This web site © copyright 2005 StoryRescue.com
Text Box: MAKING SENSE OUT OF IT Or “How to show your script to the right people so you don’t get your heart broken on a first draft!” Whenever we send out a script for evaluation there’s always the overwhelming temptation to adapt to the latest news. Whoever was the last to comment on it usually dominates your thinking. Unless you’re in contract with that last person(a studio person; the actual producer or director of the film), this is nearly always a mistake. Because screenplays don’t have an absolute market value; because they are works of art with no intrinsic material value, it’s almost impossible to say “This script is good,” even if it is. “Titanic” was turned down by every major studio for six years. Ben Stiller comedies are written, green-lighted and put into production in less than a year. It only reinforces one of Hollywood’s most famous quotes—from William Goldman the great, Oscar winning screenwriter of “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid” and “Marathon Man”: “Nobody knows anything.” With this in mind, it’s important that as you collect commentary on your script that you harvest only what you can use. You will find as much disagreement as there are people who give it a read. However, when there is persistent agreement or a repeated question, that’s when you can focus on a problem and make the proper correction. It’s also important to show it to only a handful of people, between 4-7 people who are diverse in their backgrounds and experience. These individuals should overlap most or all of these categories: Have professional filmmaking experience Have no filmmaking or movie or show business experience. Non-pros, but genuinely like movies and can compare your movie to others in the same category. Enjoy fictional literature Have the ability to give you constructive criticism. This especially includes people who never say any of the following: “Is this supposed to be a (fill in genre) ? “I was bored” “What does “Wide Shot” mean? Most of all you want people who READ. But you don’t want only professionals. Professionals tend to get offended at flaws in your script. They take screenplays too seriously—but they really know what makes a screen story (most of the time). Your “civilian” friends will give you that much needed “demographic” point-of-view—they are the REAL movie audience, but they may not be able to really articulate the problem outside of saying “I didn’t get when…” or something like that. But it’s still something that you should listen to. So, don’t believe everything you hear about your script. You’re ALLOWED TO THINK YOU’RE RIGHT.…and you should be open to everything, without actually using every bit of criticism you receive. “They’re only movies. They will neither save us, nor destroy us.” -- Dalton Trumbo ~~~~~~~~ Text Box: <<Back to ARTICLES Text Box: Next ARTICLE>>

Article

CONTACT:

info@StoryRescue.com

Home                 Craft                Process           Services          Workshops          Articles          Bio        Links