What are you working on?
How far along are you?
How do you deal with writer's block?
I just finished the first draft of a film that I'm writing, directing, and possibly acting in. Acting would get me out of my comfort zone and I've heard that it helps your writing.
What is your script about? Congrats on finishing a draft. I'm working on outlining a sort of punk-noir type film that if I ever shoot I would be acting in as well.
On paper, it's similar to Heathers, except it's not a comedy and instead taken more seriously. Also inspired by Larry Clark's Bully.
It's true what Hemingway said about first drafts. There's so much I have to fix. I was doing well then it kinda fell apart towards the end and I just ran with it.
I find something that helps me is to type up a whole new outline for each new draft, to write down how I now picture the story so I'm not relying so much on the previous draft but the new outline, you know? Obviously I keep some stuff like lines I like, but I prefer to rewrite totally from the beginning for the most part and seeing how the story develops that way.
Yeah that's what I'm doing currently, reworking the outline and treatment.
Even if it is kinda shit and shorter than I imagined (80 pages) I'm oddly proud of it.
I want to be the next Max Landis. Do you guys have any advice for me?
Tell your dad to buy a helicopter
No man, that's good. Love it so much you have to make it better. Imagine how proud you'll be once it's actually good. Also a shorter script is better, that way you can be indulgent with shooting or add in more stuff in the next draft
>tfw you want to use anthropomorphic animals but it will get dubbed as furry shit.
I'm not even a furry for fucks sake.
>What are you working on?
Bunch of girls get memories wiped. Trained to be assassins. Shit happens. They have to kill each other to work out who's the best.
>How far along are you?
43 pages
>How do you deal with writer's block?
Badly.
Start writing scripts.
Immediately.
Write faster.
Write more scripts.
Write more.
Write more until you have an output of one script a month.
Now keep up that output while re-writing older drafts.
If you have at least 20 screenplays that aren't complete shit by the time you're 25. And keep up your writing. Congratulations. You're max landis 2.0
Also get an agent once you have at least 4 scripts that aren't awful.
>Bunch of girls get memories wiped. Trained to be assassins. Shit happens. They have to kill each other to work out who's the best.
That sounds like it could be really fun. What's the tone you're going for?
I just started working on a new movie yesterday.
It's about a pizza delivery driver who thinks he is an action hero. I'm going to pick up a 1985 Honda Accord today to serve as his car.
The script is coming along nicely for a day's work.
Anyone working on anything for Tv?
I can never think of a good conclusion.
I can start with good ideas but don't know where to take them.
how do you do it?
So you're reimagining La Femme Nikita and or Gunslinger Girl?
Honestly dude, even you don't sound very excited about it.
Gunslinger girl set in the british school system, with added La Femme nikita/Leon John Woo and Jet Li's Fearless. But I don't really worry about tone until a second draft.
Not so much of a focus on Martial Arts though.
And the girls are young adults.
No, I'm just sick of being asked the question so much that I don't even bother to logline it anymore. That's just what happens.
I'm enjoying the fight scenes since it is an action movie. But I'm dreading the re-write to make the plot better.
I either have an ending in mind that I work with my other ideas to connect in a full story or I just think logically about what my characters would do and what sorts of thing would happen in the world to arrive at the only logical ending
Some user in another thread asked me something about the X-Files scripts I was doing but I never got the chance to answer him.
If you're here, please speak up.
apply antagonist/goal
Can't have a movie without conflict bro
I've had a finished pilot for a few weeks. It's about 60 pages and now I'm just working on polishing it and having a few friends proofread.
I'm here fampai
I have super bad writers block and I'm probably going to kill myself because of it. I hate my life because of it
Maybe you should write about a character that has writers block
Also tell us what you're stuck on so we can help fuccboi
What's it about?
I get the feeling ude.
I don't want to write right now. Even though I'm in the middle of a fight scene and it's really fun.
Ok, what was your question again? Was it about how the American Psycho crossover worked?
Basically, it's nothing too special. I had to look on Wikipedia to know what Bateman was exactly doing after AP, so I made sure it was fairly accurate to the timeline and made it fit into the X-Files timeline.
