How to Write a Film Script?

There are many good books and websites on scriptwriting, so I am going to be very brief on that subject. And please do research your local bookstore or a library for the books on the subject.

This is how I write my scripts, so I believe that everyone has to find his way of working that suits his/her the most.

I don’t follow any rules of scriptwriting when it comes to telling the story, such as: at this point in a script that ought to happen. I don’t believe in this, but many do, and maybe that is why so many bad scripts are coming out of Hollywood.

I do follow the rules when it comes to the structure since it’s easier for the entire crew and cast to follow the script and that is clearer to read. It also looks much more professional when you get the structure right, and you want to look professional in front of your cast and crew.

I usually start by writing an idea for a script, which is just a simple description of the whole story. When this is ready, I move on to working on the main characters. Of course, it doesn’t mean that I am going to stick to the description I have already done. To me, it works as more of a guideline.

After that, I sit down and start coming up with the scenes, which at first are just descriptions of what might happen in the scene.

When the skeleton of the script is ready, I work from that point re-writing the script, each time around making it better and fuller by adding or taking away certain actions, dialogues or scenes.

In the finished script I try to describe the scenes as little as possible, extra words are not necessary and often confusing for the actors. I usually try to work on dialogues and the overall atmosphere of the story.

I know that there are many rules when it comes to writing different genres, which for some people are good and they need to have it to be able to write anything. Find a system that suits you best and stick to it.

The more scripts you write, the better you become. Even if the scripts don’t turn up to be a movie, this is the experience that is vital to you.

I know that writing can be hard, but once you start, it gets easier and easier every time. The beginning point is the most important, after that it’s all just discipline. From my experience I can tell you that writing for longer than five hours a day is difficult, this is creative work, so it has to flow.

If you don’t feel confident enough to write your script yet, take a scriptwriting workshop; some of them are good. Try looking for the seminars in your area online.

As far as I am aware, there are quite a few websites that deal with scriptwriting/workshops online. However, I don’t know how secure that kind of work is. You know, copyrights in writing and filmmaking are huge issues so always remember to be covered on that subject.

Remember, find whatever suits you the most and copyright all your work. There are many people willing to steal others ideas.

NOTES ON SCRIPTWRITING

Below is the list of my notes on scriptwriting based on some of the workshops I’ve done in the past. You might find it useful:

1. Dramatic – sequence leading to change; strong moral element; one character influences the other one.
2. Moral vision.
3. What is the moral line of the story?
4. What defines the storyline?
5. What is the moral change in the character?
6. PLOT – what the main character does in the story; the fundamental change in action. The character is defined by the plot.
7. Dialogue is seen as the quickest window to the character. The dialogue expresses the volume of the character.
8. Drama – it is a conflict between what the character stands for and the world surrounding the character.
9. Structure – is a development of the character.
10. The hero never knows what he wants and needs at the beginning of the film.
11. To grow and develop the hero has to fight opponents and obstacles on his way. To make the script more interesting, get into the deepest level of conflict.
12. Whatever the hero comes up with at the start of the film it almost never works out. So he has to adjust to changing circumstances.
13. Before the hero can change, he/she has to figure out what he/she wants or is running away from, why he/she is holding back from taking action.
14. In the script, it’s also important to introduce the hero’s internal life, his/her natural space.
15. The hero before facing his/her fear or opponent will usually have to go through some change to become stronger.
16. People who have been in filmmaking longer than I say that for the middle of the structure the stories obsessive desire is needed. The character will do almost anything to get what she/he wants.
17. You have probably noticed that almost every film has a point when the hero is about to lose. It is called the lower point.
18. To make the story more powerful usually, the hero learns something from the opponent and grows.
19. If you want to reveal something, make a decision and change action. This way you give new information to the audience.
20. The hero needs to desire something in each scene.

STORY STRUCTURES

They say that there are only three basic story structures:

• Myth
• Fairytale
• Drama

By taking bits and pieces from each structure and using it differently, other stories emerge.

MYTH

These kinds of stories usually tell us about a hero who has to discover what he/she wants and how he/she is to go back to a place where he/she was born.

1. Probably the hero loses his father/mother very early in his/her life, and he keeps trying to live up to his/her expectations.
2. The hero carries a talisman with him/her.
3. The hero’s destiny. What was she/he born to do?
4. To learn and grow the hero has to go on a journey where she/he fights his opponents.
5. Some self-revelation defines the change in a hero’s character.
6. He/she returns home completely changed.

