Directors - What do you look for in a script?

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Colmforest

As a hideous N00b to the world of film-making, you'll have to forgive my blissful ignorance in advance of reading this. It is blissful, though.

I have recently taken to writing screenplays. Jolly good fun, I will say! I appreciate well directed material, well shot, well-edited, all that jazz, but I don't think I have what it takes to do it myself at all. So my kuddos to those that can and do!

However, I do enjoy writing. But as a story teller, I perhaps don't consider the other viewpoints of those involved in the process when writing, and so feel it would be prudent to take in the thoughts of others for my future endeavors. Who knows, it may even inspire a different way of thinking.

So I ask the question I set out in the title: as a director, what do you look for in a script? Is there anything you like to see? Is there anything that you hate seeing written? Is there a big no-no that I should be avoiding? Do you feel script writers tend to expect too much of an input in how a movie is shot from the script?

I'm interested to know as I have written my first screen play and rather enjoyed the challenge, and God willing one day somebody will read it and want to do something with one of my creations.

Help me help you.

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A compelling story with a beginning/Middle/End.

Hard for me to take off my producer hat as well, so I am always thinking budget.

"That location is gonna be hard to get"
"Yikes, big cast, that will be expensive"
etc...
 
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I like stories I've never thought of, seen or heard before. I like stories I can understand without the help of the dialogue. And by understand, I mean I understand the major events and how they relate to one another if perhaps I don't yet understand their meaning. Analysis comes later...

I'm tired of scripts with too much meaningless dialogue...I'm just a hobbyist, not a player. But I'm a serious filmmaker, and I get scripts from all over, usually amateurs. That's what I'm looking for...new scripts from amateurs. But a lot of amateurs make the mistake of loading their scripts with back and forth discussions of pop-culture commentary, like something you'd see in a Kevin Smith or Tarantino script, and it's just tired. Pages upon pages where nothing happens onscreen except a conversation exploring the intricacies of esoteric subjects near and dear to the writer's heart.

I'd be more than happy to read your script.
 
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Hehe, thanks Uranium City, before I send out anything I'd have to re-address a lot of what you mentioned in your above post before feeling any-way confident first! Not that it's filled with non-sense (or so I'd like to think) but it's my first ever script, so I'm realistic about having a lot to learn. I will take you up on that offer soon though, should you still be interested in having a read.

I figured Producers are the main people to win over alright, and did bare in mind the importance of keeping it simple for the most part when it came to locations and such.

In so-saying, will probably take out the part with the attack monkeys though...
 
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You would be going for producers for the sale, but it's easier to get a director to become a champion of your script on a low-budget level... so for starting out, I'd probably recommend looking for director/producers who can get the ball rolling themselves... it may not result in millions of dollars (in fact, it won't), but you'll get something produced and likely have a chance at working with the director creatively and learn more about the transition from page to screen.

I look for:
-Unique characters
-Interesting off-beat plots that are structured but not formulaic
-Dialogue that makes me smile or cringe (in a good way) (AKA pulls an emotion out)
-Clear and easy to understand writing so I don't have to read things twice to figure out what it all means
-A story that is constantly moving and has a really GOOD ending (good is relative, but you know what i mean)

And a lot of it is personal taste. I love comedy and experimental ideas, so I tend to look for more odd-ball stuff... but everyone has their preference, so it's all about finding the right person to read your material!
 
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Thanks Spatula, I appreciate that input.

You seem to look for a lot of the same things I look for when I'm watching a movie, and when I'm writing a screenplay, so I can relate to a lot of what you're saying!
 
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A little of both. Although I appreciate the Nouvelle Vague and what they represented, I usually want to gouge my eyes out about 1/3 of the way into the films (Truffaut is a notable exception, but others in the NV thought he was selling out a bit by concerning himself with the audiences reaction to his films).

I've made and played material for an audience that was less obvious, and it doesn't play well in a theater - Art for the sake of art is necessary to push the envelopes/borders, but it's really pretentious and annoying to the audience (me). So we dumbed down our content and the audience started laughing more and the points got across better.

I'm an escapist entertainment filmmaker, I like stuff to blow up for no particular reason on screen... I don't enter a theater to think... if the film can make me think while sating my taste for escapism, I'm really impressed (Gilliam is great at this).
 
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Thanks for the clarification, Knightly. For what it's worth, I would generally agree with your philosophy surrounding the audience. To find a happy medium between artistry and entertainment is something I aspire to achieve when I write, and it tends to be a formulae I enjoy when watching a movie myself.

So for my 2nd Draft we're looking to ensure a compelling story, well-structured and clear with unique characters that are involved in off-beat plots that the audience can relate to, whilst being easy to shoot and is cost-effective.

Easy.
 
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Why do artistry and entertainment have to be mutually exclusive? That's ridiculous...the best art is insanely entertaining. Entertainment=something that amuses, pleases, or diverts.

I don't understand the phrase "art for art's sake." That sounds masturbatory and I don't think it applies to this discussion. Cinema is an art that is only truly complete when shown to an audience, especially the European New Wave. I don't believe any filmmaker in the history of the medium has ever made a film without considering the audience; that's just untrue. It's inherent to the medium that someone will see it. The desire to challenge an audience or make them think of something they hadn't considered before isn't the same thing as disregarding an audience. It's fine if you prefer cinema a different way, as pure escapist entertainment. That's just as valid as wanting to be challenged by it. Both are valid uses of this large world we call "movies." But I reject that they are exclusive of one another...you can escape inside characters and situations that maybe you don't fully understand, and be entertained by this phenomenon.

I get enough escapist entertainment watching the parade of interesting characters come through my music store daily, so I differ from Knightly in that I usually enter a theaterhoping to be challenged. I reject the notion this makes me snobbish or pretentious. And in the few films I've made I've tried to carry the same spirit. Nothing in my brief career has entertained me more than a rabid discussion with an audience member after seeing a 7 minute film I made last year, comparing her interpretation (one I'd not considered) with my original intentions.

Be entertained by great art, don't be afraid of being challenged, don't be afraid to think when it comes to the movies.
 
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