harsh, In retrospect, it really was and I apologize. As Lars seems to be the protagonist for your show, spend some time to really think about him. I think giving him a developed human side early on will really pay off. For instance, what if he's got a very young sibling that depends on him? With no real career prospects, he has to rob to provide for his little brother/sister. I also didn't like that he was ok with the torture scene. I was hoping he'd object when it got taken too far or something. Make the audience bond with Lars or it's all for naught.
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Oct 23, 2010 19:02
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What's the best way to get a script seen? Send it to an agency?
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Oct 24, 2010 00:16
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Oh Mister B posted:P.S. post your scripts and let us read them so we can give you feedback. I am bored. If anyone wants to read a draft of a screenplay that I completed earlier this year, send me a email: weirdnjfan1@gmail.com. I really don't want to just post it on a hosting site and post the link here, mainly because of all the lurkers who will read this. Also, in the subject line put SAgoon:user name wants to read your script so that I know who you are.
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Oct 24, 2010 00:18
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Make the audience bond with Lars or it's all for naught. Thanks, that's what I needed. I've got a couple of ideas that I think will work well. Though some of that dialogue really is atrocious and I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it, or let it see the light of day.
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Oct 24, 2010 01:36
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screenwritersblues posted:If anyone wants to read a draft of a screenplay that I completed earlier this year, send me a email: weirdnjfan1@gmail.com. I really don't want to just post it on a hosting site and post the link here, mainly because of all the lurkers who will read this. Also, in the subject line put SAgoon:user name wants to read your script so that I know who you are.
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Oct 24, 2010 05:03
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screenwritersblues posted:If anyone wants to read a draft of a screenplay that I completed earlier this year, send me a email: weirdnjfan1@gmail.com. I really don't want to just post it on a hosting site and post the link here, mainly because of all the lurkers who will read this. Also, in the subject line put SAgoon:user name wants to read your script so that I know who you are. As Juanito said, post a synopsis! I'll probably read it if it ain't mystery noir stuff. I'm just past the halfway point of a feature length script so I realllly don't feel like working on it right now. Bummer.
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Oct 24, 2010 21:02
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Oh Mister B posted:As Juanito said, post a synopsis! I'll probably read it if it ain't mystery noir stuff. I'm just past the halfway point of a feature length script so I realllly don't feel like working on it right now. Bummer. Sorry guys, saw this when I was getting ready to go to work earlier today. Here's the log line: When his grandfather dies, a self-doubting writer returns home expecting to find inspiration for his next book and finds inspiration by rekindling the flames of a past romance. It's kinda of an indie drama in the vein of Garden State/Elizabethtown/and various others. If that's not good enough, I will pitch it right here on the spot.
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Oct 24, 2010 22:32
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It's probably not a good idea to use either of those movies in a log line (or near a log line, or ever).
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Oct 24, 2010 23:08
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Magic Hate Ball posted:It's probably not a good idea to use either of those movies in a log line (or near a log line, or ever). The bold part is the log line, not the stuff below it and yes, I know that.
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Oct 25, 2010 00:00
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Speaking as someone who has an interest in this stuff but knows nothing about it, what's the best way to start and what are some good introductory resources?
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Oct 25, 2010 04:29
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:Speaking as someone who has an interest in this stuff but knows nothing about it, what's the best way to start and what are some good introductory resources? You can start by reading other scripts and finding out how each writer has a different style from each other. The best site right now is https://www.mypdfscripts.com. The guy who runs it has a pretty good connection, considering that he has had legal action threatened against him and also has had his original site shut down. To find what you want, just wander around for a few minutes and you'll find something that you want to read. Also,for books I suggest Syd Field's Screenplay, it's the best book out there for screenwriting tips and basic formatting. The script frenzy website has some of the best information formatting a script for word, if you can't find a cracked version of final draft. http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/howtoformatascreenplay screenwritersblues fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Oct 26, 2010 |
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Oct 25, 2010 04:40
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screenwritersblues posted:You can start by reading other scripts and finding out how each writer has a different style from each other. Juanito fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Oct 26, 2010 |
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Oct 25, 2010 05:27
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screenwritersblues posted:I will pitch it right here on the spot. Pitch me.
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Oct 25, 2010 09:40
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Rogetz posted:Though some of that dialogue really is atrocious and I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it, or let it see the light of day. Writing is rewriting.
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Oct 25, 2010 17:05
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NeuroticErotica posted:Pitch me. Eventually.
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Oct 26, 2010 05:33
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screenwritersblues posted:When his grandfather dies, a self-doubting writer returns home expecting to find inspiration for his next book and finds inspiration by rekindling the flames of a past romance. I got through the first 50 pages. I sent 2 pages of notes, but really you need to pick up the pace. Something needs to hook the reader, and I was never hooked. There was way too much exposition about the past. There's also something really weird where every conversation the main character has references something from 7-14 years ago. It's like he didn't exist in the time between or he was frozen in a block of ice.
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Oct 26, 2010 19:56
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screenwritersblues posted:Eventually. Worst possible answer. You'll never get anywhere with that attitude.