Five years after the events of AP, Bateman is trying to forget about the murders he committed (but no one is aware of) and he's almost convinced that he may be innocent because now people are starting to get killed again even though he never touched anyone.
The teaser would show that a man in his building is killed under mysterious circumstances. The only clue that the victim left was "Tanaj" written on the wall (Tanaj is Esperanto for Tanakh, so Scully suspects that it is part of a Satanic conspiracy). Things get weird after that.
Sounds cool. My other question was if you were the same guy who had been posting about his X-Files work for a couple months
I got that a few weeks ago because of stuff in real life, it happens.
Oh, yeah I was.
I'm working on something that I can realistically film in my hometown.
Would I be better off shooting it on my own, or selling the script and asking about being involved in the directorial process? I'd like to have the experience of directing it but I doubt I could have my cake (sell a script) and eat it too (have creative control).
As much as I hate to say it. Shoot it yourself.
How old were you guys when you fist started writing scripts? I need to know for career purposes
21
What are some things to keep in mind when writing a biography, ala something in the style of Saving Mr. Banks and Hitchcock? I'm working on a story about the making of a very well-known, well-loved piece of Sup Forums kino from the 80s and the director and crew's struggles to get it made and deal with the inevitable fallout of it flopping, eventually becoming a critical success years and years after the fact.
How much should be fictionalized for the sake of telling a good story? That's what I'm struggling on right now.
90%. Really, only thing that needs to be accurate are events and personality of the lead. Any conversation that you want to add or moment of introspection in the lead that wasn't 100% recorded is fiction
I first finished a script at 23 but I havn't managed to finish another feature length one yet.
Did a radio play at 23. started writing screenplays now.
Been doing odd scenes and off since high school for acting/drama/youtubesketchpiecesofshit/film-school-which-dropped-out-of.
Didn't decide to start doing it for myself until about now
>How much should be fictionalized for the sake of telling a good story?
YMMV but the necessary amount should be fictionalized, depending on how much you need to.
If it's 100%. Then it's 100%.
>film-school-which-dropped-out-of.
why'd you drop out? I'm trying to go to one since I know fuck all about operating a camera or using editing software, and I can get out of it with minimal debt, but I'm worried if its worth it
Setting and genre.
I just can't fucken decide--if could--everything else will fall into place.
Real life is so fucken boring--so you always have to have an obsurd premise.
Because I went to a bad one. Everyone told me to stick with it. I did it for a year. And then dropped out in my second. I should have listened to myself and dropped out in my first year, then i'd be able to secure a loan to go to a different school or do a different course.
In short, the professors knew jack shit. I knew more than they did about editing. Operating a camera is shit you can teach yourself. You can teach yourself everything else as well. If it doesn't come naturally to you after some play you won't get it anyway, I still find lighting a bitch.
They advertised it as a place where I'd make lots of films for showreels and practice and I didn't.
Also personal other reasons, but by the end I figured out "fuck being a director". I don't have the patience for it.
Don't go to film-school. You can teach yourself everything you need to know. And it's not as if it's hard to track down this shit for free, or you'll learn less. You'll learn more, trust me.
If you're trying to get a job in the industry, you'll do better with a degree, or just starting out and making a few shorts. Which won't cost you anywhere near as much.
>Setting and genre.
Decide on setting. Fuck genre. I'm a genre-fiction whore and my work falls into it. But you don't need to, to make something good.
Setting defines everything though.
Like....wouldn't it be cool if you could do something that hasn't been done? Or better yet, something that hasn't been done in a while...
15. Had dreams of making a super edgy post apocalyptic spaghetti western in my town. Recently re read that script. Despite how cringey some parts are it has a few things I'm actually proud of my 15 year old self for writing
anybody got industry jobs?
