Hi there guys. Logan here. I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on how to write long form treatments, i.e. ones that are 30-90 pages long. If not then is there any websites where I could get advise? It's just that I'm working on a commision at the moment and the producer and director want me to write a very long treatment. I have some idea what to write but need a little more info.

Who on Earth would want a 90 page treatment?

As far as length, treatments are generally said to be, "as long as they need to be" -- but 90 pages is a script -- and even 30 pages likely contains way too much detail.

You need to get back in touch with this guy -- as you do not have a clear understanding of what he is asking you for -- and you will be wasting both your time and his.  And if he really is asking you for a 90 page treatment, he has no idea what he is doing, so beware.

There is a page for Treatments here at SS, and they do vary quite a bit in length.  You should check them out to get a feel for the degree of detail they deliver.

The page Bert is referring to can be found here: http://www.simplyscripts.com/treatments.html

For example, the treatment for Star Wars is only about 6 pages, while the treatment for The terminator is almost 50 pages. This is nothing to Cameron's treatment for his new flick, Avavtar, which is nearly 170 pages!

A 90 page treatment almost sounds like a short novelization of the script except with a summarization of the dialogue. Sounds a bit stupid to me since it would take less time to read a script than a treatment, but hey, if they really want something like that. Some people don't do well reading scripts, I suppose.

A treatment to me has always been a summarization of the scenes in a script and those usually written prior to wrting the script. The last time I did one was when I had a script already written and I used a treatment to summarize the scenes to tear it apart and rewrite it from the ground up, tossing out the original script entirely while retaining its essence.

I suppose that would be the basic guidelines of formulating a long treatment, though. Go through the script scene by scene and write out everything that happens in detail and see how long it turns out.

Quoted from sniper the treatment for The terminator is almost 50 pages. This is nothing to Cameron's treatment for his new flick, Avavtar, which is nearly 170 pages!

Note that these works by Cameron are not treatments.  You try giving a 170 page "treatment" to a producer and they will laugh in your face.  Or spit in it.

Cameron, however, can do as he pleases.

For "Avatar", what he has written is a "scriptment", which is more like a short novel.

Note that I have never encountered the word "scriptment" prior to Avatar, and have not encountered it since.  It is possible that Cameron made up the format himself.

It is quite good, though, and I am excited for the upcoming film.  

Quoted from bert Note that these works by Cameron are not treatments.  You try giving a 170 page "treatment" to a producer and they will laugh in your face.  Or spit in it. Cameron, however, can do as he pleases. For "Avatar", what he has written is a "scriptment", which is more like a short novel. Note that I have never encountered the word "scriptment" prior to Avatar, and have not encountered it since.  It is possible that Cameron made up the format himself. It is quite good, though, and I am excited for the upcoming film.

I guess it helps when your last movie grossed nearly 2 bn dollars - then you can make up whatever format you like.

And I agree about the Avatar - it will be the movie to watch in 2009.

All the same, though, I'll bet that 170 page "scriptment" made the script incredibly easy to write. James Cameron is one of the best writer-directors there is, so seeing that he uses treatments so heavily might be a clue to the rest of us. He's probably "directing" the movie in his treatments, so that tool probably serves a dual purpose for him.

I like Bert's reply.

I think that a treatment is more for the writer than anything; however, it's important to have a good and short one established for any serious work.

If you want a long one too and that floats your boat then go for it. Just make sure you're not wasting your time.

Sandra

Quoted from George Willson All the same, though, I'll bet that 170 page "scriptment" made the script incredibly easy to write. James Cameron is one of the best writer-directors there is, so seeing that he uses treatments so heavily might be a clue to the rest of us. He's probably "directing" the movie in his treatments, so that tool probably serves a dual purpose for him.

I agree. I think treatments are one of the hardest things to write. Just like short stories. They look easy, but they're a very different animal than a novel.

Sandra

I agree with Sandra. Treatments are definately a different breed animal than a novel or even a script. I tend to write basic horror/thriller/supernatural type scripts and everytime I've tried to "treatment" something, it turns out a lot longer than I expected. My last one was over 30 pages!!!

I just seem to have trouble NOT adding too much detail to my treatments, but at the same time it's easy for me to write short, descriptive lines for the script.

I'm starting to build the frame of mind that a treatment is more or less a very short novel of your story, for yourself. I try to look at it like my treatment is a story that someone else wrote and it's my job to ADAPT it to script form.

This probably didn't help much but thanks for reading anyway
Brad