Screenwriter Resource

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    Screenwriter Resource

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    Introduction

    Dont listen to the myths (you cant do it,you must live in LA, etc.)

    Instead: If screen writing is a goal you wish to pursue,

    then you should go for it. Lots of us would like to have written a

    screenplay; what's important is whether youwant to write a screenplay.

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    Introduction

    Creativity is something we all possess. No matter how much new technology can be

    thrown into a movie, no matter what new stars

    or concepts or directors are hot, and nomatter how much Sylvester Stallone getspaid, the foundation of any successful film willalways be a good, well-written story.

    Hollywood does have standards, and it ispossible to know what those are and writescreenplays that meet them.

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    Introduction

    Commerciality and artistry are not mutually exclusive. The screenwriting process can be broken down into a

    proven series of steps and stages which will enableyou to achieve a salable, emotionally involvingscreenplay.

    You can be a working screenwriter and live anywherein the world.

    You can launch a career as a screenwriter even if youdon't know anyone within a thousand miles of southern California.

    You can make a bundle of money doing all of this.

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    Introduction

    But don't worry if you've never even read ascreenplay, let alone tried to write one. By thetime you finish the book you will have sufficientinformation to know how to complete ascreenplay, starting at square 1, and how tomarket it when it's done.

    Similarly, though the principles included(particularly the artistic ones) apply to nearly allfilms and screenplays, many of the commercialconsiderations do not apply to establishedfilmmakers.

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    Introduction

    Screenwriting books, like screenwritingclasses, run the risk of becoming asubstitute for writing rather than asupplement to it. It's better to attempt your own screenplay, then go back to this bookand its checklists after each draft.

    What's really important about writing ascreenplay is doing it.

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    Introduction

    The primary goal of any filmmaker is to elicitemotion in the audience and reader [love, hate,fear, passion, excitement, humor].

    Your screenplay needs to accomplish thefollowing objective: enable a sympatheticcharacter to overcome a series of increasinglydifficult, seemingly insurmountable obstaclesand achieve a compelling desire.

    The four stages of any screenplay are: Storyconcept, Characters, Plot structure,Individual scenes

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    Introduction There are two big advantages to screenwriting:

    - You get to tell stories for the movies.- You can make a lot of money.

    There are three major disadvantages to screenwriting:- You don't get to weave magic with words.- You have no control over what is done to your screenplay after it'ssold.- Screenwriters don't rank very high in the film industry.

    If you choose to pursue screenwriting, you should: - Establish a regimen. - Start making contacts.

    - Immerse yourself in movies. - Join a writers' group.- Acquire information on the film business.- Pursue other markets for your work. - Consider moving to Los

    Angeles.- Periodically evaluate your goals.

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    Story Concept

    Finding and originating story ideasEvery story answers the question What if such and such happened? Ex: What if a third-rate

    fighter had a chance to fight the heavyweightchampion of the world? ( Rocky )Leads to a plot structure (a town terrorized bya shark in Jaws , ghosts and demons plaguing

    New York City in Ghostbusters ), or to acharacter or characters (an indestructiblecyborg from the future in The Terminator)

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    Story Concept

    Express the Story Concept A story concept can be expressed in a single

    sentence: It is a story about _(character/subject) who wants to_(action/predicate) (respectively) .

    The visible motivation on the part of the main

    character or characters is the cornerstone of the entire screenplay

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    Story Concept

    Finding Story Ideas To originate story concepts for screenplays, it is

    almost always necessary to stimulate your own

    thinking by observing, recording, and reacting to all of the potential material that confronts you everyday,and to use that material as a jumping-off point for your own brainstorming and creativity.

    Keep a notebook and record potential plot ideas,character traits, or situations you confront in your life.Go for quantity, not quality!

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    Story Concept

    Sources for ideas Adaptations of books, plays, and short stories

    (get permission first!) Contemporary true stories Historical events Headlines

    Personal experience Select ideas from your records with both

    commercial and artistic potential.

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    Story Concept Must Have:

    Hero Identification Motivation Obstacles

    Courage High concept Originality and familiarity Second level of sell and subplots. Familiarity of setting Genres (Categories)

    Medium Cost Character growth Theme

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    Story Concept

    Write movies people want to see. Askself: Do I want to spend at least the next six

    months of my life working on the story idea? Does this story have commercial potential?

    If no, do you have the passion to see to it is

    written?

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    Story Concept Modifying Story Concept

    If the concept is not provocative enough, can you add other elements to give it more immediate interest and a higher concept?

    Can you combine the initial concept with another idea to give it asecond level of sell or additional subplots?

    If the setting isnt particularly familiar, could it be changed tocontemporary America without destroying the other aspects of the story?

    If the story is similar to other films, can you create elements that

    will add originality to the familiarity of the concept? If the cost of filming the story seems prohibitively high, can the

    cost be lowered by changing the location or the period or byreducing the number of secondary characters?

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    Character Development

    It is through the characters your reader willexperience emotion.

    The three facets of character Physical makeup : age, sex, appearance,

    disabilities Personality : intelligence, emotional makeup,

    etc. Background : everything that happened to the

    character prior to his appearance in thescreenplay (exposition)

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    Character Development

    Developing Your Hero Create a Rough Outline of Your Hero Establish Character Identification Make Your Characters Original Motivation outer and inner Conflict outer and inner

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    Character Development

    Four Basic Categories of PrimaryCharacters Hero Nemesis Reflection Romance

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    Character Development Rules for Creating Primary Characters

    Characters must be people unless human or humanoid; not an animal,situation, or force of nature

    Inner motivation and conflict may or may not be explored for any of theprimary characters. Usually done so for the hero, if at all

    It is not necessary to have a character in each category. Hero and atleast one other categories a MUST. All depends on your story.

    A character cannot fall into more than one category. A character cannot change categories. Defined by the way they function

    at the beginning of the film or first introduced. Audiences askthemselves:

    Who am I rooting for and what do they want? (hero and motivation) Who is she up against (nemesis) Who is going to help her (reflection) Who will she fall in love with (romance)

    It is possible to have more than one character in any of the categories.Duel and multiple heroes occur frequently (Nancy, her father)

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    Character Development

    Secondary Characters Are all the other people in your screenplay, the

    characters you create to add logic, humor,complexity, texture, depth, and reality to your screenplay after delineating your primary characters.

    Lets these characters serves as many of the previousstated functions but employ them in terms of your heros outer motivations so not to confuse the plot.

    Create them on an as needed basis for a perfectbalance of character development.

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    Character Development

    Character Growth Character growth occurs when the hero

    recognizes her own similarity to the nemesisand difference from the reflection.

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    Character Development