Can a screenplay be too small in scope? I mean is if the story and premise on the surface would automatically label it as a potential block buster, but the script sticks to mostly the same hand full locations for long periods of time.
-
Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.
Can a script be too small in scope?
- Thread starter RaymondLeggs
- Start date
Yes, and no. Depends on what you mean. You can go for a small budget niche. There's nothing wrong with that.
12 Angry Men, Saw, The Cube(??)
Just because you have multiple locations doesn't mean your movie will be exciting. Just because your film has only 1 location, doesn't mean it will be boring. All this does depend on your type of story, for instance an epic would be tough to run on one location.
It all comes down to your execution.
Just to add to sfoster's list...
Buried
Tape
Reservoir Dogs
Rope
Carnage
Rear Window
Fermat's Room
12 Angry Men
Dogville
The Breakfast Club
Open Water
If you can write interesting and compelling characters in a story the audience enjoys and is intrigued by, then yes. Why was 12 Angry Men so powerful and successful? Great acting, but even more so - a great screenplay and source material. How about Carnage? It had great actors and writing.
If you get good actors (and of course direct those actors well) and write an amazing, perfected script, you can pull it off.
What is your goal with this script? Get it seen by the right people? Or make it yourself?
Best of luck
Buried
Tape
Reservoir Dogs
Rope
Carnage
Rear Window
Fermat's Room
12 Angry Men
Dogville
The Breakfast Club
Open Water
If you can write interesting and compelling characters in a story the audience enjoys and is intrigued by, then yes. Why was 12 Angry Men so powerful and successful? Great acting, but even more so - a great screenplay and source material. How about Carnage? It had great actors and writing.
If you get good actors (and of course direct those actors well) and write an amazing, perfected script, you can pull it off.
What is your goal with this script? Get it seen by the right people? Or make it yourself?
Best of luck
Most filmmaking is about human interactions - life, death, love, hate, jealousy, envy, fear, gain, loss, joy, sadness, triumph, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. and about personal growth - both positive and negative. Do you consider those things small in scope?
No I don't think these things are small in scope. Those things make movies worth watching.
I have seen open water and Reservoir dogs, I think I saw breakfast club a long time ago...haven't seen buried or rear window yet. I did see psycho which is also a limited location movie. I could put Gerry on this list since it takes place in a desert most of the time.
Watch Rear Window.
Stop everything you are doing, and watch it.
Stop everything you are doing, and watch it.
It knocked me off my feet when I first saw it 15 or so years ago. So well done.
Anyway, for the OP: great writing is great writing. With talent and skill, you can craft a great story that keeps us engaged even with just a single location. It's not easy but it's do-able.
Which one? The original by Alfred Hitchcock with James Stewart and Grace Kelly (BOOH YAH!!), or the Jeff Bleckner version with Christopher Reeve and Daryl Hannah (not bad at all)?
speaking of Hitchcock, it took a while for vertigo to grow on me.
I didn't care for either one..
Psycho and North by Northwest are two of my all time favorite films, and dial m for murder was fantastic, but for whatever reason rear window and spellbound both bored me
First of all, what do you mean by "potential block buster"?
If you mean "This would be a low budget indie, but it could still be a hit because of its strong story", that's one thing. But I assume you actually mean that, despite the few locations, this is for a $50+ million budgeted movie. Care to give us more details?
Also, it totally depends on what locations you're talking about. If this "handful" includes the White House, the Capitol Building, and the National Mall, then yes - that's pretty blockbuster-ish. But if you actually mean "my back yard, my bathroom, and my garage" then it would be hard for anyone to seriously accept the material as a potential tentpole release.
I'd like to see this conversation grow, because this is actually an important topic. (I actually dedicate a whole chunk of my Lynda.com screenwriting course to this, because I think all screenwriters must first establish their professional goals for their scripts - sell to studios or make independently - then make sure their stories' scopes are the right fit for the budgets they're writing for.) But you'll have to give us a wee bit more detail as to the type of story you want to tell and the sort of locations you're actually thinking about.
If you mean "This would be a low budget indie, but it could still be a hit because of its strong story", that's one thing. But I assume you actually mean that, despite the few locations, this is for a $50+ million budgeted movie. Care to give us more details?
Also, it totally depends on what locations you're talking about. If this "handful" includes the White House, the Capitol Building, and the National Mall, then yes - that's pretty blockbuster-ish. But if you actually mean "my back yard, my bathroom, and my garage" then it would be hard for anyone to seriously accept the material as a potential tentpole release.
I'd like to see this conversation grow, because this is actually an important topic. (I actually dedicate a whole chunk of my Lynda.com screenwriting course to this, because I think all screenwriters must first establish their professional goals for their scripts - sell to studios or make independently - then make sure their stories' scopes are the right fit for the budgets they're writing for.) But you'll have to give us a wee bit more detail as to the type of story you want to tell and the sort of locations you're actually thinking about.
The number of locations in your script is irrelevant, as they do not determine whether your movie has sufficient depth or substance. Phil Gary. www.philgaryarts.com
Last edited:
I was writing it as a dream project to get to direct after I get some shorts and some other stuff made. I could shop the idea around to a smaller studio, (but still bigger than the asylum) and possibly get it made. I know it's not a "right now" movie. Since if I made it even if I had a job and a great camera I wouldn't get the movie I wanted.
If approached differently the movie would be a $50 million tentpole, but with the approach I am going I see not much more than $10 million or so going into the project.
If approached differently the movie would be a $50 million tentpole, but with the approach I am going I see not much more than $10 million or so going into the project.
The script will have to be outstanding to attract a budget of $10m though OP... And I mean really outstanding. You'll also have to be lucky. Outstanding is often not enough these days.
Spec sales are much lower now then 5+ years ago. The execs are mostly buying and green lighting scripts that have an already established fanbase in the millions - hence all these best selling novels, popular comics, sequels etc being turned into movies.
Getting a good agent is getting tougher and tougher because there is so little work out there for screenwriters. Many have turned to teleplay (TV) writing - the networks give writers considerable power and there's much more work.
Without an agent it's very difficult (not impossible though) to get your outstanding script into the right hands.
Personally I'd concentrate on writing what you can film yourself.
Last edited: