I NEED TIPS ON SCREENWRITING

[Slugwriter]

Hello, Indie Friends. It's me, again, Slug.

I have learned many new things that I've never even heard of from this website. But Im still starving for MORE!!!! My mind is like a Zombie, NEED MORE BRAINS.

Tell me about what a screenplay is?

Some tips about Screenplay writing, like, using Verbs ending with ING. Explain to.

I know you guys like to help. We are brothers. So, dp your thing.

 

[VPTurner]

Upgrade your membership and start here:

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=8369&highlight=filmy's+structure

Then you'll have access to the forum gurus.

Meantime, your best bet is to use the search feature since much of what you ask has been covered before. Some books to get you started (I'm pretty sure no one here has the time to write you a novel and teach you how to write a screenplay) are by Blake Snyder ("Save the Cat!" series) and Karl Iglesias ("101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters" and "Writing for Emotional Impact"). Also look into "The Anatomy of Story" by John Truby and "The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler. Once you start writing the script, have "The Hollywood Standard" by Christopher Riley handy since it's a decent reference on screenplay style and format.

Several books and seminars here:

http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/

Free screenwriting software (if you don't already have it):

http://www.celtx.com/

 

[Adeimantus]

Watch a lot of good movies. Then watch them again and again, and take notes. What scene did they open with? What scene did they close with? Watch them with a critical eye, rather than just to oogle Angelina.

Read a lot of good screenplays.

Read a lot of good books on how to write a good screenplay (and what dramatic structure is, and what the elements of good storytelling are).

See if your local university or college offers screenwriting classes or seminars. Attend.

Read more good screenplays.

Keep asking questions here.


Oh, the ing thing.

words ending in "ing" are generally passive verbs. You don't wanna get gerunded-up, bro.

Johnny is running to catch the thief. (passive, not so good)

Johnny runs to catch the thief. (active, immediate, strong, better)

 

[VPTurner]

Johnny is running to catch the thief. (passive, not so good)

Actually, no.

A lot of people think that all sentences that contain a form of the verb to be are in passive voice, but that isn't true. For example, the sentence "I am holding a pen" is in active voice, but it uses the verb am, which is a form of to be. The passive form of that sentence is "The pen is being held by me."

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx

Active voice is someone does something - subject before action. Passive is subject performing the action appears after the action. In your example, Johnny does something (or "is doing"). Thus, not passive.

Note the ING at the end of "being" in the above quote as an example in the passive text.

Passive: "The Thief gets stomped by Johnny" or "The Thief is getting stomped by Johnny."
Active: "Johnny stomps the Thief" (present tense), or "Johnny is stomping the Thief" (present progressive tense)

So really the whole ING thing doesn't necessarily relate to passive voice. It's just that omitting ING words promotes brevity, i.e. "stomps" as opposed to "is stomping", three syllables instead of one.

 

[dainbreadfilms]

once you start

there is a free program called celtx that will help format your stuff. Just download it. It is pretty simple to figure out but I'm told just not as good as Final Draft. I have been using it and don't really have any problems with it. Oh yeah my buddy wrote a small little article on my webpage about the super basics check it out at the bottom.

www.fishcapades.info

He's going to be writing more stuff when we get the ball rolling a little faster.

 

[wheatgrinder]

humility is good

 

[Padnar]

Hello, Indie Friends. It's me, again, Slug.

I have learned many new things that I've never even heard of from this website. But Im still starving for MORE!!!! My mind is like a Zombie, NEED MORE BRAINS.

Tell me about what a screenplay is?

Some tips about Screenplay writing, like, using Verbs ending with ING. Explain to.

I know you guys like to help. We are brothers. So, dp your thing.

As you have asked about verbs I would say you should use the present tense in script writing and you should always use active voice . Having said that I have to say knowing this I commit mistakes use the past tense LOL
Padma

 

[wcmartell]

1) read a bunch of screenplays.
2) lots of info on the web, including on my site.

- Bill
Free Script Tips Every Day:
http://www.ScriptSecrets.Net

 

[Slugwriter]

Alright then, Bumble bee tuna, bumble bee tuna

You guys are great, and ladies if you are out there

I am no novice lol, I do do all those things and have for years. I just thought I'd here some things I never learned, like the Active and passive tense. It all makes sense, but the way you guys say it makes it seem so much more difficult then it is lol. But thank you everyone, keep the Comments coming