I've heard this before but a new insight clicked with me today. Sometimes writers try to write something that is popular now. Say if vampire movies are in then they try to write a vampire movie. One problem with this is that by the time they finish the screenplay and it gets produced that cool fad is over. So now you have this script that no one wants.
My new insight today was this idea of writing what is popular is also not a good idea because it's not something uniquely written by you. What makes any script great and what any producer and audience member is looking for is a great script with a clear vision and direction. If you write a story that's in your head that you have to get out then no matter what the story line or genre it is, it will have a through line that is important to you. If it's important to you then it will connect to other people. The plot points won't be cliched and formulaic because they will be unique to you. It'll be a western your way or a Rom Com your way.
The through line is important because it connects everything. A dream can be wild and crazy but emotionally it feels true. That emotional connection is your through line that you get when you must tell that story. When you've got to write about the hunting trip you went on. It's not because oh hunting wilderness movies are cool. It's because you have this story in you. That's why we want and need stories and why we first listened to them around a campfire.
This is another aspect producers are looking for because it's hard to write an original script. What good writing is today is an old story told in a new way. So if you write about what you care most about and feel like you must write then you will do all these things in the process and end up with a killer script that will have a better chance of getting made.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Special Deal on Screenplay Coverage!
For a limited time, I'll be offering coverage and analysis of your screenplays for only $25! I'm offering a money back guarantee. If the analysis is not up to the quality you would like, you will get your money back.
Coverage is what Hollywood studios use to see if they want to buy your screenplay. It generally includes a synopsis and an analysis of the commercial value of the script. At the end of the coverage, the reader will give a grade of the script (pass, consider, recommend).
Your screenplay will be read multiple times and then summarized so that you get what the reader takes away from the story. Then a two page analysis of strengths and weakness is written, and solutions are given for the problem areas. It doesn’t do you any good to come to the doctor and say, “Doc my stomach hurts,” and to have the doctor say, “Your stomach hurts.” You need the doctor to give you the medicine to get better. This analysis will not only point out problem areas but offer solutions to fix them.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Christian Screenplays
I have been a devoted Christian for over 11 years, regularly attending services, reading my Bible and praying daily, and walking the walk. I’d like to see more spiritual movies, but the sad fact is most Christian screenplays are high on meaning and low on storytelling. This keeps these screenplays from being made. One type of analysis offered is taking a Christian or Biblical based screenplay and helping make it the best story to get across the message that the writer wants conveyed. This analysis will be similar to my regular analysis but will also emphasize storytelling techniques.
Many times the way the Bible and Christianity is portrayed in movies is not close to the Bible so for the writer that wants to correctly show an aspect of the bible, I can be the expert witness on how to make their script authentically Christian.
I believe that anything that is really truth, is a truth from God. So movies about some true aspect of life is teaching part of God. Stories can teach lessons without mentioning Jesus, God or the Bible. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 13:10:
This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Help with Christian Screenplays - DrScreenplay.com
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Doing Research for your Screenplay
“The key to winning this war [on cliches] is research, taking the time and effort to acquire knowledge.” - Robert McKee
One of the most powerful tools we possess as writers today is research. Today’s audience are highly intelligent because they see stories constantly. After so many movies it seems that it would be hard to make an original screenplay. I believe that all the easy stories have been told. It is amazing how much you can learn about a subject when you study it. So much of our concept of things comes from the movies, but there is often a difference between reality and how Hollywood portrays things. One of the best ways to make your script fresh, original and something audiences and readers have never seen, is to do research on a specific topic in your screenplay.
I deeply believe in research and it’s almost magical power to awaken a script. For each quarter of your screenplay, I’ll give you five pages of research on a topic in that part of your screenplay. The research will include scientific, historical, or topical information specific to particular elements, genre research, links to books, articles, and videos online, and a list of similar films to your story that maybe helpful to watch.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Why should you use a screenwriting consultant?
Why should you use a screenwriting consultant? Every writer needs honest, constructive, supportive feedback on their writing that doesn’t come from Mom or a roommate. Writers can also tend to work in their bat caves, and having someone help you with you as you work can take your screenplay to the next level. Having a consultant can keep writers from the frustrations of working alone like discouragement, lack of productivity and an unfinished screenplay.
Feedback will build your screenplay to make it stronger, a better read, more likely to be optioned or sold and ultimately made into a movie.
Dr. Screenplay is a screenwriting consultant who offers expert analysis, valuable feedback, and solutions to help you tell the story you want to tell. There are several different types of services offered to help you at different stages of writing your screenplay.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Treatments
@geektothechic asks: Is there a definitive right way to write the treatment?
