Practical Film School: - Pre-Production - Scripting! (Lesson 2)

Hey guys! Welcome to Lesson 2 of Practical Film School! Today we're going to look at the process of drafting scripts, this may seem rather general, I'll try to be specific but it's important to remember every script is different, though the core elements are the same.

Formatting

The first thing I notice when I'm reading a script is the formatting, if a script is poorly formatted it is the worst thing to read as a producer as it looks extremely amateur, and it looks like you don't know what you're doing as a screenwriter, a good tip is to use the software CeltX (Click to take you to the website), I've used it for every episode of the web-series I produce, and it's fantastic, it makes formatting easy, and it can make a script well formatted which is half the battle!

Another useful tool to use is this info-graphic on script formatting, it tells you all you need to know in order to make any script well formatted! And what to include in your script:

Content

Apart from formatting the other obvious category for what makes a good script is the content, there are a few questions you should ask when writing your script:

• Would I watch this?
• Does the dialogue sound natural?
• Have I got enough technical information? 
• Does it flow, and have I kept continuity?

If you answered yes to all four of these questions then it's more than likely the content of your script is rather good! You'd be surprised by the number of people who write scripts for a genre they don't like, or a concept they just can't get into, if you do this it's immediately obvious to any director/producer reading it, and the audience will pick up on it straight away and will drop it, if you don't have a passion for your script/wouldn't watch it yourself, then why should the audience even consider investing their time into your production? 

If your dialogue sounds robotic, or overly theatrical you'll lose the audience in the first couple of lines, but if your dialogue is logical for a real human and flows well then you can really engross the audience in your text and make your production a success which is what we all aim for as film-makers, not necessarily to be popular, but to engage and engross the audience in our texts!

Technical information is also important in a script as it tells the crew what they need to be doing, and allows actors to plan their delivery of said piece. E.g If you use a long shot during an argument an actor could be very animated physically, whereas if there's a static Medium Close Up (MCU) then the actor can choose to be less animated and put more anger in their voice, it can also be used to give the scenes different tones to make it more sinister, or more comical depending on what you're aiming for. It also helps the crew when you're shooting, though especially if you'reworking on an indie production you may not know your space until the day of the shoot, in which case put down a variety of camera shots you could use for a scene, don't be afraid to write a few things, from a technical stance I've always used scripts as guidelines more than something to mindlessly follow, sometimes and idea will only come to you on the day of the shoot, but embrace the technical directions in your script, they save your crew a lot fo stress on shooting days and show the cast you've got a plan!

Continuity is key! I remember reading a script where someone was punched in the rib cage and in the action below that they clutched their stomach in reaction to the previous punch, the script was pretty poor anyway, but continuity errors like that are beyond excuses, as a writer it's your job to make sure that your script has good content which flows well, the hallmark of a bad screenwriter is the inability to keep basic continuity, if someone is punched in the ribs they don't clutch their stomach, they react to where they were hit, if someone gets into a car and the car engine starts, then don't show them turning the key in the next scene. (Unless you're doing parallel editing between character, if so then do it!) Keep the script flowing well from scene to scene and remember - Continuity Is Key!

Get A Partner

The best thing to do when writing a script is to have a partner working on them with you, during this stage of Holmes myself and the lead writer Liam devised a system where he would produce the draft of the script, he'd then share the script with myself, I'd annotate the script with any notes I felt were relevant, then I'd hand it back to him and he'd produce the next version, it's a system we used for all six scripts and it was incredibly useful, Liam is the most talented writer I know, but screenplays are collaborative projects, especially when you're working on a series with a team, the script for Episode one went through around 16-18 drafts before we were both happy with a "Final" version (Which has had minor edits to it since), but by the time Liam finished the script for Episode Six we only had 2 drafts, as we got to a point where we both knew the tone of the show and Liam could write a near perfect script by his first submission. 

The most important element of the "script editor" system is that the writer and the editor both constantly communicate and know all the characters and have a fairly uniform view of the concept, so that the script can be improved, both parts also need to put their egos aside for the sake of getting the best script, not every idea you have will be gold, but it's up to you as a creative team to put the best ideas together in a flowing narrative, and if you can do that you'll have a fantastic script!

That's all from Practical Film School today, keep working on them scripts and make them great!

Thanks for reading!

-Geraint

Practical Film School: - Pre-Production - Selecting Your Team (Lesson 1)

Hey guys

So as a quick intro "Practical Film School" is going to be my series of posts which will act as a guide for indie film-makers to help them progress projects, it'll be in several parts and I'll start with Pre-Production tips, but from there It may become more rounded, and will bounce around various aspects of film production (But I'll try to group them together somewhere on here when I learn how to do it!)

In these I'll try to cover areas that are generally left untouched by most other sources, though as we're all talking about the same topic (The Production Process) there will be overlap.

Selecting Your Team

At first this may seem simple, and even trivial/irrelevant, but selecting who you work with on a film project is the most important part of Pre-Production, without the right people in the right roles you won't move your project forwards no matter how good your concept is, or even how good your script is.

There are 4 main questions you need to ask when looking for your production team:

1. Can you completely trust them in their role?
2. Are they willing to learn/diversify?
3. How well do they play with others?
4. Will they put the project before their own ego? 

In my experience people who show these four qualities are the best people to work with in the stressful, yet rewarding process of producing a film/series, and people who don't have these qualities have a tendency to stall projects as they're incredibly difficult to work with, I'll explain.

• Can you completely trust them in their role - This is important as a film production can be hectic, so as a producer/director you need to be able to trust them to get the job done on time, and you need to trust they can do it well and not have to completely rely on you, they're in a creative industry so there's no reason they can't use that creativity to solve problems!

• Are they willing to learn/diversify - This is extremely important, especially if you're an Indie film-maker, as it's extremely likely you'll be doing more than your listed roles, you should be prepared to do everything, and they should be prepared to step in to help out anywhere on set/during pre-production. (Extra credits to crew who go out of their way to develop their weak points - They're the best people to work with)

• How well do they play with others - Lets face it, someone who constantly makes arguments out of everything is not only going to stall your production, but that person is more than likely an asshole, in my experience they shoot down ideas and rubbish them without any solution or intent to develop them, pre-production is a bit like sculpting, you constantly make little changes to get to your finished product, which looks completely different to what you started with, there are exceptions that prove the rule, but most of the time it's an evolutionary process that's the beautiful brainchild of collaboration and teamwork. 

• Will they put the project before their own ego - The film industry is a tough industry to break into, so it's no secret that you need an ego to make it through and be successful, but when you're collaborating on projects you need to put your own ego aside and do what's best for the project. It sounds ridiculous but I've worked with people who will bring a completed idea to the table and will refuse to make any changes to the idea, out of what I can only imagine is the notion that their own ego will be damaged by not getting it perfect on the first pitch.  No idea is perfect at first, the more development you put into it the better it becomes, it's that simple!

My advice if you're a debut film-maker, or you're gathering a new production crew is that you should go out with your crew and film a short, put a bit of pre-production into it, but go out and film! The only way of telling if a crew is compatible is to go and make something, that way you know who you can work well with, or who may be problematic! It also gets people used to roles they may have in your major production, and will allow them to develop any skills they lack!

Thanks for reading!

-Geraint