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

[MenacingMonk]

Scripts (at least to the person writing them) are never passable breh.

Why's that?

 

[steadyrighteous]

Why's that?

I don't really know. I know that I feel that way and I've heard it from other writers too (pros).

If you think what you've written is the shyt and doesn't need any tweaks changes or input them it's probably not good. And it's often when you've writtten something good that it always feels unfinished or not as good to you.

I'm not saying don't try and make it better, but don't butcher it for the sake of refreshing it. Every time I look at something I've written more than two weeks passed the time I wrote it, it might as well be garbage, but I know that's not true, it just never feels as fresh as the day(s) your first wrote it.

 

[MenacingMonk]

I don't really know. I know that I feel that way and I've heard it from other writers too (pros).

If you think what you've written is the shyt and doesn't need any tweaks changes or input them it's probably not good. And it's often when you've writtten something good that it always feels unfinished or not as good to you.

I'm not saying don't try and make it better, but don't butcher it for the sake of refreshing it. Every time I look at something I've written more than two weeks passed the time I wrote it, it might as well be garbage, but I know that's not true, it just never feels as fresh as the day(s) your first wrote it.

Yea, I felt that way. But I haven't been changing my script.

With me it's just use of proper words or fixing stuff that could sound better.

It's been a long time since I've been in school so I need to re-educate myself on my English grammar. Lol.

I never felt my stuff was godly, but I know it's useable. Care to give an example on what people may think is good but is shyt?

 

[steadyrighteous]

Yea, I felt that way. But I haven't been changing my script.

With me it's just use of proper words or fixing stuff that could sound better.

It's been a long time since I've been in school so I need to re-educate myself on my English grammar. Lol.

I never felt my stuff was godly, but I know it's useable. Care to give an example on what people may think is good but is shyt?

I don't really have any examples that come to mind.

And I feel you on the English and grammar stuff. With me the thing I tweak the most (like non stop) is dialogue. I think it's my strength and something I like to focus on - realistic back and forth instead of characters exchanging declarative statements or exposition. But one day I can write something and read it over and over and it feels like it flows perfectly and sounds natural, then the next day when I'm not in that exact same groove it reads like two robots exchanging code lol

 

[MenacingMonk]

I don't really have any examples that come to mind.

And I feel you on the English and grammar stuff. With me the thing I tweak the most (like non stop) is dialogue. I think it's my strength and something I like to focus on - realistic back and forth instead of characters exchanging declarative statements or exposition. But one day I can write something and read it over and over and it feels like it flows perfectly and sounds natural, then the next day when I'm not in that exact same groove it reads like two robots exchanging code lol

A former hs friend is a writer and has done shyt in Hollywood regarding rewrites. Ima try to ask him to read my script to see what he thinks.

I already had a friend read half of it and he liked it. I figured that's a good sign.

 

[Lord Vile]

I've been lazy, printed out some old scripts to rewrite and got to work on two new idea

Atlanta Pilot


Mr. Robot Pilot
http://www.zen134237.zen.co.uk/Mr_Robot_1x01_-_Pilot.pdf

 

[Conz]

Friend works for Minor League Hockey league. Friend tells Conz funny story. Conz shrugs, decides to write pilot. Conz has no idea if it's pure shyt or not. Conz doesn't expect you to read it, but Conz posts link anyway. Conz so much as doesn't even have a logline, but will throw one together right now:

After the unexpected death of his mentor, an inexperienced Canadian is hired to run a 2nd year minor league hockey team in Texas.

Conz apologizes for speaking in the 3rd person.

 

[iFightSeagullsForBread]

working on a very small concept of a short film, very very shoestring budget, one man crew deal. Similar to that old short I posted here, only a noticeable difference in quality.

also working on a pilot.

Fall is my favorite season to create

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

Hey brehs, got a question regarding scene heading. Say I have an area of a location that has various spots. Can I just do something like this?:

Int. Target - Toy aisle - morning

Jane is in the figurine aisle....

Or what I need to be specific like this?:

Int. Target - toy aisle - figurine section - morning

Technically it should read "INT. TOY AISLE - DAY", writing the actual time of day (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.) is unnecessary because that should be described in the action lines if it's a critical detail of the scene.

 

[Wise]

To those of you who have others who read/edit their scripts, who are those people?

Professors? Friends? Tv executives? Etc Any of y'all pay script readers online?

Btw, haven't asked this in years, any of you guys check out Scriptshadow?

 

[Wise]

Anybody here ever registered for ImdbPro and just email production companies or people in the biz? Any luck?

 

[Wise]

i've found through experience that the only people who give me shyt about formatting choices are amateur know-it-alls who read cautionary tales online and talk about the scary "they" in the industry like they've been there. they say "too many words in caps is distracting and slows the read" they're full of shyt. don't do it every line, but if you want a KEY to be remembered for later, fukk it, put it in caps.

I use underlines, italics, caps on sounds and stuff like the key, and I don't give a fukk. until someome i actually know makes money in the field tells me otherwise, I'm gonna keep doing it.

as far as the second part - that's another "who gives a shyt how you write it" thing for me. I actually don't know what the exact by the book formatting tip for that is, but I'd probably just go:

The Employees sit around a TV or whatever.

ON THE SCREEN

a SCIENTIST in a labcoat adresses the camera. We* join that scene as if we are there.

INT. LAB - DAY (OR FLASHBACK OR SOMETHING) if you use flashback, you probably wouldn't even need th "we join" line

*they'd say "never use WE!!!!" but i see "we" all the fukkin time in scripts, and in a case like this, I don't really know how else to do it. And I always counter with "did it make sense? did you get what i was trying to get across there? then stfu."

i had a scene in my recent script where i had characters watch a surveillence video, and i slugged it like this:

blah blah watch the screen intently*

EXT. PARKING LOT - FLASHBACK

and then i just wrote the scene as if it was happening now.

*people tell me "never use adverbs!" ... stfu. "no flashbacks!" ... stfu. 1 or 2 are fine.

I started writing a new script after years 3 days ago and those two points you just mentioned, oh man. It was always 50/50 with how people viewed it.

Straight up, if the story is good, they should (and will if they're normal) forget about it.

It's things like grammar and punctuation that's much more important.

 

[Squirrel from Meteor Man]

Anybody here ever registered for ImdbPro and just email production companies or people in the biz? Any luck?

I have, not much came out of it but I didnt get go super hard either. Get the free month or whatever they give you, then just make a catalog of as many contacts as you can and cancel.

 

[steadyrighteous]

To those of you who have others who read/edit their scripts, who are those people?

Professors? Friends? Tv executives? Etc Any of y'all pay script readers online?

Btw, haven't asked this in years, any of you guys check out Scriptshadow?

I've had one friend who I trust as well as my fam read my shyt (people I know love and understand TV)

I also have one contact/friend/colleague who is in and around the business and he's my "in", so he's passed my shyt to some executives, producers etc. that he's long-time friends with, more to get their feedback than to pitch (purposely given my stuff to people who wouldn't want it ie. giving comedy scripts to drama people and vice versa) so I've never have to pay readers online.

Even let me piggyback on a meeting he had with a documentary exec. to let me practice pitching my ideas.

His whole thing has always been "people don't like to read the same thing or hear about the same thing multiple times, so don't waste a shot at people unless your ready and prepared for what comes next" so just blasting out your shyt to execs may not work, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

 

[MenacingMonk]

His whole thing has always been "people don't like to read the same thing or hear about the same thing multiple times, so don't waste a shot at people unless your ready and prepared for what comes next" so just blasting out your shyt to execs may not work, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

Does he mean a storyline?