Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Scriptwriting an Oscar Winning Screenplay

Writing an Oscar Winning Screenplay/Screenwriting/Scriptwriting


Like anyone knows. But thinking about this for years and having gone to USC film school, worked as a screenwriter in Los Angeles and New York, and written over 10 feature screenplays-some optioned or hired-and published "The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting" for beginners to intermediate scriptwriters, and continue to study all aspects of film for feature film development and producing, the subjectivity to winning the Oscars is sometimes a mystery, or are there certain calculations?

This year's Oscar nominated and winning movies, actors, scripts, directors were outstanding.

My favorites:
12 Years a slave (best picture)
Dallas Buyer's Club (best actor)
Gravity (best director)
Nebraska (nominated)

Of course I loved "Wolf of Wall Street" as Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio is a genius, engaging actor--the best of the best. But I'm sure he and Mr. Scorsese (best of the best) had to realize at one point, a film about a con-man could not trump a true story of a slave, and cowboy aids movie based on a true story.

All the movies this year were the best of what is out there in the world. Enjoy it. Because some will be considered masterpieces, and continue for thousands of years, immortalizing the stories and actors.

All the stories and screenplays contained complicated characters with a problem. It didn't matter if they won or lost, the audience rooted for them.

Unfortunately, some films got snubbed like Captain Phillips and the new Coen Brother's film "Inside llewen Davis" was a great under-rated film not even nominated.

Award winning screenplays and Award winning caliber screenwriting for feature films is not easy, These craftsmen have written countless screenplays, and stories and mastered dialogue, structure, format, formatting, plots, interweaving plots, timing, tone, style, themes, pacing and knowing less is more.

Buy The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting to learn about scriptwriting techniques and tricks, help, samples, examples and guide books for all aspects from idea to treatment to story to first draft, to final draft, to agents and managers and producers.

The only thing the book can't teach you is what to do if you actually won an Oscar. Please... no "Alright, alright" That's taken by brilliant, shining Mr. Matthew McConaughey - who deserves to shine in the Texas sun for his accomplishment of playing in Dallas Buyers Club. Impressive acting and screenwriting--and I hate HIV movies!

Friday, January 31, 2014

The Tools of Screenwriting

The Tools of Screenwriting


A script writer has only a few tools. One is his/her brain, IQ, talent, experience and storytelling ability. The other tools of screenwriting for movies, tv and film can be obtained through classes, courses, books like "The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting", getting a mentor, watching movies, studying film screenplays and writing script after script, with re-wrote after re-write and editing until your fingers bleed. Add Band-Aid to your screenwriter's tool-kit.

Format is basic. It's easily taught, and most creative writers won't have a hard time formatting once they educate themselves.

Story is king - and hardest to nail. As a newbie, or novice screenwriter, story, structure, character and dialog will prove to be your biggest challenges of writing, even if you don't see it.

Most professional WGA screenwriters working in a career as feature scriptwriters, ghost writers, spec script writers, TV writers, and co-writers have written dozens of scripts, and probably trashed most of them.

Writing your first screenplay is a big deal. Finishing the screenplay's final act should bring joy. Drink some wine, smoke a Cuban cigar or dabble in another form of mind alteration to reward yourself for completing a screenplay. That's better than most dummies who stop during the outline phase.

Outlining is vital to screenwriting, in the same way a blueprint or architectural plans are to building. The script outline should be 8-20 pages and be editable, which means it takes less work to edit structure or problems during the outline process, than dealing with 120 page screenplay.

Movies are visual. Dialog is cheap. The outline should contain the whole story and sub-plots, but not so detailed, and without much dialog. The outline will be read by your boss, if you're a hired writer, or never seen. But it is the best tool for screenwriting. and

Movie Script Format Template

Screenplay Format Template: script formatting


If you're a beginner screenwriter writing a feature or television script, format is one of many elements of screenwriting to learn.

