Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.
Jean Cocteau
A Twitter friend of mine asked me for scriptwriting advice and I did the best I could in 140 characters. But it seems like Twitter ate the post so here’s the answer…
Write something you can make as a film right now, then make it.
I remember about a dozen years ago when I had my short film Access Denied written and all I needed was $5000 to make. Jen, my girlfriend at the time offered to give me the $5000 and suddenly I realized - nothing was stopping me from making a movie. I was high on that feeling for about a day and then I got to work.
I’m not big on screenwriting for screenwriting’s sake. A screenplay is a blueprint for a film. And there isn’t anything stopping you from making a film right now and then having that film seen by an audience. So what’s stopping you?
I needed $5000 for camera rental and film stock and all that old school stuff. Today, we’re all incredibly lucky. Camcorders are cheap. If you can’t afford one, you have a friend with one. Same with editing and music and acting. Hit up your friends. I’m also not big on film making as solo activity, even though I’ve been doing it a lot lately. Some arts like films and music and sex are better when they are done with other people, even though there’s a unique sense of accomplishment when you do them on your own. So if you can’t find a friend, wing it. So what’s stopping you?
If you have a big idea that’s beyond your current grasp, save it for later. Or just try it anyway. To hell with it, who cares if you fail? Try the biggest idea your have. Or try the simplest. Try both. So what’s stopping you?
Celtx - my favorite scriptwriting / pre-production software is free and multiplatform. It also lets you schedule, storyboard and do script breakdowns. Get it and write something then break it down. Learn the software while making a movie. So what’s stopping you?
Nothing is stopping you. Or me.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I came to the same conclusion as the author–make something up, and go film it! To get myself started, I decided to do a short film that used a lot of close-ups, rather than wide shots, long shots, etc. That was my only premise. From there, a story developed as I went along, and before I knew it I had my first short film in the can, called Morning Coffee. Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAE5F-aEYwY
Bart
July 28th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
For the most part, I agree with the author that one should “just do it”, a Nike motto. However, there are other factors involved for me. I finally have the equiptment to make the documentary that I want but I do not have the money to get to the interviews. The people that I want to interview are the very substance of my documentary. Without them, I can not start the script. Sure, I could do the storyboard screenwriting for the other parts of the film but that would not help me when it comes to the 8 people that I need to interview to give as broad a view as I can for this under explored method of teaching that has had a considerable success rate.
The first thing any writer/producer needs to do is ask themself, why are they doing this film and what is their goal? I guess that I could probably come to some spontaneous form of writing from my thoughts and “limited” video shots but that is not my approach to a meaningful film. My last documentary took 5 years to make. Sure, that is a long time to wait but looking back, I am glad that it did. With limited distribution, it has exceeded my expectations in a selective audience.
Now that I ahve a new computer and HD camera, I think that I can complete nd fill the need that my video is projected to do. I always keep in mind that there is no money to be made in documenting history. That is not why I am doing this video. It is to reach a group of artists.