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Question concerning short film screenplay.

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Usman96

I am working on a short film screenplay. The whole story is set around a single room. Two character's sit and talk. It will end up being a 10 to 15 minute long short. 90-95 % of it has two characters in a room talking. Only around climax some other characters will walk in and the places change.

Any tips on how to keep it interesting, yes i have a character with clear external conflict. But again they talk a lot about society and inner conflict is more in focus than the external one. So any tips or experiences to share.?
 
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Short of a rewrite, this isn't really a suggestion, more of a question to whether you think the best medium for your story is audio visual. It sounds like it could be better off being a radio play or a short story.
 
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I do think such scenery could end up very cinematic and interesting, but of course it might need some major ideas for camera work, not just a talking montage like in a regular movie/tv show. Maybe some long movement shots around the room, wall clock etc. stuff like that, something that would intensify the contents of their talk.
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Usman96 said:
I am working on a short film screenplay. The whole story is set around a single room. Two character's sit and talk. It will end up being a 10 to 15 minute long short. 90-95 % of it has two characters in a room talking. Only around climax some other characters will walk in and the places change.

Any tips on how to keep it interesting, ...........
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This suggests you think it is too boring to watch?
If you would draw a graph of the characters' emotions would it be rather flat or are there several beats that will keep it interesting?

The Man from Earth is mostly in a living room and it is never boring.
Keep the interaction interesting, let emotions play a larger role than the transference of knowledge through spoken word.
 
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One of my favourite movies of all time is really one room - 12 Angry Men. Just genius and because it's so good, I can't take my eyes off it.

If the story's good, the rest will follow.

Bonne chance.
 
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If being in that room fits the storyline and the story is compelling it can work.
If being in that room is due to budget concerns and is awkward to the compelling storyline it may not work.
If being in that room is due to budget concerns and the story is not compelling, it will not work.
 
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Usman96 said:
I am working on a short film screenplay. The whole story is set around a single room. Two character's sit and talk. It will end up being a 10 to 15 minute long short. 90-95 % of it has two characters in a room talking. Only around climax some other characters will walk in and the places change.

Any tips on how to keep it interesting, yes i have a character with clear external conflict. But again they talk a lot about society and inner conflict is more in focus than the external one. So any tips or experiences to share.?
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This is kind of a difficult question to answer since we don't exactly know what the story is about, but if you want to keep it interesting just try to find a way to make the unexpected plausible and real, but in a way that aligns with what you're trying to say. I always like to sort of occilate between comedy and drama in the same dialogue sequences because it keeps everything fresh.
 
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Usman96 said:
I am working on a short film screenplay. The whole story is set around a single room. Two character's sit and talk. It will end up being a 10 to 15 minute long short. 90-95 % of it has two characters in a room talking. Only around climax some other characters will walk in and the places change.

Any tips on how to keep it interesting, yes i have a character with clear external conflict. But again they talk a lot about society and inner conflict is more in focus than the external one. So any tips or experiences to share.?
Click to expand...

Assuming you also want to direct this short film:
The room itself has to feel like a character. It has to have an aesthetic that communicates the heart of your story to the audience. Put a lot of time into finding the right space. Don't settle for something that merely looks okay. Also, spend a ton of time on lighting so that the room has atmosphere and a sense of depth. And like someone else suggested, use different camera angles to augment the nuances of the conversation.

If you are simply writing the screenplay, then you just have to spend hours crafting dialogue that is engaging and compelling. Adding tension between the two who are talking would also be really helpful. There aren't too many conversations that I just want to sit and passively listen to for 15 minutes straight, but when I do want to listen to people talk, it's usually because there is conflict and intensity, a la 12 Angry Men.

rex
 
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I'm not a fan of one-room movies - nor do I like super hype multiple location action movies, for that matter.

If I were to think about it, however, many sitcoms are 95% of the time, one-room shows & I enjoy sitcoms. Perhaps that's the best way to approach it.

Definitely show time go by, either light from a window, clock, actors getting more comfortable. If it's a tense setting, fingernails drumming on the table, ashtray filling up, one person tearing up magazine pages out of boredom, wadding them up and trying to score baskets in the corner wastebasket. Empty soda or beer cans piling up, etc.

Think of visual cues & visual irony that would keep this from being little more than an audio drama.

What's this button do... ZAP!
 
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