Here’s a conversation I had with fellow filmmaker Mike Petrik:

Mike: Making a feature length?! About inventions?! Any time travel in this one?
Me: not yet. It will come up, I’m sure. Any tips or sites you want to throw into the mix, please do!
Mike: Tip Number One: Time Travel MUST be included in this.

Time travel it is. I’ll keep it in my writer’s toolbox.

Writing a full length script is incredibly daunting. A rule of thumb: 1 script page roughly equals 1 minute of the film. A 110 page script? I’ve never written anything that long. Sounds gigantic.

I need to make this easier, less scary, and manageable. To start, I wrote out a list of all the beats to the film. Start to finish. Then I narrowed it down, combining and deleting most of them, to about 17 parts, and divided them into 3 acts.

Each moment or scene gets its own card. I laid them out in a sequential row, acts stacked on top of each other to create a grid where I can see my move completely. Looking at this set up has made this script seem real, which is nice.

I don’t think the cards themselves are very inspiring. Some have titles like: “Product fails, inventor embarrassed”, but at least it gives me an idea of what that moment in the film will be. Every night I grab 2 cards and flesh out their basics. Some are clearer than others, for sure, but the idea now is to get something down on paper. I’m not concerning myself with continuity or pace at this point. I free write, for the most part, about the scene and let stuff pop up out of nowhere. While writing I’ll go back through my note books to see if there are any jokes or story elements I can plug into the scene. 30-45 minutes later I got a first draft of those 2 scenes. I’m not revising or editing just yet, that will come later. I check off the card and move onto the next ones.

Since I’m strapped of any grand ideas, I took a tip from Robert Rodriquez to make this story longer. Take a shorter idea and repeat it 3 times. Comedy comes in 3’s anyway, right? I created one story with 6 main beats, and will repeat those story beats 2 more times. In the second act the beats will be different and the stakes will be raised. In the third act, each beat will have its own little twist so it doesn’t seem repetitive.

For example, each series of beats will start with a scene that shows the audience the industry or business.

Act 1 will be an infomercial for the crappy product.
Act 2 will be the inner working of the HQ. Daily operations, etc.
Act 3 will be the real seedy underbelly of the business. Behind closed doors type shit.

Each act starts with the same idea of a scene (showing you the industry), but takes you deeper and exposes more. Get it? Little tricks or organization moves like this make the screenplay go a lot smoother and not stress me out as much.

At this pace, 2 scenes a day, I’ll have a first draft done in 5 days. I’m gong to LA this weekend, and Florida the next, so finding time to write will be tough. I’m really hoping to have a solid revised draft by June 12^th aka my birthday.

Joe

PART 1

PART 2

Since I have no idea how to write a screenplay, I’ve dug up a few free online resources. I’m fully aware there are one million books in the world to tell you how to write a screenplay, but why spend the money when you can get the same tips and advice FOR FREE from THE EXPERTS. All these writers are working in the business, and doing quite well. Works for me:

Word Player.com
The most comprehensive writing site I’ve found. All killer, no filler, as the kids say. The site is run by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, a screenwriting duo that have been working quite consistently in the biz for over 20 years. They’ve had some hits, and some duds, and have included every aspect of the writing craft in 52 highly entertaining essays. My personal favorites are:
Strange Attractor
Crap-plus-One
Building the Bomb
The Audience is Listening

Dan Harmon’s Channel101.com Tutorials
Dan Harmon and friends made a really great collection of tutorials on film making for current/future channel101 filmmakers. Most aspects of film making are covered, but Harmon’s story structure tutorials are the best. They’re clear, concise, and very funny. My personal favorite is Story Structure 104 where he goes through each point and how the movie Die Hard fits PERFECTLY.

Story Structure 106: Five Minute Pilots
Story Structure 104: the Juicy Details
Story Structure 103: Simplify
Story Structure 102: Pure Boring Theory
Story Structure 101: Super Basic Shit

John August.com
“This site is run by screenwriter John August. Mostly, he answers reader-submitted questions about the craft, but occasionally he goes on tangents that run far afield of writing and filmmaking. You’ll also find info on past, present and future projects.”

There ya go. Click around! What I like about this site is it’s in ‘real time’. By that, I mean, he’s posting info and tips as he goes along, as opposed to the previous 2 which are more like archives.

Got some favorites you’d like to share, please do!

Joe

I’ve just started. I’m up for the challenge. I will write, shoot, edit and release it online for free.

Along the way I’ll share what’s going on, how it’s going, and give a little insight into how it’s done. I have no idea how to do this, so I’m very excited.

The working title is The Master of Inventions. It’s a about an inventor who’s know for the shittiest inventions. He’s desperately trying to inventing something worthwhile and meaningful.

I should watch that Carrot Top movie Chairman of the Board to make sure I’m not subconsciously stealing his movie. Even If I do, so what, It’s not like anyone saw it. Bah-zing!!