There many different ways to write a treatment for a screenplay. The focus when writing one should be on your audience. Ask yourself, "Who is going to read this?" Is it a producer that will decide if they want to fund writing the screenplay or making the film? Or is it just for you to summarize your story? If the treatment is for a buyer or someone else to read, the goal should be to make it an enjoyable read. The treatment shouldn't be too technical and should have a good flow. Many times if it is for a producer they will ask for a four page treatment where Act 1 is one page, Act 2 is two pages and Act 3 is one page. The limitation with this type is that there isn't much detail to your story. The advantage to even writing this for yourself is that you boiling your story down. If you can't tell your story quickly, then probably there is something wrong with it.
A treatment can also be for you to outline your film. It's helpful to write out each scene with a line or two or a paragraph for each scene. These can be just notes or thoughts on each scene and not necessarily something that reads. Sometimes a treatment of this type can be as long as 75 pages. Back in the golden age of Hollywood writers would write a 100+ page treatment before writing the screenplay. So they knew their stories well. The point of this type of treatment is for you as the screenwriter to know your plan before you start writing the script. If another writer is going to be reading the treatment in order to help write the script, giving them as much to read as possible is a must.
I hope that helps. Good luck in writing your treatment!
There many different ways to write a treatment for a screenplay. The focus when writing one should be on your audience. Ask yourself, "Who is going to read this?" Is it a producer that will decide if they want to fund writing the screenplay or making the film? Or is it just for you to summarize your story? If the treatment is for a buyer or someone else to read, the goal should be to make it an enjoyable read. The treatment shouldn't be too technical and should have a good flow. Many times if it is for a producer they will ask for a four page treatment where Act 1 is one page, Act 2 is two pages and Act 3 is one page. The limitation with this type is that there isn't much detail to your story. The advantage to even writing this for yourself is that you boiling your story down. If you can't tell your story quickly, then probably there is something wrong with it.
A treatment can also be for you to outline your film. It's helpful to write out each scene with a line or two or a paragraph for each scene. These can be just notes or thoughts on each scene and not necessarily something that reads. Sometimes a treatment of this type can be as long as 75 pages. Back in the golden age of Hollywood writers would write a 100+ page treatment before writing the screenplay. So they knew their stories well. The point of this type of treatment is for you as the screenwriter to know your plan before you start writing the script. If another writer is going to be reading the treatment in order to help write the script, giving them as much to read as possible is a must.
I hope that helps. Good luck in writing your treatment!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Dr. Screenplay's Oscar Picks
So if I had a vote, this is what I'd pick:
Best Picture: Inception , Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
Writing (Original Screenplay): Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): True Grit, Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Directing: True Grit, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Film Editing: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Actress in a Supporting Role: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Documentary (Feature): Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Foreign Language Film: Biutiful, Mexico
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich
Cinematography: Inception, Wally Pfister
Visual Effects: Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Art Direction: Inception, Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
Costume Design: Alice In Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
Makeup: The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Music (Original Score): Inception, Hans Zimmer
Music (Original Song): I See the Light (from "Tangled"), Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
Sound Editing: Inception, Richard King
Sound Mixing: Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
Short Film (Animated): Day & Night, Teddy Newton
Short Film (Live Action): God of Love, Luke Matheny
Documentary (Short Subject): Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
http://bit.ly/d7ZWc2
Best Picture: Inception , Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
Writing (Original Screenplay): Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): True Grit, Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Directing: True Grit, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Film Editing: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Actress in a Supporting Role: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Documentary (Feature): Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Foreign Language Film: Biutiful, Mexico
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich
Cinematography: Inception, Wally Pfister
Visual Effects: Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Art Direction: Inception, Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
Costume Design: Alice In Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
Makeup: The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Music (Original Score): Inception, Hans Zimmer
Music (Original Song): I See the Light (from "Tangled"), Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
Sound Editing: Inception, Richard King
Sound Mixing: Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
Short Film (Animated): Day & Night, Teddy Newton
Short Film (Live Action): God of Love, Luke Matheny
Documentary (Short Subject): Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
http://bit.ly/d7ZWc2
2011 Oscar Predictions
Here are my Oscar Predictions. They aren't necessarily my choice, but who I think will win. The big news it will be a split Best Director to David Fincher for The Social Network and Best Picture to The King's Speech.
http://mubi.com/users/1193019/predictions
(The green is my pick).
http://mubi.com/users/1193019/predictions
(The green is my pick).
