It would seem that my biggest dilemma is simply not knowing what to shoot. I have all this knowledge and "expertise" but simply put, I don't have any ideas that are simple enough to put onto film. Most of the ideas I come up with are complex and require things that I don't have access to. I need to think up some simple ideas that I can shoot, that don't have complicated elements to them (Other than human drama).
Some of the best films I've seen don't have a single car chase or gun fired in them. So why is it that I'm having such a hard time creating a simple short story? Does anyone else have this problem?
BTW, this is more of a rant about my own frustrations than a question about how to.
no ideas for a script....
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flatwood
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I know just what you're talking about. Everywhere I go I see pictures and people that are interesting to me and then my mind starts playing what if. Usually for me the what if runs up a dead end road (becomes less interesting) but sometimes I can catalog a picture of a scenario to use in the future.
When I ran the recording studio, for a few years I played host to some of the best old dog (hall of famers) song writers in the business. I was their go to guy for demos. During this period I would listen to them talk and these incredible lines came out of their mouths just in the course of normal conversation so I started writing them down. I had a legal pad almost full of these lines.
Much to my sorrow, I made the mistake of showing someone the pad. I kept it in a desk drawer in the foyer of the studio so I could grab it and write down what Id heard. It turned up missing shortly after that. I know who took it but he turned out to be an unscrupulous individual who is shunned at just about every quarter of the legit old dog circle, but still those ideas like you say are hard to come by.
When I ran the recording studio, for a few years I played host to some of the best old dog (hall of famers) song writers in the business. I was their go to guy for demos. During this period I would listen to them talk and these incredible lines came out of their mouths just in the course of normal conversation so I started writing them down. I had a legal pad almost full of these lines.
Much to my sorrow, I made the mistake of showing someone the pad. I kept it in a desk drawer in the foyer of the studio so I could grab it and write down what Id heard. It turned up missing shortly after that. I know who took it but he turned out to be an unscrupulous individual who is shunned at just about every quarter of the legit old dog circle, but still those ideas like you say are hard to come by.
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Mitch Perkins
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I think this is key - a pad or book or dictaphone. Let the stories come to you and be ready to jot them down.flatwood wrote:During this period I would listen to them talk and these incredible lines came out of their mouths just in the course of normal conversation so I started writing them down. I had a legal pad almost full of these lines.
Use music to conjure/inspire images. Lately, "Blue Angel" and "In Dreams" by Roy Orbison have been moving me. The story need have nothing to do with the lyrics.
Mitch
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BonnutFilmStudio
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Re: no ideas for a script....
As you say, this is not so much a request for a solution or an answer, but I may have one fpr youjohnnhud wrote:It would seem that my biggest dilemma is simply not knowing what to shoot. I have all this knowledge and "expertise" but simply put, I don't have any ideas that are simple enough to put onto film. Most of the ideas I come up with are complex and require things that I don't have access to. I need to think up some simple ideas that I can shoot, that don't have complicated elements to them (Other than human drama).
Some of the best films I've seen don't have a single car chase or gun fired in them. So why is it that I'm having such a hard time creating a simple short story? Does anyone else have this problem?
BTW, this is more of a rant about my own frustrations than a question about how to.
I have a lot of ideas I've sketched out and written for in-camera competitions. I'm so swamped with filming, I'm not going to get to use any of these ideas and put to film. If you give me writing credit I'd be more than happy to share them with you. Send me a PM.I found this link today and would reccoment it to anyone like me who has trouble with ideas and structure.
http://www.channel101.com/articles/arti ... icle_id=14
http://www.channel101.com/articles/arti ... icle_id=14
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mattias
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it's a job. once you get going it happens by itself. having a notebook around is great advice, write down everything you see and think. after a while it all starts to come alive by itself and you can't stop stories and concepts from forming even if you wanted to. the problem if you try to work from inspiration and don't see it as a process is that most ideas come to you in such small portions that you won't recognize them as ideas before you've already forgotten them. good luck.
/matt
/matt
Re: no ideas for a script....
I like that quote of Thierry (I believe) who says that the best ideas in life come when walking (something like that). Perhaps you think too much.johnnhud wrote:It would seem that my biggest dilemma is simply not knowing what to shoot. I have all this knowledge and "expertise" but simply put, I don't have any ideas that are simple enough to put onto film. Most of the ideas I come up with are complex and require things that I don't have access to. I need to think up some simple ideas that I can shoot, that don't have complicated elements to them (Other than human drama).
Some of the best films I've seen don't have a single car chase or gun fired in them. So why is it that I'm having such a hard time creating a simple short story? Does anyone else have this problem?
