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Why couldn't you submit your script?
If turned into a video, it'd be about 1minute of footage. It's bare-bones and could use more polishing and details. In 7 pages of script, D.Va cries in 4 of them.
>despite having no industry experience
Save The Cat! is highly recommended if script-writing is your passion. Consider your first work a rough draft, and keep at it. Looking forward to seeing the animated version in a few months :)
This is common practice on every movie. If you're interested or fascinated by the business and work behind being a working screenwriter, check out Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant's book "Writing Movies for ~~Fun and~~ Profit"
It's an honest and humorous guidebook to being a working writer in Hollywood. Basically gets right into how when you sell a script, it doesn't mean your name will be on it when the movie is released because you will be fired from the writing job, then they'll bring in someone else to give it a fresh take, then they'll fire them hire someone else, then they'll fire them and MAYBE re-hire you, then you'll look at how they butchered your script and you'll go back and make changes to all the things they did so the arbitrator will give you the credit and not them when it's released and then hope you don't get fired again and then you can reap your rewards.
Basically, this is how M. Night Shamaylan came up with "The Sixth Sense". A common Hollywood rumor truth is that he didn't come up with the idea, he was just the last guy to get his hands on the script after a dozen rewrites so he got all the credit for the idea.
Yes and no.
There are great books about screenwriting for the feature film like Save the Cat, but the recent upsurge in longer-form television writing required for the binge services (Netflix,Amazon etc,) stretches the conventions of these books.
The lessons learned in a college level script analysis class apply to all types of media using theatre as an example, and are generally grounded in classics. Many film-hopefuls don't know that understanding these classic forms tend to make the difference between truly great stories and stories that will fade away.
Taking a screenwriting class after or in conjunction will improve your ability to write in a variety of forms that might be required by the different story ideas that you might have. The industry is evolving almost as quickly as it did during the invention of film and later television.
You will need to understand the classical structures and ideas at some point during your career as a writer, and so I would heartily recommend a script analysis class. But then again, I'm a college teacher. Who teaches script analysis. And often acts in movies when directors and writers don't understand these classic forms.
Think about the possibility of hitting a home run without ever been told to keep you eye on the ball or step into the pitch. It's possible. But it's much less likely.
Respectfully, I think you're missing the key element in why Easy Rider (1969) was so impactful. It wasn't about the technical filmmaking, but rather how the film was made as well as the social context that the film was coming out in.
It was made for very little money with almost no studio influence. The film itself is practically a giant middle finger to the establishment and the studio system of the day. Like you, I'm actually not much of a fan of the film but I can still appreciate the context and historical importance of it.
If you're interested in film history around this era of Hollywood (Scorsese, George Lucas, Francis Coppola, etc.), I highly recommend Peter Biskind's book Easy Riders & Raging Bulls.
Wouldn't hurt to read a few books on screenwriting to get the lay of the land. https://www.amazon.com/Screenplay-Foundations-Screenwriting-Syd-Field/dp/0385339038
Decide if you want write features or television pilots.
Learn the structure of a screenplay (which is different for a feature and a television pilot)
Read scripts that are similar to what you want to write about. (i.e same genre) or any script that's highly recommended.
Some people start with a character and build a story, some people start with a story and add characters. Find what works best for you.
Dialogue will come with practice. It's going to be on the nose and full of exposition right off the bat. But it gets better as you write more. And no one every really masters it. I compare aired versions of shows to written screenplays and at least 10% of the dialogue overall is always cut.
Know what you're talking about. Want to write about cop? Read how a police organization works and how investigations work. Want to write about doctors? Know the medical terms and procedures you will be exploring. This also goes for areas of expertise such as science. For example, I am sure Vince Gilligan did some research into chemistry before writing Breaking Bad.
https://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Complete-Writing-Formatting-Selling/dp/1935247212 - This is a good workbook-style learning tool.
The Screenwriters Bible has everything you will need for the proper formatting of your script - including montages and flashbacks.
It is the resource we used in film school. I keep it on hand for all my scripts. It is very helpful!
Plenty. They just don't dig deeper enough, even with a billion dollar excavator.
The other thing the current existing writers for local dramas could have done is to, gasp, read a book on screenwriting by the likes of Robert McKee, instead of attending some dubious seminar by certain persons who can't stop posing in front of their Mercedes.
Get a few friends together and start filming short films, just have fun with it. They don’t have to be super serious or submitted to festivals just something to get a feel for editing, writing, planning, and camera angles/movements. This can help you find your style and get you comfortable with the elements of filmmaking. One thing I found super beneficial to my storytelling was reading a lot of fiction, and short stories. Along with fiction I recommend reading a book on screenwriting, my favorite one is: Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting This book offers tons of resources with the three act structure. But honestly right now my best advice is do it and just have fun. Some of my favorite films were in my backyard with my iPod touch and editing on iMovie. Hope this helps, Good luck!
> Until I decide to write a book after finding inspiration in the A Song of Ice and Fire and The Witcher series.
So, this gives me a bit of pause. Most of us who pick up our pens are pretty heavy readers before we get started.
