Hi everyone,
I know I've talked about filmmaking here, but I've also done some screenwriting in the past. I took a course at my local community college, and from there I entered a short screenplay in the PAGE Awards competition, and it advanced to the second round. I have had, for the past few months, an idea in my mind for a screenplay about a reality TV star accused of murder, and the media circus that surrounds it, from the crime itself, to the pre-trial publicity and the trial itself. As I see it, it's a story told from multiple perspectives, from the suspect herself, to the attorneys, to an up-and-coming reporter who sees this as her chance to break through in the industry. A lot of this material was inspired by past celebrity scandals and trials, mainly the OJ Simpson case (and as a matter of fact, upon seeing the recent documentary on ESPN about the day of the chase, a story idea came from that to where the suspect in my story would do something similar, at the same time of another important event).
I just don't really know where to go with it, like should it be a theatrical movie or a miniseries for TV? I have a rough outline for the plot but it doesn't contain the chase-like event (or as I'm thinking right now, she barricades herself in her house on the day she is scheduled to turn herself in to police, and a storm of media descend on the block where she lives). I also don't really know about courtroom procedure, as silly as this sounds, like when does an attorney object to another attorney's line of questioning, etc. I'm also concerned mainly about dialogue, because I just don't really know how to pull off subtext or how to not make anything sound "on-the-nose". I know how to tell a story visually, and ways to visually reveal character, but dialogue is not one of my strong points. Does anyone have any advice on these points? If so, please let me know. Thanks.
I know I've talked about filmmaking here, but I've also done some screenwriting in the past. I took a course at my local community college, and from there I entered a short screenplay in the PAGE Awards competition, and it advanced to the second round. I have had, for the past few months, an idea in my mind for a screenplay about a reality TV star accused of murder, and the media circus that surrounds it, from the crime itself, to the pre-trial publicity and the trial itself. As I see it, it's a story told from multiple perspectives, from the suspect herself, to the attorneys, to an up-and-coming reporter who sees this as her chance to break through in the industry. A lot of this material was inspired by past celebrity scandals and trials, mainly the OJ Simpson case (and as a matter of fact, upon seeing the recent documentary on ESPN about the day of the chase, a story idea came from that to where the suspect in my story would do something similar, at the same time of another important event).
I just don't really know where to go with it, like should it be a theatrical movie or a miniseries for TV? I have a rough outline for the plot but it doesn't contain the chase-like event (or as I'm thinking right now, she barricades herself in her house on the day she is scheduled to turn herself in to police, and a storm of media descend on the block where she lives). I also don't really know about courtroom procedure, as silly as this sounds, like when does an attorney object to another attorney's line of questioning, etc. I'm also concerned mainly about dialogue, because I just don't really know how to pull off subtext or how to not make anything sound "on-the-nose". I know how to tell a story visually, and ways to visually reveal character, but dialogue is not one of my strong points. Does anyone have any advice on these points? If so, please let me know. Thanks.