Thank heavens for Independent Film Producers! Yes, they are great. Without them, movies might be all calculated and predictable. Independent Film Producers have far less money than the big studios so they have to be more crafty and cutting edge with their movies to get noticed and to make up for the lack of a big budget luxuries. They also have less people to report to and can make more exciting choices.

As a writer, you won’t get nearly as much money from an Independent producer as you would from a studio producer for your script, but you might have more creative input into the movie and might have more fun.

Hollywood loves time constraint movies.

You can WRITE TIME in several ways; here are 3 examples:

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EXT. VENICE BEACH – NIGHT
Dark empty beach.

TITLE CARD:
9:32PM, Venice Beach, California

Jack walks into frame. Looking around, he anxiously awaits for someone.

………..

With a TITLE CARD, that means the text underneath it will appear as text on the screen over the image of the action.

Using a title card might be good to add tension for the audience when a character himself does not know that he is under a time constraint. For instance, we know the earthquake hits at 4am, but our character in the film does not know. Title cards are good for that.

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Another option:

EXT. BEACH – NIGHT – 9:32PM
Standing on the beach, Jack looks around: no one is there. Jack looks at his old pocket watch. Close-up on the time. Jack is antsy and scared, looking more agitated now.

………..

Putting time in the SCENE HEADING really only helps the film production crew to keep filming on track, not so much to help the audience or the character in the movie. It would just let the crew, production set designer, and wardrobe know that all clocks and watches should be set to that time.

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A third option for time:

EXT. BEACH – NIGHT
Standing on the beach, Jack looks around: no one is there. Jack looks at his old pocket watch. Close-up on the time shows it is 9:32pm. Jack is antsy and scared, looking more agitated now.

———-

Hope that answers your question on time.

Good luck!

I wish to do a movie that follows a 24 hour timeline, but i’m unsure as to what that entells. Is there a particular structure for a movie following the 24 hour timeline?

I love your concise breakdown on Script Formatting. Any help you can give on this would be deeply appreciated.

What do you think about Independent Film Producers?