Screenplay Operation and Control

  • Character development, world-building, conflict all necessary but more is needed
    • Must follow the “form”
  • Screenwriting is filmmaking on paper
    • Visual storytelling
    • Present tense
    • Only what the audience can see and hear
    • Uses 3 C’s
      • Clear
      • Concise
      • Creative
    • Brevity in description and dialogue
    • Limited to 90-120 minutes
      • “If it does not illustrate character or moving the story forward, kill it”

Tropes

  • Story (often) begins with inciting incident
    • Meet cute
    • Murder
    • Living situation changes
  • Establish reality, then tear it away
    • Forces characters to change, new realizations
  • The pace of the beginning determines the pacing for the rest of the story
    • Expected for the “time signature” to mostly remain the same
    • Elevator pitches are becoming more important
      • Grab their attention dramatically right from the outset
  • Audiences construct themselves
    • Not everyone will like your story, you must recognize you’re making the story for yourself and a specific group of people
    • Not a competition with other people writing the same genre
  • Audiences make snap judgments about entire books
    • “Read like we’re window shopping”

Screenplay Structure: Sequences

  • A self-contained portion of the story
    • 10-15 minutes
    • Own beginning, middle, end
      • 2 in Act One
      • 4 in Act Two
      • 2 in Act Three
  • Length
    • Smaller units of action
    • 10-15 pages
  • Ownership
    • Relates two one character’s plot
      • Doesn’t have to focus on the main character
  • Tension
    • Makes the audience have a vested interest
    • Fearing for characters is a main source of tension
      • When it can’t seem to get worse, make it worse
    • Sequences end with the resolution of one tension and lead into another
  • Framework
    • Outline the intention of each sequence
    • Beginning
      • Establishes wants and goal(s)
    • Middle
      • Pits character against the problem or obstacles
        • Obstacles should have clear consequences
    • End
      • The character either fails or succeeds at their immediate goal
      • Leads into the next sequence

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