First, most film schools recommend all filmmakers read The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting - which has examples and templates, as well as explanations and detailed rules an conventions of script formatting for Hollywood and producers, directors, actors and crew.

Mac, PC and Linux Users can learn script format by educating themselves and buying scriptwriting software like Final Draft.

Read screenplays. Read scriptwriting format books, and basic guides like The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting, andpractice, practice, practice.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Scriptwriting Basics

Scriptwriting Basics: elements to a screenplay


The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting available at amazon.com teaches the basics of screenwriting from story to format to business.

Professional screenwriters usually have written over a dozen scripts before selling a spec script in the market, getting a literary or film agent to represent them in Hollywood. Of course, some script writers make a million dollar sale off their first or second screenplay, but it's like winning the lottery.

The first place to start when writing a screenplay, is a concept. Is the concept appealing in a visual medium like film? Movie writing is prose, poetry, written in a style to conjure images in the reader's head and "see" or "feel" the film as they read the script. It starts with a great concept. That's the seed.

Conflict is to story like a musical note is to a piece of music. Without conflict, a story cannot progress to a climax or resolution.

Now that you have chosen a marketable and good concept that includes conflict, unique characters and a world filmmakers want to create and movie audiences want to view, you're ready to flesh it out into a synopsis - a one page beat sheet of your story.

The one sheet synopsis is used to pitch the overall screenplay, and serve as marketing ad copy for the future.

You need to learn structure, pace, plotting, interweaving plots, rise of action, and how to write a screenplay by scenes, sequences, acts, action lines, and dialog. You need to understand character archetypes, and old storytelling fundamentals, linear structure, 3 act structure, how to get in late and get out early, pacing techniques, dialog training, editing process, timing, and more.

There's a lot to learn, and it starts with education books used by college film students and independent filmmakers and first time screenplay writers learning the craft and conventions.







Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Screenplay Examples

Screenplay Examples


The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting shares an abundance of screenplay samples by successful Hollywood screenwriters and feature films and blockbuster movies. Using direct scenes and snippets from screenwriter's such as Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese, or William Goldman, George Lucas (Star Wars - the franchise now owned by Disney) and Steven Spielberg.

Reading screenplays (by WGA Guild professional writers) and produced screenplays. is part of the process of learning screenwriting for beginners or writing your first or second TV or film script.

A screenplay is a 90-130 page visual poetry written in prose, Courier 12pt font on 8 1/2" x 11" bright white three-hole punched paper (that's the start of technical formatting). Why is font important to a script format? It's about timing. One well formatted page equals roughly one minute of screen time, if the screenplay is read as it is meant to be read - as visual prose writing, not literary work or novel writing. Most movies are one and a half to two hours.

A screenplay can come from anywhere. Your idea. A real life event. It can can be an original piece, or based on a true story or previously written piece, like a novel, stage play or newspaper article which would have to be adapted for the screen (yes, there is a section about that in The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting). A screenplay - correctly formatted - is a blueprint for the film's actors, director and producers.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Screenplay sells: selling a screenplay

Screenplay sells: selling a screenplay


Sure, lightning does strike some lucky screenwriters once in a while and they make six figures or a few million off their first or second script. Do you play the lottery? It's the same odds. Don't bet on selling a screenplay easily. It could take you ten years or more, or, sadly, even after writing 20 screenplays, your material may fail to ever sell. Thus is the life of many screenwriters. Thus many screenwriters have day jobs or careers outside of screenwriting and Hollywood film.

Check recent screenplay sales online. Just research it and you'll find data, which gives prices and the project info, and buyer.

Most spec feature scripts sell for 250,000 to 3 million. A seasoned screenwriter with a successful track record can make5-10 million a script. A first time screenwriter lucky enough to find a buyer, should be expecting maybe 300k - 800k.

But that's rare. And that would be by a studio or agency. This, assuming your script was amazing, made it through readers, execs, and to the decision makers. Very rare.

Even someone buying a script for 10k is rare. As a beginning screenwriter, you are working for FREE until you are pro... and no guarantees you'll turn pro.

