The Screenwriting Thread

[SapphirePrima]

I hope to write for tv one day. I have a pilot for a teleplay in my own development right now.

Last year my computer crashed so I lost all my stories and stuff. And I really haven't had the time to sit down and write something.

I use Scriptbuddy cause I'm pretty cheap to go out and by screenwriting software.

[Showtime]

Originally Posted by Gotham

Yeah. I find most Screenwriters using Final Draft 7. Never forget Movie Magic Screenwriter, though. I love the budget tool.

I've been writing for over 10 years now, and I've never really liked any of the programs all that much. I create my own templates in Word and work it that way.

Of the programs I've used, suprisingly I like Celtx the best, and I've tried all the big ones.

Originally Posted by QueerMike

Now, I have some really original ideasbut have a wicked bout of writers cramp. I get an idea, start writing it and maybe get 2 or three pages in when it hits. I have at least 10-15 unfinished screenplays and stories. I don't know what the hell my problem is. I'm thinking of rereading the books I have.

You try hashing out an outline with index cards or even on an index card type template in Word? Sometimes that helps me.

Originally Posted by SapphirePrima

Last year my computer crashed so I lost all my stories and stuff. And I really haven't had the time to sit down and write something.

I won't tell you to save your files on a disk or what not, I am sure you've heard that. You should also always print out hardcopies of your scenes/scripts, and a good tool is emailing your work to yourself or an alternate email address.

[Tempest19]

SCENES FROM SPIDER-MAN 6. PREMIERING THIS SUMMER.

Yes, this is a shameful plug. So sue me. Some spoilers are ahead, tried to find the scenes that contained the least spoilers possible. Think of this as all those marketing clips for summer films.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

THE C WITH THE SLASH

INT. HELL'S KITCHEN- MARTY'S APARTMENT- EVENING

MARTY WALKER, 38 years old, sits on his used dusty sofa watching an old cowboy show on an old television set with a plastic bucket of popcorn resting on his lap. The lights are off.

A thin figure emerges from out of the shadows; that of a man with crazed eyes and messy brown hair. This is CLETUS KASSIDY.

Marty stirs as he catches Cletus out of the corner of his eyes. He moves to get up.

CLETUS
Uh, uh, wouldn't do that if I were you.

MARTY
Who are you? How did you get in here?!

Cletus takes a shiny dagger out of his pocket and grins. Kassidy talks in a frightening calm emotionless voice.

CLETUS
It's a pity you don't remember me. Because I remember you...

MARTY
What are you talking about man? Never seen you before in my life!

CLETUS
You cut me in line today, little diner off Fifth Avenue. I told you that you cut in front of me but you just stood there and laughed.

MARTY
I'm sorry man. I was a jerk. Alright? I have problems.

CLETUS
We all have problems.

Cletus feels the tip of the blade with his hand and then he CHARGES at Marty!

FLASH CUT:

INT. HELL'S KITCHEN- MARTY'S APARTMENT- MORNING

FLASH! A crime scene investigator snaps a picture of Marty's dead corpse resting on the wooden floor panels below.

George Stacy walks around the scene of the crime and shakes his head in disgust.

Against the wall is a carved symbol of a C with a slash through it.

GEORGE
How many guys does this guy need to kill before we catch a break?

George takes a deep breath as JEAN DEWOLFE, mid 30s, approaches him.

GEORGE
What did you find Jean?

JEAN
No one saw anyone enter or leave the apartment at any hour last night. They heard screaming and the sounds of a struggle, but only one of them managed to call the cops.
(beat)
Neighborhood like this, they're used to it, never think twice.

GEORGE
And family, friends relatives, what did they have to say? This guy have any enemies?

JEAN
None.

GEORGE
Well, he must have angered someone. Get me more information.

JEAN
Yes sir.

George notices several photographers and reporters trying to take pictures and jotting down notes, clearly avoiding the yellow tape.

GEORGE
And can someone get rid of those God Damn reporters! This is a crime scene for crying out loud!

ALL BRUISED UP

EXT. MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL- PARKING LOT- AFTERNOON

Track with Peter's car as it pulls into the school's parking lot and into a parking space.

CLOSE UP on Peter stepping out of the car. GRADUALLY TILT UP to reveal Peter bruised and beaten with a poignant black eye.

Peter fixes his shirt collar as he approaches the school.

Students watch him enter the school.

STUDENTS (ADD-LIB)
Is that Mr. Parker?... Wonder what happened to him?... Cool... he got into a fight?

INT. MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL- HALLS- AFTERNOON

Peter walks through the halls more conscientious of the eyes of students and faculty. He stops at a classroom and enters.

INT. MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL- PETER'S CLASSROOM

Peter closes the door and rubs his eyes. He looks out over his students looking at him in awe. Josh watches Peter curiously...

PETER
So, where were we?

The school bell rings and the students gather their things, silently chatting together as they exit. Peter sighs and nods his head okay. Josh stops at the door and glances back towards him.

