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

[StraxStrax]

Directed and produced a live music video last week. Fun stuff.

The video is out

 

[pete clemenza]

Wrote a few screenplays.. about to finally hunker down and write an outline for a novel. Something I've been wanting to do for years. Get out of the ridged screenplay format/laws/rules and just let the words flow

 

[Rozay Oro]

Why is this not stickied

 

[Drew Wonder]

Submitted my script to AFF
Main - Austin Film Festival

This and Nicholl are the toughest screenwriting contests but also the only ones that can really get you noticed if you place high enough. Didn't think the script I wrote last year was good enough to submit but I'm shooting my shot with the current one. We'll see what happens.

 

[Rozay Oro]

 

[Rozay Oro]

Submitted my script to AFF
Main - Austin Film Festival

This and Nicholl are the toughest screenwriting contests but also the only ones that can really get you noticed if you place high enough. Didn't think the script I wrote last year was good enough to submit but I'm shooting my shot with the current one. We'll see what happens.

I'm thinking of improving my grammar and punctuation with Khan academy and then copping a scriptwriting book or just watching YouTube videos.
What you think?

 

[satireprod]

Submitted my script to AFF
Main - Austin Film Festival

This and Nicholl are the toughest screenwriting contests but also the only ones that can really get you noticed if you place high enough. Didn't think the script I wrote last year was good enough to submit but I'm shooting my shot with the current one. We'll see what happens.

Dope. It should do great things. Salute brother.

 

[Drew Wonder]

I'm thinking of improving my grammar and punctuation with Khan academy and then copping a scriptwriting book or just watching YouTube videos.
What you think?

Yeah check out YouTube videos, read screenwriting books and other screenplays as well. Also join reddit screenwriting. You’ve got everyone from high schoolers to professionals on there and it’s a great place to get feedback.

And message me if you want feedback. I’ve been sending my writing and also giving feedback to @satireprod and @Sunalmighty

 

[Drew Wonder]

Dope. It should do great things. Salute brother.

Appreciate it bro. You should send your pilot in too if you haven’t already

 

[satireprod]

Appreciate it bro. You should send your pilot in too if you haven’t already

Yeah, definitely. I got the feedback from AFF and have been trying to tweak it before I send next week

 

[Rozay Oro]

Yeah check out YouTube videos, read screenwriting books and other screenplays as well. Also join reddit screenwriting. You’ve got everyone from high schoolers to professionals on there and it’s a great place to get feedback.

And message me if you want feedback. I’ve been sending my writing and also giving feedback to @satireprod and @Sunalmighty

Thanks breh

 

[Rozay Oro]

Here's how I see it, and I could be wrong and probably am wrong, but it's just my opinion since like most of us (I assume) we're all just trying, not actual pros...

Screenplays are read faster than novels (obviously) but good ones don't lack any of the things you mentioned and the things I quoted in bold. All of those things are there, they're just condensed. You have fewer words to set a scene, portray emotion and fill a moment with nuance, but to me, a test of a good writer is if you can take 3 paragraphs worth of 'novel' and set that scene in let's say, 3 blocks of screenplay/action description that are two lines each.

Because its read faster, a good screenplay can kind of suck you in and give you a heart-pounding feeling because it's like speedballing a book.

You can take a paragraph or two or even a page to describe a new character, everything about them, but a great screenwriter can tell you everything you need to know about a character in 15-20 words and in the first thing they say.



Every detail you think you're missing in the screenplay format can be fixed by picking the right singular word instead of taking a whole sentence.

Well you got some examples?

 

[Rozay Oro]

I just started listening to this podcast called Story Break. It's by 4 writer friends (they're not major but they work, I guess)

Every episode they basically try and "break" a story based on something random like a game, board game, random words or Wikipedia dive. The 1st episode is them trying to "break" a Legend of Zelda pilot or film.

They spend about an hour just talking it through as if they were commissioned to write it and have to crack the story. Pretty interesting, especially if you've never worked as part of a writer duo or been in a writer's room.

Story Break

I don't see myself listening to every episode but I might just pick out a few and listen. Friends Reunion Movie is the one I might listen to next - The "Friends" Reunion Movie (ft. Riley Rose Critchlow) | #78 | Story Break

This podcast is actually on Spotify btw

 

[Rozay Oro]

 

[ORDER_66]

Just gonna do it, like this breh here...