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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Unproduced Screenplay Discussion    Sci Fi and Fantasy Scripts  ›  Predator 3: Questionable Loyalty Moderators: bert
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  Author    Predator 3: Questionable Loyalty  (currently 3936 views)
Baltis.
Posted: October 31st, 2010, 3:13pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from samisamuel34
thanks baltis for the insight. How can i get the right tools?


I since finished the script and was waiting to see if you had come back or not... Don't let a few naysayers scare you off the site.  You've got the talent to write, and it shows in your work here.  Some will lambast you for writing a fan-fic script and say it's a waste of time; and I'd agree with those statements if that's all you work on (Fan Fiction).   I don't, however, agree it's a waste if you've got your own material and are writing fan-fic because you need a creative break or want to explore something you're familiar with for awhile.

The right tools are going to be subjective... Anyone is going to tell you to read books and other scripts.  I say, yeah, it helps, but if you don't got it you don't got it.  Books and other scripts will help you very little if you don't have the passion to write and come up with your own material.

1. Your dialog needs to be tightened up to read more naturually.  Not everything has to be fed to us through the characters.  Let the story unfold.

2. Action slugs need not turn into weighty paragraphs.  Never go over 4 lines in a slug.  Try to keep it to 2 ad 3 if possible.  Don't go out of your way to pack in everything into one slug, either.  Break it up and down into what is needed for the reader to visualize the most.  

--
The thief DARTS down a grim alley and over a chain-link fence.  Two beat cops in hot pursuit.
--


It can be as simple as above or as complex and clumsy as this...

--
The daring thief RACES down a grim alley rot with trash and other debris -- He steps in a puddle of water that gathers from the gutters but continues on.  Two beat cops, in hot pursuit, DART around the corner of the alley and put the heat on.  The thief knows he's in trouble so he picks up the pace and scales a chain-link fence at the end of the alley.  Could he be seconds away from freedom?
--


Which one reads more clear and decisive?  We know, living in the world we live in, what an alley in the city is going to look like.  The set director will lace it and deck it out with what he/she wants anyways.  Don't give us every tiny detail.  Just the basics.  Just what the camera can track and use.  

3.  FADE IN is always used at the start of a script... It gets tricky when you toss them in other places.  There are other ways to pull off what you're going for than using a FADE IN and OUT in the middle of a script.  Write it how "WE" see it.  We don't get to read FADE IN AND OUT on screen...  It's a transition.  WE see it.

4.  Supers and all those match and smash cuts are worthless.  Again, there are ways around them in a script that read much better than being blasted in the face with a super, something that takes us out of the script, and then have to continue on to get to the story.  This one is general, by the way.  Not a direct imply to you personally.

There is more but I'm pressed for time right now... But will be back and you can always message me if you want some heads up or something.  I don't write full time, I've sold some scripts in my day but I don't consider myself the authority... I just know what tools I use to write good stories and character dialog that people in my same demograph would want to see.  Not everyone is going to like what you do.  That's a cruel, harsh reality.  But at least they won't hate the formating, right?

P.S. Books I recommended, but not because you want to rely on them, rather just want the insight...

"How NOT to write a screenplay"

"The devils Guide to Hollywood":  This book isn't going to teach you a thing about screenwriting, but the information on the business is invaluable.  It's a must own/read book if you want to get into the business.

"Screenwriting for dummies"

"Crafty Writing"

"101 habits of successful screenwriting"

"Your screenplay sucks"

"Screenplay by Syd Field"


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