Question about screenwriting

[xNight Wraithx]

Alright, so here I am. I have no experience writing screen plays or any other sort of screen or stage work. I am very curious about how to go about it and I've read the submissions in the contest but I don't really understand a lot of the format and terminology. Does anyone know of a good website of very basics for screen writing or any other form of reference material? Thank you all in advance.

Richard

[MrJayVee]

This will get your started:


Basic information:
http://wga.org/ (http://wga.org/)

Screenplay format guide:
http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html (http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html)

David Trottier’s Screenwriter’s Bible (for the basics of screenwriting, formatting, etc.):
http://www.writersstore.com/products.php?categories_id=129&search_keywords=david+trottier (http://www.writersstore.com/products.php?categories_id=129&search_keywords=david+trottier)

[Joe Calabrese]

The Screenwriter's Bible by Dave Trottier. A must have book.

[xNight Wraithx]

Outstanding, thank you all very much.

[Rainy Night]

You might also try reading some scripts. I spend as much time reading as I do writing. You can find a number of produced scripts online for free. Drew's Script-O-Rama is a good place to start.

[September skies]

Wow. So much information. I am so thankful I joined this place. I never even thought of screenwriting but suddenly I had this idea for a great TV drama series and the more I think of it, the more excited I get. I started writing story plots but had no idea how to pursue anything else. (I wanted to write a few story lines first) I went on the web but there is so much out there, I got lost. I didn't find an actual place that really helped me. And now this....everything I need to get started in one place. Thank you. Thank you.

September

[Mac H.]

If you are mainly interested in TV writing, then check out Larry Brody's www.tvwriter.com (http://www.tvwriter.com/) as well.

There are several regulars on that site who have a lot of experience pitching TV projects.

Mind you - they don't have a screenwriting critique board. The feedback here is really useful.

Mac.

[NikeeGoddess]

the thought of someone attempting to write a novel, who has never read a novel is absurd. i'm sure most novelist have read thousands of novels.

the same goes for screenwriting. read, read, read a bunch of scripts. many are free online. and i'm sure someone here will post some links for you.

[xNight Wraithx]

Yeah! My idea, funny as it sounds is for a Pixar/Dreamworks sort of film about a bird trapped in say the airport or inside a store like Home Depot or Wal-Mart. I think it would be very cute and has a lot of potential but then with the movies like Valiant and Chicken Little, maybe birds are over done?

[StephieM]

Nikegoddess is right, but many people have not the first clue of where to find a script and scripts are far less popular than books or novels. Unlike books you don't see scripts in everyone's home. That is why we have forums like this, to help guide the newly interested in the right direction. :)

Here are some more links you may find useful.

http://www.joblo.com/moviescripts.htm
http://www.scriptcrawler.com/
http://www.script-o-rama.com/
http://www.screentalk.biz/gallery.htm
http://www.simplyscripts.com/
http://www.weeklyscript.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/PLAQUE2/
http://www.imsdb.com/

Also some books that might come in handy....


The Screenwriter's Workbook -Syd Field
Screenplay-Syd Field
The Everything Screenwriting Book-Robert Polluck
The Elements of Screenwriting-Irwin Blacker
The Complete Book of Scriptwriting-J. Micheal Starczynski

Good luck!
Steph
__________________

[Rainy Night]

Yeah! My idea, funny as it sounds is for a Pixar/Dreamworks sort of film about a bird trapped in say the airport or inside a store like Home Depot or Wal-Mart. I think it would be very cute and has a lot of potential but then with the movies like Valiant and Chicken Little, maybe birds are over done?
Good start, but what's it about. You have a character and setting... now you need a story, etc... it sounds cute, like something my kids would be interested in, but tell me more... flesh it out a little bit.

[September skies]

My idea, funny as it sounds is for a Pixar/Dreamworks sort of film about a bird trapped in say the airport or inside a store like Home Depot or Wal-Mart.?

How strange. Just this past weekend I had an hour layover at the Phoenix Airport and I watched a small bird and wondered how it got there, how long it had been there, what it eats, etc. My young daughter kept asking questions.
She (and I) would love such a story. It actually has a lot of potential.

[xNight Wraithx]

Thank you all very much for being so encouraging. Script writing seems like something that I could do well. I have a past of writing for text-based Roleplaying Games online. In there i had to describe every minute detail. What the person sees, the sights, the smells, everything. So, that being said, it isn't terribly different from script writing. I have to flesh out the environments, the characters. I am actually very excited, my wife is talented as an artist so she could even story board it for me. So, once I get it all done, that's where the part I fear most comes in which is finding out who to submit it to and how to submit it and things like that. This site could be the absolute ebeginning of something very big for me, something that I never dreamed of doing but always thought that I would enjoy and thanks to all of this, I might actually have a chance.

[dpaterso]

I'm seeing this crusty old pilot who tells the airport authorities he can get the bird, but it'll cost 'em dear, and together with the airport's Chief of Security who's terrified of flying and a hippy ornithologist he sets off in his trusty biplane for the hunt of a lifetime. Once they're up in the air the Chief opens the fuselage hatch and sprinkles bird seed, and the biggest beak he's ever seen rears up out of the clouds below to gobble the seed down. He stumbles forward into the cockpit. "We're gonna need a bigger plane."
-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)

The Absolute Write Ultimate Screenwriting Challenge Contest
Rules & Prizes (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18151)
Read the Entries for Task 1 (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18170)
Read Task 2 Goals (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19404)
1st voting period extended to midnight on Saturday, October 1st.

[Joe Calabrese]

Cute, but somehow I think Benchley and Speilberg would not be amused.

[harrisbloom]

I had a similar question as the person who started this thread...but I am curious specifically about Syd Field's books - is he still considered must-read, or are his theories a bit outdated?

Thanks,

Harris

[StephieM]

Harris,

Syd Field teaches the fundamentals of the three act structure and the Paradigm. There are a few who will argue that the three act structure is passe and that there is more to a screenplay in regards to where the plot-points occur and how many. But most feel the three act structure is needed for a great well-written story. I even came across a website that claimed the only way to create a great script is with ten acts. I couldn't even begin to understand what they were talking about. Syd fields books were a required necessity when I was taking part in an online screenwriting course. And that was about two years ago. So I don't think his ideas are outdated. His book- "The Screenwriting Workbook", is the first book I picked up which helped me out tremendously. It taught me everything I needed to know about structure, how to plot out my story and how to develope strong characters. I would recommend this book to anyone starting out and just getting the feel for screenwriting.

Steph

[odocoileus]

format guides

http://www.screenwriting.info/


http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/contents.htm


http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/script.pdf


http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com...rmatarticle.pdf (http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/screenstyle/formatarticle.pdf)


free formatting software

http://www.celtx.com/overview.html

all about screenwriting

http://www.wga.org/mentors/BestMentor.html

http://www.wga.org/manuals/episodic/episodic_toc.html

http://www.empirecontact.com/magicstar/

http://www.empirecontact.com/screenwriting/

http://www.teako170.com/faq.html#spelling

http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/artweb/playwriting/film.html

obligatory bbc link, just in case you haven't seen it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/