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how the hell do you put feature film idea on a paper?

L

LDS

I did write few short films in the past 3 years, and youtube series but... I cant seem to be able to write a script for a feature film :no:

I have 4 different ideas... or even 5 and.... no go... My brain doesnt bother :grumpy:

hoooooow do I get those freaking ideas that drive me crazy and are stuck in my head for couple of years on a paper? :( :huh:
 
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I actually learned a lot about how to do this by learning to write code - you don't actually start with the code, you start by writing comments about what you're trying to achieve with a certain segment of code and then you go back and fill in the blanks. This way you take a monumental task and break it down into manageable pieces that can be tackled out of order.

So for a film you might start with:

A man loses his dog.
The man goes on a search for his dog.
The man finds his dog.

Easy - no real creative struggle there, just a beginning, middle and end. Now fill it out with additional lines:

A man loves his dog more than anything in the world
Man loses his dog.
Man is lost without his dog
Man becomes determined to find his dog.
Man searches for his dog.
Man discovers dog has been taken by dognappers.
Man hunts down the dognappers and kills them ruthlessly.
Man is reunited with his dog.

Just adding a little more detail there. Now give it a few more passes until you've hit all the major plot points and scenes you think the story needs.

Once you've got the full list, pick one and try writing a scene or two to illustrate it. Don't worry about making the whole thing perfectly cohesive, just try to fill in all the scenes at some basic level. Once you've done that you have a first draft - it may be pretty rough, but that's ok, most of writing is re-writing.

You also don't have to tackle a whole script from beginning to end this way - you've got a few ideas, start them all out with the most basic level and then jump around from script to script as ideas come to you.

Finally, if you're serious about writing block out a chunk of time each day to do it. Start with an hour, and no matter what you write for that hour - add more lines to your various script outlines, or write a single scene, or re-write a section, etc. Doesn't really matter what you do each day, as long as you do it consistently. Over time the progress will come, and the process should get easier as you build up more and more material as starting points.
 
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Write them down as stories. I prefer to start with treatments (basically scripts without dialogue). It's easier to develop and refine before going through the work of properly formatting the script. The best advice is that the script is predominantly a visual blueprint, so the dialogue isn't a critical piece initially.

If you have stories, as Sweetie said, write them down. Don't worry about scripts yet. Making the jump from treatment to script is easy. After you have your treatment, you simply split out the paragraphs and slap on sluglines (locations). Then take your paragraphs and split out the action statements and descriptions. Now you're to the point you can start putting in character dialogue. Most importantly, do NOT stress over length. Keep to your story. For me, a rough guide is one page of treatment is about six pages of script. So a 90 page script is about 15 pages of treatment. That's very approximate and will vary with individual writing styles.
 
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I start with characters, what they motives are and what is the main idea of the film.

My current project has a 87 pages and I wrote it in 7 days, previous project 70 pages and three months.

But usually when you get the basic idea, at least for me it is quite easy to start to write trough characters and their motives.
 
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Read scripts, good ones that are tightly written, Collateral for example. Take in how they are written, down to each expression and action. It helps if you've seen the film - picture how it evolves and works. Good films work in reverse, so that C = B + A, but on screen it's A + B = C

Perhaps, instead of having five soft ideas floating around, dedicate your time and energy into the one you believe in most. Instead of spreading yourself thin, combine the best elements of each into one screenplay.

I do it, I just start writing, a monologue, a scene, an action scene, whatever comes to mind. When the initial burst of inspiration is over I leave it, watch a film or two, read a script, listen to an audio commentary, then come back to the script with a fresh perspective.

I'm sure all this is rather self explanatory, but it does help.
 
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Analyze the act structure and minute-by-minute composition of several films, simple comedies work best.

Analyze how what's been produced, see it's structure, replicate that.

Identify ACT I, II, and III.
Identify their components and how the writer crafted challenges to be achieved by characters in the story.

Figure out the timing of each ACT, give or take five minutes those will be your targets to replicate.
Typically,
ACT I = 20min.
ACT II, Part I = 30-40min.
ACT II, Part II = 30min.
ACT III = 20min

90-110min average.

Identify the story components you do have and overlap them over that same framework, then start filling gaps and trimming excess.

I use a spreadsheet allocating a line per minute, a brief description sentence each.
You've written screenplays for shorts, so you know what you can cram on your "page per minute."


Good luck!
 
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NickClapper said:
Plagiarism!
Click to expand...

Not at all! Mine is a slapstick romantic comedy. It stars Girard Butler as the man, and Jennifer Aniston does the voice of the dog. The dognappers are Joe Pesci and Jerry Lewis, and their deaths are treated humorously, things like drowning in a vat of whipped cream or floating away into space on a big bunch of colorful balloons. I'm trying to get Tyler Perry to play Butler's tough but wise old aunt, who raised him from an early age as well as training him to be an unstoppable spec ops operative - bit of a long shot though, may have to go for my fallback choice for that role, Kathleen Turner.
 
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I generally think A LOT about my screenplays before I sit down to write them, often when I'm driving, particularly on long highway stretches.

i start with the basic premise of the story, then the main character. What happens to him or her? Road blocks? Goals? I'll spin the story along until I hit a problem that I don't see a (reasonable) solution to, then I back up and try a slightly different path.

