How to Write a Screenplay
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| .Those Mysterious Eyes. |
A screenplay is a blue print for production of a film.
It contains all the necessary instructions for shooting a movie including dialogue and action.
Whether a scene is to be filmed indoors or outdoors, whether it is daytime or night time, whether you are inside a bar or a farm house - all this and much more goes into the making of a script.
You also need to include appropriate instruction for sound and lighting as also for closing and opening of scenes.
Typically, one page of a script equals to one minute of shooting. So, 90 pages of a script yield around the same length of a movie.
However, the above technicalities do not undermine the sheer appeal of a screenplay as a piece of creative writing. If you happen to read the screenplay of The Sixth Sense (1999) by M. Night Shyamalan, such is the magnetism that you can’t put it down before finishing it.
To put it simply, a screenplay must be a great reading experience as well apart from the fact that it is a blueprint for production of a film.
Story Idea
Prior to writing a screenplay, you should work out a great story idea which strikes a chord with your audience. The idea should have sufficient depth meaning thereby that you should be able to develop it into a full length story with a discernible beginning, climax and resolution.
You may like to dwell on a modern or contemporary subject or it may be a historical event. With respect to the genre, you may like to churn out a drama, a comedy or a mystery. It is important to note here that if you choose to write on something which you have personally experienced, then your story will have a ring of authenticity that will make it credible, a quality that never fails to resonate with the audience.
Structure
It is important that you should learn the art of screenwriting which is entirely different from writing a short story or novel.
A movie is generally organized into three acts which basically mirror the beginning -middle-end structure. Variations to this are possible but I would advise the beginners to stick to the basics initially.
The transition from one act to another is usually marked by a turning point while climax is the most heightened point of tension.
The above saves your story from sounding flat and gives it a curve which grows in intensity as we move forward and culminates into a satisfactory resolution for the viewers.
You may also like to refer to my article Design and Structure for more details on this subject.
Storytelling
While this is a vast subject, it helps to start with the fundamentals first.
Begin with a good and arresting opening that propels your reader to move on and dive deeper into your story. You may like to follow certain guidelines given in my article:
A Great Opening and A Memorable Ending
Let there be an engaging problem at the heart of your story and follow how the main protagonist deals with it. This is an important part and you must ensure that it doesn’t fall flat with interesting twists and turns.
You can have a closed or surprise ending or an open one which invites the reader to fill in the gaps.
Try out the above and see how it shapes up for you.
Synopsis
This is what you would use initially to develop and later to pitch your story. While you are writing the story synopsis for a movie, the screenplay structure becomes evident to the reader. Please also remember that a movie is about showing and not telling. So, the key scenes and issues should stand out in your synopsis for an interested director or producer.
He should find the idea hot and the story attractive enough for conversion into a movie. As they say, your story should have a curve or wavelength that keeps up the momentum.
Lastly, depending on the requirement, you may have to prepare a brief synopsis (1–2 pages) or a detailed one (8–12 pages). I always write both before starting on my screenplay.
You can further refer to my story synopsis of Crazy Colors as an example.
Gradually, you would get familiar with a term known as logline which is basically a short pitch for your story in 1 or 2 lines. Since generally, logline is the first introduction of your story idea to a prospective client, you should learn how to write an appealing one that ignites his interest.
The logline for Crazy Colors runs like this:
An incredible story, inspired by a real life event, about a young and exceptional artist who develops a deadly disease and forced to live in a world of illusions.
Format
The screenplay writing involves using a standard format tailor-made to the requirements of film making. While there are many paid software available in the market at a hefty cost , I use a Free Screenwriting Program called Trelby, which is a simple and elegant tool offering a host of user friendly features.
This saves your time and energy with respect to the formatting and you can focus wholeheartedly on writing your thing. It is a user-friendly, intuitive software which is easy to learn and does not require any coaching.
The format for writing a script for a short film is similar to the one for a full-fledged movie.
What is to be kept in mind here is that a short script writer has to focus primarily on brevity and compactness. He works with a limited number of characters, may be just one or two. His plots are simple and themes sharp. At the same time, he leads the reader into surprising discoveries and reveals what was hitherto unearthed with a precision that requires tremendous skill.
As a reference, you can check out my screenplay titled The Curse for your study. While you would immediately notice the kind of format screenwriting requires, you may also make an endeavor to figure out the structure and see at which exact point in the story an Act starts, the Transition and the moment of Climax.
Copyright
It is always a good idea to register your screenplay and synopsis before sharing it with your clients. You may like to join a screenwriters association like SWA for this purpose which offer the facility to copyright your content online at a reasonable charge.
Here is another Short Screenplay!
Thank you so much Sanket.
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