Learning how to write a script.

[ScriptedEyes]

Well people. I am in need of some serious help. I am writing a script based on a story I wrote a while back. Well the script has potential. I am talking big potiental. The problem you ask....I can't write a script. Does anyone on here know of some links that can teach me on how to write a script. I have the basic outline for the film I just need to write this out.

[George Willson]

Where are you running into problems in the writing process? My number one recomendation is a book called The Screenwriter's Bible. I recommend it to pretty much everyone who wants to write because it is very comprehensive. I've been known to provide a fair amount of advice as well on how to write, but first, I would need to know where the problem is coming in.

[ScriptedEyes]

The problem is learning to write a script all the way around. lol

[George Willson]

Well, that's a rather big topic. If you're working to rework the story you wrote into a screenplay, the first thing I would suggest is to find the 6 major points of the story and identify those major turning points in your existing story as plot points to make a skeletal framework to write off of. On another board, I gave a rather detailed explanation of plot points and it went like this:

Quoting myself: My overview of the 3 Act system based on info from the Screenwriter's Bible as I remember it (it isn't in front of me). The lengths I have laid out here are not set in stone by any stretch of the imagination and can be as long or as short as they need to be. Nor are these the ONLY plot points or turning points in every story. Some may have more, but these typiclaly make up the basic story.

Act One consists of the exposition part of the story and contains two major plot points. It should contain most, if not all, of the characters in the story and make it so the world is setup and you can concentrate of filling out the plot from here on. In a 90 page script, this portion takes about 20 pages. When you watch movies, pay attention. The act usually ends about 20 minutes in regardless of length of the finished picture.

When the story begins, life is in balance and everything is good..almost. Some part of the character is incomplete or flawed, but the main character doesn't usually know this. As they see their life, it is what it is and will stay that way.

Point 1 - Catalyst - this is something that occurs during the first act that sends the character to the next point. It is not life changing, and the main character can turn back to their normal life right now.

Point 2 - The Big Event - This is the end of act one. This event forever changes the main character and he cannot ever go back to what there was before. It launches the character into the heart of the story where all the good stuff happens. If you were to lay out your character and think, "what is the worst thing that can happen", the answer is usually a big event. Sometimes, the catalyst and the big event are the same thing.

Act Two - the story takes a turn and your maiun character has something to do. Some kind of goal to accomplish. It could be anything and is totally based on the type of story you have. At this point, though, the ultimate goal is rarely know. It might be, but it often isn't. In a 90 page script, this makes up about 50 pages with the pinch somewhere around the 25th page, or about page 45.

Point 3 - The Pinch - Something happens to turn the story closer to the climax, the ultimate goal. Often, the main character discovers something important that leads them further to where they need to go. In a two act play or musical, this is where the intermission goes. Sometimes, this is the lowest point of the stary where the character must start climbing out of the pit.

Point 4 - Crisis - It's decision time. The main character is forced to decide something critical to the success or failure of the story. Sometimes, there isn't a decision and this point flows on past dragging the character with it. Usually, there is. Do you go left or right? Left, the safe path will take you home and nothing happens and we have a boring story. Right is more dangerous, it's more exciting, and you will grow from it, but there might be consequences. This decision drives us into the third act and closes the second.

Act Three - this is where it all comes down to the end. The main character has changed or is changing to make the best of whatever he has been thrust into. This is the final 20 pages of that 90 page script.

Point 5 - Climax - This is where we've been aiming for. This is the goal. This is where the two powers meet and clash and duel until only one is left standing, hopefully our hero. The main character is forced to us everything he has learned on this journey to come out on top, but it won't and shouldn't be easy for him.

Point 6 - The Realization - After all is said and done, we are left with one burning question: what was the point? What did the character learn from this journey. What did we get out of all this. This is the big payoff. This is what the audience came for. Did the boy get his girl? Of course. Did the stable boy become a knight and vanquish the giant, proving his strength to become king? Of course he did. Whatever you were trying to say, this is where you say it. Wizard of Oz has the most blatent of Resolutions when they ask Dorothy, "What did you learn, Dorothy?" I always joke in Star Trek The Next Generation, it's the part where they said, "You see, Wesley..."

