Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 28, 2007 0:41:54 GMT -5
Lately I have been thinking of writing a screenplay. It actually came to me while I was watching the newest box office hit: 300. I was very impressed with the story and the fight choreography, but I was a bit disappointed with all the nudity that was shown. It seemed to me that the director tried to get a naked women into every scene possible. This got me thinking about all the perfectly good movies that have been ruined by shameless nudity or excessive vulgar language. My plan is to write a screenplay with all the intensity and adventure that was apparent in 300, but without the shameless nudity. So my question to everyone is have you ever written a screenplay or do you have some sort of experience/advice you can give me? Also, suggestions to any good stories or themes are welcomed. My hope in the long run is that if I am any good at this, I will be able to make a great movie about one of SRL's books. But I'll have to take that up with him when I become famous  |
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Post by CynanMachae on Mar 28, 2007 7:56:04 GMT -5
Lately I have been thinking of writing a screenplay. It actually came to me while I was watching the newest box office hit: 300. I was very impressed with the story and the fight choreography, but I was a bit disappointed with all the nudity that was shown. It seemed to me that the director tried to get a naked women into every scene possible. This got me thinking about all the perfectly good movies that have been ruined by shameless nudity or excessive vulgar language. My plan is to write a screenplay with all the intensity and adventure that was apparent in 300, but without the shameless nudity. So my question to everyone is have you ever written a screenplay or do you have some sort of experience/advice you can give me? Also, suggestions to any good stories or themes are welcomed. My hope in the long run is that if I am any good at this, I will be able to make a great movie about one of SRL's books. But I'll have to take that up with him when I become famous One of my best friends is a film/technology major at college. He writes screenplays for fun. He got me hooked, and now I'm writing a screenplay about a young college student who has reoccuring nightmares and becomes addicted to medicinal drugs when he finds that he can't control or influence people or even objects. In a brief sentence - because that's all I have right now - I would say to definetely do your research so you can write it properly. If you are writing it anywhere near profeesionally, it has to be written in an EXACT form, otherwise important people won't read it at all. Thanks for starting this thread though... I'll look up some stuff and post again. |
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Post by CynanMachae on Mar 28, 2007 10:28:21 GMT -5
Right off the top of my head and quickly, here are some DOs and DON'Ts in writing screenplays.
DO Write every word in Courier New font, point 10 or 12.
DO Include a title page, that consists of ONLY your name of the movie - which is subject to change - your name, and your personal information (name, address, phone, e-mail, etc.)
DO Center your alignment.
DON'T Forget about the "dos"
DON'T Write any "We sees". For ex., "We see Bob get out of his car." Absolutely NO "we sees".
DON'T Write in any sex scenes. If you want one in the movie, the director will add it, but it shouldn't be in the screenplay.
DON'T Write a novel. Writing a screenplay is about writing dialogue, not long paragraphs.
I will talk with my friend to see if he recommends some books or websites. I'm sure there are some.
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Post by Gwalchmai on Mar 28, 2007 17:08:16 GMT -5
Well to be fair about 300, I thought they had cut out quite a bit of the nudity that was originally in it. In its original presentation as a graphic novel Frank Miller does have a lot of nudity... in fact, almost all of his stuff does which I hardly hold against him. Things like movies or comics or books are all various forms of art that allow us to increase range of perception and understanding. So as an artist myself I have no probem seeing it on the screen as long as i take t for what it is... an artistic meassage. I mean the human form is an amazing thing that I don't think real really take enough pride from. So on occassion we do need someone to come out and show it to us lest we forget.
Plus I'm sure I lot of it has to do with the success of Sin City so directors are trying to ride the wave and reproducing panel for panel Frank Miller's work which I don't really agree with personally but thats how it is.
Anyway, might I suggest to create some more short film scripts first to get the ball rolling and see what works and what doesn't. Find someone with a camera too so you can understand what effects you can get in where and how to organize it. And I now this may sound silly but check out the comic genre. They really are their own movies but they dont move. Then you can see how people can work in serials or long term movies or even a single episode, its really very cool.
