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Struggling with the screenplay.

I am film student. For our production course, we are instructed to make a short film (10-15 min) long.
We have to submit the first draft of wednesday, and it's monday now. For last 3 days i have been struggling to map out the proper beginning, middle and end.
When i write just without any planning or outline, i'll write a first act, break into the second, and i got stuck.
I have many ideas, but i feel totally scattered.
THe biggest issue is writing within the economy. Since we don't have a female to play a character, no VFX, nothing like that..
It's a no budget student film, we have a house to shoot at.. which is well furnished. and 2 male actors who are willing to act (aged between 20-25).

So a movie with minimal locations, ideally one. With max 2 or 3 characters. all male. in twenties.

Any ideas?? anything.. just say, what if a miracle happens. That gets the creative energy flowing.
 
Seriously, dude? You're in film school, you get to make a freakin' film, and you got nuthin?? Are you sure you want to be there?

It's all about telling a story, right? Find your premise, and tell the story. You got this.
 
When i write just without any planning or outline, i'll write a first act, break into the second, and i got stuck.

This sentence has drawn my attention, and might it be you just have too many ideas and no way to structure them?

Start with just few big points of what should happen in your film, and position them on the timeline, but make it a complete story. Then make sure the points are in the proper order, and point in time, creating the needed drama etc. then start adding lesser points of interest - I guess in your case those just would be lines of text, but still, same compositional rules apply. If you have a solid skeleton, you will have no problem "growing meat" on those bones and add dialogue etc.

In short - Don`t write from start to end!! ;)
 
Another tip: don't approach from a narrative or plot perspective, but think of a theme you want to explore. Then map a story that best illustrates that theme. Also, two days to write a script seems like an insane timeline to me. :/ I guess that's school though.
 
:welcome:

A 10-15 minute short is no joke. If you said it was 3 minutes I'm sure we could all help you with some ideas, but 15 min... that's a real deal story, better get to work!
 
Okay you got this, man. You just gotta come up with something that's plausibly awesome and thrilling, with tension and all that and only use two characters. So, how about this:

Friend visits other friend whose in a wheel chair with mental impairments to confess that he's the reason why the accident happened, which ruined his life. He can't live with himself so he brought a gun with him because he feels that the only way to make this right is for him to get the revenge he deserves. Now, the handicapped friend must decide whether to end his life or forgive and help him with his own personal demons.

That's pretty simple and as long as you focus on strong dialogue you can really make it impactful without having to do too much. Just two guys in a room and a prop gun. And, I don't know. If you really wanna go the extra mile, you should get a female actress to play the mom who comes in after running some errands, and show them play everything off like nothing happened when in fact this huge drama unfolded, which could have ended in a young guy's death.

Anyway, hoped that helps.
 
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I"m a huge fan of horror films. They can be done with minimal locations, actors, and props, and any level of creativity. While this flexibility can of course lend itself to creating some real stinkers, it's also very possible to make something extraordinary.

Just this weekend I watched Green Room. The entire movie takes place in and around one building, and most of it in which the characters are locked in one room. It was a great movie! Take advantage of your situation: there's only 2 or 3 guys and they can't leave their house. Why? Plot from there.

Oh, and when you're done shooting it, post it!
 
Okay you got this, man. You just gotta come up with something that's plausibly awesome and thrilling, with tension and all that and only use two characters. So, how about this:

Friend visits other friend whose in a wheel chair with mental impairments to confess that he's the reason why the accident happened, which ruined his life. He can't live with himself so he brought a gun with him because he feels that the only way to make this right is for him to get the revenge he deserves. Now, the handicapped friend must decide whether to end his life or forgive and help him with his own personal demons.

That's pretty simple and as long as you focus on strong dialogue you can really make it impactful without having to do too much. Just two guys in a room and a prop gun. And, I don't know. If you really wanna go the extra mile, you should get a female actress to play the mom who comes in after running some errands, and show them play everything off like nothing happened when in fact this huge drama unfolded, which could have ended in a young guy's death.

Anyway, hoped that helps.

Bro, this is so good, i wish i had seen this before. I think my next could be written on this one. I submitted a script... let's see what happens with it.
 
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