I'm Paul Thomas anderson
>What are you working on
6000 word journal that's due in 10 hours
>How far along are
4200 words
>How do you deal with writers block
I masturbate
Try making a decent movie in the next ten years, okay. Don't repeat the last decade
I'm working on a stage play that I will eventually adapt into a film. It's a serious version 50s sci fi, about a mysterious signal from space and the crew sent to find its source. The story opens with a few people frantically running into an escape pod during a violet mutiny. The whole play takes place in the pod. The captain, first mate, captain's daughter, possibly a scientist (thinking about cutting him cause I don't have much for him to do) and a young space marine are the characters. They launch the pod, the main ship explodes and the sit there a while. We learn that the mission has gone on for untold years, with multiple generations of the crew being born even with centuries of cryo sleep. No original crew members are left. The survivors decide to continue the mission in the pod and continue toward the signal. Eventually the captain is forced to admit that they have been out of contact with earth for centuries and he's been faking it. The mutineers were in the right. They don't even know if earth still exists. The ship was on autopilot, as well as the escape pod. They couldn't change course if they wanted to. They decide to tie the captain up, the first mate takes charge. He forms a budding romance with he daughter, while the soldier grows more and more discontent and jealous.
Cont.
Soldier snaps and executes the captain (he has the only gun) then forces everyone to do what he wants. He makes the girl blow him in front of the others while spouting edgy nihilism and how it's all pointless and he knows they'll kill him eventually but he doesn't care. Etc etc, gay ass philosophy of hedonism and whatnot. Eventually he runs out of cigarettes and so he decides to let the first mate kill him, after weeks of tyranny and fear. First though he fires all but two bullets into the scientist, telling the mate to use them wisely. The mate chokes him to death. His relationship with the girl is now wrecked and he can't get over he fact that he watched her with the soldier, etc. eventually she kind of talks him into accepting it and they move on slowly. The girl resumes logging data and doing scientific work but the guy gets fed up and doesn't see the point. They only have food for two weeks. He thinks they should just spend two weeks loving each other and enjoy what life thy have then off themselves, but she want to continue the mission even though it is obviously bullshit. Also she's pregnant so death would be bad. He tells her there's no species to continue. They can't reconcile this point and he kills himself, telling her that now he will have twice he food.
Any feedback would be much appreciated
They've all been exactly as good as one another, I made them I know these things
Bump
One of the common pitfalls of any creative endeavor is the "throw money at it" mindset. Creative people who want to do something usually reach a point where they don't have the knowledge they need but they want results *right now*. So the quickest, easiest impulse is to buy a bunch of "how to" books or pay for classes. Most of this usually ends up being diversion, you distracting yourself from what you should be doing-- just *DO THE WORK*-- and getting lost in researching or learning. You want to know how to be a good director. Aim a fucking camera at something. Re-watch the footage when you're done. Note what works. Note what doesn't.
Sure, there are some things it's better to learn, how to do good lighting, editing etc. but don't fall down the rabbit hole of throwing money at the problem, because more often than not you usually end up no further along than you were before and now a few hundred (or thousand) dollars poorer.
This user said he went to film school and was waiting on them to make films with him. Instead of just getting a camera, finding some actors and making the films himself.
tl;dr-- School/research helps, SOMETIME, but never let it be a substitute/excuse for you to not DO THE WORK.
"Do the work" is stuck in my head and I remember now I got it from Seinfeld. I think it was one of his Comedians in Cars, where he talked about writing everyday, do the work and eventually you can live off of it.
Dude's philosophies for comedy can be applied to pretty much any creative discipline-- discipline being the key word. We artists are naturally super-unfucking-disciplined free spirits, so this is the hardest part. Check out some of the vids of him on YouTube, talking about his craft. Really gives you insight on the type of mindset you need to have to make this work.
Writing novel from old screenplay I wrote.
10 pages in.
No such thing as writer's block. If you're stuck, you don't know how to brainstorm or you story logically doesn't make sense. Plus, you should outline beforehand so you don't have to do any thinking while you're writing.
Max Landis wrote about 100 screenplays before his first got picked up.
I've heard it two ways. One is that your conclusion is your film. It's what you want to say and it's usually what you come up with first. If you have a good ending, everything else can be mediocre/shit.
The other thing is that you conclusion is just the logical ending of your premise. It shouldn't be something difficult, it's literally the only thing that makes sense.
You character has a problem and they're going to use what they learned to solve it, or ignore what they learned and fail.
