Re-do because the Saturday thread from earlier died after like 2 posts
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How the fuck are you supposed to format phone conversations? I've heard so many conflicting things.
Just let these threads die. /swg/ is bitter as fuck.
I don't know what's going on. Are we doing these threads or splitting them up?
I don't know, man. Make a strawpoll?
just make the OP however the fuck you want.
that one super bitter guy can make his own threads, nothing is stopping him
Yeah, FIGHT THE POWER.
Now, let's talk about filmmaking. How do you all feel about remakes? Are there any movies you would like to remake or reimagine?
I've got two. Vertigo and The Running Man.
You can do it however you like, as long as it's understood by the reader.
The (from phone) thing is redundant as a dialogue direction, and gets old. You can always include the direction in your action by saying, for example, "we hear Bobby's electronically distorted voice, over the phone's speaker." and then just follow the character name with (O.S.) thereafter. People aren't so dumb that they won't understand what you're going for.
Remakes are OK if they're warranted. Remaking something that came out less than 20 years ago is flat out retarded.
I was once going to write a remake of pic related because it's kinda obscure and not that notable, and make the two leads women.
Don't bully me please. I was going to write them as actual characters with flaws and shit and not just "strong woman who don't need no man" archetypes.
I actually really want to remake Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
It was a good movie, but I feel like it had a lot of comedic potential that wasn't explored throughout the plots of Harry accidentally auditioning for, and "getting" the role, the PI work, and Harmony. If the stories were made more tightly woven overall, I think it could be even better.
Obviously it's never going to happen.
Female-led movies aren't bad, user, just badly-written character led movies. And you could probably get away with it if you ever do write something based on it.
I haven't written anything in quite some time, but I've had this space opera story rattling around for some time, and finally wanted to write out the first scene.
1/4
2/4
I'm actually working on something that at first was gonna be a straight remake, but now I'm modernizing it and basing the story off of a few real world events.
I also want to make it diverse, but at the same time not jerk myself off over how great I am for making something diverse with female leads and decrying everyone who says anything bad about my movie a lonely. misogynist, like a certain movie did.
It's my dream film to make.
3/4
I want to make a cyberpunk drive-esque film with western undertones. Any ideas on how to find investors and get funding?
4/4, last for now.
My treatment right now switches gears to a mostly-abandoned Earth that is also being visited for a similar resource inspection, where the protagonists are revealed.
Suicide Squad was diverse as fuck. Same goes for the fast and furious films. And all of the above did gang-busters at the box-office.
Ghostbusters was an embarrassment for everyone involved
What's it about?
Yeah, it's way too soon for that shit. But you might be able to get it made as a TV series.
Might be a little more comedic if Byron (good name btw) says "Yep" instead of that aluding to a backstory line "C'mon, you know the story" which has the same feel as poor expository dialogue without even the benefit of providing any insight.
Yeah, that's the main reason I said it would never happen. But I might toy with a few of the minor plot points and make a spiritual remake as a short or bootleg movie for the internet.
Writer here, interesting note, and I'm glad you picked any odd expository feelings on that line, because that's the exact moment I was thinking "how much do I want to reveal?"
Two degenerate cops (one hispanic one and English immigrant) and their unit have to stop a xenophobic heiress who's become a terrorist.
Yeah, I agree with the previous guy. You might be able to get some spiritual successor like the Fargo tv series.
Yeah! Fuck around with the story and characters, and then just come out with a really similar movie. People did that shit all the time back in the day. Star Wars was just George Lucas ripping off Flash Gordon and Kurosawa, and RoboCop was because they couldn't get the rights to Judge Dredd.
>Two degenerate cops (one hispanic one and English immigrant) and their unit have to stop a xenophobic heiress who's become a terrorist.
What the fuck
Basically, imagine if the guy from Bad Lieutenant had to save the world.
My thinking was with a "yep" line, Byron would be withholding, intensifying Garret's curiosity, which in turn should ignite the audience. The less obvious it is, the more immersive.
I'm no expert, sorry for nitpicking. I just like what you wrote enough to pick over it.
No, no, I appreciate that, and think you're absolutely right. I always want to avoid heavy exposition, but never know how to allude properly.
I hope you get to make it.
And I find more diverse films are much more interesting, when they're done right. It leads to new character options, which is why certain films fail when they rely on tropes and stereotypes and expect themselves to be revolutionary.
Haven't seen Bad Lieutenant yet, let me look for a link.
Thanks user. I get giddy when I think about it. I seriously think about it everyday as far as how the plot will pan out and who I'd cast and shit like that.
But as of now I'm just working on things that I can realistically film in my hometown and maybe one day I will get to write and direct that big budget action flick.
there's two versions. I imagine user means the herzog version though.
How many screenplays did you write so far this year, guys?
I wrote two screenplays. One is 145 pages. The other is around 95. I started a third one but I can't find inspiration. I'd like to finish it by the end of september, I'll be 20 then.