That said, I would rather encourage than discourage, so I'm going to recommend a book to help get you started: Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee. I only purchased this book a few weeks ago, and I have been kicking myself ever since for not getting it years ago (I've been writing on a professional level since 1999, and this book has raised my game). It's not just for screenwriting - it will give you a very good idea of how stories work on a structural and mechanical level, from plotting to character development.
Here's the buy link from Amazon Smile (which donates money from each purchase to a charity of your choice): https://smile.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/ref=rvi_sccl_6/131-2124249-3477910?pd_rd_w=9Fqr9&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee4124...
(I would also strongly recommend On Writing, by Stephen King.)
Textbook good protagonist(s). No, seriously, <em>textboook</em>
Fujimoto knows what he's doing, as always - I'm delighted to see our boy back and I'm sure Power would be proud
"“Save the Cat” is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, including: The four elements of every winning logline The seven immutable laws of screenplay physics The 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by"
https://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009
I feel like this conversation is going in circles, with you just desperately trying not to be wrong...
Glad to help! Asking questions is best and really only way to learn this craft. Nothing beats hands-on learning and helpful hacks/tips from industry pros in all departments. It's first helpful to get an idea of what makes a good script. For screenwriting and understanding script story beats Save the Cat is the most popular by far (although everyone has to find their own voice). I can dig up more book suggestions but youtube film channels would probably be your best choice to see the principles in action. I can link some soon but I'm about to drive home. Be a student and consumer of all art forms and different cultures and ideas. Filmmaking is a colorful collaborative patchwork blanket stitching together pieces of things you like and find interesting or satisfying. Embrace "stealing" anything that catches your eye and remix it, understanding that absolutely nothing is completely original and is just synthesized from things that came before it, even subconsciously. As a creative exercise, it would be a great idea to recreate a scene shot-for-shot from a film or show you love, but just change names/places/props while keeping the same rhythm. Deconstructing/dissecting something that "works" and inspires you will help you understand how and why certain things work and get reused so often across films.
For example, Syd Field is still under copyright and for sale on Amazon. I'm not familiar with all of the others, but if they're for sale new on Amazon (and other sites) it's very likely they're under copyright.
I've read several books on screenwriting including Save the Cat and The Screenwriter's Bible (an earlier edition).
None of them will teach you how to write a "great" movie, but that's not the point. The point of both books is to teach you the format, beats, and rules of screenwriting. Then it's up to you as the writer to craft your screenplay using that information.
I don't think you can blame Synder, Trotter, Field, or any other writer who had a screenwriting book published for every formulaic script that has been produced. The blame for that belongs elsewhere.
The Screenwriter's Bible is my go-to cheat sheet. Also, check screenwriting.io.
It's not an accident. Hollywood has some very detailed movie-making formulas. One of them is illustrated in the book Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. It has the pacing of your typical cheeseburger action flick timed in there down to the second.
For the Hollywood suit-and-tie crowd, the script that's already known to work is the safe bet. Thus we'll see The Fast and the Furious LXXVII: Geriatric action tearing down the cul-de-sacs in The Villages in Florida!
Look for the directors that tend to throw the book away. I loved Dune, for example - I love Denis Villeneuve's work!
In the video essay The Dark Knight - Creating the Ultimate Antagonist, LftSP includes a quote from Story by Robert McKee that I thought was well placed:
>True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the deeper the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature... A protagonist and their story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism force them to become...
>
>As such, if we define an antagonist, they are a character who is uniquely, exceptionally good at attacking your hero's greatest weakness, pressing their buttons, forcing them to make difficult decisions that reveal who is *actually* hiding underneath the shining armor.
So, anyhow, I think you're looking at this backwards.
It's not necessarily about the villain getting their comeuppance. Maybe that's part of it, but I think its more about seeing the protagonist (whom we're emotionally invested in) come out on top after being kicked so many times.
They all follow this asshole's book, https://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009
Because it's been marketed as the best way to get people to watch your movie because every movie has to have certain elements otherwise people won't understand it. I fucking hate this book.
Hollywood decided that they could rely on this dumb book for all their ideas and that way they could stop hiring original writers. Save their money for hookers and blow or something.
You need to spend some time putting this in proper formatting: slug lines, character and dialogue etc etc.
I'd also recommend that you learn more about how to write good action for a screenplay. You are literally describing the images on the screen - words like "infamous" and describing darkness as "mysterious" aren't really part of the craft. If it's important a character is infamous, show us that they are through images or plot.
you also need to learn how to properly use ALL CAPS in your screenplay. Rather than the adjective that is descrigin a thing, you need to caps the important thing. so rather than OMINOUS tower. It would be ominous TOWER. Better yet: A TOWER obscured by mist and fog. Made of dark stone, it is the only thing on the horizon. So if it's truly important that this tower is ominous, give it some ominous characteristics but try to remain brief.
You also need to stop "directing" from the page - so specifying transitions like cuts or fades etc, all of that is implied.