I have an idea for a western, but I feel like it might nit have the pop that I need it to have to stand out. The Western genre is way too stagnant these days.
Well what's your idea? I've got a couple half done western outlines myself, feel similarly about not having the spark I need to finish them
I really recommend writing a treatment and posting it here (or better yet some site focused on screenwriting) before you tackle the actual screenplay.
90% of the problems I see in amateur screenplays can be detected from the outline phase. Things like, your protagonist not being set up correctly, your characters not having character, taking too long to get into the second act, not knowing how to raise tension, making each scene transition into the next, etc.
>something that's been talked and written about by writers who have made numerous succesful books doesn't exist because, I, haven't gone through it through out my 5 week career as a writer
Nobody ever really responds to most treatments that get posted in these threads. There are a few in here, none have any real responses
I'm making a silent movie that replaces soundtracks with a medley of white noise and dog whistles. It's about a frenchman that decides to get into comedy and fails miserably. His passion for eccentric pranks which only he thinks are funny lead him to austria where he shoots Franz Ferdinand with a tomato gun. Franz has a heart attack and dies but everyone thinks he got shot. He throws the gun to a bosnian and shifts the blame. He gets off because who the fuck will believe a bosnian? So WWI happens. Somewhere along the wat he accidentally mustard gasses a bunch of germans and commits other war crimes. Movie ends with frenchman almost dying by choking on cheese.
This started out as an unfunny shitpost but now i want to write it
tss..more like baseball capo
12 or 13.
It doesn't exist.
So one way you could make it more interesting is by adding consequences to the story. So far I can see you have reveals like the captain who has been lying the whole time, so they tie him up, etc.
But what grabbed me was the issue that they can't change course even if they wanted to. That seems a bit nihilistic for the characters, making the whole situation futile; might it be more interesting if they had the chance to change course; a choice between two evils perhaps, or a choice to be sympathetic to the Captain's actions, thus making room for them to make an important choice with or without his input.
I think the better choice that I personally would be interesting is "Should we change course?" -- And you decide which would be the most interesting choice for your characters to make.
Whatever they decide, make it so that they can't undo their choice under any circumstances, that way the audience will feel like the story has progressed instead of being 'this reveal happens, that reveal happens' the whole time.
Also if you're unsure about a character try addressing what it is you liked about him originally. There's a clue as to what function he'll have in the story, even if its to be an information dump.
People who don't know how to mentally get out of their own way creatively exists. Telling someone to 'think differently' doesn't work. You have to show them how; that's why there's a ton of information to be found to help get out of writer's block.
I made this for myself. Have fun giving my formula a go. It's to help you have a better idea of what you're writing.
1. WHAT DO YOU WISH TO:
a) Convey (a message)
b) Question
c) Explore
2. WHAT THEMES BEST CONVEY THE ABOVE?
3. WHAT OBJECT(S) OR PERSON(S) BEST REPRESENT THE THEMES?
4. WHAT GENRE CAN YOU BEST TELL THE STORY IN? WHAT ARE THE ICONIC CONVENTIONS OF THIS GENRE, AND HOW COULD THEY BE USED TO CONVEY ALL OF THE ABOVE?
5. WHAT SETTING CAN YOU BEST TELL THE STORY IN? WHAT IS UNIQUE TO THIS SETTING WHICH COULD BE USED TO BEST CONVEY ALL OF THE ABOVE?
6. WHO IN THE STORY HAVE THE MOST TO LOSE AND GAIN FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OBJECT(S) OR PERSON(S)?
7. THOSE WITH CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES IN REGARDS TO (#6) ARE THE PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST. THE MORE IMPORTANT THE OBJECT(S) OR PERSON(S) ARE TO THEM, THE GREATER THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE STORY.
8. NOW CREATE SITUATIONS WHERE THE PROTAGONIST(S) AND ANTAGONIST(S) ARE IN CONFLICT TO DESTORY/SAVE THE OBJECT(S) OR PERSON(S) IN THE STORY.