FAIRY TALE

1. In a fairy tale problems and needs of the main character come right away.
2. Usually, the problems accrue within the family (slavery, humiliation, lack of love).
3. Usually, characters are portrayed as extremes. One is extremely good, and another one is evil.
4. In a fairy tale, there is always someone willing to help – a kind helper.
5. Final success is a total success of a character.
6. Characters and events come in threes since we need three to show the process. Three brothers or sisters and the younger one learns the most from experience.
7. Usually, this is a story about success.
8. You have to define who/what the characters should not be like.
9. To introduce the characters to start with a communal moment where everyone is present.
10. What is the crucial object of the story? The object intensifies the reveal.
11. The reveal is the key to the plot, usually taking symbolic meaning.
12. You have to define strongly personal relationships.
13. The family is always very powerful in the fairy tale.

DRAMA

1. The compelling event that is haunting the hero from the past.
2. The solution to the problem is complicated.
3. The opponent is very intimate to the hero, very often within the family.
4. Hero’s self-revelation is very personal.
5. Drama usually depicts the most significant complexity of human characters.
6. Both the hero and opponent have weaknesses, desires and make mistakes.

PREMISE LINE

It is a description of your story in a single sentence. It has to be inspirational and has a sense of what the main character is all about. It has to be specific and straightforward.

DEVELOPING THE MAIN CHARACTER

1. Make the character mysterious. What is the character hiding? Never give everything away at the start.
2. You want the audience to identify with the character but not too much (What is the hero’s moral problem? What the person wants?)
3. The audience has to understand why the character has taken specific actions and you need to show them that.
4. What is moral (universal) meaning and psychological meaning? Moral comes out of psychological. (Avoid anything that prevents the hero to make a decision. Come up with a human opponent).
5. While developing the character think about the character first and then about the character’s change? Success doesn’t necessarily mean that the character underwent a major change. The smaller the range of changes, the bigger the change of the character.
6. Character change usually involves changing and challenging fundamental beliefs so the hero can take moral action.
7. Create an opponent as strong as the character.
8. To create a character, change your need to create a frame in a story.

SELF-REVELATION

1. The hero strips away the cover she/he lived under. It is usually a shattering experience, very traumatic.
2. The hero discovers a false belief in which she/he trusts and takes action to change it.
3. The hero is usually hiding something from him/herself and is enslaved by her/his secret.
4. The heroes need to discover something is what she/he doesn’t know yet.
5. You have to be very precise about self-revelation.

CREATING AN OPPONENT

1. The opponent will help the main character to grow.
2. Hero and opponent influence one another.
3. The opponent is necessary to uncover the hero’s weaknesses over and over again until the hero deals with the problem.
4. The opponent usually wants the same thing the hero does. She/he has to be as complicated and as vulnerable as the hero.
5. The opponent’s set of beliefs is probably in conflict with the hero’s but not the opposite.
6. The moral argument was done and dealt with through action.

GENRES

MASTERPIECE – Advanced storytelling. How do you live without being enslaved in the system? The desire to find more in-depth reality.

HORROR – What is human and what is not? The desire to defeat a monster.

MYTH – What is your destiny? The desire to go on a journey leading to oneself.

ACTION (WESTERN) – Choice between fighting and feeding, freedom and life. The hero has to decide whether to engage in combat or not.

DETECTIVE – Who is guilty and who is innocent? The desire is to find the truth.

CRIME – Who is allowed to be above the law? The desire to catch the criminal.

THRILLER – Is your suspicion justified? The desire to escape the attacker.

LOVE – How much can you love? The desire to gain love.

FANTASY – To explore the imaginary world.

SCIENCE FICTION – how do you create a better world?

COMEDY – do you play or show your true self? The desire to gain success or romance.

DIALOGUE

1. Think of dialogue as a form of music. Just like different layers of music happening at the same time.
   • STORY DIALOGUE – What is happening in the story (melody)?
   • MORAL DIALOGUE – About the proper way to act (harmony)
   • KEYWORDS – ‘Symbols’; this is another way to express the theme of the film. Usually, keywords are repeated throughout the story.
2. Work on many levels at the same time.
3. You can pull techniques from other genres to describe the scene.
4. Movement/gesture highlights certain unspoken things.

I strongly recommend you buy “Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook”. They have a very good Television and film listing section for those who would like to submit their scripts to TV or film production companies.