JOSH
What happened?

PETER
Fell off my bed.

Josh nods his head, not completely believing him, and leaves the room.

An overweight teacher, FREDERICK, enters the classroom and looks at Peter concerned.

FREDERICK
What happened to you?

PETER
A lot is going on...

FREDERICK
Yeah? I can tell. You've been skipping a lot recently. Coming back with these odd bruises. What is it you do exactly?

PETER
I can't talk about it.

FREDERICK
Like Fight Club?

Peter cracks a grin and shrugs.

FREDERICK
Well, you need to get back on the horse alright buddy? You've got the faculty all talking about it behind your back. Some find you to be a bad influence on the kids.

PETER
Bad influence?

FREDERICK
Doesn't speak much about character if one keeps on arriving late to class all bruised up.

PETER
I'll keep that in mind.

Frederick nods his head okay as he approaches the door.

FREDERICK
I'm going to get something from the faculty room, want anything?

PETER
No thanks.

FREDERICK
Your loss.

Frederick leaves the classroom. Leaving Peter alone to his own devices.

FRONT PAGE NEWS WORTHY

INT. DAILY BUGLE- JAMESON'S OFFICE- AFTERNOON

JJ Jameson staring out over the city from his perch above smoking a cigar.

Robbie Robertson stands off to the side waiting for an answer.

ROBBIE
Paper sales have been readily declining, what are we going to do?

Jameson grins as he nods his head.

JAMESON
That's it!
(beat)
Ellis!!!

KEN ELLIS, late twenties, enters the office with a styled haircut and a brown leather jacket.

KEN ELLIS
Yes sir?

JAMESON
Ditch that story about Sly Chemicals; no one's interested in family corporate feuds these days. No, what the people really want is something they can sink their teeth into, something that will keep them up at night.
(beat)
Find me everything you can about that murder in Hell's Kitchen.

ROBBIE
What are you doing Jonah?

JAMESON
The people want a bad guy? This guy fits the bill tenfold. Leaves that mark doesn't he, the C with a slash...

ROBBIE
You want to publicize a mass murderer?

JAMESON
Sure, why not?

ROBBIE
Ethics for one.

JAMESON
Eh, screw ethics. Do people want ethics? No. They want a story. This guy, this Carnage is a story... that's good, yeah... Carnage. C with the slash, makes sense.

Jameson looks towards Ellis.

JAMESON
What are you still doing here? You're my investigative reporter; get to it.

KEN ELLIS
Yes sir. Right away.

Ken Ellis quickly leaves the office. Jameson takes a smoke from his cigarette.

JAMESON
Finally a story worthy of the front page!

ANARCHY IS THE WAY OF LIFE

INT. DAILY BUGLE- CONFERENCE ROOM- MORNING

Jameson sits at the head of a conference table with Ken Ellis and Robbie sitting besides him. Other members of the Daily Bugle staff fill in the other chairs while Peter leans against the back wall.

Ken Ellis has the note in his hand; he looks it over and takes a deep breath.

KEN ELLIS
Dear Editor... thank you for appreciating my art. I am not a murderer; I am merely a man free to live by my natural instincts. Some may call me crazy, but I ask what is so wrong with what I do? This is how we were meant to live. Chaos. Anarchy. Take away morals, laws and government and you will have true freedom. It is true that we may not last for long. But at least we will finally be free. Tonight I shoved a woman who looked at me like I was a freak in front of a bus. If only she would have accepted me, she wouldn't have died. Oh well, her loss. I am a man with a message and I will not be silenced.
(beat)
Then at the bottom he marked it with a C with a slash written through it.

The staff looks around the room, clearly disturbed by what they read.

JAMESON
Well, you heard the man. He has a message. That means more correspondence, which equates to an increase in sales.

ROBBIE
You'll be giving him what he wants.

KEN ELLIS
If this guy wants to be heard, I have to ask what the problem is with that.

PETER
What? You're actually considering doing this?

Jameson shrugs.

JAMESON
Sure, why not?

PETER
You'll only be encouraging him more!

JAMESON
And our sales will increase in the process, brass tacks is that Ellis' column brought in our highest profit since 2005. The people look for somebody they can hate and they finally found him.

PETER
I can't believe I'm hearing this.

JAMESON
Good thing you're not in charge then.

Jameson hands the letter to Robbie.

JAMESON
Make sure it goes into printing.
(to KEN)
And Ellis, write a companion piece to it.

Ken Ellis nods his head okay.

KEN ELLIS
I'm on it JJ.

Ken Ellis get up and leaves the conference room.

Peter looks around, not believing what he's seeing.

PETER
Am I going insane?

Jameson leans back and smokes his cigarette grinning.

JAMESON
God, I love this city.

[SapphirePrima]

Originally Posted by Showtime

I won't tell you to save your files on a disk or what not, I am sure you've heard that. You should also always print out hardcopies of your scenes/scripts, and a good tool is emailing your work to yourself or an alternate email address.

