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Where do i start

Guys im very new to all of this so pardon my ignorance.
i wana get into directing so ive got my friends to help me make a short to make a portfolio, ive been thinking about a story and ive come up with a pretty good one, and want to write it down, but i seriously dont know where to start or how to start, is it possible to write a screenplay just from a story in your head? should i write down the story in a story format first? what steps should a take before writing the actual script. id apriciate any answers.
thanks in advance.
 
'sup, good aydin252 :cool:

Shorts are a great way to learn most aspects of filmmaking.

is it possible to write a screenplay just from a story in your head?

Well, sure. That's where most ideas come from. ;)

If you're one of those people that is constantly theorising, "What if..." all day, you likely have a tonne of ideas already.

I'm sure others here will have great suggestions on how to get it down on paper, but for starters you might want to read this thread. It's not exactly industry-standard, but it breaks down how to assign the time usage for one's short. It's written specifically for 5-minute limits, but that can be adjusted easily enough to suit your estimated length.

Using that 5 minutes 37.5 seconds at a time

It ought to help with pacing and organising the various elements of your story. :)
 
thanks mate that really helped, especially the banana example, although if i had big action hollywood ideas i think this would have been more helpfull. nevertheless ive never had any idea on sctructuring when it came to writing so this gave me some idea.
 
ok guys tell me where im going with this and see if im doing the right thing.
ive got piece of paper and am drawing little boxes and drawing the location and the gist of every scene and the position of the characters, then next to the box im writing what the scene contains what the characters talk about(not the exact words just an idea), the music that should be played and the estimated length of the scene and all the other important things, im up to my 5th page now and have covered some of the script. when i finished this im going to go scene by scene and write out the dialogue in a screenplay format, is this a good way of doing it cause the way i look at it, i think it just may work.
 
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especially the banana example, although if i had big action hollywood ideas i think this would have been more helpfull.

I'm sensing a little cynicsm there. ;)

Mr Harmon may be a little brusque, irreverent & cavalier in his crash-course on structure, but it serves a good purpose.

Keep the abstracts in the background, while focusing on what can really help you focus.

1) You
2) Need
3) Go
4) Search
5) Find
6) Take
7) Return
8) Change

I'm surprised that no other short-film person has piped up yet. :cool:
 
Index cards...

aydin252 said:
ok guys tell me where im going with this and see if im doing the right thing.
ive got piece of paper and am drawing little boxes and drawing the location and the gist of every scene and the position of the characters, then next to the box im writing what the scene contains what the characters talk about(not the exact words just an idea), the music that should be played and the estimated length of the scene and all the other important things, im up to my 5th page now and have covered some of the script. when i finished this im going to go scene by scene and write out the dialogue in a screenplay format, is this a good way of doing it cause the way i look at it, i think it just may work.

Harmon's short film structure is actually really good... My only criticism would be in the "getting it down" part. I highly recommend doing pretty much the same thing except using index cards instead. Get yourself a cork board/bulletin board and write down ALL your great ideas on one card per idea... Don't worry about order just yet...

Get all those ideas down to see how many great ideas you actually have... Most filmmakers find out at this stage that they don't really have as many great ideas they will need to make their film... But anywho, write them all down for now...

These index cards should, at a minimum, contain the following:

a)Interior or exterior, the actual location, and whether it's day or night (light or dark).
Example: EXT. PARK - DAY

b)Short description of what happens in the scene.
Example: Policeman argues with clown.

c)I like to use an up or down arrow to tell me two things about this scene... Next to the first up or down arrow, I will describe the emotional atmosphere of the scene and if it ends on an up or down note. Why? Well, it's nice to have a succession of ups and downs instead of long series of ups or long series of down... This is generally speaking of course... You might want a long series of ups or downs in succession so drawing an up or down arrow and the atmosphere will tell you this. Then right under than arrow and atmosphere, I use another arrow for conflict... I draw an up or down arrow and describe the conflict of the scene with a short description. This tells me whether or not each of my scenes has conflict or not. If it doesn't, you might want to rethink it and create some...