BTW, this is more of a rant about my own frustrations than a question about how to.
I know what you mean btw. I think you do not understand the creative process. There must be images or scenes in your life you find interesting. Start from them. Take it easy and let it flow. Think of an end and try to write the middle. You can always change the end later, or the beginning. Write and rewrite. When it is not good let it rest until you find something which makes it better.
I think a writers block is the result of the fact that you do not like the ideas you do have or don't find them good enough. Perhaps you should try to improvise on them none the less.
My two cents..
Paul / edited once
sounds like you want to make a movie with a car chase and guns. Why not just do it man, because you can't make youself make something you don't want, why not spend the time and money and generally the hard duty work and make what you want.Some of the best films I've seen don't have a single car chase or gun fired in them.
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Bjarne Eldhuset
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Some possible tactics:
Try not criticising the text you are writing while you are writing it. Just write whatever flows in to your mind.
Even if what you are thinking starts something like "this sucks, but I'll keep writing anyway" Well, just write that. Then maybe continue with "since this is so #¤% boring, let me recapitalize my day. first, I smeared toothpaste all over my mustage, as one of my kids tried out my pain treshold by hitting me in the leg with a toy car".
This is daily stuff (well, not for me, as I don't have kids), but try writing about ordinary things, and then maybe read it again, and ask "what would have happened if .... somebody ... or something ... did this or that " How would that change the star of your day?
Often, if you just take daily situations one step further, it'l spark something totally different, maybe funny, maybe tragical, but at least something more than nothing!
Try not criticising the text you are writing while you are writing it. Just write whatever flows in to your mind.
Even if what you are thinking starts something like "this sucks, but I'll keep writing anyway" Well, just write that. Then maybe continue with "since this is so #¤% boring, let me recapitalize my day. first, I smeared toothpaste all over my mustage, as one of my kids tried out my pain treshold by hitting me in the leg with a toy car".
This is daily stuff (well, not for me, as I don't have kids), but try writing about ordinary things, and then maybe read it again, and ask "what would have happened if .... somebody ... or something ... did this or that " How would that change the star of your day?
Often, if you just take daily situations one step further, it'l spark something totally different, maybe funny, maybe tragical, but at least something more than nothing!
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Bjarne Eldhuset
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EDIT: By the way, wouldn't it be nice with a chase scene here? After getting hit in the leg by a toy car, having toohpaste all over your mustage, you run after the kid, end up chasing after him whilst he tries to flee the scene on his little bike. Then, of course, the lady next door, who you secretly fancy more than your wife, sees all this, and hits you in the head with an umbrella, as she dislikes the way you bring up your children. and so on and so on... Not a great story, but I will not criticise it till tomorrow anyway!
After getting hit in the leg by a toy car, having toohpaste all over your mustage, you run after the kid, end up chasing after him whilst he tries to flee the scene on his little bike. Then, of course, the lady next door, who you secretly fancy more than your wife, sees all this, and hits you in the head with an umbrella, as she dislikes the way you bring up your children. and so on and so on... Not a great story, but I will not criticise it till tomorrow anyway!-
CHAS
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I love eavesdropping on conversations. Especially stupid ones. It was actually an exercise in a scriptwriting class I had many years ago. We were to eavesdrop then write down what we heard asap. Then read aloud to the class what we heard. My classmates had a good laugh when I recited what I wrote -- a conversation between two African-Americans talking about getting out of jail recently.flatwood wrote: these incredible lines came out of their mouths just in the course of normal conversation so I started writing them down. I had a legal pad almost full of these lines.
About a year ago some family friend boasted about her weight loss, saying "I have a pretty healthy ego" -- I used that for the opening line in a scene in "Westsider" -- because my character is such a pompous ass that has been getting good laughs as well.
**************
http://westsiderfilm.com/
http://westsiderfilm.com/
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pbrstreetgang
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short story benchmark
always have this in mind when thinking about your next short film concept when out on a walk, or swim, or ride:
who is your main character and what does he/she want? Do they get what they want? Who stands in their way? (i.e., the bad guy). Create a moral dilemma for your character... e.g., does he save the girl who's trying to kill him, or does he run? Which path he takes depends on your character development. Remember, though, short films are always plot driven, the situation rules. Why? Because you can't develop character in 5 minutes, generally speaking.
i attended a screenwriter's course last year and they showed us a short film shot on 8mm, went for like 30 seconds, a b&w, set in the early 20s costumes and all, and it was simply about these two characters, guy and girl, lovingly embracing one another on a beach, somewhere on a windy winter's day.
