The Coli's Screenwriting/Filmmaking Thread [Share tips, etc]

[MenacingMonk]

Curious to see what you guys think of the write everyday philosophy.

I only agree with this if you start a project. Even then I don’t think it should be everyday, unless you’re on a deadline.

When I start a project I try to work on it everyday, if not I’ll take 1-3 days off before I pick it back up.

I’ve never written everyday. A part of me feels ill just get tired and get writer’s block.

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

Curious to see what you guys think of the write everyday philosophy.

I only agree with this if you start a project. Even then I don’t think it should be everyday, unless you’re on a deadline.

When I start a project I try to work on it everyday, if not I’ll take 1-3 days off before I pick it back up.

I’ve never written everyday. A part of me feels ill just get tired and get writer’s block.

I tend to agree with the write every day philosophy because I intend to transition into producing my own screenplay ASAP. This screenwriting revision class I enrolled in got us doing a major writing assignment every week... I'm the only one in the course who's writing a feature screenplay so my assignments (page-by-page analysis, beat sheet, character bios, etc.) are literally 10x the length of everyone else's

 

[steadyrighteous]

Curious to see what you guys think of the write everyday philosophy.

I only agree with this if you start a project. Even then I don’t think it should be everyday, unless you’re on a deadline.

When I start a project I try to work on it everyday, if not I’ll take 1-3 days off before I pick it back up.

I’ve never written everyday. A part of me feels ill just get tired and get writer’s block.

Honestly, writing habits aren't set in stone.

Yeah - if you've got a deadline you probably need to figure out a routine, but some people literally don't write until they're inspired and when they force it the shyt they write is wack.

As an example, I entered a competition a few years back that required a few scenes and a treatment/pitch idea document. I had a deadline so the thing I made sure to do was, when I was inspired early I wrote as much as I could then wrote even more at that point. I know me, so I know the middle portion of a deadline is where I get lazy, so I grind really early so that when the deadline is coming up, I've actually done more than "half" of the project, if that makes sense.

 

[DetroitEWarren]

How do u format a movie pitch, i really neex yall help with this

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

How do u format a movie pitch, i really neex yall help with this

Is this your first screenplay/film? Do you intend to direct your screenplay or do you want someone else to do it?

 

[DetroitEWarren]

Is this your first screenplay/film? Do you intend to direct your screenplay or do you want someone else to do it?

I have a dawg ass idea for a Sci Fi film, i have also started to piece together scenes as to how the story plays out (i need help with this) but i will for sure need dialogue help.

When i say a nikka like Spielberg will hear this idea and want to fund it, IM SERIOUS AS fukk.

It combines 2 different Sci Fi genres for the idea of the movie. I think this shyt is millions waiting on me to stop bullshytting.

Hit me back soon bro, if u can point me into the direction of a sellable movie pitch (or not selling, staying involved with production) that would help my dawg. Get at me

 

[DetroitEWarren]

Is this your first screenplay/film? Do you intend to direct your screenplay or do you want someone else to do it?

?????? What up fam, a nikka serious bro lol. Get at me asap.

 

[DetroitEWarren]

I need to get this project done before the next Pitch Festival in Hollywood next July. Peopme have sold pitches thru this festival for big money. I just want to chop it up and promote my idea, once the right person reads it its a wrap

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

?????? What up fam, a nikka serious bro lol. Get at me asap.

If you’re trying to pitch down there, make sure you write down as much about your project as possible beforehand. Prepare a pitch book if you can.

A pitch book can roughly be summed up this way:

1. starts w/ a one-paragraph summary of the project
2. followed by biographies of the key players (director/producers) involved on the project that detail their level of filmmaking experience
3. a more in-depth synopsis of the film accompanied w/ reference photos that convey the visual style and give a good sense of the casting (DO NOT use actual actors for these photos, use photos of the “real” people in action that the actors will be recreating)
4. Comparisons to successful films of similar genre and budget scale, make sure you include box office information including first week performance and international box office. “Successful” in this case simply means it generated profit. If a small indie film generated 3 million on a half-a-million budget, that is a huge success. If a 200 million budget megapicture generates 250 million in revenue, that’s considered a flop even though it broke even. Domestic numbers are always what they’ll look at first to see if the film made a profit in America.
5. Estimations of how much gross your film would generate in film territories you believe your film will perform well in (U.S, China, etc)

If you’ve never made a film before or written a screenplay before, this may be a lot to deal with. Above all, when you’re pitching, you need to have an air-tight logline in your head that will generate interest in hearing the idea in more detail. Pitch books are useless if the interest isn’t there.