LOL I'm such a procastinator because I got a pdrive for that christmas and I kept saying I was going to save everything all my stuff on it but I never did, then my computer crashed.

Emailing to a alternative email address is a good idea.

[Showtime]

Originally Posted by SapphirePrima

LOL I'm such a procastinator because I got a pdrive for that christmas and I kept saying I was going to save everything all my stuff on it but I never did, then my computer crashed.

Emailing to a alternative email address is a good idea.

Unfortunately we can't go back in time, unless you know a Doc Brown.

That happened to me a long time ago, we all face a situation like that sooner or later.

[Tempest19]

That happened to me only once. About five years ago.

EXTRA NOTE: I was kinda lucky that it only happened then too, because it was only the beginner's "crap." It was horrible. But, I wouldn't be where I am without it.

[Showtime]

Usually after it happens once, that is all it takes.

[eXperiment]

Bump

[Gotham]

I've been writing for over 10 years now, and I've never really liked any of the programs all that much. I create my own templates in Word and work it that way.

Of the programs I've used, suprisingly I like Celtx the best, and I've tried all the big ones.

Really? That's interesting. What didn't you like about Final Draft?

[eXperiment]

Hello ladies and gents. Long time no post. How is everybody coming along with their screenplays? I have been working on mine here and there when I had the time. So far I have about 45 pages and an almost complete treatment. So far so good.

[The Apatow Crew]

It's coming along fine working on it when a idea hits me. I've got about 35 pages done so far.

[Jack O Lantern]

I just completed film school and I'm going to start work on some screen plays. I'm lucky because one of my teachers also works as a producer and thinks he can get me a job working at as story editor so I've seen some completed screen plays even one whih is going into production.

So far I've written three short 10-15 minute screen playsfor school.

[SapphirePrima]

I got 8 on mine so far. Is anyone else using scriptbuddy.com?

[Superhobo]

Working on one at the moment - right now, I'm picking and choosing bits from previous drafts that I like, and when I get it in an order I like, then I'll begin to iron it into a more cohesive whole.

[Gotham]

I'm working away on an outline, and I can't seem to follow my five-page rule. The plot is too large.

[Superhobo]

Originally Posted by Gotham

I'm working away on an outline, and I can't seem to follow my five-page rule. The plot is too large.

Don't worry yourself over stuff like that - the plot can never be 'too large.'

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by Gotham

I'm working away on an outline, and I can't seem to follow my five-page rule. The plot is too large.

Remember that if your plot is large you may be capable of spanning it through a few sequels. Good luck on your outline!

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by SapphirePrima

I got 8 on mine so far. Is anyone else using scriptbuddy.com?

I've heard of it, but I'm not sure if it's reliable. Is it?

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by Superhobo

Working on one at the moment - right now, I'm picking and choosing bits from previous drafts that I like, and when I get it in an order I like, then I'll begin to iron it into a more cohesive whole.

In my opinion rewriting is the hardest part. I know it's pitiful, but I do get sad when I have to omit a scene that I love! I'm to emotional.

*runs to corner and weeps ever so softly*

bwahahahahaha!

[Superhobo]

Originally Posted by eXperiment

In my opinion rewriting is the hardest part. I know it's pitiful, but I do get sad when I have to omit a scene that I love! I'm to emotional.

*runs to corner and weeps ever so softly*

bwahahahahaha!

Salvage those parts - keep them somewhere to use later. Don't be wasteful, now.

[Eggyman]

Originally Posted by eXperiment

In my opinion rewriting is the hardest part. I know it's pitiful, but I do get sad when I have to omit a scene that I love! I'm to emotional.

*runs to corner and weeps ever so softly*

bwahahahahaha!

'Kill your darlings'.

It's painful, but if it helps the overall work then it's a good thing.

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by Superhobo

Salvage those parts - keep them somewhere to use later. Don't be wasteful, now.

I do salvage them. They are contained beside me in a manuscript box for safe keeping. Thank god. I hear so many stories of people throwing away old material and then suddenly getting the impulse that that now lost fictional fragment would have fit nicely in the now deprived story. So sad.

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by Eggyman

'Kill your darlings'.

It's painful, but if it helps the overall work then it's a good thing.

No doubt about it my friend. I was watching an interview with a screenwriter who stated that the best parts are the times when you flesh out your ideas and think of new ones and the times you actually have a full blown finished screenplay lying within your grasp. Oh such great great times they are.

[The Apatow Crew]

I've yet to do a write write. i just got so many ideas I go from one to another. Is that a bad thing to do. And should i just stick with one for awhile?

[eXperiment]

Originally Posted by J Alba's Lover

I've yet to do a write write. i just got so many ideas I go from one to another. Is that a bad thing to do. And should i just stick with one for awhile?

What you should do is get a small notepad that you can jot all of your ideas in, then work on one at a time. Though, you should definitely try your best to be tenacious with one project. Good luck.