suddenly the film starts literally melting as it does when stuck in the gate of a hot movie projector. the guy in the film sees that the film is melting in one corner getting larger and larger and so he grabs the girl by the hand and together they run to try and escape the melting film that's coming down on top of them.
in the end, the melting film wins consuming the entire screen including the characters. the question is, who was the bad guy, the nemesis so to speak? it was the melting film burning the characters to death, although you don't see that it's simply implied.
that film won awards. simplistic, character's established, has a beginning, has a middle and an end, tension, climax, resolution it's all there from a writer/director POV. the turning point was the guy seeing the melting film and so from then on the story takes an unexpected turn which one must have in a film. two turning points in fact, a first and a second act turning point, a bit like chapters in a book but for film we use turning points for which to break up acts one, two and three. there are variations to the three act structure of course take pulp fiction for example, or Magnolia, shine, irreversable etc.
so it comes back to who is your main character and what did he/she want? it was the guy in this instance, and all he wanted was to save himself, and the girl, from, the melting film, the bad guy. your bad guy/girl isn't necessarily human. Think of the Blob, deep impact, armageddon etc.
Mattias is right in saying that conceptualising storylines is a process... absolutely! and the golden rule of thumb is, write about what you know, your own experiences, someone else's experiences as long as you can make them yours. the worst thing is writing about shit you know nothing about, and friends, never, ever write stoned, forget it, maybe once you've written a first draft to allow deeper thought but never get stoned thinking you'll come up with the next blockbuster... not even close.
who is your main character and what does he/she want? Do they get what they want? Who stands in their way? (i.e., the bad guy). Create a moral dilemma for your character... e.g., does he save the girl who's trying to kill him, or does he run? Which path he takes depends on your character development. Remember, though, short films are always plot driven, the situation rules. Why? Because you can't develop character in 5 minutes, generally speaking.
i attended a screenwriter's course last year and they showed us a short film shot on 8mm, went for like 30 seconds, a b&w, set in the early 20s costumes and all, and it was simply about these two characters, guy and girl, lovingly embracing one another on a beach, somewhere on a windy winter's day.
suddenly the film starts literally melting as it does when stuck in the gate of a hot movie projector. the guy in the film sees that the film is melting in one corner getting larger and larger and so he grabs the girl by the hand and together they run to try and escape the melting film that's coming down on top of them.
in the end, the melting film wins consuming the entire screen including the characters. the question is, who was the bad guy, the nemesis so to speak? it was the melting film burning the characters to death, although you don't see that it's simply implied.
that film won awards. simplistic, character's established, has a beginning, has a middle and an end, tension, climax, resolution it's all there from a writer/director POV. the turning point was the guy seeing the melting film and so from then on the story takes an unexpected turn which one must have in a film. two turning points in fact, a first and a second act turning point, a bit like chapters in a book but for film we use turning points for which to break up acts one, two and three. there are variations to the three act structure of course take pulp fiction for example, or Magnolia, shine, irreversable etc.
so it comes back to who is your main character and what did he/she want? it was the guy in this instance, and all he wanted was to save himself, and the girl, from, the melting film, the bad guy. your bad guy/girl isn't necessarily human. Think of the Blob, deep impact, armageddon etc.
Mattias is right in saying that conceptualising storylines is a process... absolutely! and the golden rule of thumb is, write about what you know, your own experiences, someone else's experiences as long as you can make them yours. the worst thing is writing about shit you know nothing about, and friends, never, ever write stoned, forget it, maybe once you've written a first draft to allow deeper thought but never get stoned thinking you'll come up with the next blockbuster... not even close.
Ha-ha we did the same thing!I love eavesdropping on conversations. Especially stupid ones. It was actually an exercise in a scriptwriting class I had many years ago.
Well that's just crappy. How the hell could it be a film course if they're all using video? Secondly, you probably should've tried harder to convince them to shoot on 16mm and sold yourself as the DP. Really you shouldn't have given up on others, ideally you should be there to help and learn.Well I've just dropped out of my film course, because I couldn't come up with a decent script to shoot. I didn't want to just shoot other student's films, either, because they are all using video (and I wanted to shoot on 16mm)...
Johnn, do you have any ideas loosely whatsoever? I would be willing to think over it and submit a script. Seriously you should try to do be ambitious and try to figure out how you'll get everything done, that's the fun part. This is coming from someone that just spent time with a giant gingerbread man, among other things.
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Dr_Strangelove
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The best ideas I have ever come up with were made during transportation...Strange way to put, but in my case its true. When by the computer its hard to push ideas out of yourself, so if youre like me John; take a walk or bike ride and think clearly about what kind of script you want to write and maybe a couple of ideas will pop up.
/Jan
/Jan