HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY
PART 1 - Writing Script
HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY
HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY?
When writing a SCREENPLAY, it's all about CHARACTER, PLOT, and
THEME - the three cornerstones to telling a great story.
Below is Part One of NOTES you need to think about when writing a
script. Whether you're a seasoned script writer or just a beginner,
these notes should be insightful for all - and it beats reading those
long drawn-out books on the subject.
Make sure you check out our NOTES ON PITCHING YOUR STORY to the
industry too!
"A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue."
-David Mamet
Go here to read notes on writing proper loglines and synopses for
professionals to read
FOUR STAGES OF ANY SCREENPLAY
1. THE STORY CONCEPT - A single sentence telling who the hero
of the story is and what he/she wants to accomplish
2. THE CHARACTERS - The people who populate the story
3. PLOT STRUCTURE - The events of the story and the
relationship of the characters; determines what happens in
the story and when it happens
4. THE INDIVIDUAL SCENES - The way the words are laid out
on the page - the format, and how one writes action,
description and dialogue to increase emotional involvement.
STORY ALWAYS BEGINS WITH A WHAT IF? QUESTION
What if this happened?
What if that happened
IT IS STORY ABOUT A _____________ WHO _____________
Every movie needs THRILLS, LAUGHS and TEARS
QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ANSWER BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO
WRITE
Who is your main character?
What is he/she trying to accomplish?
Who is trying to stop him/her?
What happens if he/she fails?
AND DON"T FORGET.....
Whose story is it
Who do I care about, identify with, follow in this film?To what extent
do I see the story through a specific person's point of view?
Where do I start the scene/end the scene?
What is the point of the scene?
Why include the scene at all?
What's the most important information the audience needs to get from
the scene?
What is the scene's focus?
Where is the scene heading?
Does the scene move the story further?
Does the scene have a direction? A sense of going somewhere? A point
to make?
Do I get out of the scene after the point is made?
Have I remembered that scenes are about images?
Have I remembered to play the image, to play the conflict, to play the
emotions, rather than simply play the information?
Is the relationship of my scenes interesting?
Are my scenes repetitive? Flat? Boring? Or is there something
dramatic and fascinating happening?
Will the audience be entertained?
ELEMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SCREENPLAY
1) Marketability
2) Creativity
3) Script structure
PEOPLE ALWAYS WANT TO CONNECT TO A FILM
CREATIVE STEPS IN WRITING A SCREENPLAY
RESEARCH
Research of MEMORY
-Explore my own past, relive the memories and then write them down.
Research of IMAGINATION
-The creativity of your own inner thoughts and feelings. What do you
dream?
Research of FACT
-Research the setting and character you're writing about.
CREATIVITY MEANS CREATIVE CHOICES ABOUT WHAT TO INCLUDE
AND WHAT TO EXCLUDE
"I steal from every movie ever made."
-Quentin Tarantino
Screenplay Character PART 2 - How to Write a Script
You're listening to a talk about the lack of woman in film from WILDsound radio on Monday August 4th
Screenplay writing is all about three major components - PLOT, THEME and
CHARACTER. The following are notes on writing for CHARACTER and getting the
best out of your script.
What makes a good character?
1) DRAMATIC NEED - What does he/she want, is going to get or going to achieve?
2) POINT OF VIEW - Ways the character views the world
3) ATTITUDE - Manner of opinion
4) CHANGE - Characters must change
FILM IS BEHAVIOR
The purpose of dialogue in screenplay writing
-Moves story forward
-Communicates facts and information to the reader
-Reveals character
-Establishes character relationships
-Makes your chracters real, natural and spontaneous
-Reveals the conflicts of the story and characters
-Reveals the emotional states of your characters
-Comments on the action
"I find that when I am working on a screenplay I become like
an antenna and suddenly, somewhat like a paranoid-
schizophrenic, everything relates to my screenplay: a
mentioned recipe, a joke somebody tells, a billboard that I see.
It all becomes grist for whatever screenplay I'm working on."
WESLEY STRICK, Screenwriter (Cape Fear, Wolf, True
Believers, Arachnophobia
The CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS define them as who they are; how they
respond to things
EMOTIONS FALL INTO FOUR CATEGORIES
Mad, sad, glad, scared
Make sure to check out WILDsound's Screenplay Festival where you
can submit your script and get it read in front of hundreds of industry
people.
THE MAIN CHARACTER NEEDS A GOAL
CHARACTERS - need motivation - action - goals - a direction If you
don't know why a character is doing something, then it's tough for the
AUDIENCE to get involved in the story and tough for you to sell and
produce your screenplay.
