Prognosis of a Movie Unmade
by Michael Steven Gregory
To build a solid structure you pour the foundation wide and deep. Many movies are good in part. Some are visual stunners. In others a performance may linger unforgettable. Others still, stand out as feats solely of technical majesty. For the movies of tenure, however, the movies that captivate and endure and catapult local industry, those whose whole remain greater than the sum of their parts, the structure on which they are built is common ground. Simply put, the base on which every good narrative picture is anchored is the script.
The most spectacular special effects, the finest method acting, the noblest of intentions, and the biggest lump of money in the world will not make a great movie out of a bad script. For the breakthrough feature-length vehicle needed to establish San Diego as a viable home to consistent independent production, a weak script, as we've proven locally time and again, is the kiss of death.
This segment of our series is not a "how to write a great script." Countless books claim privy to that revelation. Syd Field's Screenplay is considered the bible of the trade, and any by Linda Seger remain required reading. Yet, no number of books combined will divulge the universal secret to writing a good script because the challenges each must face when attempting to do so are uniquely shaped by personal motives, capability and temperament. There is so much contradictory information available that the overwhelming volume of it all can be dulling to the creative senses. But there is a secret to writing a good story. And there are certain "tools" to better avoid writing a poor script.
The tools first. The secret later.
In order to prevent any writer with a good script immediate dismissal as an amateur, you must use the proper script format. If you are not using a professional scriptwriting application, the settings for Pica typewritten or word processed script format are: 20, left margin for "sluglines" (INT./EXT., etc.); 30, for dialogue (indented equally from the right margin); 35 for character parentheticals; 40 (or centered) for character names; 60 for "continued"s (optional); and 75 for margin right. Though variations abound, these settings represent the industry norm according to the Writers Guild of America.
What San Diego's breakthrough movie must possess is a compelling story fraught with conflict. There are many kinds of conflict, but there are only two mainstream methods in which to successfully portray them: Plot-Driven stories and Character-Driven stories. A plot-driven story means the plot motivates the characters to action, i.e., Die Hard, Star Wars; with a character driven story the action of the characters form the plot, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Big Chill. Commercially, it is the plot driven story that most often gets made (studio-wise), and the character driven story that nabs the big awards.
Which ever you tackle, you must never forget that your script is not a film to be watched. Your script is first a story that will be read. Not only must it provide a good read, but every page must compel the reader to turn to the next. If you can stop anywhere and not have a driving urge to know what happens next or to whom, if you laden the story with superfluous character direction or with intrusive camera angles or with extraneous scene descriptions, than you have failed.
Fluidity, tempo, clarity, and structurally sound, solid storytelling are the hallmarks of well-written scripts. Be convinced that anybody reading your script is merely looking for an opportunity to lose interest. Craftsmanship is the issue here. Watch the rhythm of your prose. Listen as much with your eyes as you do with your ears. Are your commas reading as full-stops? Most often they do.
As far as successful dialogue goes, dialogue is action. It should provide story and character definition while moving at a clip in keeping with the tempo of the scene. Should you find your characters' dialogue all sounds the same, then give your characters their own verbal "shtick." For instance, have a character end every comment with "Know what I mean?", or one that uses five syllable words when any single syllable word will do. Give a character a perpetual sniffle, a lisp, a tick--anything to instantly relate the individuality of that character.
Many writers feel obliged to go into great detail about the physical movement of characters, either in the action description or in parentheticals amid dialogue. Word to the wise: Don't. If "Marty walks over to the door, turns the knob, and with a final glare at the audience, leaves the room," believe me, "Marty exits in a huff!"
Say it, say it clean, and get on with the story.
Finally, constructing certain scenes in stories can sometimes prove excessively frustrating, even to the accomplished writer. For whatever reason, there are simply times when a scene, so vivid in the mind's eye, won't lay out on the page in a manner that seems to make sense. When this happens, turn to those before you who've done it successfully. Invest $15.00 or $20.00 in a copy of the script for a movie which most closely resembles your own, or contained a scene which you might be able to emulate, and see how it looked on the written page before it reached the screen. There is not a more beneficial means of education for the aspiring
screenwriter than that contained in scripts of movies seen. Contact Hollywood Book & Poster at 213/465-8764 for a catalog of available scripts. You can go also visit the Writers Guild of America, West at 8955 Beverly Blvd. in L.A. to peruse their script library free of charge.
At the onset of every project, the effort of one writer can become responsible for the employment of an industry. I will tell you that the secret to writing--too short and sweet to fill up some 200+ pages of trade paperback--is a the cost of that responsibility. The secret to writing, as promised, is this: Rewriting.
Rewriting is the difference between "good effort" and success.