Insane Metal said:
I had an idea for a suspense movie and started writing something, but I never read anything about screenwriting. So I guess I made many mistakes =(
What should be in a screenwriting? FOr example, should you detail the scene, the music, etc?
Here is what a screeplay page should look like.. I'm just making this scene up on the fly.
EXT. ARCTIC - DAY <----[
Slug line: required to start every scene. Three bits of information required.. and nothing more. (1) Interior or Exterior scene? Always use the short hand, i.e. INT. or EXT. (2) Name of the location/set. Use something that you don't mind repeating a few times. If you are going to have several scenes in a rustic cabin throughout the movie, then you'll have to refer to that cabin in the same manner every time.. like naming your dog. If you say you're going to have another scene in the cabin, the reader should be able to instantly recall it based on the name you put in the slug line. (3) Day or night. That's it. Not noonish.. not dawn. Just day or night.]
An eighty mile per hour gust of wind blows a wall of white powder across an endless slab of white. A lone, insignificant bump casts the meekest of shadows under the high noon sun. <----[
Action description: this MUST follow every slug line. Before you write a single word of dialogue there better be an action description. Try to limit it to two lines. If your description absolutely must go into greater detail, break it up into multiple paragraphs. BE BRIEF. As brief as possible. There is always a way to say something using less words, i.e. cut to the bone. Action description means just that: ACTION. Don't tell us what color the flowers are, tell us that they're growing three feet per second. If the color of the flower is ABSOLUTELY important and can never be altered.. it is the absolute core of the story or plot.. then put it in.. and BOLD it. That way, production people know that it's a key PROP piece. I used the second sentence to describe a shadow.. I actually used it to let the reader know that there is a tiny igloo in the vast snowy landscape.. but I used action language to suggest it, i.e. "casts the meekest of shadows"]
INT. IGLOO - SAME
The barren, brick ice walls VIBRATE and small chips of ice fall like tinsel onto the disheveled heads of two worn and weathered men. ERAN, 25, stands at the edge of a five foot wide hole cut into the ice and across from BOWE, 45. <---[
(1) bold SOUNDS as well as key PROPS in your action descriptions.. vibrate isn't really the best choice here. I should rewrite this a couple of times until I convey the right idea, i.e. that the walls are shaking and there is a rumbling and/or buzzing sound associated with it, and it's audible. Movies are sights and sounds. Use both of these dimensions. (2) Introducing characters: Names in bold every time they are first introduced in a scene. If its the character's first scene then you need to include two thing and two things only: sex and age. Nothing else. You will have to convey any unique character traits or personality through dialogue and action. Don't tell us a girl is sassy, let her character express it and let the reader gleen it for themselves.]
BOWE
What are you waiting for, Eran?
ERAN
I don't know if I can do this.
BOWE
We traveled forty thousand miles across this dead hump of a planet. I lost my arm and you lost your wife. You'd better damn well be able to do this.
ERAN
Maybe there's another way.
Bowe glared at Eran.
BEAT
Bowe walked around the circle in the ice. He settled next to Eran and they both stared at their reflections in the water.
The icicles that had formed on their furs tapped against each other, creating a chorus of delicate CHIMES.
BEAT <---[
if you want there to be a palpable pause or break or a breath in the action or dialogue, call out a BEAT. No other description is required.]
The wind HOWLED and WHISTLED outside. Bowe placed an arm on Eran's shoulder.
BOWE
(whispering) <---[
Parenthetical: used to denote a manner in which dialogue is delivered -OR- the name of the person being talked to if it is at all unclear.]
There is a button one hundred yards below us-
Bowe extended his one arm to the far end of the igloo.
BOWE
(con't.)
-and three hundred yards in that direction. You'll see a glowing red light. Follow the light. Follow the light. <---[
if a character performs an action mid-dialogue, break up the dialogue into multiple parts.. as many as are needed. Describe the action in an action description. Makes sense. Then go right back to the dialogue by mentioning who's speaking, then adding a "con't." in a parenthetical statement.]
A tear rolls down Eran's frost-bitten cheek.
ERAN
It's just too far.
Bowe turned Eran to face him. He stared right into his eyes.
BOWE
You'll have to fight the current and God knows what else, but you will push that button. So many lives already lost. So many years. So many. You're the last of us. But one push of that button and civilization will be reborn. A new world will rise from this frozen hell. It'll be warm. It'll be lush. You remember the stories don't you?
Eran nods his head emphatically.
BOWE
(con't.)
They'll never have known the pain that we suffered. And it will all emerge from under our feet, and out from our decaying corpses. This is your legacy. This is-
Bowe throws Eran into the hole. There's a terrific splash; it licks the furthest wall of the igloo.
Bowe looks down into the hole. A FISH zooms past, thrashing sideways, trying to fight the obviously quick current.
A HAND stabs from the water and grips the edge of the circle.
Bowe stands and raises a boot. He slams it down on the hand.
He lifts the boot and the hand is gone.
BOWE
(muttering)
Good. Couldn't stand that guy.
(accidently hit submit...)
