How to write exposition in a screenplay
What makes good screenplay exposition? I compare some exposition in the Raiders of the Lost Ark screenplay with a user-submitted script.
script format
How to write a sympathetic protagonist
Regarding all your exposition, see if you can let your exposition “walk and chew gum at the same time,” so to speak. That is, if a scene is only designed to provide exposition on X, see if you can make the scene do double duty, or triple duty, and provide exposition on Y and Z as well.
5 Quick Ways to Get a Script Reader to Love Your Script
As Sun Tzu once said, “There are good screenwriters, and there are bad screenwriters.” And while much of the difference between the two can only be measured with abstract criteria (such as “talent,” and “chutzpah,” and “originality,”) the fact is, there are several key criteria good screenwriters do with their screenplays that are not only concrete, measurable, and observable, but also, in … Read more
How to tell you’re reading a terrible screenplay
Sometimes, we script readers get lucky. That is, when we dig into a screenplay to give script notes or provide script coverage, sometimes we know right away that the script we’re reading is gonna be a painful read.
Most times, that takes us a few pages. But sometimes, right off the bat, we get some really great clues that let us know “Hey, this screenwriter isn’t professional.”
Free Script Feedback: When CUT TO isn’t needed in action text
The script has texture and realism. Now it just needs presentability. There’s a good conflict being set up. I’m aboard. Honestly, I like the story so far. Now I want to trust the writer more though. The pages can’t be such a chore do digest. Fix the typos which means less typos, more professional presentation. Don’t give them an excuse to put it down.
Free Script Feedback: Don’t confuse (OS) with (VO)
OS is for OFF SCREEN. That’s what you have here. But even OS might be a bit confusing for us readers diving into your script and trying to orient ourselves. Strategically speaking, you may want to just write it all as one scene without starting on the panties/basement thing with the OS, just to get past readers.
Free Script Feedback: When a script’s opening epigraph goes bad…
Pare down where you can, fix all the punctuation/spelling/usage errors, and then really go back and make your action/descriptive text more elegant, and less amateur. (Stuff like camera directions, talking to the reader about how you’re going to show the passage of time, music, etc.)
Free Script Feedback: Use “SERIES OF SHOTS” to avoid long action text
By page 10, I’m not feeling what’s at stake yet. We’ve got an angry, corrupt lawman and some thugs, and a white newly-minted Mayor in church with his family, a little kid who accidentally sees the lawman’s corruption, and his dad who fled the scene.
Free Script Feedback: Have only one name for each character
If I’m a producer looking to churn out an AFM style straight-to-DVD picture, I love the talking because it’s cheap to do, but I’m not gonna be able to sell this finished film to anybody unless I can get some gunplay, fucking, fights, or explosions in there before page 10.
The Most Common Script Formatting Errors
Script formatting errors plague every writer at every level. So don’t worry about formatting too much. But if you really want it to give off that professional vibe, make sure your script formatting is as clean and polished as it can be. So before you send that script out, give it a quick look to … Read more
120 page maximum for screenplays — why it’s a good thing
“A screenplay’s page count should be no longer than 120 pages.” We’ve all heard it time and again about script page count, whether in film school, or just as an anecdotal whisper on the screenwriter wind. 120 pages? Maximum? Isn’t that just a bit arbitrary? Why not 121? Why not 119? After all, The Godfather, (a great … Read more