There's no hard and fast rule. Avoid anything that feel like something someone would not say unless a writer made them say it.
And keep em guessing though. Better to be mysterious than it is to be heavy handed.
Nah I mean the one in the 90s
If I posted the first couple pages the fifth season of my high school TV show would it attract feedback?
Why would he be talking about the Nic Cage one?
That's the one I was planning to watch. Have you seen Ms. 45?
just post it nigga goddamn
Never heard of it, but from what I've googled, it sounds interesting.
It's wild as fuck, not sure if I can say it was good though.
Wait a fucking second
Why the 5th season?
You've made a 4 season high school TV show?
Not bad, though I can't judge the story or your characters much from the first few pages. Some action is a little choppy (i.e. they are this, they do this, they're going here in the first paragraph) but that's really to be expected in the first draft. Good work!
First episode of the fifth season, cold open is a flashforward to graduation day.
It's a high school TV show, comprising of four years taking place from 2009 to 2013. Eight seasons have been fleshed out and outlined, and about 20 episode are fully written.
1/2
Each season focuses on a different one of the eight central characters. The cynosure of season 5 is Elizabeth, and takes place during the summer of 2011. There is an additional rotating supporting cast, which consists of 26 others main characters due to receive star billing.
2/2. Feedback appreciated.
Give me the first episode.
Holy molly, slow down with the use of 'and'. You use 5 'ands' over 2 sentences in the first para.
Time and time again we are told that screenplays must be prefer as stand out to get picked up bit there is a lot of shit downright unoriginal shit out there and original exciting movies are very rare. Even worse, remakes are sky high these days.
Just write the regular dialogue with an indication in the action that it's a phone call. You can choose later if you stay with the character that you're with, if you hear the other guy through the phone, or if you cut to the other guy. Never mind this while writing the screenplay, figure it out when you're storyboarding the scene.
Pilot is the only thing I won't post.
Well you got my attention, I live a block away from Elizabeth Lake and share a name with one of your characters.
Coincidences aside, without the context surrounding the characters into the fifth season, the cold open would really catch my attention here. But it's not something I would change the channel from, either.
The writing is pretty decent, the characters seem developed, and if you're into this far you're probably pretty motivated. I hope you get somewhere with this.
i vote on calling all future generals swg
because it sounds like swig
trying to get into movies is so frustrating... even writing a screenplay is. You can't just start writing like it's a novel, or you might end up with something that's unshootable, or would cost gorillions to do right.
Sorry, *wouldn't.
but why
I am no indsutry expert but what I get is that you write some amazing script and they go oh shit this guy is great. We're not going to make this movie but fuck man he's awesome then you get representation and you write more budget friendly stuff. Then you get the money
>because it sounds like swig
Yeah, that's why.
why do you need Screenwriting Software? cant you just do everything in notepad?
Thanks for the feedback. The character is actually named after the lake.
Because I've been working on it for six years, and I'm so close to getting it made that getting it stolen now would be devastating. Not that I don't trust the television and film board on an anime image website.
You get screenwriting software because it's the only way to make printable copies of your screenplay (in the correct format, too) without any trouble.
Starting on paper is smart, though, and I do think more people should consider it.
writing on paper is such a bitch.
who is this for pre-teen girls???
who would watch this for 8 seasons??
what is the audience for this show you have in mind?
there's nothing of subsistence i got from reading those 2 pages but i guess since its only a piece of episode 5 u get a break but
it felt like one of those commercials were at the end of the touching scene and expensive music they try to sell you condoms or a credit card
Eh. I mean, I'm not saying it's not. But I always find that I write better and more confidently when it's on paper than on a computer.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Believe it or not, the audience is everyone. It would make sense if I revealed the show's gimmick, but I'm not going to.
i ment notepad ++ geez grandpa you must be really OLD if when u think of notepads u think of paper..
there's no way u can sell that show for 8 seasons without some god tier shit but go ahead and prove me wrong
they shot the always sunny pilot with 200 dollars
also theres no way this show is for everyone
>adrian ukpanah
>ramirez
>chulwoo yang
all those colorful background characters
>main characters are still white
nice reverse racism wont fly in 2016 goy, telling your local rabbi say gudbye 2 ur forskin kiddo
ur fukin done
Have any of you guys pitched your scripts to studios? How do you do it?
You can't. Closest you can get is The Blacklist.
Pitch fest?
Are you asking what The Blacklist is?
No I am familiar with the Blacklist but I believe that have pitch fests where you can pitch your ideas to other people.
main character is an asian from montreal :^)
If you want to CUT back and forth between characters write: "CUT BACK AND FORTH AS NEEDED" as part of action.
If you want to only show 1 character, then use (V.O.). People often get this wrong and use (O.S.), a character is only off screen when he/she is in the same location but cannot be seen. Voice over is used when the character is not at the location and only their voice is heard.
