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You enter a competition, you send a script to a production company. In both situations, the script is read by someone whose job it is to score the script and mark it as either a pass, consider or recommend. The script readers - the first line of gatekeepers in the industry.
I was lucky enough to be in a session with Stephen Follows (https://stephenfollows.com/) a few days ago. He's a statto! You would think that's boring, but not only is he really funny but he knows his stuff and this data is very revealing.
He's been working for a while now on script scoring. He's analysed 12,000 scripts that were submitted to all the major film festivals and screenwriting competitions over the past year and the scores they received.
The results are revealing and in some cases surprising. Note - this isn't to say if the script is good or bad or if a director would love it, this is what the script readers think and how they score.
Sadly, I'm not allowed to reveal the results yet as it's all tied into an exclusive deal Stephen has. However, he will publish the results next week (I think it is Tuesday) on his site for free. If I remember I'll come back and update this then.
But as a taster, for now, let's play a game. This is the same warm-up game we played in his session. Based on the actor's movie posters (both male and female) and analysis on their facial expression, who do you think is the saddest actor in Hollywood?
So they have got to look sad, not angry, not neutral; sad. And consistently sad. If they are sad on one poster but happy on a different movie poster, that counts against them. So, have a guess and I'll pop back tomorrow with the answer.
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Bounty (TV Pilot) -- Top 1% of discoverable screenplays on Coverfly I'll Be Seeing You (short) - OWC winner The Gambler (short) - OWC winner Skip (short) - filmed Country Road 12 (short) - filmed The Family Man (short) - filmed The Journeyers (feature) - optioned
There's no doubt in my mind that Nicolas Cage fits this category. He has a categorically sad face-- even when he's looking a little on the severe side-- still, the sadness creeps through in his eyes.
If he is in a neutral demeanor, his looks will reach the deep tones of sentiment at least, if not all out sad.
I should write a character using him as a prompt. I feel like his soul can't help but express itself. At the very least, it sure wants out.
We have a winner! Technically I should disqualify as you had two guesses but I'm a nice guy! Ben Affleck it is. I see some think Nic Cage, which is good but statistically, his face is more angry than sad across the board.
For more of my scripts, stories, produced movies and the ocassional blog, check out my new website. CLICK
It is a hefty report but worth checking out. The highlights are that overall, format is the least important aspect of the script and characterisation the most important. Those stats do alter slightly if you go into specific genres. For example in Horror, Plot is less important than in sci-fi, which makes sense.
Another aspect of interest is Voice. Voice is very important but looking at the data, scripts tend to get a higher Voice score if profanity is used. It's as if they go, "Yeah, Tarintino swears a lot and he's got a distinctive voice! and score higher. So fuck yeah!
For more of my scripts, stories, produced movies and the ocassional blog, check out my new website. CLICK
Interesting, but who cares about unproduced scripts?
It's just an analysis of stories that weren't good enough to produce, for whatever reason...comnerciality or quality.
I don't think you quite grasp this. These are the people who read your scripts and give them a score. That score ends up as a pass, consider or recommend and everyone uses script readers, be that in a competition or if you submit to a production studio. They are the first line of gatekeepers, the people who read your script first and this dataset suggests a trend for how they all currently score.
For more of my scripts, stories, produced movies and the ocassional blog, check out my new website. CLICK
I'm going to assume that the scripts in this study were read in their entirety, or else how can they score on each element?
So what about those that don't make it that far? The ones that have 10 or less pages read, I don't mind betting that format plays a much bigger part in whether these end up on the pass pile - and it's a big old pile