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
| Christian BaleThe Fighter |  13837 |
| John HawkesWinter's Bone |  335 |
| Jeremy RennerThe Town | 211 |
| Mark RuffaloThe Kids Are All Right | 284 |
| Geoffrey RushThe King's Speech | 4443 |
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
| Amy AdamsThe Fighter | 1191 |
| Helena Bonham CarterThe King's Speech | 2180 |
| Melissa LeoThe Fighter | 8409 |
| Hailee SteinfeldTrue Grit | 6871 |
| Jacki WeaverAnimal Kingdom | 459 |
Adapted screenplay
| Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy127 Hours | 726 |
| Aaron SorkinThe Social Network | 16230 |
| Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee UnkrichToy Story 3 | 305 |
| Joel Coen & Ethan CoenTrue Grit | 1190 |
| Debra Granik & Anne RoselliniWinter's Bone | 659 |
Original screenplay
| Mike LeighAnother Year | 301 |
| Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith DorringtonThe Fighter | 707 |
| Christopher NolanInception | 4735 |
| Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart BlumbergThe Kids Are All Right | 1463 |
| David SeidlerThe King's Speech | 11904 |
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
| How to Train Your Dragon | 873 |
| Inception | 2867 |
| The King's Speech | 4240 |
| 127 Hours | 753 |
| The Social Network | 10377 |
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
| Country Strong | 3808 |
| Tangled | 2130 |
| 127 Hours | 2654 |
| Toy Story 3 | 10518 |
Best animated feature film
| How to Train Your Dragon | 792 |
| The Illusionist | 795 |
| Toy Story 3 | 17523 |
Art Direction
| Alice in Wonderland | 7862 |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | 826 |
| Inception | 4643 |
| The King's Speech | 4469 |
| True Grit | 1310 |
Achievement in Cinematography
| Black Swan | 3430 |
| Inception | 4436 |
| The King's Speech | 1441 |
| The Social Network | 1090 |
| True Grit | 8713 |
Achievement in costume design
| Alice in Wonderland | 9855 |
| I Am Love | 530 |
| The King's Speech | 6695 |
| The Tempest | 687 |
| True Grit | 1343 |
Achievement in makeup
| Barney's Version | 4044 |
| The Way Back | 2352 |
| The Wolfman | 12714 |
Achievement in sound editing
| Inception | 14362 |
| Toy Story 3 | 962 |
| Tron: Legacy | 1993 |
| True Grit | 956 |
| Unstoppable | 837 |
Achievement in sound mixing
| Inception | 12702 |
| The King's Speech | 1516 |
| Salt | 357 |
| The Social Network | 3377 |
| True Grit | 1158 |
Achievement in visual effects
| Alice in Wonderland | 2085 |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | 869 |
| Hereafter | 112 |
| Inception | 15415 |
| Iron Man 2 | 629 |
Best documentary feature
| Exit through the Gift Shop | 6065 |
| Gasland | 951 |
| Inside Job | 6305 |
| Restrepo | 4105 |
| Waste Land | 1684 |
Best documentary short subject
| Killing in the Name | 5762 |
| Poster Girl | 2763 |
| Strangers No More | 4686 |
| Sun Come Up | 1728 |
| The Warriors of Qiugang | 4171 |
Achievement in film editing
| Black Swan | 3763 |
| The Fighter | 761 |
| The King's Speech | 1876 |
| 127 Hours | 2051 |
| The Social Network | 10659 |
Best foreign language film
| Biutiful | 9397 |
| Dogtooth | 1831 |
| In a Better World | 3843 |
| Incendies | 3190 |
| Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) | 849 |
Best animated short film
| Day & Night | 8869 |
| The Gruffalo | 3347 |
| Let's Pollute | 1671 |
| The Lost Thing | 1715 |
| Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage | 3508 |
Best Live Action Short Film
| The Confession | 3371 |
| The Crush | 3181 |
| God of Love | 4050 |
| Na We We | 4719 |
| Wish 143 | 3789 |
Achievement in directing
| Darren AronofskyBlack Swan | 2305 |
| David O. RussellThe Fighter | 372 |
| Tom HooperThe King's Speech | 5022 |
| David FincherThe Social Network | 9924 |
| Joel Coen and Ethan CoenTrue Grit | 1487 |
Performance by an actress in a leading role
| Annette BeningThe Kids Are All Right | 1490 |
| Nicole KidmanRabbit Hole | 263 |
| Jennifer LawrenceWinter's Bone | 434 |
| Natalie PortmanBlack Swan | 16551 |
| Michelle WilliamsBlue Valentine | 372 |
Performance by an actor in a leading role
| Javier BardemBiutiful | 350 |
| Jeff BridgesTrue Grit | 723 |
| Jesse EisenbergThe Social Network | 593 |
| Colin FirthThe King's Speech | 16784 |
| James Franco127 Hours | 660 |
Best motion picture
| Black Swan | 859 |
| The Fighter | 239 |
| Inception | 418 |
| The Kids Are All Right | 82 |
| The King's Speech | 10843 |
| 127 Hours | 71 |
| The Social Network | 5768 |
| Toy Story 3 | 97 |
| True Grit | 569 |
| Winter's Bone | 164 |
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