 

[Ol’Otis]

Anatomy of a screenplay is a good book

 

[DetroitEWarren]

If you’re trying to pitch down there, make sure you write down as much about your project as possible beforehand. Prepare a pitch book if you can.

A pitch book can roughly be summed up this way:

1. starts w/ a one-paragraph summary of the project
2. followed by biographies of the key players (director/producers) involved on the project that detail their level of filmmaking experience
3. a more in-depth synopsis of the film accompanied w/ reference photos that convey the visual style and give a good sense of the casting (DO NOT use actual actors for these photos, use photos of the “real” people in action that the actors will be recreating)
4. Comparisons to successful films of similar genre and budget scale, make sure you include box office information including first week performance and international box office. “Successful” in this case simply means it generated profit. If a small indie film generated 3 million on a half-a-million budget, that is a huge success. If a 200 million budget megapicture generates 250 million in revenue, that’s considered a flop even though it broke even. Domestic numbers are always what they’ll look at first to see if the film made a profit in America.
5. Estimations of how much gross your film would generate in film territories you believe your film will perform well in (U.S, China, etc)

If you’ve never made a film before or written a screenplay before, this may be a lot to deal with. Above all, when you’re pitching, you need to have an air-tight logline in your head that will generate interest in hearing the idea in more detail. Pitch books are useless if the interest isn’t there.

My dawg good lookin fam. I have never done it before so im starting from scratch, but i have scene by scene details of how i want the storyline to play out. I have actors/actresses who i think would fit the roles. I know dialogue is done by teams so i for sure would have pitch terms finalized (however it works) before it gets to that point.

I wanna pitch this idea to a huge team cause Special Effects and CGI would be hundreds of millions for tgis idea. Id need a Michael Bay on this shyt lol.

I appreciate the info bro, do u work in the field at all. How much hands on stuff have u done?

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

My dawg good lookin fam. I have never done it before so im starting from scratch, but i have scene by scene details of how i want the storyline to play out. I have actors/actresses who i think would fit the roles. I know dialogue is done by teams so i for sure would have pitch terms finalized (however it works) before it gets to that point.

I wanna pitch this idea to a huge team cause Special Effects and CGI would be hundreds of millions for tgis idea. Id need a Michael Bay on this shyt lol.

I appreciate the info bro, do u work in the field at all. How much hands on stuff have u done?

WIth any idea no matter the budget, you’re gonna have to intrigue your listener. You won’t have the opportunity to walk them through the story unless they invite you to a pitch meeting. I strongly advise NOT talking about who you’re interested in casting during a pitch, keep your pitch about the character if someone asks you for more detail about the protagonist. When you pitch an idea for someone else to produce, your only job is to pitch the screenwriting framework, not the production details.

I’ve done a lot of indie production work on the camera team, I’m trying to veer more into writing and producing my own projects.

 

[MenacingMonk]

How's the writing coming along for everyone? I recently started working on my second draft for my recent SP. Already on act 3. It's gonna be hard to get this to under 105 pages. It was at 120-121 and I only cut out about 5 pages so far.

Anyways, I have a question: does it really matter if I use CONT'D next to a character name for dialogue in a new scene if the person talked last in the previous scene?

 

[Sunalmighty]

How's the writing coming along for everyone? I recently started working on my second draft for my recent SP. Already on act 3. It's gonna be hard to get this to under 105 pages. It was at 120-121 and I only cut out about 5 pages so far.

Anyways, I have a question: does it really matter if I use CONT'D next to a character name for dialogue in a new scene if the person talked last in the previous scene?

I'm at a roadblock approaching the end of mines. Regarding CONT'D, every SP I've studied, from what I remember, had (cont'd) just like that and not next to the characters name.

 

[MenacingMonk]

I'm at a roadblock approaching the end of mines. Regarding CONT'D, every SP I've studied, from what I remember, had (cont'd) just like that and not next to the characters name.

Are you talking about the bottom of pages? That’s not what I’m referring to.