Writing a Script

Hi all!

So a little fun fact about me is I want to be a screenwriter. I'm going to school to major in English and minor in Film with hopes of one day becoming a successful screenwriter.

Behind every good film (in my case a short film) is a good screenplay. Mrs. Stoklosa told us in class the other day that she would teach us a lesson on writing a script/screenplay, so I'm really looking forward to that. I would really like to develop my skills so I can write a good screenplay for my short film.

I read an article online titled "5 Tips for Screenwriters: How to Write a Short Film" on screencraft.org that states the top 5 tips for screenwriters when it comes to writing a screenplay for a short film.

These are the 5 tips given:

1. Short films are the most important moments in a character’s life
Don’t waste time telling about non-essential moments or events. Focus on the decisions, actions, and goals that define who a character is or who a group of characters are. This might involve starting your story in media res, where the audience enters a story (or a scene) that is already in motion.

2.  Remember, film is a visual medium.
Movies are something we watch, so make sure you are delivering a story that uses visuals in an important/interesting/dynamic way. This is different from genre to genre. Action movies need to come up with exciting visual conflicts, spy films need to show people deceiving others or retrieving information in some way, and dramas need to hone in on a change in a character, or their situation, or their relationship/s.

3. Show the beginning, middle, and ending of the story.
Introduce characters with goals, show them encountering obstacles and trying to overcome those obstacles. Show us how they or their world has changed. Set up and resolve dramatic questions. If a story feels unfinished, the emotional impact will be diffused, and the third act will be anticlimactic.

4. Concept driven, more often than plot-driven.
Strong stories that work quickly are great for short films, but concepts are even better. Rather than investing in pages of twists and turns in a relationship or the deadly challenges of a war epic, a strong concept’s appeal is on display from page one. Shorts are useful for highlighting the urgency and originality of an idea we haven’t seen before.

5. There doesn’t need to be a twist.
As with any plot contrivance, if it works, it works. But if there are pages of the story devoted to building to the twist instead of telling the story, chances are those pages aren’t very interesting. Regardless of intent, expository dialogue or scenes that barely serve to develop the current story should be changed or eliminated. If a twist ending is dragging you into bad habits, then avoid the twist ending.

I found these 5 tips to be very helpful when it comes to deciding how I want to set up my screenplay.

That's all for now!

-Rachel