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Post by CynanMachae on Mar 28, 2007 19:58:18 GMT -5
Anyway, might I suggest to create some more short film scripts first to get the ball rolling and see what works and what doesn't. Find someone with a camera too so you can understand what effects you can get in where and how to organize it. And I now this may sound silly but check out the comic genre. They really are their own movies but they dont move. Then you can see how people can work in serials or long term movies or even a single episode, its really very cool. These are good suggestions. Short films or just random scenes can really help. I'm more of an actor than screenplay writer, so when I'm the only one in the house I'll write out a scene and film myself with the digital camera. (No, I don't talk to myself when I'm alone, I just act  ) Also, if I'm not mistaken as far as graphic novels go, they do write those in a way like screenplays, and then the artists draw based on that. Sorry about taking up so much space on this thread, but I've been excited about this very subject for awhile now... |
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 29, 2007 0:04:21 GMT -5
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I wasn't aware that people would get so excited  WOOT! Anyhoo, I looked up some good screenplay writing websites: www.screenwriting.info/www.screenplay.comwww.screenplayhelp.comwww.screenwritinghelp.comwww.scriptologist.com - this site has great examples of screenplays that have been made into movies. These sort of give you an overview of what screen writing is all about. I would also like to invite anyone who wants to have their work reviewed to feel free to post excerpts of it here. And if you don't write, feel free to add comments or ideas for what storyline you think would be cool. P.S. You are not the only one who acts when they are alone...  |
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 29, 2007 0:31:31 GMT -5
Well to be fair about 300, I thought they had cut out quite a bit of the nudity that was originally in it. In its original presentation as a graphic novel Frank Miller does have a lot of nudity... in fact, almost all of his stuff does which I hardly hold against him. Things like movies or comics or books are all various forms of art that allow us to increase range of perception and understanding. So as an artist myself I have no probem seeing it on the screen as long as i take t for what it is... an artistic meassage. I mean the human form is an amazing thing that I don't think real really take enough pride from. So on occassion we do need someone to come out and show it to us lest we forget. I agree that some artful nudity can really be good for a movie, and the way it was used in 300 was helpful to the storyline. However in movies where it isn't necessary to the storyline it just adds an extra high rating to a movie that could do without it. It is also a moral question... should people really be getting naked in from of a camera just to satisfy public craving? I feel that it is sort of demeaning to get nude in front of billions of people. |
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Post by Gwalchmai on Mar 29, 2007 8:02:22 GMT -5
Well at the moment I'm working on a character whose from another country trying to make it in the US. His accent is... all over the place because I'm no good for just one place... plus theres an explaination later on that has yet to b filmed. Anyway, the first 5 episodes are being edited by my friend and hopefully it will debut in the next couple of days or so. I'll be sure to point it out when its up at the very least to get a couple of opinions. So I was pretty good at talking to myself... =P But its pretty funny I think.
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 29, 2007 23:04:36 GMT -5
Well at the moment I'm working on a character whose from another country trying to make it in the US. His accent is... all over the place because I'm no good for just one place... plus theres an explaination later on that has yet to b filmed. Anyway, the first 5 episodes are being edited by my friend and hopefully it will debut in the next couple of days or so. I'll be sure to point it out when its up at the very least to get a couple of opinions. So I was pretty good at talking to myself... =P But its pretty funny I think. Sounds Great! i'm looking forward to seeing it! Unfortunately I don't have the right resources to make any decent movies so I stick to theater, which means I can't have any cool special effects in the scripts. But perhaps I shall send my next project to the boys in hollywood and see what they think. |
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Post by Gwalchmai on Mar 30, 2007 14:23:34 GMT -5
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 30, 2007 18:59:27 GMT -5
HAHAHAHA! AWESOME!! Sweet accent man that was really good! Kinda reminded me of Borat but not as stupid. Kudos to you man! |
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Post by CynanMachae on Mar 31, 2007 13:49:55 GMT -5
Here is a portion of the screenplay I'm writing now, the one I mentioned earlier in this thread. SCENE TWO
INT. BEDROOM NIGHT
ARTHUR FERDUSON AWAKES SUDDENLY. He is lying in bed, tangled up in the sheets and sweating. The time is 11:14.