Examples:

^: Clown keeps smiling at policeman (sorry, not much of an arrow... LOL)

^: Policeman tells clown that he can't sell balloons.

*NOTE: hand drawn arrows work much better... LOL.

Okay, now you have all the cards with all your ideas on them, right? Each card has the emotional atmosphere and conflict described, right? Now see where these cards fit into Harmon's structure, assuming you're using that structure.

Number the card that fits within the structure... Then see what cards are left to create. Then create them.

Once they are all created, lay them on your bed, on the floor, on a cork board, whatever and play around with the order... See if they can be put in a different order and tell a better story... If so, reorder them. If not, go back to your original order.

BAM! There's your story!

Now figure out how long you want your short to be... If it's 10 minutes, that's about 1.25 minutes per scene assuming you're using 8 scenes... If you end up with more or less, the same math still applies... LOL.

Let's figure the 1.25 minutes per scene with 8 scenes total... That's 1.25 pages of screenplay PER scene. Now of course these aren't hard and fast rules but this simply serves as a guide so you don't under or overwrite your scenes... If a scene does what it needs to do for your story and does it with a half page or 3 pages, so be it. Just keep the 1.25 pages in mind while you're writing so you write leaner, show MORE, tell LESS.

Good luck with it!

filmy
 
the thing is i was thinking more of a 15 to 20 minute thing but im entering a competition that will allow 10 minutes or less, however im not gonna let that get in my way ill make the short and will edit it for the competition.
 
Ask someone to write it for you. Or, simply pick up these two books: Screenplay by Syd Field and The Screenwriters Workbook by Syd Field. Read those books and you will be teaching yourself how to fish.
 
I would not recommend making a short for competition longer than 10 minutes, and I would not suggest editing your short and jeopardizing your film's integrity to meet a festival requirement. Rather, shorten your story to 10 minutes or less (remember credits count too).
 
I was frustrated having to shop around for a year and a half to try to find all the information I needed to get real live how-to information figured out. I finally got everything I needed through many hours of searching google and watching behind the scenes stuff on dvd's (panic room boxed set is the best I've found). I have decided that the 2 pieces that are missing from the free online stuff are:

Where do I put the camera?

Where do I put the lights?

I'll be making a straight answer no-BS page in the next couple of days to answer those two questions and rearranging the how-to into a question and answer format. I've learned a painful amount in the last 2 years about movie making, and don't feel right not sharing that knowledge (I didn't pay for it). I'll also be adding Director <> Actor stuff and checklists for the shoot (check frame...check overscan area...check whitebalance...check focus...check polarizer...check for noise...sound check...check for glare from lights...check for shadows on walls and talent...check for reflections..."Quiet on the set"..."ACTION!")...maximizing lightling while minimizing amperage. Basically everything we've learned to this point. It's neat to see the footage we shot early on vs. the later stuff, if this weren't a learning film, I'd try to reshoot some of it.
 
Filmy's instructions are exactly what I like to do so I'm going to second what he said and add a few things.

Once all my index cards are on the board (I write longer films so mine are in columns by acts) and I have one card per scene with some quick notes on them. If the time and/or the place changes, I start a new card. Now I can see my whole movie, fill in any holes and cut the fat. Once I've got the scenes where I want them, I pile them up in order and take them to my workshop. A group of people who aren't afraid to tell me what they really think. I go through the movie scene by scene and just read the cards in order. At this stage I often have lots of ideas on things to add and sometimes things to throw out, I make quick notes and keep going. Once my workshop has heard the whole movie scene by scene, they tell me what they think.

I add, change, delete and a few times have completely thrown a story idea out. This way I don't take the time to write the script before I realize the story sucks or no ending isn't satisfying or the second act drags (a problem for most movies).

But that's just me. ;) Good luck!
 
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