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Oct 26, 2010 20:54
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:I got through the first 50 pages. I sent 2 pages of notes, but really you need to pick up the pace. Something needs to hook the reader, and I was never hooked. There was way too much exposition about the past. There's also something really weird where every conversation the main character has references something from 7-14 years ago. It's like he didn't exist in the time between or he was frozen in a block of ice. I'll be sending some notes some time this week, as well. My biggest issues are: 1. Jack is a super boring main character. Not much personality so far, though to be fair I'm only 35 pages in. 2. This script has an identity crisis. Well. Kind of. It's TOO similar to Garden State/Elizabethtown. Playing Bruce Springsteen, while fine with me, does nothing to set this apart from the former title. 3. The sibling dialogue is really forced in some situations. On the nose.
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Oct 26, 2010 22:58
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:I got through the first 50 pages. I sent 2 pages of notes, but really you need to pick up the pace. Something needs to hook the reader, and I was never hooked. There was way too much exposition about the past. There's also something really weird where every conversation the main character has references something from 7-14 years ago. It's like he didn't exist in the time between or he was frozen in a block of ice. Oh Mister B posted:I'll be sending some notes some time this week, as well. My biggest issues are: Thanks to the both of you for doing this. I tried once on Zoetrope to get some kind of feedback a few months ago, but failed horribly. Only one person read it and it pissed me off, I had major plans to rewrite it this summer, but with no feedback or notes, I couldn't do that. At least there's some people out there who are willing to get me notes that will help me rewrite it and make it better. Thank you both.
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Oct 27, 2010 04:56
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Chiming in here just to join the fray even though I don't have much to say. Mostly for bookmarking purposes... I went to film school, mostly took writing courses. I've written two screenplays and an original TV pilot and have placed in competitions before. I still have an interest in writing for television and film but have been writing prose lately.
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Oct 30, 2010 06:30
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TV writer checking in. Well... aspiring TV writer. I hate the word "aspiring" but what else can I call myself if I'm not getting paid to write? I've been working in television for 3 years, and I'm still trying to break into writing. I was lucky enough to get a PA job on a sitcom soon after moving out here, and I've been trying to work up the traditional ladder. It's not working so well. After 3 sitcoms and 4 pilots, I'm still a PA. I haven't been able to make it to the writers' side of the office yet. It's a little soul crushing, but everyone I ever talked to about writing has told me to give it 5 years before anything significant happens in your career. So, chin up. Besides, I'm working in the industry, I'm employed on a sitcom, and to paraphrase Woody Allen, 80% of the game is just being here. It's especially rough for comedy writers (me), because they're just not making as many comedies as they used to. Many of the entry-level writing jobs (writers' assistant, script coordinator) are being taken by out-of-work writers. On the sitcom I worked on last summer, our writers' assistant was over 30 and the script coordinator was over 40. Disheartening. The show I'm on now has a halfway decent chance of getting a second season. We haven't aired yet, but the network is really into us. I could become a writers' assistant if they promote the current one, but that's no guarantee. I'm not sure what else to do besides keep writing and keep meeting people. Argyle fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Nov 5, 2010 |
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Nov 5, 2010 03:14
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Argyle posted:TV writer checking in. Well... aspiring TV writer. I hate the word "aspiring" but what else can I call myself if I'm not getting paid to write? You're a writer who writes television scripts. Whether or not you've been paid for them is inconsequential to that.
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Nov 5, 2010 07:18
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Argyle posted:TV writer checking in. Well... aspiring TV writer. I hate the word "aspiring" but what else can I call myself if I'm not getting paid to write? Hey Argyle, got a question for you. I'm kinda starting to work out the beginning of an idea for a TV show, still working it out in my mind, and was wondering if you have an opinion of series bible. I have a two series bibles, Freaks and Geeks and The Wire, and like them both, but I'm not too sure which is a better one, mainly because of the fact that they are both so different. What you take on them, if you have seen one that is.
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Nov 6, 2010 04:55
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screenwritersblues posted:Hey Argyle, got a question for you. I haven't seen either of those bibles, but yeah I imagine they're very different. I can't tell you which is a better model for you because it depends what kind of show you're writing. Is it a drama? Procedural? Dramedy? Serial drama? Single-camera comedy? Multicam comedy? All of those shows have very different bibles. But honestly, writing a whole bible might be getting ahead of yourself. Keep notes for yourself, with character history and bios, and maybe a loose outline for the series, but the most important thing is for the pilot itself to be as good as possible. Have something ready if you get to the point where you're shopping around, but if you're "still working it out in your mind," just write the pilot itself. And rewrite. And rewrite. Argyle fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Nov 8, 2010 |
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Nov 8, 2010 18:42
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Argyle posted:I haven't seen either of those bibles, but yeah I imagine they're very different. I can't tell you which is a better model for you because it depends what kind of show you're writing. Is it a drama? Procedural? Dramedy? Serial drama? Single-camera comedy? Multicam comedy? All of those shows have very different bibles. Thanks for the input. I was thinking about doing character notes and loose ideas over the next couple of months, just so I can get to the point where I can just sit down and write the pilot. I was thinking of writing the bible just to keep my ideas organized and the character descriptions together.
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Nov 9, 2010 02:53
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