I shouldn't be allowed to have a pet peeve yet because I haven't been writing scripts long enough. Nonetheless...

The use of "What the..." in dialogue. It seems as if some character says that in every other script I read.

Anybody else want to contribute?

Quoted from Stumpzian I shouldn't be allowed to have a pet peeve yet because I haven't been writing scripts long enough. Nonetheless...

Pet peeves are natural stuff, I don't think it really has anything to do with the person's ability or experience. If it annoys you, it'll still annoy you whatever the situation. Anyway:

One that clearly pops into my head right now is characters thinking out loud. I've noticed other people don't mind it half as much, making it the perfect pet peeve. I don't mind if it's done well, believably and even if it's there for blatant exposition, when the writer has at least tried to add a layer or two to it. But in most situations, whether I'm watching a movie, series or reading a screenplay that's the thing that makes me roll my eyes. An example on the page would be, if anyone's read it, The Wall in this year's black list. Basically a soldier is stuck behind a wall hiding from a sniper who he's conversing with through a walkie-talkie. There are several moments where he holds the walkie away from him and blurts out the latest revelation he's made. Like, seriously...?

As for something completely screenwriting tehnique related, I don't know, I think I minded things more when I first started out, I'd like to think I'm pretty liberal now. It's often very case-specific too, one writer can make something seem incredibly annoying while the other can make it look brilliant.

If I had to bring something out, I hate the "Alien" style of screenwriting and can't imagine how anyone could ever make it look appealing. There was a script submitted to SS that used the method: http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/Notthatstorythisone.pdf

I'm sure there's more, but they're not coming to me now. I'll add if I think of something else.

Great thread by the way.

"We sees" and "We hears" drive me crazy (er).

Stock phrases should generally be avoided, I think. But there is a place for them, usually in summer blockbusters. Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy had some of those cliche moments in abundance.

Here's a cool little search engine for finding movie quotes, and how often they've been used -

http://www.subzin.com/search.php?q=we+got+company

("We got company" has occured 877 times in cinema history, as far as this database knows anyway)

Quoted from Stumpzian I shouldn't be allowed to have a pet peeve yet because I haven't been writing scripts long enough.

I shouldn't have them either because English is not my native language, but I'm getting better and unfortunately my pet peeves list is getting longer. My pet peeves are more of a misuse of words. I get really annoyed when people talk and they say iluminate when they really mean eliminate and vice versa. I hear professionals make that mistake too. Like journalists even and I'm sure they know the difference. Another one is people mixing up might and may. Two different meanings in my book! Another one is people saying jealous when they really mean envious. Again, two different meanings! Grrrr....  

Quoted from Grandma Bear I shouldn't have them either because English is not my native language

I sure couldn't tell.

Using exclamation points in action/desciption lines over and over drives me mad.

Using cliche similies, metaphors, and analogies also pisses me off to no end.

But, my biggest pet peeve would probably be asides, especially when they're poorly done.  Takes me right out of the read and usually leads me to stop reading and start writing a nasty review.

My biggest peeve is very specific.  It involves the use of money.  A long time ago I used to work in a cash vault at a bank, and I toss this information out every couple of years or so when an opportunity arises to do so.

Two million dollars will not fit into a briefcase.  Not even a million dollars.

The largest denomination in circulation is the $100 bill.  So, 1000 of these bills, strapped tightly together ($100,000) is about the size of a hardback novel.

A briefcase will hold about $500,000, tops.  A million dollars is "about" the size of a microwave oven.  A large duffle bag might hold a million, but not much more than that.  And again, we are talking $100s, with no $50s or $20s in the mix.

Anyways, the more you know.

If I read a script with 5 million dollars in a briefcase, I stop immediately.  It bugs me that much.

Remember when I was going to make Finders Keepers myself? It had $2M in it. I actually bought that amount in fake cash in $100 bills. It does fit in a big duffel bag. I have it on display in the living room. It is heavy though. Maybe 40lbs or so.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Remember when I was going to make Finders Keepers myself? It had $2M in it. I actually bought that amount in fake cash in $100 bills. It does fit in a big duffel bag. I have it on display in the living room. It is heavy though. Maybe 40lbs or so.

Supposedly, $1,000,000 in $100 bills weighs 22 pounds by itself.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Remember when I was going to make Finders Keepers myself? It had $2M in it. I actually bought that amount in fake cash in $100 bills. It does fit in a big duffel bag. I have it on display in the living room. It is heavy though. Maybe 40lbs or so.

Good lord...you actually purchased 20,000 fake bills?

How much did that cost?  Sometimes I wonder if you are actually working with something they call a "budget".

I have never actually encountered one of these so-called "budgets"...but I hear they exist

The money was going to be a big part of the film so I figured it better be right. I think it cost about $500. I printed a few of my own and sprinkled them on top of the fake money too look more real. Did you know that printers don't like printing money?

Did you just get one side printed?

My only real pet peeve is actually when watching a film and that is chess matches. I always look at the board to check the state of play and sometimes things just aren't right. Little things like, black has too many moves on the board... a checkmate that isn't a checkmate, a check that isn't a check.

Really puts me off watching. I'd say that I never actually recover from it. Until the film is over or I turn it off, obviously.

Re Dustin's chess comment:

In a similar vein, newspaper front pages that you wouldn't see in the real world bother me. ie, headlines to advance the plot that aren't written in an authentic way, etc.

Also, 555 telephone numbers take me right out of a movie. In most cases, the scene could've  been done without mentioning the number at all.

Are you guys talking about in scripts or in actual films?

I do agree, as I've seen multiple chess setups in films athat are rediculous and downright impossible, but I think we're talking about scripts here.