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Building blocks of a script?

DDK

DDK

I know how to format a script and I know what a lot of the terminology means and how to use it. The thing about script writing, however, is that (at least for me) it's not something you can just sit down and write. I'm the kind of person who needs to plan things in stages. I have the basic idea of how to do this in order to get to the script writing stage, but I'd really appreciate some input from others on how they break up (or break down) their script writing.

I personally would put research and note-taking, brainstorming, character development, etc. down first, but for me these things really aren't a problem. Where I start getting bogged down is in putting all this stuff down into a coherent format.

I was thinking along the lines of starting with a synopsis. Then breaking that synopsis down into it's component parts and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle into a basic act structure. Then maybe finessing that into a written storyboard sort-of stage and again fitting all the pieces together, scene by scene. And then finally probably sitting down to write the actual script.

At least, that's the idea. I'm really hoping for some guidance on this process and how to break it all down into manageable chunks that I can mentally and physically (long story, basically I can't sit down for long periods of time without falling asleep) cope with.
 
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ScriptStructure.jpg
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Something like this?
 
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I'm not 100% sure what your problem is.

Your script is going to tell a story, beginning, middle and end. This story of yours, can you see it? Watch in your head, as if it were showing on a big screen? If not, you need to. If you can, then great, write that down. Perhaps start with a list of scenes, basic ideas of what will happen and to whom. Use this a skeleton and flesh it out.
 
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mad_hatter said:
I'm not 100% sure what your problem is.

Your script is going to tell a story, beginning, middle and end. This story of yours, can you see it? Watch in your head, as if it were showing on a big screen? If not, you need to. If you can, then great, write that down. Perhaps start with a list of scenes, basic ideas of what will happen and to whom. Use this a skeleton and flesh it out.
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I have the story in my head. I know the characters. I know the beginning, I know the middle, I know the end. I even know a few bits in-between. I dream and think in 3D colour (ironically I can't VIEW 3D in cinemas) so I see all of this quite vividly and in great detail.

The problem is in getting all of that onto a page. It's not writer's block either. It's simply that I have no method of translating everything into a script format and I need some sort of process to do that.

I think I've found it, though. Step Outlining seems to be the thing I'm after.
 
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DDK said:
Umm... yeah, I'm way past that stage dude.
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Really? If so then you're way ahead of most people who never bother to have those clearly in their mind at all times because they drive everything else you do going forward.

Everything else is just organization I prefer white boards and post it notes.
I also typically write very little dialogue in the first draft. It's just thumbnails of each scene and what happens in it.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Really? If so then you're way ahead of most people who never bother to have those clearly in their mind at all times because they drive everything else you do going forward.
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Yup. In fact, I have quite literally about a dozen scripts in my head that are almost wholly realised from start to finish. In my head, I've figured out most of the kinks and all the important details down to a fairly chunky granularity so that it's recognisable as a movie. I can easily explain the whole movie to someone and it would make perfect sense to them as a story.
Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Everything else is just organization I prefer white boards and post it notes.
I also typically write very little dialogue in the first draft. It's just thumbnails of each scene and what happens in it.
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This is where it all falls apart for me. Translating it all from what's in my head to what needs to be organised and put in a certain order and format on a page. For that, I can't just sit down and write a script. I need to break it up somehow, finesse it, mold it, kneed it and finally bake it into shape... if that makes any sense?

Anyway, I'm basically trying to map out some sort of strategy or process, a step-by-step method to organise all the information, collate it, and piece it together as an actual script.
 
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Have you read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder? It is full of great ideas on how to take your script from your brain, transpose it onto tiny pieces of paper and finally, after shuffling the tiny pieces of paper around on a board for a few months, how to put them into a screenplay format. Dead cheap on Amazon, too.
 
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If you have the entire story in your head and could tell that story to somebody else, surely you could just write it down? Just in the form of prose, as if you were writing a novel. From there you could break it up into scenes, format it as a screenplay, rather than a novel, and bob's your uncle!
 
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SiCurious said:
Have you read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder? It is full of great ideas on how to take your script from your brain, transpose it onto tiny pieces of paper and finally, after shuffling the tiny pieces of paper around on a board for a few months, how to put them into a screenplay format. Dead cheap on Amazon, too.
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Blake Snyder books are rally good. The graphic posted above by arodiii is Snyder's.

I was impressed by Robert Mckee's book STORY
 
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DDK said:
I have the story in my head. I know the characters. I know the beginning, I know the middle, I know the end. I even know a few bits in-between. I dream and think in 3D colour (ironically I can't VIEW 3D in cinemas) so I see all of this quite vividly and in great detail.

The problem is in getting all of that onto a page. It's not writer's block either. It's simply that I have no method of translating everything into a script format and I need some sort of process to do that.

I think I've found it, though. Step Outlining seems to be the thing I'm after.
Click to expand...

The beat sheet/step outline/outline/skeleton is EXACTLY what you're after. Glad you found it out sooner than later!