There it is. A movie in a nutshell. Start with these 6 points, and the movie will start to write itself...plotwise.

Another good thing to begin with in any story in a character flaw that that character must overcome in order to beat whoever the antagonist is. The script should also have a theme: something it is trying to say. It doesn't have to be Aesop's fables, but it should have some kind of message.

Does that answer anything, or am I way off? I just picked an aspect of writing that is often confusing and went with it. If there is something else that is more specific to what you're looking for, feel free to ask.

[ScriptedEyes]

Awesome dude. Thanks George that helped out alot. I copied and pasted what you said that I can use that.

[George Willson]

Cool. If you run into any other roadblocks or have any questions, I check the board fairly often.

[jstxanothrxstory]

George, that was pretty awesome. Make sure you post that on the CTF Films Forums! I created a board and category for writing!

[Ron Aberdeen]

I started writing screenplays last March after reading "The Hollywood Standard" by Christopher Riley.

I joined Kevin Spacey's site TriggerStreet and received reviews on my scripts then posted them on InkTip.com.

Results have been amazing with several directors and producers downloading the loglines, synopsises and scripts.

This resulted in two commissions, both to write a Horror, based on the treatment of the producers.

Both films go into production this year.

I'm over sixty and have never enjoyed work so much in my life.

So, where do you start.

First break you story into three sections (called Acts 1, 2 & 3). Act 1 should be about 10 to 20 pages. Act 2 about 65 to 80 pages and Act 3 10 to 20.

It should not be less than 90 pages and not more than 120.

A good script has to be presented in the industry format - so that's where the reading comes in.

No matter how good it is if it's not in the right format it will NOT get read.

Now profile your characters. Give them descriptions,history, a way of speaking etc. so they are recognisable.

All the time think visual. A script must show not tell the story.

Read and read again make sure there are no mistakes such as typos, spelling and most importantly continuity.

Good Luck

[bcarnage]

There are so many rules, what's important to one reader may not be important to another. To not confuse a shooting script with a draft. I recommend, as I did recently, take a class at your local community college to learn the basics. I did this after writing and working on my first film. If I had known what I was doing the first time, it would have been a hell of a lot easier. There is helpful software out there too from $35 (Screenstyle) to $175 (Final Draft) and of cours others. I've used both of these. Good luck, everyone here is pretty much right on, there are a lot of answers, to this question.

[George Willson]

Before you concern yourself with format, though, you've got to have a good story. You can have the best formatted script in the world, but if it sucks, no one will want it.

[Ron Aberdeen]

How right you are George.

I read five to six scripts a week as a member of TriggerStreet and Zoetrope. Many scripts are correctly formatted, even have good dialogue and interestedly developed characters but lack originality and a GOOD STORY.

I suggest that anybody interested in script writing as a profession read 'Story' by Robert McKee.

Having said that I see many scripts with an excellent story but incorrectly presented.

So both parts are needed for success.

A professional reader will bin a script without reading if it's not correctly presented.

So in a way correct formatting is the KEY to getting your script read.

Before that stage you do need a good logline and synopsis to get your script in front of a reader. And have your 15 second pitch prepared just in case you get a phone call.

Preparation is the start of any journey.

[nomicon]

A horror movie has certain rules. If you break too many the audience will be disappointed.

This is a very short, no fluff, blueprint of how to write a horror script.

1. The Hook. Start with a bang. Step right into a suspense scene. ("Scream" opens with a terrifying sequence with Drew Barrymore on the phone with a killer)

2. The Flaw. Introduce your hero. Give him a flaw. Before you can put your hero in jeopardy we must care for him. We must want our hero to succeed. So make him human. (In "Signs" Mel Gibson plays a priest who has lost his faith after his wife died)

3. The Fear. A variant of The Flaw. The hero has a fear. Maybe a fear of heights, or claustrophobia. (In "Jaws" Roy Scheider has a fear of water. At the end he has to conquer his fear by going out onto the ocean to kill the shark)

4. No Escape. Have your hero at an isolated location where he can't escape the horror. (Like the hotel in "The Shining")

5. Foreplay. Tease the audience. Make them jump at scenes that appear scary -- but turn out to be completely normal. (Like the cat jumping out of the closet) Give them some more foreplay before bringing in the real monster.

