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writing and shooting myself

Do u think its important to spend long time on rewriting action lines, if you're shooting movie yourself?

For example:
"Woman takes a sip of her drink through the straw, unenthusiastically, flips the book over"

Vs

"Woman glances at the book unenthusiastically"

In other words, should I write it as I see the scene vs how it should feel"


Reason why I'm asking is because it feels as if I spend long long time trying to shrten everything out, find better words to describe action, and in the end its only me and my "actors" that look over the screenplay..
 
Personally I think it is for continuity purposes. Then you know what happens in between each cut, and the continuity just flows a lot better. Plus if you write everything out specifically, the action might flow more logically, and not feel like it was spontaneously made up on set.

Now when it comes to a woman sipping, or something like that I don't think you will have to write the specifics of the sipping, unless you wanna evoke something that's part of the character or something that the scene is about. But if you are shooting action scenes, with complicated things happening, like a chase or something than writing out specifics on the shooting script I think is the way to go.
 
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I agree with Harmonica, for your actors, I think the more information you give them the better, and like he says, and adds flow and continuity. I know it may seem like more work for you, but I think you'll get a better "vibe" if it's more detailed :)


My .0002
 
"Woman takes a sip of her drink through the straw, unenthusiastically, flips the book over"

Vs

"Woman glances at the book unenthusiastically"

In other words, should I write it as I see the scene vs how it should feel"

The only thing that goes into a script is WHAT IS NECESSARY.

If the WOMAN SIPPING is just to show she's bored, then don't write it. That's doing the actor's job.

Give your actors leaway to act. To create.

If the WOMAN SIPPING is important then leave it in.

Since you're asking, it's obviously not important, so omit things like that.
 
The only thing that goes into a script is WHAT IS NECESSARY.

If the WOMAN SIPPING is just to show she's bored, then don't write it. That's doing the actor's job.

Give your actors leaway to act. To create.

I agree with this.

I haven't worked with too many filmmakers, but I think everybody has their own way of doing things.

The way I do it, I basically see something in my head, and I write what I see, with more detail as I near the shoot date, because it helps me plan. It puts things in my head like what the actors should wear, and do I need to get a red scarf for the shoot or whatever. But, I keep it fluid, in the sense that I'm not stuck to what's on paper. If something the actor does seems more natural than whatever it is I wrote, then I go with that. I give the actors a sense of what I want and thats it. But I do write down details on MY version of the script for my benefit. I have a shallow depth of ... 'memory.'
 
Do u think its important to spend long time on rewriting action lines, if you're shooting movie yourself?

For example:
"Woman takes a sip of her drink through the straw, unenthusiastically, flips the book over"

Vs

"Woman glances at the book unenthusiastically"

In other words, should I write it as I see the scene vs how it should feel"


Reason why I'm asking is because it feels as if I spend long long time trying to shrten everything out, find better words to describe action, and in the end its only me and my "actors" that look over the screenplay..

You can even go without a screenplay, but you must know the vision and the meaning of your film, the emotions it evokes.
 
It can be entirely different as you said yourself, "Writing and shooting myself".

It's preference. Is there a right way to do it? There's plenty of correct ways.

If it's for you, then it's for YOU. But, with that said, it MUST be conveyable to the cast/crew. Which should be established BEFORE you shoot. Way before.

I'm a hawk for pacing. A keen screenwriters biggest decisions are what he/she takes out. It's the cutting/trimming that seperates the novice from the professional.

Action must BITE and SNAP. We must MOVE with that action. Pacing.

Give everything you can in the three lines you have. (3-lined Action. Some say 5, but I go with 3)

Give enough for the reader to know WHAT is occurring, HOW it is occurring, and WHERE it is occurring. Too much and we're stuck in that moment.

Working with your crew, it is YOUR job to ensure that you illustrate your vision from page to screen. The inbetween of its failures to convey (again, preference) is something that must be attended to before start of PP.

Purely preference. You'll get a thousand answers.

Just do what is best for you, and your cast/crew.
 
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Thank you very much for the replies!

After reading all of the replies, I figured to have two scrips.. One for the crew (main) , and one for myself, with notes and all the details as I see it.

Thanks again!


And now, time to write!
 
I find that all my internal ideas and great vision flies from me when on set. If its not written down, not in the script or not on the shot list, I will never remember what I was thinking when I had that great idea. Spend the time writing the script for a professional filmmaker which is a GOOD way to think of your self.. :)
 
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