So of course I truly do not want to break the I.T. rule against linking to another (in this case vaguely) similar webforum. I do not want to do that. I hope that I am doing this in a legitimate fashion acceptable to the I.T. TOS. I only cite the poster's I.D. for the sake of properly citing the author and the author's intellectual property, I suppose, properly. I truly hope that this is a legitate action and a way of presenting it here properly...
...because it's been really bugging me.
What odocoileus says seems contrary to what I thought I'd learned here on I.T. But he/she seems to speak from authority. So is he/she spreading misinformation? Or am I simply confused about what I thought I'd learned here from the pros on I.T? Or is there actually no contradiction between what odocoileus says and what you experienced pros have said here on I.T?
Please set me straight.
So, the OP on some writing forum asked about finding spec scripts online to read and to model their own scripts upon. Well, something like that.
In response...
odocoileus wrote:
odocoileus wrote:
odocoileus wrote:
odocoileuse wrote:
So what gives? Is odocoileuse mistaken? Is he/she correct? Am I confused? What is the truth?
Thanks!
...because it's been really bugging me.
What odocoileus says seems contrary to what I thought I'd learned here on I.T. But he/she seems to speak from authority. So is he/she spreading misinformation? Or am I simply confused about what I thought I'd learned here from the pros on I.T? Or is there actually no contradiction between what odocoileus says and what you experienced pros have said here on I.T?
Please set me straight.
So, the OP on some writing forum asked about finding spec scripts online to read and to model their own scripts upon. Well, something like that.
In response...
odocoileus wrote:
The shooting script is the script. The only difference is that shooting scripts have numbered scenes. Other than that, they're the same.
odocoileus wrote:
This is a widespread misconception promoted by people who don't actually work in the film industry. Of course you can use shooting scripts as a model for format, storytelling approaches, how to stage scenes, and so on. No one is ever thrown by an occasional camera angle or POV shot. No one. Just not an issue.
The final draft of that script had everything you describe. The director didn't go through and add it. The writer put it in from the very beginning.
odocoileus wrote:
Of course new writers should use shooting scripts as models. Shooting scripts are what everyone reads and what everyone is familiar with. If you get staffed on a TV show, you'll be expected to write like that, right out of the gate. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't actually work in the Hollywood film and television industry. You want the pros' job, you do what the pros do. No training wheels.
Neal posted above about the confusion between continuity scripts and shooting scripts; that's part of the problem. Continuity scripts specify every shot and sound effect. Continuity scripts are a record of the finished film for copyright and other legal purposes, assembled after a film is edited and ready for distribution.
odocoileuse wrote:
Most of the scripts that are available are shooting scripts; they're fine to learn from and to imitate. Most pro scripts have the occasional camera angle; it's not a big deal, no one in the Hollywood film industry worries about that. Telling people they can't learn from these or imitate them is bad advice.
Most the work in Hollywood, for actors, writers, and directors, is in single camera episodic television. So everyone has seen those scripts and is familiar with that format. Almost all those scripts have a few camera angles. The occasional close-up, tracking shot, or angle-on in a script doesn't bother anyone. Just not an issue.
Directors don't go through scripts and add camera angles, that's a misconception. Directors work from shot lists and sometimes storyboards.
If you see a script with every shot and camera movement specified, you're looking at a continuity script, not a shooting script. Continuity scripts are assembled after the film is finished, for copyright and other legal purposes. No one should be imitating the formatting in continuity scripts. That should be clear enough.
Script readers in Hollywood do coverage on a wide variety of stuff. Feature and pilot scripts from established pros, feature and pilot scripts from aspiring newcomers, plus plays, novels, magazine articles, biographies, comic books, short stories. The readers are focused on the story, the characters, the way this particular piece of material fits in with the stated criteria and the overall goals of whoever they're reading for. Camera angles just don't come up as an issue.
Pretty much everything you've posted above is wrong. I'm (morbidly) curious as to where you got your information.
So what gives? Is odocoileuse mistaken? Is he/she correct? Am I confused? What is the truth?
Thanks!
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