Starting out

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Starting out

Postby LosMaven » Fri Sep 10, 2004 5:33 pm

I've been doing the "writing ideas down in a book" thing for a little while hoping someday to do something with them. I've been seriously thinking about attempting a screenplay. I've never taken a class or done anything like it but I figure why not. Even if I just do it for myself.

I've purchased two books and have been reading screenplays online because apparently format is above content as far as getting a script read.

Where my confusion lies is that in the two books I'm reading and the screenplays I've read, I'm getting different information.

For example, I've read that you're not supposed write what you can't shoot on camera. In one case someone was describing a room full of people we were just meeting and wrote something like this:

This guy was someone who would kick your dog and sleep with your sister.

In the book I'm reading that is wrong. But I was reading another screenplay and someone wrote this:

In another age men who shook the world for their own purposes
were called conquerors. In our age, the men who shake the
planet for their own power and greed are called corrupters.
And of the world's corrupters Bill stands alone. For while he
corrupts the world, inside himself he is pure.

This was from Kill Bill. Now I know Tarantino wrote it and was going to direct it. He probably told Miramax that he had another movie and they let him go with it. But my question is, is that paragraph fundamentally correct? If your an amateur screenwriter, would a reader scoff at that?

I have a few other questions but I'll start with that one
Deb : What are you drawing?

Napoleon Dynamite : A liger.

Deb : What's a liger?

Napoleon Dynamite : It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.
LosMaven
 
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Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 5:19 pm

Re: Starting out

Postby BadAsh » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:21 am

I'll start by answering your question. A reader would toss your script in the circular file if they read that. If you are writing a spec, you must show that you can follow the rules before they will pay you to break them. You should not write description unless we can see it or hear it. As far as introducing a speaking character: first, type name in all caps the first time you describe them, only cap all the first time, thereafter only cap first letter of name(s). To go back to using Q's style of flowery, novelistic language to bring his characters to life... He's earned that right! All of us outside the gates have not, yet... That being said, first introduction provides you you a narrow margin to insert a well delivered, internal description or cheat the "Can't shoot it, don't write it" mantra. If you're gonna break the rules, you better have a damn good reason for doing so. Such a good reason, in fact, that the reader will forgive you your sin, when they notice it. Don't think they won't notice, that's what they do.
BadAsh
 
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Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:59 am

Re: Starting out

Postby eric11 » Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:46 pm

LosMaven wrote:I've been doing the "writing ideas down in a book" thing for a little while hoping someday to do something with them. I've been seriously thinking about attempting a screenplay. I've never taken a class or done anything like it but I figure why not. Even if I just do it for myself.

I've purchased two books and have been reading screenplays online because apparently format is above content as far as getting a script read.

Where my confusion lies is that in the two books I'm reading and the screenplays I've read, I'm getting different information.

For example, I've read that you're not supposed write what you can't shoot on camera. In one case someone was describing a room full of people we were just meeting and wrote something like this:

This guy was someone who would kick your dog and sleep with your sister.

In the book I'm reading that is wrong. But I was reading another screenplay and someone wrote this:

In another age men who shook the world for their own purposes
were called conquerors. In our age, the men who shake the
planet for their own power and greed are called corrupters.
And of the world's corrupters Bill stands alone. For while he
corrupts the world, inside himself he is pure.

This was from Kill Bill. Now I know Tarantino wrote it and was going to direct it. He probably told Miramax that he had another movie and they let him go with it. But my question is, is that paragraph fundamentally correct? If your an amateur screenwriter, would a reader scoff at that?

I have a few other questions but I'll start with that one
All a reader wants is a good story. Don't worry about the technical details, those things are quite often overlooked. However write a bad script and it won't matter how well it is written, the story will still suck.
eric11
 
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Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:31 pm

Re: Starting out

Postby Skim Milky » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:45 am

Ugh...I can sympathize with the OP. I feel like, by being too technical, I am robbing my writing of what makes it great. It's tough to be original and grab a script-reader with the first page without those fun little words to liven things up. But at the same time, they really arent relevant to a movie.
Skim Milky
 
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Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:18 am


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