9. CONTINUE TO ADD SITUATIONS TO THE STORY FOR THE ANTAGONIST(S) / PROTAGONIST(S) TO CONFLICT OVER UNTIL THERE IS A POINT OF NO RETURN, WHERE EITHER THE PROTAGONIST(S) HAVE ACHIEVED THEIR GOAL, THE ANTAGONIST(S) HAVE ACHIEVED THEIR GOAL, OR NEITHER HAS ACHIEVED THEIR GOAL BUT THERE IS NO LONGER AN OBJECT(S) OR PERSON(S) TO CONFLICT OVER.
>tfw i can only think of amazing endings
and good movie ideas too, it's the dialogue that fucks me up, specially when you have to do some filler, i just can't, i spend days writing a few lines of dialogue, any advice?
Start with imagery and action. When you call tell the story through action, and the story can't be moved forward unless the characters speak, that's when they should start talking.
Where imagery fails; use sound.
Thanks a lot for your thoughts. I agree that the story needs some more stakes, something to fight for, but I'm kind of against having them be able to alter their course. I'm striving for a theme of vaguely hopeful nihilism, that even though our path is predetermined we can loosen our shackles enough to enjoy what time we do have. I think the most important thing will be building the romantic relationship up very well so that it is heart breaking when the girl refuses to give up on the mission. I may also have the captain refrain from telling them about the autopilot until later when they think they get a chance to change course but decide to power through for the sake of discovering the signal source (which the first mate later decides is probably not real). I also think I may have the soldier put the first mate through more torturous situations but I need to develop the part of the story where he is in charge a bit more. I think the scientist is mainly a holdover from an earlier idea that included a robot assistant character that malfunctioned and massacred a portion of the crew. I cut that whole thing, but kept his inventor. I plan to kind of have him ushering the mission on, devoted to the cause but I'm not sure. He could also be a middle of the road character. Hell, I may even come up with a way for the soldier not to kill him, and have the first mate kill him instead. Like he refuses to let him abandon the mission and the mate has to put him down, but he can't do the same with the girl. The girl wants to build a life, but the mate sees that it is entirely pointless.
You've really got me thinking about some good stuff, thanks again
I'm currently trying to write a psychological horror/thriller somewhat in the vein of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Basically circles around a dead girl who comes back to life not remembering what happened to her only to eventually meet her killer again. My plot outline is pretty thorough until the ending. I have no idea what I should do with my protagonist. Kill her? Have her reconcile? Ambiguous ending?
Will try this out, thanks
Finished 3rd draft of 93 page screenplay last year. Pounded out all three drafts in about 2 months.
Now I have major things to switch around that would drastically improve the story, but it's like the spark left once I had a line producer budget it out to $400K to shoot lol
>An elite FBI operative must stop the 1980s from being destroyed as a whole by teaming up with the most unlikely partner imaginable: Himself... FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION
He's right you know. A brain-vomit, greentext style outline in a txt document does wonders once you get around to trying to format the bitch. Write beats, action, key dialogue, scene description, as long as you want. Then refine it.
I've found the first half to most great stories is all about the world, and the story unravelling itself, as well as setting up interesting characters who are given their marches orders to get whatever they want or need by the end of the story.
The second half is about them either getting or not getting what they want or need; with the greater focus being on the emotional catharsis for the audience, because after the halfway point the audience gets tired and stops giving a shit about the fluff of the world you've made and wants to see what happens to the characters they've invested their time in.
Examples:
>Kill Bill
Vol 1 is fast and action-packed, setting up the story but gives very little towards character and character catharsis.
Vol 2 slows way the fuck down and has it become a slow-burn, character-driven story which is more about tying up the final loose-ends, and the greatest emotional enemies of the bribe, culminating in the most emotional confrontation of the epic; her and Bill.
Kill Bill also has the greatest cathartic ending to a movie ever; when she gets her daughter back her character is given a true cathartic happy ending
Watch Trancers to get some inspo, different but similarish
Getting close to finish the second draft of the ULB feature I'm going to direct myself.
Cut out a lot and I'm adding some stuff to it to be around 100 from the 120 in the first draft,
What film is it? Blade Runner?
ULB?
Ultra Low Budget
It cost me £600 to make a 5 minute short film shot over two days in my own house.