I generally have the plot worked out in full before I sit down to write it, and also know most of the main characters pretty well. Then I flesh it out with sub-plots and supporting characters as I write and re-write, and then re-write some more.
 
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Just rewrite the treatment several times before writing the script. Don't start writing the actual script till you have all your scenes in order and make sure every scene has a point.

Also, when it comes to creating characters, I was told before to create characters that would play off the theme of the premise. For example, in a script I wrote before, it was about a group of men going around creating acts of terrorism to get the government to give into their demands. I wrote a character who is an expert at computer hacking, and he is blackmailed into hacking into people's records to find out who the terrorists are. He's not a very main character and only has a few scenes, but I wanted him to be more than just a hacker for the plot's convenience.

I gave him his own subplot and background that deals with terrorism themes, and drives the theme more forward even though he's just a minor character. That's just one example, of what I mean by using the theme to create characters that will go with it, rather than just creating characters to advance the plot only, if that makes sense.

Also when it comes to three act structure, I don't know about others, but I have trouble following it. I have tried doing it before, but I felt that twists and plot points, just felt like they come off as forced, just to fit the structure. It seems better to only create plot points when the opportunity for one comes to make it interesting, rather than creating them in certain places, and of certain types, based on the three act structure. Doing this causes plot turns to feel forced, and bends the logistics of the story you have come up with, but that's just my experience.
 
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Lukas,
What genres are your four or five ideas?


H44,
You've been OCDing on your terrorist story for years now.
Safe to say it's out of your budget range for production.
Your only viable option is to write it out as a spec screenplay - which means you'll best benefit from a more marketable three act structure - but you' just stated you have trouble doing it.
So, do your homework.

Terrorists = Action film

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls009668579/
Pick five of the top twenty action films.
Let's find a couple to identify their act structure to see how those writers and directors dealt with forced plot twists.
(Heat, Gladiator, and Minority Report look good to me.)

Lucas, we'll be doing the same to your genrés, as well.
 
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Screenplay for Heat.
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Heat.html

Screenplay for Gladiator.
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Gladiator.html

Screenplay for Minority Report.
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Minority-Report.html


20130320TwoConstraintThreeActStructure-2013-Compact_zps7a6632d5.png


Code: 
ACT I
	Here's the Situation	
	It Just Got Worse	
	FIRST CHALLENGE	
	Hope	
	Might Lose It...	
	FIRST CONSTRAINT, Got it!	
ACT II, Part I	
	First Lesson
	Second Lesson
	Third Lesson
ACT II, Part II
	Last Lesson Lead's to...
	Oh, No!	
	It's All Okay, Now	
	Total Loss. Story's Done, Unless..
ACT III	
	SECOND CONSTRAINT, Solution!	
	SECOND CHALLENGE	
	Build to Outcome
	Build to Outcome	
	Outcome Achieved!
 
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rayw said:
Lucas,
What genres are your four or five ideas?


H44,
You've been OCDing on your terrorist story for years now.
Safe to say it's out of your budget range for production.
Your only viable option is to write it out as a spec screenplay - which means you'll best benefit from a more marketable three act structure - but you' just stated you have trouble doing it.
So, do your homework.

Terrorists = Action film

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls009668579/

I was using that script as an example, I haven't touched it in two years and moved on to cheaper projects. I didn't know there was a rule here that the example had to be from a recent script.
Click to expand...
 
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Lukas,
Where'd ya go, man?

Okay, been doing some light homework for you.
Broke down 'Heat', 'Gladiator', and 'Minority Report' into an eezy-peezy chart too big to sensibly post here:
http://tinyurl.com/lwzzttj

You may look at the collection of breakdowns I have here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O6ZwmdSU-41RtoCRC9cigIq_auYVUKfqgSrBA-ny82s/edit#gid=0


Again, what you want to do is BEGIN feature length screenplay writing at a simple three act structure foundation.
Learn to see the structure - when it exists.
Learn how to break it down.
Time-map out the components, see the time boundaries.

Then...

You take your own story, adapt what you have to what you need.
Rough it out.
Then fill in the gaps.
Then break the screenplay down to the minute-per-page mark to get where you're going.

AFTER you've done a few of these feature length screenplays you can comfortably deviate from them to create your own tooty-fruity format feature length screenplays.

GL!
 
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OP, open your pocketbook and take all the cash out and put it on a table.

Now start writing down ideas for your feature story using Ray's chart as a guideline. When thinking up locations, costumes, special effects, props, etc., the cost for all of these together should add up to no more than you have on your table.

If you start adding things to the script that cost more money than you have on the table, the chances of the film getting made drops to near zero.

Moral: Write your script utilizing the locations and sources you have available to you at no cost. The script then becomes somewhat easier to write as your options are fewer.

Good luck.
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
Moral: Write your script utilizing the locations and sources you have available to you at no cost. The script then becomes somewhat easier to write as your options are fewer.
Click to expand...
Bingo.
Zactly!

Write for the resources you have: locations, cast &crew talent, equipment, skillzzz, and budget.
Don't ever waste time writing pie-in-sky screenplays.
No 'Nazi Zombie Trannies from Uranus vs. the White House.'
Ghost stories are about as cheap as it gets.
 
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