Write or Read?

First Movie (~90mins) what do you recommend?

  • Write your own story

    Votes: 9 75.0%

  • Get a Screenplay from a screenwriter

    Votes: 3 25.0%
  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
Graeme

Graeme

I'm going into micro/no-buget indie films over the summer (after a few quick shorts) and I'm wondering if it would be better for a beginning director/DOF to write their own script or get one from a screenwriter?

I have ideas and I can write, but I'm not sure they would be the best movies to jump head first into right off the bat.
 
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I can't imagine there is a "best" in this case. I look forward
to the replies of others.

Clearly if the director/DP has an excellent script he wrote
that would be "best". But if he has a script that isn't very
good then it would be "best" to find a script that was better.

You have ideas and you can write so do you have an idea
that would make a really good screenplay? And do you have
the skills as a writer to do it? Or are you better at finding
great material from a writer?
 
Good questions often have easy answers.

What you shall do is to ask yourself where you want to see
yourself. If your goal is to be a festival winner in a year or so
you need a suitable script for that festival exactly that interests
you. You imply that you don't have that script.

If you see that you'd have it if you wrote it, that's a working
option. If not you must find someone to write it for you. The
main thing is always to plan so well that you know in detail
what you are looking for.
 
I agree with directorik that there really is no best answer to the question as you put it. It depends on how good the material is. If you write something that's better than any other script you find, then I'd make that. If the reverse happens, then go with the other script.

On the other hand, there's something about making the story YOU want to tell--i.e. you're an auteur, not a hired hand. I can't imagine Paul Thomas Anderson, for instance, directing a script someone else wrote just because it was better than his. So I say it depends on whether you want to be a writer-director or don't care about the writing and just want to be a director.
 
With no or micro budget you likely won’t have a fully loaded grip truck, or be renting an abandoned hotel on some small exotic island, and that’s fine, you make do with what you have, BUT if your writing chops aren’t stellar, or you feel they are sketchy in certain elements, then do some reading (or some co-writing with someone who has the goods) and find/create a solid story with solid characters and solid dialogue worthy of solid actors you can hire, a story you can visually depict within your means –with good sound. Even if you had a big budget and the grip truck on some small exotic island, without a good script it’s all a waste no matter who wrote it.

-Thanks-
 
Well put it this way, I've never written a screen play (poems and short stories for sure). The following is for an idea for a movie (or more like several mini-sodes) which I just wrote in the last ten minutes as an example after doing a quick read of how to format a screen play. The stuff in Italics are notes to me as DOP/Director, I wouldn't expect that detail in a script from someone else. It needs a lot of work and there isn't any character interaction or dialogue but I guess it shows how I visuallize a scene and write it down. On my word processor its about a page

“Victory Kitty”
Screen Play by Graeme Hay​

EXT. OUTSIDE AN APARTMENT IN CENTRAL CITY
Camera Pans up to show top of apartment complex then zooms into a window

INT. KATE'S BEDROOM
Establish its a female's bedroom and that the bed is occupied by unknown.

Kate
{Tussles in Sheets}

Clock {o.s.}
Beep Beep Beep

Kate
{Groans and pulls cover more tightly together}​

CUT TO: CLOCK ON BEDSIDE/DESK

Clock {Continued}
Beep Beep Be...
Kate Arm/Hand Slaps top of Clock​

CUT TO: KATE IN BED

Kate's arm swings back and she rolls away from camera to continue sleeping.

ALPHA TO: Sun through window slowly rising (5min or 5 degrees in 5 seconds)

Clock {o.s.}
Beep Beep Beep​

CUT TO: CLOCK – BEEPING

Kate's Hand coming down on clock and yanking it off table.

CUT TO: CLOCK

Clock hits the ground and bounces

Track to Clock rest.

CUT TO: Bed – Top View

Kate recoils her arm gingerly and pulls of covers.

CUT TO:
KATE
{Wearing Fleece Pjs – Sits Up}​

EDIT - Although I'm 99% sure your not going to give this a second though to stealing it, Copyright 2010 Graeme Hay :P
 
I think you need just a bit more research on screenplay
format. Yours is way, way off.