6. Evil Attacks. A couple of times during the middle of the script show how evil the monster can be -- as it attacks its victims.

7. Investigation. The hero investigates, and finds out the truth behind the horror.

8. Showdown. The final confrontation. The hero has to face both his fear and the monster. The hero uses his brain, rather than muscles, to outsmart the monster. (At the end of "The Village" the blind girl tricks the monster to fall into the hole in the ground)

9. Aftermath. Everything's back to the way it was from the beginning -- but the hero has changed for the better or for the worse. (At the end of "Signs" Mel Gibson puts on his clerical collar again -- he got his faith back)

10. Evil Lurks. We see evidence that the monster may return somewhere..somehow..in the future..(Almost all "Friday The 13'th"-movies end with Jason showing signs of returning for another sequel)

So now you can start writing your horror screenplay. Good luck!

(I found this on Ezine@articles, written by Henrik Holmberg)

[lancer]

1. The Hook. Start with a bang. Step right into a suspense scene. ("Scream" opens with a terrifying sequence with Drew Barrymore on the phone with a killer)

Even though the Big Bang can start off good, it could go at the wrong direction. Good films like Psycho and Silence of the Lambs did not have to explode in your face in the opening scenes.

Usually there are 3 typical opening scenes for a horror film.

Big Bang:

The idea is to explode something at the audience grabbing their attention from the start. Films like Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream used this technique. Even though it could be viewed as a “plot introduction” to the story, but its not because the Big Bang omits the story information. This isn’t really a common method because the movie is likely to lose steam before the end of the story. But on the other hand a handful of good films were able to work out the Big Bang.

The Introduction:

The most common method with most horror movies, the idea is to introduce the character, characters and/or story plot in the opening scene. This is the most common because it’s easy to work with. This could range from good guys, bad guys or just the story itself. Typically speaking if you pick up any horror story 95% (Yea, I made that number up) your going to see an introduction to the story. If your having a hard time finding these films then check out the following: Silence of the Lambs, Halloween, Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Night of the Living Dead, and almost any Italian giallo thriller you run into.

The Illusion

This is not a common method and can be seen as an introduction, too. The Illusion simply gives the audience a false idea as what the story is or what the characters really are. Usually this uncommon method is used in many drama films that give the audience a story without a real plot till the end. Sometime The Illusion can be viewed as a story within another story. As a horror film it’s really hard to work in because the suspense of the film is really at the end and you’re really building up for the twist (or plot shift). Not impossible to do as such films like From Dusk to Dawn and Psycho were able to pull it off successfully.

2. The Flaw. Introduce your hero. Give him a flaw. Before you can put your hero in jeopardy we must care for him. We must want our hero to succeed. So make him human. (In "Signs" Mel Gibson plays a priest who has lost his faith after his wife died)

Flaws are good, true.

Many mistakes are made when the filmmaker/writer makes a Complex Character flaw for their character that can become so over dramatic and unreal that nobody can humanly relate. Even though a complex character flaw can be good to watch as well as fun to make, it rarely works. Mel Gibson character in "Signs" is a good example of a complex character flaw. (Even though this formula worked well with the movie as a Popcorn Muncher the character does not seem real enough to give the film a longer lasting life.)

Simple character flaws are always good!

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the original Halloween has a simple character flaws (see example). So she ends up watching all the kids (as her friends party around) to the point that puts her at risk. A very simple character flaw can make the character human because many viewers can relate. And you need the viewers to relate with the character for the film to become suspenseful.

Usually when making a character you should only come up with a handful of character flaws. Five the most and these character flaws should be key words. You don’t need to make a sentence or a paragraph about your characters personal flaws. Also a character flaw doesn’t mean it has to be bad or self-destructive, either. It is something that the character is going to do because that is part of their personality or nature.