IN ORDER FOR A GOAL TO FUNCTION WELL, IT HAS TO HAVE THREE
MAIN REQUIREMENTS
1) Something must be at stake that convinces the audience that a
great deal will be lost if the main character doesn't obtain the goal.
Essential to the character's well-being.
2) Opponent - attaining the goal is not easy because someone else is
intent on making sure the protagonist (main character, usually)
doesn't achieve it.
3) Goal difficult to achieve so that the character changes while moving
towards it. TRANSFORMATION - It will make demands of him.
Character allows those changes to happen.
CONFLICTS
Characters FIGHT, SCRAP, ARGUE, PERSAUDE and try to force their
point of view, their decisions, their actions on people who don't see
things the same way.
INNER CONFLICT - Characters are unsure of themselves, or their
actions, or even what they want. Can express through voice-over, and
through talking with someone else.
SOCIETAL CONFLICT - Character is against a GROUP of people who
represent society (political group, team, town leaders).
SITUATIONAL CONFLICT - Something happens suddenly. How to
handle it - panic, become a leader. Could be a personal situation.
COSMIC CONFLICT - The character VS the supernatural force
Conflict is always used. It expresses power plays, disagreements,
different points of view, different attitudes and philosophies and
different overall objectives
Characters have attitudes about life. They take a stand about things.
ACTION is divided into two parts, the decision to act and the act itself
It is the job of the main character to drive the story forward with her
actions.
She can SEARCH, INVESTIGATE, UNCOVER, OUTWIT, PLAN STATEGY,
TRANSFORM OTHERS AND THEMSELVES, CREATE NEW
ENVIRONMENTS, MANIPULATE, AVENGE THE RIGHT AND WRONG
"I think the first thing you should do before writing a screenplay is to
sit down and write a biography of that person."
LAWRENCE KONNER, Screenwriter (Jewel Of The Nile, Star Trek VI,
Beverly Hillbillies)
CHARACTER FUNCTIONS
EVERY CHARACTER MUST HAVE A REASON FOR BEING IN THE
SCREENPLAY
MAIN CHARACTER
-Does the ACTION
-Is responsible for moving the story along
-Is the focus of the film
-Is who the story is about - the person we're expected to follow
SUPPORTING ROLES
-Main character always needs help and support in accomplishing his
goals
-The characters who stand with or against the main character
-THEY LISTEN, ADVISE, PUSH OR PULL, FORCE TO MAKE DECISIONS,
CONFRONT, INVESTIGATE
-A confidante, trustworthy character
-A catalyst figure, to push the story and reveal information
-Sends the main character on the journey
-Every story has a catalyst figure
-Important to make them active so they push the story
CHARACTERS WHO ADD OTHER DIMENSIONS
-The characters who add something to the story
-Funny characters - comic relief
-A contrasting character to the lead
-Helps the viewer see the main character more clearly because of
differences between the two
THEMATIC CHARACTERS
-Characters who serve to convey and express the theme of the film
-Convey their ideas through attitude, action and occasionally dialogue
-A writer's POINT OF VIEW character
MASS AND WEIGHT CHARACTERS
-The people who surround the powerful people in the script
-The right hand man to the MAIN CHARACTER
BALANCE - don't add too many, but make sure enough are added
MAKE SURE THAT INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS ARE NOT PERFORMING
THE SAME FUNCTION
ANY CHARACTER CONSISTS OF THREE BASIC FACTS
PHYSICAL MAKEUP - age, sex, appearance, disabilities
PERSONALITY - intelligence, emotional makeup and so on
BACKGROUND - everything that happened to the character prior to her
appearance in the screenplay
CHARACTER IDENTIFICATION - AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION
1. CREATE SYMPATHY FOR THE CHARACTER
-The audience feels sorry for the main character by making him the
victim
2. PUT THE CHARACTER IN JEOPARDY
-The audience worries about the character by putting her into jeopardy
3. MAKE THE CHARACTER LIKEABLE
Three ways to do this
-Make the character a good or nice person
-Make the character funny
-Make the character good at what he does
Only when this is established can you can develop flaws in the
character
4. INTRODUCE THE CHARACTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
-An ongoing THEORY in Hollywood is to introduce your hero within the
first 10 pages
5. SHOW THE CHARACTER IN TOUCH WITH HIS OR HER OWN POWER
-Power holds a fascination for the audience
-Creates an identification on an almost fantasy level
-Money power, or power of being a leader
-Power to express her feelings no matter what
-Powers of seduction towards the opposite sex
-Audience loves people they wish they can be
6. GIVE THE CHARACTER FAMILIAR FLAWS AND FOIBLES
-The Woody Allen way
7. THE SUPERHERO
-Identifies with the audience on a fantasy level
8. PLACE THE CHARACTER IN A FAMILIAR SETTING
9. USE THE EYES OF THE AUDIENCE
-Audience only learns information as the hero learns it
A CHARACTER IS NOT A HUMAN BEING - A CHARACTER IS A WORK OF
ART
A WRITER SHOULD KNOW HER CHARACTER BETTER THAN SHE
KNOWS HER FRIENDS
REMEMBER TO LEAVE ROOM FOR THE ACTOR
FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR CHARACTERS
-If you can't play them, don't write them
CHARACTER IS SELF KNOWLEDGE
-Look at life and take characters from it
"One of the big things you have to learn is who to listen to and when;
and you can't listen to everybody."
