Sunday Picture Post 4 / Tip: Focus
For The Sunday Picture Post, we are going to flip upside-down the saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Thousands of words are great if you are writing a novel, but if you are writing a screenplay, you need to do the opposite and be as concise as possible.
Each Sunday I will post a picture. For your screenwriting practice in brevity, in the comments section, please post one or all of the following:
- 1 word describing the theme, mood, or scene
- 1 sentence to describe the scene
- A pitch to sell the entire movie
The more colorful and creative you are, the better! Use any genre.
A good screenwriter is laconic, using a few words to say a lot.
SCREENWRITING TIP OF THE DAY: FOCUS
Most writers have one thing in common in that they think too much.
When you write a screenplay, it is easy to get lost in your fantastic ideas and lose focus on what you set out to write. Don’t!
Stay focused.
Choose one of your best ideas. Draw up an outline. Come up with some strong subplots that you will enjoy writing and can carry your characters through the entire story. Everything must make sense with the main plot.
Whether you have a simple love story or a complex murder mystery, whatever you write, it must rotate around a central axis.
Don’t put in any dialog or actions just because you think they are clever. If it doesn’t have something to do with the main story, get rid of it. Your script needs to be tight.
When people watch movies, their brains actively try to piece together the story and make sense of what you are revealing to them. If you have unnecessary scenes, the audience is going to be frustrated, wondering why you have entered scenes or dialog that have nothing to do with the story.
Chances are, an unfocused script won’t be bought and no one will see it anyway. If your script is all over the place, going on a bunch of unexplained tangents, it will not sell.
The one thing all selling scripts (whether you like them or not) have in common is that they are focused.
Think of your script as a train on a track. You want to get from A to Z. Maybe you are doing a circular story and you are going A to Z and back to A again. Don’t get derailed. Stay on the track you selected to get to your destination. Make the necessary stops along the way that will get you there. Pick up some passengers. Drop off some. Get more fuel. Whatever. Stay on track. If you are going to Pittsburg with your dad, don’t suddenly pop up in Miami with your chihuahua. It makes no sense.
When you start going off on an unrelated tangent, you need to realize it, reverse, and get back on track.
Everything you write, ask yourself: Is this getting me to where I need to go with this story? Am I making a point, building character or story suspense? By adding in this dialog or this scene, will it pay off later? If not, toss it and write something more fitting.
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10 Responses to “Sunday Picture Post 4 / Tip: Focus”
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1. Protazoa!
2. A gigantic STD protazoa attacks downtown Tokyo.
3. A young Japanese college student, enrolled at in the quantum physics dept., [becomes ill from a] contaminated professor… There is not enough penicillin in all of Japan to stop the monster from infecting all of the females — only Godzilla on V can blast the STD into microscopic size.
“An uphill climb twisting back in on itself, then escaping into nothingness; that’s how Frank’s life has been since he got involved with the Triad.”
I really enjoy these Sunday Picture Posts! Actually, I really enjoy your blog as a whole, I find that I keep coming back even though I initially didn’t think I’d be into the blog topic.
I stumbled this page (I want to see what other people come up with!) and faved you on Technorati.
Also, I read your bio, I am also a Krav Maga student (East Coast). Awesome! I’ve probably trained with a few of the same folks you have if you are going to the LA school (John Whitman, etc.). Great stuff!
Represents the twists and turns in a sci-fi romance.
I agree with Joyful Digesting….I love the Sunday Picture posts! Your site and a few others have inspired me to look into going to film school.
BILL – Way to make architecture R-rated and join our commenting community with some flare. Please excuse me for editing your comment a little to make it acceptable for public viewing.
JOYFUL – Nice! Guess we could have fun beating up each other. I’ve never been so bloodied and bruised by anything in life (not even a rolling car crash) as I have in Krav Maga classes. Yeah, I went to the National Headquarters in LA. Was excellent. Looks like we have a lot of common interests. I’m glad you have found some joy at my site (as I have at yours).
JEAN – Wow, film school, eh? That’s a big deal. My school was excellent, passionate teachers, and through film I learned about world culture, history, philosophy, theory, and writing. Was an enjoyable major for me where I met exciting amazing people (a few who are household names now). Film school is usually not a parent’s first choice for their kid, but it has been a pleasure for me.
Not to derail the conversation entirely – but heck yes, Krav is the best! I never enjoyed getting beat up quite so much! I was up to green before moving away, never did find a suitable replacement. Orange belt test was the toughest 7 hours of my life, it took a week for my lungs to recover (asthma kicked in about 1/2 hour into the test). Pure burning fun. I’ve tried boxing, muay thai, etc., but definitely enjoy Krav the most.
OK someone else, get this back on topic!
Question about this :
“Don’t put in any dialog or actions just because you think they are clever. If it doesn’t have something to do with the main story, get rid of it. Your script needs to be tight.”
I can understand that one must have a keen eye for dialogue in order to get past this, however, I cannot help but think of the “Like a Virgin” interpretation scene in Reservoir Dogs. It is full of wit, helps to establish character styles and personalities; all without having anything to do with the main story.
But maybe that’s just Tarentino?
SHANE – I would say that dialog that seems superfluous is actually character building. For instance, if a character is on drugs, like they often are, then rambling about nonsense is part of building that character.
Also note, on this website, I am giving guidelines for successful screenwriting for Hollywood, not necessarily to make good art or cult films (which I prefer) that tend to be strange and unpredictable. My pointers are for a screenwriter to have a chance at making a sale to Hollywood.
All rules are meant to be broken, but not by fools. If a writer writes a bad script because he doesn’t know what he is doing, that is very different than a writer who knows all the rules and cleverly comes up with a way to make something spectacular.
Tarantino broke new grounds by being a master of movies and playing on his massive knowledge of entertainment, not out of ignorance or accident. Tarantino also directs his own scripts, so he can do whatever he wants. Trying to sell a script to strangers is a whole different game. Tarantino is one in a million.
Couldn’t seem to come up with a movie pitch for this week’s Sunday pic….sort of drew a blank, lol. I guess the word I could come up with that would fit the picture….Confusion.
I too really enjoy these Sunday picture posts you feature here each week as well. Always something to look forward to, and to read everyone’s interesting ideas and pitches. Always enjoy visiting your site Jaden.
Jean, film school sounds like a great idea to consider.
One word: [ very hard really, coz I keep on coming up with 2 but here goes...] FUTURE.
There you go, young man, there are no more shackles, no more limitations to what you can do, step up and take your place in the sun!
Featuring the latest futuristic film from the master of suspense and horror, but this time, the renowned filmmaker takes a look at himself.
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I’m a bit satisfied with my last 2, but the first item lacks the power to deliver.
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