Example of a good character flaw:

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis):
Student
Follower
Risk Taker
Responsible
Reliable

(And this formula has been rehashed in many Slasher films.)

3. The Fear. A variant of The Flaw. The hero has a fear. Maybe a fear of heights, or claustrophobia. (In "Jaws" Roy Scheider has a fear of water. At the end he has to conquer his fear by going out onto the ocean to kill the shark)

No!

This only works if the writer is building the story based on the characters own personal fears. Which is part of the character flaw.

Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) of Body Double is a struggling actor who keeps losing jobs because of his claustrophobia. In this story, director Brian DePalma pays homage to the Alfred Hitchc*ck movies Vertigo and Rear Window, by exploiting the characters personal fear to pull the suspense in the film.

This isn’t really a bad method and it can be fun for the writer. Its not required to make a good script, this is just part of the story.

4. No Escape. Have your hero at an isolated location where he can't escape the horror. (Like the hotel in "The Shining")

(The combined use of “The Fear” and “No Escape” can be overwhelming and annoying.)

This is part of the story. And up to the writer. Even if your character can escape and doesn’t could make a good story.

5. Foreplay. Tease the audience. Make them jump at scenes that appear scary -- but turn out to be completely normal. (Like the cat jumping out of the closet) Give them some more foreplay before bringing in the real monster.

The elements of a crappy movie!

This cheap thrill has been play out so much that the attempt is funny and pulls the audience away on what can be suspenseful in the future part of the story.

The only good story that comes in mind that used “Foreplay” successfully to its own advantage is April Fools Day. On the other hand April Fools Day was one of the best-underrated Slasher films in the later 80’s.

6. Evil Attacks. A couple of times during the middle of the script show how evil the monster can be -- as it attacks its victims.

Not often true.

This is up to the writer of the story. Also, you don’t really need “the Monster” attacking its victims in the middle of the script to make it worthwhile. Films like Seven, The Ring and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) doesn’t have its killers attacking random victims in the middle of the story.

7. Investigation. The hero investigates, and finds out the truth behind the horror.

Unless your making a Scooby-Doo like film, investigation is not necessary. This all depends on the writer and if they think their character would investigate.

Usually, the character would investigate if they know something is out of order. Oddly, though many common horror films miss the opportunity to give the character life to investigate something that is not in order to keep the movie going. (How long do you think a typical Friday the Thirteenth movie would be if the friends think so-and-so is missing and we must investigate and/or call the police?)

So typically the investigation would be part of the showdown, or a cracker trail to a showdown.

8. Showdown. The final confrontation. The hero has to face both his fear and the monster. The hero uses his brain, rather than muscles, to outsmart the monster. (At the end of "The Village" the blind girl tricks the monster to fall into the hole in the ground)

Showdown, sometimes the hero facing the monster could be good enough.

Even though some films mix both personal fear battles and fighting the monster (Giving the monster the super advantage!) in stories like Village and Body Double, isn’t always necessary. But can be fun!

Some movies just make it simple and pit the character against the beast. Like Halloween and Friday the Thirteenth.

9. Aftermath. Everything's back to the way it was from the beginning -- but the hero has changed for the better or for the worse. (At the end of "Signs" Mel Gibson puts on his clerical collar again -- he got his faith back)

This is up to the writer and not really necessary. Unless you think you need to add some closure with the character flaw (or complex character flaw).

10. Evil Lurks. We see evidence that the monster may return somewhere..somehow..in the future..(Almost all "Friday The 13'th"-movies end with Jason showing signs of returning for another sequel)

Evil Lurks (or the Monster Never dies) has been played out way-way too much! This is really up to the writer and I would like to caution those that are thinking of such endings. Don’t unless you really think it works with your story and you really, really think such an ending would not insult the audience.

There are a few good “Evil Lurk” endings as well as countless of bad one’s.

The best “Evil Lurks” ending in movies is The Beast, Black Christmas, Silent Rage, Evil Dead, Hellraiser, and Silence of the Lambs. (These endings are very true to the story that keeps you thinking afterwards. Not really hooking you in for a part 2 but giving a viewer an after thought. ‘What would happen next?’)