But it seems you have your answer. the best thing for
you is to write your own script. That way you can make
the movie you really want to make.
 
It's ALLWAYS good to practice directing someone elses work. It has a different feel, and your not bias on anything.
 
You can combine the notes to yourself (Italics) and the parenthetical (character action) into action lines that state what and who the camera sees and hears.

Show us (in words) what we need to SEE (and or HEAR) to know it’s a female’s room, and tell us it’s KATE that tussles beneath the sheets, then move on so the story keeps pushing forward.

For 5 minutes of formating experience it's not that bad. If you have a story, take the time to learn to convert it into a proper script, it can’t hurt for the future. Will it be a script you should shoot? Only you can say. If you are unsure about it, maybe get a few script minded people to read it and/or maybe help you rewrite it. Will it then be the script you should make? Only you can say.

-Thanks-
 
I agree with directorik, your format is a little funky and way off.

Just read a couple of screenplays and you can see how to format the SLUGS and how to smooth out the descriptions....

My opinion though... If you are able and you made it clear that you are, WRITE YOUR OWN.... That's what I would. It's an amazing feeling watching what you wrote playing on a screen, even if it's not necessarily the big screen.
 
Here, just a quick little reformat to make the script tight to give you an example...

EXT. CENTRAL CITY - MORNING

The soft glow of the sun washes over a quaint, little apartment.

Curtains tussle about through an open window.

INT. BEDROOM - CONT.

Fluffy animal posters cover the pink walls from ceiling to floor.

Perfumes and lotions clutter the dresser tops.

etc....

A good thing to remember is to SHOW not TELL the audience. Don't tell us it's a girl's bedroom. Show us. Describe the walls. Describe the dresser tops cluttered with random perfumes, etc.

Be descriptive and it will make your story flow like no other...

It doesn't have to be perfect though, especially if you are going to be the one directing the film... So it doesn't have to necessarily be written as if it is a spec. But even still, shooting drafts are structured a certain way.

Okay, it's time to hit the sack. I'm tired. If you'd like any more help with screenwriting and formatting please, do not hesitate to e-mail me. Even if you continue to post in the thread, people will definitely help you out.
 
I'd rather write than look for a screenplay. I don't know why. I guess I just see my own vision better than I see others.

Not to say I don't recognize other people's screenwriting abilities, just I'd rather tell my own stories. I trust my own vision.
 
I agree with what a lot of others are saying that there is no "best" answer... one thing that i think about with projects though is writing scripts and stories partially around what settings/actors/even props that I have access too, which is very helpful to me when it comes time to produce, and is often actually good in terms of making me more creative with writing.

Although, I'm sure the same principle could work the other way, you get a script with very ambitious elements then have to get super creative in terms of your producing...
 
I agree with you on the creative factor HZ.

Learning to write for budget (Or lack of) to me can be a vital lesson.

I love low budget high concept horror that stems from creativity being shaped by practicality.
Stuff like.. “It came from the dollar store!” or “Night of the Ramen!” or “Futon of the damned” or something about a haunted storage facility (if someone already rents one), or even something about junk mail can be awesome.

I’ve written things like “What lies outside the closet” and used just a closet.
“Initation- (No one gets out trying to fit in!)” and just used a basement.
I haven’t gotten to “Chainmail Slave Girls of Lower Wacker Drive” yet, but I will.

Of course it doesn't have to be horror to work.

-Thanks-
 
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To me, some filmmakers should NEVER write their own story. I've read them, made notes, suggested tweaks and structural changes and they just don't get it. I'm talking about filmmakers that simply cannot write.

How would they know that? Well, I think if a screenplay is worth filming, then it's probably worth spending a few bucks for some basic coverage on it. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest getting at least 3 different pieces of coverage.

In my experience, most coverage is fairly consistent... Get some standard coverage for your script to see what someone in Hollywood would be likely to say about your script. Coverage isn't really like getting an analyst to work with you... Coverage is simply what they find good or bad about your screenplay.

Too many filmmakers with too little experience think they can write great EVERYTHING. It might be nice to be brought back down to EARTH a bit before taking out that 2nd mortgage on your house or using up all your savings only to find out later on that your script SUCKED.

filmy
 
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