ARTHUR
Ah. . .
He falls asleep again.
HANNAH FERDUSON (V.O.)
Arthur! Arthur, wake up, bud!
ARTHUR WAKES UP as HANNAH FERDUSON enters. She is about forty years old, and has sandy hair going gray, and a few wrinkles. It is light in the room. The time is 7:23
ARTHUR (sleepily)
What?
HANNAH
If you don’t get out of bed now, you’ll be late for your eight o’clock class. It’s Thursday!
HANNAH opens a window. ARTHUR sits up dazedly in bed.
HANNAH leaves the room.
HANNAH (O.S.)
I’ve got breakfast downstairs. Hurry and get dressed!
ARTHUR looks at the clock. The time changes to 7:24 and there is a SUDDEN CAR CRASH. ARTHUR jolts as he remembers his dream.
Cut to ARTHUR in the BATHROOM. He flushes the toilet and puts the lid down. He brushes his teeth. As he turns to leave the bathroom, he notices the toilet lid up. He sets it down. He turns to exit again put sees the toilet lid up again. He shoves it down ROUGHLY. He turns to leave once more but sees the toilet lid up.
ARTHUR
--line omitted--
ARTHUR KICKS the toilet and throws the lid down violently.
ARTHUR
--line omitted--
ARHTUR EXITS the bathroom.
DOWNSTAIRS, ARTHUR walks into the LIVING ROOM. It is small but well-furnished. The KITCHEN is connected by an archway near the stairs. HANNAH FERDUSON and BRYN FERDUSON are in the kitchen.
HANNAH
Is that you Arthur? About time. Want some pancakes?
ARTHUR ignores her and glances around the room. He looks at a small end table that has some picture frames on it. Something catches his attention and he walks over to look at it. There are a couple pictures of his family from a few years ago, but in both pictures his fathers face has been TORN OUT. He picks one up and examines it.
ARTHUR (loudly, without looking up)
Mom?
HANNAH (O.S.)
What is it Arthur?
ARTHUR
What happened to these pictures?
HANNAH enters the living room and walks over to join ARTHUR
HANNAH
What about them?
ARTHUR (pointing)
Dad. . .
HANNAH (regretfully)
Yeah, I know.
ARTHUR
What?
HANNAH
Your father. He hated cameras. Never smiled for one. I bet we could go through every one of our photo albums and not find a single picture of him smiling.
HANNAH walks away like nothing is wrong. ARTHUR watches her go and then look down at the picture again.
ARTHUR
. . . the heck?
He tries to shake it off.
END SCENE TWO
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Mar 31, 2007 23:42:26 GMT -5
ooooohhhhh sinister.
Sounds really cool and is in the right format and evrything. Just out of curiosity is that all you have so far or are you almost done writing? I'm just finishing my first act and I'll put up a bit of it when I have formatted it properly. In the mean time great jobon all you guys have done. It is really cool stuff.
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Post by CynanMachae on Apr 2, 2007 12:43:55 GMT -5
Yeh, unfortunately, working 10-12 hours a day limits how much time I spend writing. And when I do get the time I prefer to work on my novel, because it's more important right now. That's pretty much all I have so far. |
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Delvyr
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Post by Delvyr on Apr 2, 2007 16:31:10 GMT -5
school, homework and rugby limits my writing time...... but I guess such is life.
I was unaware that you were writing a novel cynan! maybe you could give us some ideas to how writing a novel and writing a screenplay are different and how they are the same... I have been thinking about writing for a long time.. and I started a screenplay as opposed to a novel because I figured it would be easier............ I have now come to the conclusion that if writing a good novel is any harder than writing a good screenplay, then I have acquired a new deepened respect for novelists.....
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