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I cant seem to ever finish my scripts---because I have no idea how to end them. Its almost lke I dont want to---but mostly because I never know how to reach the point at which they conclude. How do I (stupid question...) finish?
The End of the World: Two Starbucks, right across from each other. You get your coffee, go out of one, look across the street and say "HOLY SH*T! There another one!!!" Its like your stuck in some alternate dimesion......
What is it with you and all these tough questions?
Anyway... as I've tried to give you as much imput as I can in previous post, I'll try to give you my two cents here too.
1st -- You have to know your story. you have to know your characters. You have to feel eachone and work towards a goal the entire duration of your screenplay/movie.
2nd -- Know your beginning, middle and end, always! Before you start your work. Or in atleast in a general way. I know myself I like to plan 3 endings and 2 openings to each of my movies, including my many many many shorts. This way you can take one idea, mix it with another and another and come out with something really good or pick up somthing else along the way that'll work too.
3rd -- Decide what your mood is. What is the type of setting? How is this story progressing? Is it a comedy, drama, action, horror, si-fi film? What works best for this type of movie? Ask yourself this.
4th-- Don't hurry it. Take your time. Don't rush into an undesired ending, if your not working on a deadline or pay by scale base. It is always good to let your work sit for awhile and then go back and finish it. You'll have a better outlook on the whole picture.
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I can't say 100% dead on how to end your movie. I simply can't, cause I don't know your movie. I can only pass out my basic knowledge of the craft of screenwritting. Again there is no wrong or right way to write your movie. If you want a sad, happy, bloody, funny, ending it's up to you to make it so.
I mostly dont usually have an ending because I begin with an idea, and just an idea. SO when you have an idea, you usually know the begining, or the start of the idea. I just dont know how to get the answer to the "idea" and finish my friggin story.
But I'm gonna do what you said and make sure I have a begining, middle. and end before I continue.
The End of the World: Two Starbucks, right across from each other. You get your coffee, go out of one, look across the street and say "HOLY SH*T! There another one!!!" Its like your stuck in some alternate dimesion......
I usually write the beginning and ending way before I even start the script, so when I go the write the insides it just flows nicely and whatever changes throughout the script and effects the ending well it'll change with that
I always know the beginning and ending and have problems in between
Doing the start, middle, end.... allows the filler is always so much easier then. If you have three major plot points to go with, you can't tell me you're gonna mess everything up.
Add to this, they are the most important plot points in your movie. Trust me, if you have a good start, middle and end, before you have the rest... it's gonna flow.
Yay. I'm gonna do that---but I suppose the middle would be considered the climax of the movie?
The End of the World: Two Starbucks, right across from each other. You get your coffee, go out of one, look across the street and say "HOLY SH*T! There another one!!!" Its like your stuck in some alternate dimesion......
If your goals for each character are higher than their own goals, their achievements might believably end up being above above their own goals, but below your goals for them. But because they surpassed their own goals, the audience leaves happy, having vicariously witnessed success.
...and when your script is too long, find the most important achievement of the main character, and edit out every scene that does not contribute directly to that achievement. You'll be left with a script that's too short, but you'll have a very visible framework for further developing the draft.
I actually did that thing where you "outline" the story and---I actually know howit wll go now! Of course, I hate outlining, and wish I could just do without it, but it works...
The End of the World: Two Starbucks, right across from each other. You get your coffee, go out of one, look across the street and say "HOLY SH*T! There another one!!!" Its like your stuck in some alternate dimesion......
Outlines proove to be useful at times. If you jot them down on index cards and arrange them to acts 1,2, & 3 you shoudl have no problem filling your movie with enough content from start to finish.
This will also give you time to make any changes along the way. Add characters. Take out characters. Hone and polish dialouge for an upcoming scene. Add a twist to your 4th pinch and 4th plot point.
It's a great way to do things, but... it can also restrict your mind from thinking beyond this pattern too. So be careful on how far you take your outline and how serious you are about it.
You should write your TREATMENT or outline BEFORE you write dialogue or narrative.
Like the scene seletions in DVDs. You can briefly name each scene, then elaborate with a few sentences, the important information that takes place in each scene. Keep a notebook for all your ideas. Write down the lines you think are funny or important. Quality work takes times. Solid story stucture is just as important as your dialogue. There are many different formulas for story structure, but all successfull films have three acts. Ive posted the most common ACT structure many times. The hero's journey. There is a thread of the same name that outlines the acts for you. This is what lucas used for starwars, and made the structure popular. They make you learn this in every class.
When you finish your treatment, filling in the dialogue, speaches ect will be much easier.
If you're in the momentum of a "feel" for your characters, setting, and situation, you can improvise far better writing than if you were following a strict guideline, like an outline and/or a treatment -- both can seriously inhibit the creativity of a writer who is in "the zone." Â Most of my scripts -- which won several awards -- were written with only outlines of characters, and discriptions of settings and situations, NOT outcomes.
Thats true, its good to have an ending to sum up the theme, but you make it sound like the theme is less important than its own resolution. Its good to have an ending, but I think a well thought out idea is even more important, because with that, then you can add any ending that seems fit. I might be wrong, but thats just how I see it. I dont understand the quote, either, because thats like saying "at then end of this movie, everyone will die" and THEN make up a way to reach this conclusion---I dont understand. Anyone, explain.
The End of the World: Two Starbucks, right across from each other. You get your coffee, go out of one, look across the street and say "HOLY SH*T! There another one!!!" Its like your stuck in some alternate dimesion......