AMY HOLDEN JONES, Sceenwriter(Indecent Proposal, Mystic Pizza)
How to Write a Screenplay? PART 3 - PLOT Screenwriting
For most writers, PLOT is the most interesting part of screenplay
writing, and why they begin to write to write the script in the first
place. They have a good idea for a story, and they want to write it.
PLOT Screenwriting is a mixture of two things:
1) What happens to the characters
2) What they do because of WHO they are
Most PLOTS wouldn't happen if it wasn't for the CHARACTERS. A
CHARACTERS should drive the story, and vice versa.
You always know you're watching a BAD FILM when any human being
can insert themselves into the film. The UNIQUE character has to drive
the PLOT.
The last thing you want is for you, the writer, to be a character in the
plot.
"The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the
beginning scene I wrote in Patton, was the stuff that was
remembered."
-Francis Ford Coppola Writer/Director (Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse
Now)
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BASICS
Every story has a BEGINNING, MIDDLE and END, and every story has
to come from a certain point of view. It can come from the point of
view of a character (or characters from scene to scene) OR it can
come from the audience's point of view. WE the audience are looking
into the story and seeing what is happening.
Think about reading a NOVEL. Either it's written in the first person,
where the character is telling the story, OR it's in third person, where
the actions are telling the story. The same goes for a script.
KNOW WHAT'S AT STAKE IN THE MOVIE - WHAT IS THE
CONFLICT?
1) SURVIVAL - Many good films are about survival - human instinct -
do-or-die situations. If you're into Hollywood scripts and stories, think
about the top-grossing films of all time. 99 out 100 are stories with
characters in DO-or-DIE situations.
2) SAFETY AND SECURITY - Need to find a secure/protected setting
once again.
3) LOVE AND BELONGING - Someone longing for connection - wanting
to feel LOVED.
4) ESTEEM AND SELF-RESPECT - Wanting to be looked up to, and be
recognized for their skills.
5) THE NEED TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND - Curiousity, and
understanding how things happen and what they have to go through
to get answers.
6) THE AESTHETIC - Trying to be connected with something greater
than themselves - a higher power.
7) SELF-ACTUALIZATION - The characters need to express themselves
- to communicate who they are. The audience roots for someone to
succeed. A lot of comedies have this plot.
RAISING THE STAKES WHILE THE CHARACTER GOES AFTER THE
GOAL: PRESSURE AND ROADBLOCKS
SCENE DESIGN
SCENES are unified around DESIRE, ACTION, CONFLICT and CHANGE
Each scene has to be a minor, moderate, or major turning point
The effects of TURNING POINTS are fourfold:
SURPRISE
INCREASED CURIOUSITY
INSIGHT
NEW DIRECTION
You need to lead the audience into EXPECTATION, make them think
they understand, then CRACK and open a SURPRISE
SURPRISE and CURIOUSITY always bring the audience into the story
Give the audience the pleasure of discovering life, pains and joys at a
level - and in directions - they have never imagined
SETUPS/PAYOFFS
-Setup is layering-in knowledge
-Payoff is closing the gap and delivering the knowledge to the audience
THREE POINTS YOU NEED FOR THE AUDIENCE TO FOLLOW
YOUR STORY
1) Empathy with the characters. We don't need to like them, but
understand them and feel for them.
2) We must know what the character wants and let the character have
it.
3) We must understand the values at stake in the character's life.
The more often the audience experiences something, the less effect it
has.
EMOTION peaks and valleys rapidly in a great story. It's the catalyst
for the PACE of the story.
THE LAW OF CONFLICT - Nothing moves forward in a story except
through conflict.
As long as conflict engages our thoughts and emotions, we travel
through the hours unaware of the VOYAGE that is leading us.
Make sure to check out WILDsound's Screenplay Festival where you
can submit your script and get it read in front of hundreds of industry
people.
"Usually when you have a block, it's because you've lost the motor of
the story."
Amy Holden Jones, Screenwriter (Indecent Proposal, Mystic Pizza)
