3月7日
Making a Good Short Film Screenplay Great
A new friend from India on orkut recently requested my suggestions on how to write a short film screenplay in a win-win way. Here is what I advised him:
- Every word of your screenplay MUST be doing either of the following;
(a) moving your story forward
(b) revealing something about the characters
- Don’t waste time in getting the reader/viewer/audience involved in your script/film at the start of your script/film. You can achieve that by building ‘believability’ into the beginning of your film. And believability can be achieved by having the character(s) do or say something that the audience/reader can relate to, no matter if the character(s) you are showing at the start of your film are aliens from some far off planet.
- Don’t forget the “show, don’t tell” rule throughout your script/film.
- Subtext is crucial. Avoid on-the-nose dialogue; it can kill your project. Incase you are wondering what is subtext: It is the opposite of on-the-nose dialogue and it is all about not having your characters say exactly what they are thinking.
- Don’t be afraid of re-writing. If you feel your script may benefit from a rewrite, please do it for a greater final product.
- Make sure that the end of your script/film is not predictable. Brainstorm ways to make your end as interesting and unique as you can make to make the readers/audience/viewers talk about your script/film hours or hopefully days and months after reading/watching your work.
- Middle part of your script/film is also very important. Raise the stakes as high as possible within the literary capacity of the story, and you will have a great middle.
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