Screenwriters NEED marketable scripts that agents, actors and producers think can be safe bets in a high risk environment.

Writers of film writing spec scripts and learning screenwriting need to understand structure, story, convention, format and also genre. Buyers are looking for GENRE SCRIPTS.

Indie filmmaking turned the studio system on it's ugly head. The market is saturated with content. Your script has many paths to be sold or optioned. Your best bet is find the companies who specialize in the genre that your screenplay is.

Don't count on the lottery. Count on learning how to write a screenplay well, and then dive into the business side of the film industry.

Screenplay Competitions, Screenwriting Competitions, Script for Film Contests

Screenplay Competitions, Screenwriting Competitions, Script for Film Contests


Screenplay competitions can be helpful, harmful or a waste of time. Personally, I suggest only entering script competitions once you've spent at least 2 years on your first screenplay. But really, you should write 2-5 film screenplay before thinking about screenplay contest submissions.

Why? Because your competition is VERY stiff. You are competing with people on their 10th script, or writers who went to film schools, or previous contest winners, and even sometimes, professional writers who qualify. Yes, that stinks.

Plus think about the costs. Each screenplay contest is $100 or so on average and takes a year to get results.

Who do you think reads the contest scripts? MINIONS! With not much more knowledge, if not less, than yourself. Why pay an asshole to read something your friend can read for free?

Those little asshole readers may not like the first 2 pages of your script, so they won't read it. Or they do a "skim" - take 3-5 minutes and read a few pages throughout to get an idea of what the script is about.

Competitions are growing, and they are around to make money - just like every other illusion in the film BUSINESS.

I don't believe in contests. I believe in writing screenplay after screenplay until you have something to bring to agents, directors, actors and producers. Or making the screenplay yourself.

It's hard to convey tone and style on paper - so many readers will not understand your vision. even if your screenplay is professionally formatted with a great story.

Scriptwriting Courses: Learn Screenwriting

Scriptwriting Courses


Many would be screenwriter's take scriptwriting courses and classes thinking that it will make them connections or get them inside tips in the film industry.

I'm not saying don't take a screenwriting course - especially if the teacher has decent credentials.

It's just, screenwriting courses can be designed more or less for motivation.

If you are self motivated, and put in the time, and want to learn how to write a screenplay professionally, The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting will be your master course in screenwriting story, format and business.

Film school can be a great experience at a great cost. But many screenwriter's learn on their own, watching movies and writing scripts, and reading screenwriting books and taking classes.

Scriptwriting courses are just one of many things a scriptwriter should be doing.

save time and money - learn everything a course can teach you in a simple 100 page book.

Screenwriting Format: screenplay formatting

Screenwriting Format: screenplay formatting


The Bare Bone Book of Screenwriting has 1/3rd of it's content related to industry standard screenplay format for feature films, short films, AV and TV scripts.

Writing a professional screenplay can be time consuming and frustrating. Even basic screenplay format throws many beginner screenplay writers off track. Format rules will make or break you if you submit your screenplay to an agency or producer. If your script is formatted wrong, it will make you, the writer, look amateur - thus your script is not read (and perhaps thrown in the garbage).

To understand script formatting, a screenwriter must study format of successful screenplays and movies. Buy the screenplay and read it while you watch the film. By doing this, you'll pick up on screenwriter's tips, rules and tricks that enable them to get words and images from their head to the page.

Scriptwriting formatting software is highly recommended, and it makes life easy. Format software like Final Draft is affordable and educational, allowing the screenwriter to write in pro script format without having to think about it.

Script format really is complicated until you understand the language. We were raised in English class to write properly. Screenwriting is prose (short form, poetry) designed to create a fast read and conjure images and dialogue as the script is read.

One page should read in one minute. One screenplay should be around 110-120 pages.

Format is separate from story, structure, character, theme, etc. Script format helps a screenplay communicate the visual story on paper in a visual medium.