You can even mix the 2 techniques to emphasize the reaction of one character.
For example:
INT. SLUG LINE
CUT BETWEEN HARRY AND BOBBY
HARRY
blahblahblah
BOBBY
blahblah blah
HARRY
blalbahblabh
BOBBY (V.O.)
blahblah
>we open on...
Into the trash it goes.
They as in The Blacklist? They have pitch fests? All I know is that you can submit your script to their website, but you need to pay.
There's no gravity and a gun?
I liked it, the bag swing to knock the gun out of his hand felt a bit stupid, I think they should carry on smashing helmets with hammers.
...
They do have pitch fests, I saw one advertised on their site recently. There was also a table reads thing, where full scripts, if they were highly-rated, could be submitted and read by a few industry people, including actors. Don't know if any sales ever come out of them, though.
Reminds me I have to get back to writing one of these days. Fuck you Sup Forums.
Shit, where do they have their pitch fests? LA?
Don't quote me on this, but I vaguely remember the last one being in Texas. Might have been the table reads thing, too.
Once you have material on their website, you can opt it in for consideration for all sorts of events and contests/partnerships. It's a pretty good service.
Yeah, I plan on submitting as soon as I get my scripts (that I haven't started writing) done. The Blacklist is my only hope of getting into this fucked up Jew industry.
Ssssh. The jews are listening.
Contests are also good, especially for getting an agent/manager. I would recommend researching a few and submitting.
If you write drama/serious oscar bait, winning the Nicholl Fellowship is basically career guaranteed.
I write sci-fi and shit. My black ass would never get nominated for an oscar anyway.
Sci-fi is really a hard sell for first time writers, due to special effects budgets. So best of luck to you there.
#OscarsSoWhite works in your favor, they're under a lot of pressure now to nominate black and other asses.
How do I finance my first feature? I'm too lazy and easily distracted to crowdfund, and my movie isn't interesting enough for crowdfunding anyway. I was planning to do a Shakespeare mash-up, Hamlet meets Macbeth. I've become more interested in just doing Hamlet, but I think taking out the Macbeth bits would make it less interesting of an adaptation.
>just got a promotion from receptionist at a tv production company to PA in the equipment department
how are you guys doing?
Get a job and save?
If you're too lazy for that, take out a student loan on some film making "classes", and re-purpose the majority of the money to production, maybe taking one class at the local college so that you can use their equipment/people. Ultimately, if you're shit, you doom yourself to a life of debt. But that's your gamble if you don't use your own money.
>#OscarsSoWhite works in your favor, they're under a lot of pressure now to nominate black and other asses.
Sci-fi doesn't get really get nominated for Oscars, anyway. I don't care.
>due to special effects budgets
I didn't even consider that. Do they have contests for animation though? I'm not an animator myself, but I want my other script to be traditionally animated.
I'm happy for you and all, but couldn't you have gone straight to PA? I always see PA positions advertised as entry-level on entertainment career boards.
Also, made any worthwhile connections yet?
>too lazy for that
It's not a matter of being lazy, there's little to no jobs in my area and the few that are available I don't have the experience for.
>take out a student loan on some film making "classes", and re-purpose the majority of the money to production
That sounds like something I'd get arrested for.
What kind of experience do you need to be PA?
I can only screenwrite.
I'm somewhat competent at it.
I've never seen a specifically animation themed contest. It's mostly just in the family/kid genre contests that scripts intended for animation do well. I would just submit it to regular sci-fi comps. Screencraft has one.
Nickeledeon had an animation based contest.
You wouldn't get arrested for the loan thing, tons of people don't spend the money the way they should. Lots of student loans cover "living expenses", which means anything.The worst that can happen is you're unable to pay it back and default, ruining your credit for life.
Family friend did this exact thing. As long as you're taking a class or two, and intend to pay it back, you're fine. You will never go to jail.
>Nickeledeon
and that's why I never saw it.
Oh, no, the movie I want to be animated is fantasy.
I don't want a TV show.
could've and should've had I tried hard enough, but the receptionist position was the first job I got out of college so I jumped instead of waiting
I figure it's easy to move around once I'm in
I'm not super sure on connections yet, but I am friends with a bunch of people in the production departments for our shows and a coworker/good friend just left to go work on VICE so I've got that in my pocket
I'm feeling pretty good
for the equipment PA, I managed to squeak by with my college theater and college sports experience
the head told me I'd have to learn a bunch right at the start, because we're about to hit crunch on a bunch of shows so really I don't know much
sorry I can't help better
But I'm not taking a class.
>ruining your credit for life.
Dude, I've never even had a bank account.
Is it difficult to get an Office PA positon for TV? I know for tv writers the career ladder goes office pa -> writer's pa -> writers' assistant or showrunner's assistant -> staff writer. I'd really like to get an office pa job but don't know if it's impossible without connections.