+How to write good script

“A film has a beginning, middle and end but not necessarily in this order.” JL Godard

+Some kind of ratio

Stage: 25%visual, 75% dialogue.

TV script: 50% visual, 50% dialogue.

Film: 75% visual, 25% dialogue.

+A few things to keep in mind

1-Film is entertainment

This is your task as a scriptwriter; weave all the elements to create an entertaining story.

+What are those elements?

A HERO WANTS something, takes ACTION, but meets CONFLICTS which lead to a CLIMAX and a RESOLUTION.

Those 6 elements create an internal logic in your script.

A good script weaves all those elements invisibly; action, characterization, plot, structure and dialogue.

+You have chosen your subject now ask (yourself or your gran)

What is interesting in my story?

When and why did you get bored?

When and why did you get interested?

What did you like the most?

What did you dislike?

+ 2- Film is commerce

It must have a commercial appeal(for the producers.)

Writing a good script can land you funding, a badly drawn script won’t (even if the idea is excellent)

+ 3- we are all voyeur

As a screenwriter you want people to stay glued to the screen which means making characters, action, plot,… compelling.

Give examples of films that enthralled you and explain why?

+ 4- maximize in minimal circumstances

You cannot use literary tools (omniscient narrator, long descriptions)

you can only write what we see on screen.

How can you say “it’s very cold” in a script?

“the snow was falling heavily”

+

Find scriptwriting images for these sentences

The sun blinded him (the reflection of the sun made him

miss the turning)House with a humid atmosphereHe is worriedHe is angry

+Scriptwriting must be sparse with words

Each word must be chosen carefully to convey as much meaning as it can

Eg: shorten“it’s an old sixteen bedroom Tudor house covered in ivy and perennials,”

Run down mansion. The Tudor mansion should be describe in the scenario and the ivy left for the director to decide ( + it leave a bit of room for location finding.)

+ 5-audience

Who is your audience as a scriptwriter?

- it is one person, a producer.

+Be a (wo)man with a plan

A plan will help you prevent your script falling into confusion and wandering.

Write a blueprintA blueprint takes into account all

elements of screenplay. Plot Action Dialogue Setting characterization

+ How to create a workable blueprint?

once you have an idea you need to “onion peel” it, to discover what is at the core.

you need to sell your story in 25 words.

-this is a story about… who (what does he want to do)…but (explain obstacles)… and (explain the ending).

-take the time to phrase it well because

1- it give you an idea of the limit of your subject and help you to stay focused

2 - if you can interest anybody in 4 lines they will notice your work.

3-make it as a tease, think about it as an advert for your movie.

+Hero basic action

The basic action is what your hero try to achieve.

By discovering the basic action you will be able to see the essential struggle that will ultimately change your hero

In Thelma & Louise what is the basic action ?

Basic action car journey

Struggle misfortunes that happen to them

+Describe your basic action.

next give some more details

You will find additional clues about the forces causing your hero to change

Look for positive and negative.

The stronger the qualities (whether + or -) the stronger your hero.

+Psychological and moral weaknesses

What are the psychological (personal) flaws that prevent your hero to achieve his goal eg: indecision, fear,..

What are his moral weakness (es) that is in his actions towards others. Insensitivity, recklessness,….

A technique used to add conflict to the story is called magnification. Qualities (+/-) are distorted for effect

+struggle

Answer those questions:

What struggle does the hero have to overcome to accomplish the basic action?

What is the thing your hero fear’s the most?

What is the worst thing your hero could face?

+Ghost

They represent things from the past that your hero fears.

Name and describe your ghost.

+Hero’s potential

At the start of your story your hero as an unfulfilled potential. How can your hero end up at a higher level than at the start?

Defining your hero potential will allow you to take him to higher highs and lower lows through the story.

+Now revisit your 25 words.

Test it on everybody you knowIf you write a comedy are they

laughing at your pitch?To sum up the first step in scriptwriting

1-make a detailed plan and stick to it

2- test on people3- revise if necessary4- go to the next stage creating a

structure.

+Story structure and tale assembly

This is the way your story unfolds. Your job as a scriptwriter is to create tension and release it, over and over until the end of your film.

The 3 part structure which is very useful for novice scriptwriters.

+ act I act II act III

set up chain of conflict resolution

Based on Syd Field’s book Screenplay (1974)

+Your script

Learn to be humble and accept criticism.

Be ready to alter it.

Never, ever, ever even in your wildest dreams a script will be shootable on first draft.

+ YOU MUST GIVE SOME TOUGHTS TO THE VISUAL ASPECT OF YOUR SCENE.

Anything that the audience can deduce does need not to be said.

eg: if you show a character picking up post from the floor there is no need to have a line such as “ the postman has been”.

Have the character say something that adds to the scene( instead of repeating).

Don’t let the character repeat what we’ve just seen.

+What do you write as a writer?

Invent the story

The characters

The dialogue.

The location (subject to producer agreeing budget, etc.)

+What you do not write

How to film (cam movement..)

How the actors should act

Gives unnecessary details

Things that cannot be shown.

The writer says what we see not how.

+

Only add instructions when the meaning is not clear.

Don’t write information that can’t be acted.

Don’t describe things that can’t be shown

+Stories are about conflict

They are told through action.

Conflicts arise when a hero want something he doesn’t have.

+The characteristics of a good short film.

Focused and specific.

Can’t explore more than one topic.

Ideas should be fresh.

Characters should engage the audience.

It should have an affecting backdrop.

Should hold some surprises.

+Simplicity

Focus on one main conflict, even one incident.

The less you dither about secondary material the better.

Stories are most effective when you establish the conflict early and stick to it.

+Conflict

It has to be conflict between characters (even if the setting of the conflict is broader).

The best characters are strong personalities who oppose each other through the story problem.

Conflict arises when characters are evenly matched or if the opponent starts out stronger than your hero- the audience will empathise with the hero.

+Originality

Try to find a new angle on a old situation.

Find some new ways of re presenting your characters.

Ask yourself what is new and different in my story?

+Filmic qualities

A film is a VISUAL medium, so use sound and images to tell stories.

If we are shown a world which mirrors reality or truly creates its own, we are more able to accept the story which inhabits it. This helps us enter the world of the story, because it creates a real backdrop for the experience.

+ Film is fluid, made of movements in three directions:

- movement of characters (action).

- movement through space.

- movement through time.

+Movement of characters

Any action a character takes defines who he is.

This is important in understanding narrative-driven film.

Watching actions and counter actions unfold keeps the audience involve in the story.

+Movement through space and time.Movement through space (cam

movement) enhances our perception of a given situation.

Expressive motion can pull us in a scene.As the camera moves we move through

the story.Other tools to affect the image include

lights, colors and sounds. Time expands the possibilities for telling a

narrative (different locations, present past future)