Practice Makes Perfect: The do’s and don’ts of screenwriting
A lot of what is stipulated by industry professionals and screenwriting gurus out West in Hollywood is rather vague. From the inciting incident to the controlling idea and finally conflict, each of these text book methods speak of the same thing, the story is propelled forward at a certain point on the time line, by means of one of these three fundamental rules.
Though these principles have been executed to different degrees of understanding and success, an equilibrium can be met, so before you dive haplessly into the deep end, do not be confused by what is right or wrong, nor should you channel these ideas into one common expression. Read as much as you can and do not limit yourself!
Each method has its pros and cons but essentially picking up experience and tricks are what we are all practicing this for.
The system will always challenge film-makers to go against the tried and tested methods, opting instead for better and less generic writing. But, the first thing to note before packaging your script, ready for a production company, is to understand that there are trends. Highlighting the relevance of your film before you go into production is an important note, but not essential.
In the case of the spec sale, there are two options you can explore, before sitting down at your writing desk. You begin typing and you start to wonder what is the purpose of your script, or in other words — what makes your story film-worthy? The answer is simple…
Let’s take two spec writing samples and its production process, lost in the annals of all film triumph’s history are American History X Vs Witness with Harrison Ford. American History X may be that shining example of commissioned writing work packaged and directly approaching a big studio, is an example of better and less generic writing, but this is not what we will be discussing, not for the time being anyway. The case in point is of the biggish sale Vs the smaller sale. Witness on the other hand would have been packaged and sold to a smaller production house and then produced and then distributed by a big studio. I trust you see the difference.
Okay, now that we have some perspective… let’s start to differentiate the two cases. It is simply a case of production value and how well you manage your budget, which makes the film what it is and that is exactly the point. The purpose driven screenplay is the point. What you do later is based on perspective. Sort of a, “not what you know but who you know situation!”
The question? What can you achieve with what little or how much you have?
Continued writing makes perfect and you will soon begin to find a happy median between what you want to write about and what you can reasonably achieve. Writing is rewriting is a good philosophy to go by. Happy Writing!