(Should I even talk about the bad ones?)

Even though Halloween kind of started the chain of “Evil Lurks” ending, its own ending isn’t really good. (I wont even start ranting about part 2 and part 4, etc…)

The real success of Friday the Thirteenth is not its “Evil Lurks” ending that kept people coming to see the next movie, its was successful because the movie did meet the requirements for the viewer as well as the producers willing to keep the movie project going. Its requirements for the viewer are teens getting sliced and diced and the Producers requirement is easy profit.

[scarywoman]

There's a pretty good article here:

"10 Steps To Writing A Horror Screenplay"

proofpositive.com/articles/505/1/10-Steps-To-Writing-A-Horror-Screenplay

You can also do a google search with the phrase "screenwriting do's and don'ts" or "screenwriting rules". That should bring up several helpful articles.

A few simple things to remember:

Don't use too many "beats".

Don't use too many parentheticals.

Don't use "we see" or "we hear".

Use passive verbs (is sitting, is walking, is driving", etc) VERY sparingly. Instead use "sits", "walks", drives".

Use present tense.

Hook your reader ASAP. Forget the ten page rule. Hook them from page one, if at all possible.

Don't write anything that can't be filmed. You can film a character's REACTION to a scent (for example), but you can't film the stinky or inviting aroma. You can note the presence of snow, jackets, shivering, but simply saying "cold" isn't sufficient. Blah blah blah...

"Show don't tell" - the golden rule of screenwriting. Don't TELL us in narrative that John is a rich, self centered jerk; SHOW US as the story progresses.

There must be conflict.

The reader MUST care about your characters. Make the reader like them, then place them in perilous situations.

Your characters must have individual personalities. Giving them habits, quirks, a certain manner of speaking or accent can help with character development.

BE BRIEF. A screenplay is not a novel and it is written NOTHING like a novel. Make location and character descriptions brief and to the point. Take out ANY AND ALL unnecessary words. But please DO note more than an age. We need to SEE the characters, to help us get to know them.

Don't give a play-by-play of everything that happens. We don't need to see the character get out of his car, walk up the steps, take out his key, put it in the lock and go inside. We could just as easily see him turn off his car, and then go right to the next slugline "INT. APARTMENT" or whatever.

There are a thousand other things, and I could sit here all day, but I think those are some pretty good tips to start.

This is a b*tch of a job, the competition is fierce and the business is full of flakes and fakes. Personally, I think we're all a little nuts. Good luck to you anyway

[rasbenek]

It was interesting to note in LANCER's response to the breakdown of components universally accepted in the horror genre that not once did he use arguably the best example of a horror script/film to illustrate his points - ALIEN.

For new, or inexperienced writers, in fact anyone wanting to write solid, suspenseful horror their first port of call should be Dan O'Bannon's masterful screenplay. It is as close to a perfect horror script as you will get. A little imagination is all it takes to transplant the action from space to just about any environment you care to think of. Every beat is present. The nuances in his story craft - superb.

There has been a plethora of advice about what books to read, what components to include, and I do not intend to add to that. suffice to say the advice presented has been, on the whole, pretty good. But the best thing you can do is READ - screenplay after screenplay - and not on Zoetrope or Triggerstreet where the efforts range from mind-bogglingly inept to potentially fantastic - but scripts by writers whose films have made it to the silver screen.

Learn by analysis - detach yourself from enjoyment. Replicate the time for turning points, for character intros, the beats for suspense, and the art of successful resolution. There are no rules to writing - only guidelines, and accepted practice. Learn from those who have succeeded, and take pertinent advice presented on forums like this as and when you choose.

Opinion is free and gladly put about - but that it is all it is, opinion. Though opinion is given in good will, it can lead you down a dark, and slippery track no matter how well it is intentioned.

William Goldman put it succinctly enough - "In Hollywood, no one knows anything". And to be fair - you'd be best advised not to pay any attention to this post either - hell, what do I know! ;D