This is good advice; I was hoping you would say something like this. I feel like the cliche elements have been broken through strong characterization. In other words, she’s not a cliche stripper. She’s very smart and she has some serious trepidation about her job, which I’m hoping is enough to break the cliche. We’ll see.
I took a playwriting class years ago and the teacher said nothing about rules! (smile) Actually, your rules could just as easily apply to any kind of fiction writing. I especially like the last one, although I’d word it differently. I’d say, figure out what you’re obsessed about, what you’re passionate about, and write that. It can be thematic or a character type. But feel free to explore your obsession….
Hmm, but I’d rather read a great screen play that needs a new name rather than the reverse.
I wonder about all the formulas that people like Blake Snyder teach. It seems like so many inferior movies, especially American movies, are utterly predictable to me. I wonder if it’s because everyone is trying to use the same formulas.
I agree on both counts. I think Snyder has some good points, but that adhering to the formula too closely results in a career like his: one in which you sell a lot of movies that don’t get made and ultimately have poor critical acclaim.
At the same time, though, you can’t argue against having a title and logline that make people want to read it, and I just happened to notice that the scripts I was interested in where the ones that, whether or not the authors knew it, followed his advice for writing a great logline.
I have no idea. Because these are the movies the first poster had seen? I think it would be more relevant to list maybe the IMDb To 250 or something, but I just thought it would be fun to play along.
October 25, 2008 at 5:59 pm
David,
Good stuff. It strikes a chord with what I’ve been going through recently with the “Postville” play.
Don
December 3, 2008 at 11:50 am
ooo Moulin Rouge! What a great one!
December 4, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Good on ya! It’ll be wonderful.
December 9, 2008 at 1:40 am
Unfortunately, they are considered cliche but I wouldn’t let that stop you… Rather, embrace that fact and make your version amazing and different.
Break the cliche elements.
Unk
December 10, 2008 at 9:46 pm
This is good advice; I was hoping you would say something like this. I feel like the cliche elements have been broken through strong characterization. In other words, she’s not a cliche stripper. She’s very smart and she has some serious trepidation about her job, which I’m hoping is enough to break the cliche. We’ll see.
December 13, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I took a playwriting class years ago and the teacher said nothing about rules! (smile) Actually, your rules could just as easily apply to any kind of fiction writing. I especially like the last one, although I’d word it differently. I’d say, figure out what you’re obsessed about, what you’re passionate about, and write that. It can be thematic or a character type. But feel free to explore your obsession….
Thanks for the link, David.
December 14, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I modified the rules slightly for the post, because I did realize they applied to all varieties of writing. More on this later.
January 24, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Hmm, but I’d rather read a great screen play that needs a new name rather than the reverse.
I wonder about all the formulas that people like Blake Snyder teach. It seems like so many inferior movies, especially American movies, are utterly predictable to me. I wonder if it’s because everyone is trying to use the same formulas.
I think I prefer creativity.
January 24, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I agree on both counts. I think Snyder has some good points, but that adhering to the formula too closely results in a career like his: one in which you sell a lot of movies that don’t get made and ultimately have poor critical acclaim.
At the same time, though, you can’t argue against having a title and logline that make people want to read it, and I just happened to notice that the scripts I was interested in where the ones that, whether or not the authors knew it, followed his advice for writing a great logline.
January 26, 2009 at 7:50 am
Why these in particular?
January 26, 2009 at 9:59 am
I have no idea. Because these are the movies the first poster had seen? I think it would be more relevant to list maybe the IMDb To 250 or something, but I just thought it would be fun to play along.
February 20, 2009 at 3:08 am
I think a fee is expected when entering a competition. It is sad if they need it to limit the number of entries and not only for administration costs.
Thank you very much for that list.
Are your sure it is a list of *screenplay* competitions? Film festivals usually have competition for already made films.
February 20, 2009 at 11:50 am
That’s a good point. You’re probably right that they are not for screenplays.