-
Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.
Realism in script writing
- Thread starter Quarry
- Start date
i'd say to repeat it to yourself and see if it sounds like how people would actually talk/react. Atleast that's what I do. It helps alot
Actors. No matter what is written on the script, actors need to make it real. If not, the director is there to correct it.
Last edited:
yep totally agree, take the dark knight for example, a man in a bat suit, an insane man blowing up a hospital dressed as a nurse yet makes it seem like its just the norm...
This is the third thread he's made to tell 'the internet' that he drinks alcohol.
Cool man. Rock on.
Cool man. Rock on.
Love your Honesty
I think when a writer writes from his experience and sets the story in reality then the script with be based in reality. There is some suspension of disbelief that the audience has with the film that they are watching. But that does not mean that a writer should not research the reality of his or her characters and story to make sure that in the end the audience will find it believable. No matter what genre you write in or what time period your film is in. If you write from your experience and research your story and time period then you are on your way to create a realistic script.
I think when a writer writes from his experience and sets the story in reality then the script with be based in reality. There is some suspension of disbelief that the audience has with the film that they are watching. But that does not mean that a writer should not research the reality of his or her characters and story to make sure that in the end the audience will find it believable. No matter what genre you write in or what time period your film is in. If you write from your experience and research your story and time period then you are on your way to create a realistic script.
THE BLOB is a radioactive Jello mold, yet it terrified millions of people. I think that you mean believable when you say realistic. There is nothing realistic about a sentient gelatin dessert, but audiences believed it. As long as you are true to the world that you create, audiences should be able to suspend their disbelief long enough to get through your movie.
I would partially agree that your Actors or "Characters" make or break the reality in a movie. But the most important thing is your story.
You can't have Dragons flying around while vampires shoot lazer guns at ghosts that have the power to travel through time, all while aliens invade the planet.
Look at Avatar. Why is it believable? Because that same exact storyline has already happend in our world. The Colonization of the Americas and the Native Americans. It was a simple storyline told on a major platform.
You can't have Dragons flying around while vampires shoot lazer guns at ghosts that have the power to travel through time, all while aliens invade the planet.
Look at Avatar. Why is it believable? Because that same exact storyline has already happend in our world. The Colonization of the Americas and the Native Americans. It was a simple storyline told on a major platform.
Filmmaking is not about one single aspect. You can, and indeed most commercial films are, made from unbelievable or unrealistic stories, even some of the true ones! It's how you tell the story through the filmmaking arts which makes it realistic and believable or not. Bad acting can destroy the realism, as can poor editing, poor camera work, poor sound and bad music. Having good sound, good camera work or good acting are not going to make the film realistic or believable if all the other crafts have been executed badly. Imagine Saving Private Ryan with cartoon sound effects, set to the Crazy Frog Song!
My first piece of advice to the OP for creating realism is to get sober!
G
My first piece of advice to the OP for creating realism is to get sober!
G
Why not?
Movies allow you to make the impossible possible and the unbelievable believable. Each of those individual elements you mention is pretty unbelievable, but your movie could be set in a world where these things do exist. You could quite easily formulate a story from these elements. As long as you are true to the story, consistency is key, the story could be believeable.
Characters who prove themselves consistent in their context.
Period.
Period.
The best part about story and film is that you can make whatever you want and make it believable. You create a reality within a fake reality. Whatever happens on screen, it is up to the actors and director to believe that what you see can actually happen within that world.
Take time travel movies for example. Everyone knows (or at least we know) that time travel isn't possible. But the theme is always established in the beginning to make us go, "oh yeah, that totally is possible." As long as your themes are consistent throughout, you can indeed have flying dragons vs. vampires who shoot lasers out of there eyes. You don't have always explain why they can do that, as long as you tell us that it's possible within the world, then it'll work.
And as others have said, just read the script back with others so that they can make sense of it.
Take time travel movies for example. Everyone knows (or at least we know) that time travel isn't possible. But the theme is always established in the beginning to make us go, "oh yeah, that totally is possible." As long as your themes are consistent throughout, you can indeed have flying dragons vs. vampires who shoot lasers out of there eyes. You don't have always explain why they can do that, as long as you tell us that it's possible within the world, then it'll work.
And as others have said, just read the script back with others so that they can make sense of it.
Last edited:
The guy who mentioned experience took my line. I'll add knowledge. Experience and knowledge (and brains, of course) will help a lot here.
E.g., I read a paper by the FBI once on gunshot wounds. Long story short, no, people don't generally die instantly when they're shot. In fact, they don't even usually fall down (much less get thrown anywhere) - that's more often a psychological, rather than physiological reaction. In fact, it often takes a hell of a lot of bullets and bleeding for an angry perp to go down. Usually, it's a direct hit to the spine or brain that results in an instant kill. Otherwise, people have to bleed out or bleed to unconsciousness before they go down. Which can take anywhere from 8 seconds or so for a really nasty hit (say, the heart), up to several minutes. 8 seconds is an eternity to have an angry person shooting back at you.
A scene that dealt with all the interesting parts of that paper would be unlike anything I've ever seen.
Of course, then we have to consider the "reality isn't realistic!" trope: people are conditioned by movies to expect unrealistic tropes and are often upset when a movie "unrealistically" breaks these unrealistic conventions.
E.g., I read a paper by the FBI once on gunshot wounds. Long story short, no, people don't generally die instantly when they're shot. In fact, they don't even usually fall down (much less get thrown anywhere) - that's more often a psychological, rather than physiological reaction. In fact, it often takes a hell of a lot of bullets and bleeding for an angry perp to go down. Usually, it's a direct hit to the spine or brain that results in an instant kill. Otherwise, people have to bleed out or bleed to unconsciousness before they go down. Which can take anywhere from 8 seconds or so for a really nasty hit (say, the heart), up to several minutes. 8 seconds is an eternity to have an angry person shooting back at you.
A scene that dealt with all the interesting parts of that paper would be unlike anything I've ever seen.
Of course, then we have to consider the "reality isn't realistic!" trope: people are conditioned by movies to expect unrealistic tropes and are often upset when a movie "unrealistically" breaks these unrealistic conventions.
Last edited:
I believe irrespective of the story being realistic or fantasy or of any other genre its all about your script being focussed on the very idea of what you wanted it to be without going awry. Next, it should be faithful to the characters making them do as it should for your plot. And atlast, every charater and the way they connect should be faithful to your plot - that implies how they are fleshed out in the plot from the view point of an observer.