If you are passionate about screenwriting and want people to take your story seriously, you must learn the format so that you can get out of your own way and let the story speak for itself. Pick up a copy of: https://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Complete-Writing-Formatting-Selling/dp/1935247212
And keep writing! Love the passion and the interest. These are just some ideas on how you can present your ideas in such a way that people will be more willing to focus on them. You have to have passable screenwriting craft in order to present your story. Cheers and keep on keeping on!
Thanks for sharing your work!
i have a couple suggestions for you based off of my experience with illustration and a style that has some similarities to what you're doing.
1) push your values. The facial features are hard to read, and the image would be alot smaller if its a webcomic since it'll be on a mobile screen.
2) do a character sheet that shows multiple poses and facial expressions. You need to asses how the style works in numerous scenarios without doing a massive amount of work. This will also be a good test on how easily you can replicate the style with consistency.
3) the face and the rest of the skin are two different values. i'd try some ways to make it a single value such as putting a darker color to suggest the chinline underneath like this illustration i did below. Imgur
beyond that, id take some time to understand what it is you're really making. do some writing to develop a character that has beliefs and motivations. how are they going to be challenged? by what or by whom and why?
i've found the following book to be instrumental in helping me write better. it's technically for screenwriting but there's ALOT of similarities to movies and sequential art.
The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
i hope you enjoy your journey in making the webcomic
Read the book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood by Peter Biskind. It's a great read about New Hollywood cinema.
"When the low-budget biker movie Easy Rider shocked Hollywood with its success in 1969, a new Hollywood era was born. This was an age when talented young filmmakers such as Scorsese, Coppola, and Spielberg, along with a new breed of actors, including De Niro, Pacino, and Nicholson, became the powerful figures who would make such modern classics as The Godfather, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, and Jaws. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls follows the wild ride that was Hollywood in the '70s -- an unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (both onscreen and off) and a climate where innovation and experimentation reigned supreme. Based on hundreds of interviews with the directors themselves, producers, stars, agents, writers, studio executives, spouses, and ex-spouses, this is the full, candid story of Hollywood's last golden age. "
MARTIN SCORSESE ON DRUGS: "I did a lot of drugs because I wanted to do a lot, I wanted to push all the way to the very very end, and see if I could die."
DENNIS HOPPER ON EASY RIDER: "The cocaine problem in the United States is really because of me. There was no cocaine before Easy Rider on the street. After Easy Rider, it was everywhere."
GEORGE LUCAS ON STAR WARS: "Popcorn pictures have always ruled. Why do people go see them? Why is the public so stupid? That's not my fault."
It's a book about screenwriting, and I believe there's an adaptation on novel writing.
https://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009
More specifically, "saving the cat" refers to a pivotal moment in which the protagonist makes a choice which demonstrates they're the hero of the story. This might occur early, during their introduction, or much later if the protagonist has a lengthy arc in which they only slowly develop into the hero.
I adapted Blake Snyder's Story Beats from a screen play to novels to control story-wide pacing. Where he talks about pages, just convert it to a ratio and figure out the words.
Here are Story Beats for most genres (Romance is different)
- First Image
- Plot Point One --- 25% -- MC makes decision to solve story problem
- First Pinch Point -- about 35% -- MC learns nature of opposition
- Mid Point -- 50% -- False victory
- Second Pinch Point -- about 65% -- MC learns power of opposition
- All Is Lost
- Dark Night of the Soul
- Epiphany
- Plot Point Two -- 75%
- Last Temptation
- Final Battle -- 85%
- Final Image
If you are writing the Hero's Journey, sit down and watch the first Star Wars film made (Star Wars IV???) and keep tabs on where these events occur.
Write long and prosper. :)
You might find this book interesting.
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood https://www.amazon.com/dp/0684857081/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_TSPH6Z0AKHD0FXY79FTW
Save the cat is great, and I'll also throw in the Screenwriter's Bible
I think 99% percent of how-to writing books bog down the reader with so much extraneous information, ideas, rules, systems, 'this is the way' thinking and so on, as to almost be discouraging. My favorite writing book is actually a screenwriting book but the general rules apply, in my opinion, and it's a fun read that distills a project to its basic process.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Movies-Fun-Profit-Billion/dp/1439186766
The strength of this book is it keeps things simple. It avoids philosophy dives and meandering examples. It lays out the structure of a screenplay which is the same as most best selling novels. This may not be what you're looking for but I found it helped me break my project into parts making it easier to tackle.
It also emphasizes the most important lesson: a book won't sit at your keyboard and write for you. That's the most difficult aspect of the process.
I'm going to summarize one part of the book I like: the authors method is to write their screenplay as a 20 to 30 page story. From there they 'fill in the details' and flesh out the story. As simple as it sounds this was a game changer for me and my writing.
Start with the story-wide pacing, which means understanding story structure. There is a posting further up about structure. I like Save the Cat but there are other, equally good ones.
Once you know how to set up a story, you can concentrate on the ebbs and flows, for which I like Make A Scene which shows how to set up individual scenes.
I hope this helps. :)