How are you going to make a feature on an ultra low budget?
you just have to make due with what you have man
Probably the best way to do a western nowadays is to mentally throw away every single trope you've ever seen or heard about what a western should be, then write from there.
Another way to get over it is to just write. Write whatever comes to you, even if it's shit. Especially if it's shit. Just keep putting words down on paper until you feel it clicking again. A lot of times you'll come back to what you've written during the hardest times, when getting the words out is like blood from a stone, and you surprise yourself with how good it is. There's also times when the work is just as bad as it felt writing it, but the most important part is you kept at it. And you also have something down on paper you can go back to and make good.
The second approach, if it just absolutely isn't happening for you, is to put it down and work on something else, something that really captures your interest. It's a good way to rejuvenate yourself, refresh your batteries.
I've found the hardest aspect to writing consistently and productively is not how we approach the actual creative writing, but how we are in all other aspects of our lives. If you're unmotivated and apathetic in how you deal with everything else in your life, then it'll be no surprise when you can't stay consistent with putting words a page.
A book changed my whole perspective on writing and it wasn't even a book on how to write. We all know what we want to write, we all know how to be creative, what we don't have are the mental tools to organize ourselves and be productive; and that's the real difference between a pro and an amateur; can you trust yourself to get your portion of writing done every day?
I would recommend reading "Getting Things Done" by Dave Allen, it's a must for people who want to be stress free and productive.
This worked wonders for me. You can find interviews with him on Youtube, like podcasts, to get a taste of what he's putting across.
You can also grab the audiobook from pirate bay.
Ulb is max around 500,000
Sounds interesting, thanks for the rec
Adding to this, Robert McKee's 'Story' should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in screenwriting. That book is the screenwriter's bible.
Which is interesting considering a good movie needs little more than one location, at least one character, and a well written story.
That could cost you thousands instead of hundreds of thousands; with today's technology and access to information on the filmmaking process.
I.
Had no idea there was a screenwriting general thread.
I've had all summer off and didn't do shit with my ideas. I feel like a piece of crap.
Me too, I'm going to kill myself soon. Can anyone tell me if a .223 rifle round through the roof of my mouth will do the job?
it would be extremely painful...
Join the club senpai. Might as well start on your script now.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
I need to follow that advice as well.
for you
good joke
Find a couple of minors.
I must say I'm quite a film buff myself, here's a scene from a script I'm currently writing:
INT. A LIBERAL COLLEGE AUDITORIUM - DAY
Professor: Haha stupid shits believe in Spaghetti monster.
Student: Dear sir/madame, before you tip your head apparel please...
Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter? Do you know that GOD backwards is DOG, what can you say about that you very ignorant student?! What more proofs do world needs?
Student : Sir, you can have lots of pennis, even more dicke, and also, balls, rub a little dingus and get heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called vaginus. We can hit 458, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as proof of not there being no GOD.
(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Professor: Ok, you prove to me. I am cocke, I am shit and also cum.
Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is PENNIS. That is all that keeps the bad men from your door.
(The professor start crying, and is shamed)
Narrator: Oh and by the way. Name of the student? Bernie Sanders. Name of the teacher? Adolph Hitler.
FADE OUT
ENDING TITLES: RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO FRIENDS IF YOU THINK AMERICA NEEDS BERNIE.
Smells of Sup Forums, and I won't have that. No, I don't like you. As a matter of fact, I dislike you. You're offensive, which is saying something considering we are on Sup Forums of all places, you're wrong about all of your opinions and you take your stupid, hurtful memes too far. This world would be better off without Sup Forums or any other vile trash like it. The color of a person's skin or their religious beliefs or their sexuality should not matter as long as their character is admirable. As an atheist, I appreciate people of all backgrounds and walks of life, except for you denizens of the slime pit know as Sup Forums, you make me sick
>What are you working on?
A pilot to a TV drama. It's basically Peaky Blinders but with the Whisky industry in Scotland and with banks having a lot of power.
>How far along are you?
Pretty far along in the outline, two pages on the pilot.
>How do you deal with writer's block?
I jerk off