I understand what you're asking, which has nothing to do with graphs and such, you're simply trying to find a way to construct it all efficiently, the actual process of writing, not so much the theory of it.

Mileage Varies per person, but I ended up at the same point as you years ago when I wrote the first feature I'd end up producing and directing years later. By doing a beat sheet or skeleton, I was able to literally see how I needed to move this scene to the next and because of that I can kick out drafts in a good week's time using the method.


DISCLAIMER: NOT GOSPEL, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT! Haha
My favorite, and the most simplified, method that I pass on to friends is this:

A)> B)> C)> A)> B) C)>

Or, A leads to B which causes C to transpire, where A is a problem, B is the solution. Cis the outcome which creates another AProblem.

The example I cite reads like:

A. Mike can't find his Lucky 8-Bit T-shirt, he wears it under his clothes for job interviews.
B. Mike drives to his friends house with fifteen minutes to spare before his interview time, finds his lucky t-shirt there (problem solved).
C. Because Mike forgot he only had gas enough for one trip (which was supposed to be to the job interview) Now his car won't start.
A. Mike needs to run to the nearest gas station, literally, to find gas for his car.

You construct conflict at every turn, creating opposition one way or another, which keeps the story moving and drama high.

Every so often you take a break and let it breathe in one way or another, then get back into it.

This is one of two methods that I use to build toward a full fledged numbered skeleton that I can look at and literally translate--on the fly, into a script. The other is much closer to Step Outlining, a hybrid of that and a Treatment (Which I hate writing). Just finished doing so with a new script last night and ended up with just over 100 steps, all nearly paragraphed out with red ink notes on dialogue, etc. It works better for this one given the content.

Oh, and I moved away from writing script notes on a computer and bought cheap notebooks from the local pharmacy/store along with some really nice pens. I dunno, but it increased my writing productivity two fold. I assume because I can't flip the page of a notebook when I'm bored and check out what's new on YouTube.

xD
 
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Kholi, Im completely new to script writing and just read about your "beat sheet" method. It sounds interesting, however to me it seems like this would be better used for television. Is that where it began?

Cheers!
 
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campbmic said:
Kholi, Im completely new to script writing and just read about your "beat sheet" method. It sounds interesting, however to me it seems like this would be better used for television. Is that where it began?

Cheers!
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I think the Beat Sheet did begin with the television/episodic writer, then made way over toward the feature film writer's toolbox over time.

Before I knew what the heck I was doing, that's how I outlined short stories etc, so it seemed very natural to me to use that for screen writing.

John August (and, I'm sure other writers) use Beat Sheets in this format:

1. Opening (Hook)

2. This happens here (pages 7-15)

3. Then he goes to another world (22-40)


--- So on and so forth, using paragraphs to summarize what happens in those pages. I think it's a good way to get the story down, then you can adjust and fill in the gaps. However, it's still too close to writing a treatment to me, so I just use the two modified methods depending on what tone I'm going for.

Now that I think about it, though, the first one (A>B>C>A) I use for comedy and fast-paced material (action oriented perhaps) and anything else I'm using the plot-by-numbers approach, beginning at 1 and going on up to as many event numbers as needed.

With that method you can also label sub events that are smaller yet important scenes (1a, 1b, 1c, etc)

Similar to how you go back and add scenes for a shooting script or locked script.
 
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DDK said:
I know how to format a script and I know what a lot of the terminology means and how to use it. The thing about script writing, however, is that (at least for me) it's not something you can just sit down and write. I'm the kind of person who needs to plan things in stages. I have the basic idea of how to do this in order to get to the script writing stage, but I'd really appreciate some input from others on how they break up (or break down) their script writing.

I personally would put research and note-taking, brainstorming, character development, etc. down first, but for me these things really aren't a problem. Where I start getting bogged down is in putting all this stuff down into a coherent format.

I was thinking along the lines of starting with a synopsis. Then breaking that synopsis down into it's component parts and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle into a basic act structure. Then maybe finessing that into a written storyboard sort-of stage and again fitting all the pieces together, scene by scene. And then finally probably sitting down to write the actual script.

At least, that's the idea. I'm really hoping for some guidance on this process and how to break it all down into manageable chunks that I can mentally and physically (long story, basically I can't sit down for long periods of time without falling asleep) cope with.
Click to expand...

I think you would benefit greatly, by using The Board.

http://12ptcourier.com/screenwriting/the-screenwriters-board/

http://www.outside-**************/2010/03/the-board/
EDIT: Heh, that's weird. The indietalk automated system is blocking out this web address. As far as I can tell, this is not a competing website with indietalk. Not sure what the issue is, but if anyone wants the link (one which I find useful), you can just google "the board filmmaking tool", as I did.

My board fits in my pocket. Though, it's a large pocket (on my server apron). I whip out my board when it's really slow at work, and tweak my next great story. Very useful, to be able to see things in a temporal space, having the freedom to move, add/delete.

This story is obviously in the very early stages of development:

20110218180627.jpg
 
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