10 Myths About Screenwriting

[@mariabonita5471]

Your lively presentation makes what you are explaining so vivid! You clearly understand the material so very well. I have learned a lot. Thank you, from a learner.

[@thomascrump1165]

I agree

[@BigRedStripe]

Always glad to help!

[@DrJefflang]

Keep up the good work BIG RED STRIPE. I find your videos very informative 👍

[@thomascrump1165]

I agree I watch all of them.

[@BigRedStripe]

Thanks so much!

[@spacecatboy2962]

On the copyright thing, with this one i am doing now, it is very heavily based on my life story. Or my childhood. And there is a lot of crazy stuff in there dealing with animal abuse, child abuse and overall dysfunctional acts by the grown ups in the story. So if someone did steal it, it would be quite interesting to see how that went. Its one thing to come up with the same idea for a story, but when it has your own heavy biographical fingerprint, it would be hard for someone to claim to have just invented these things the character experiences.

[@claudiamanta1943]

I am sorry to hear that you might have gone through a lot in your personal life. I am thinking that, unfortunately, other people might have had similar experiences. So…unless your screenplay contains real details (which is not a good idea- if nothing else because of Data Protection legislation) you could turn your horrific experiences into art i.e. a story that can help the audience to resolve their own traumas. Maybe, when they watch the movie, they will cry all the tears they had not been able to cry until then… only for them to feel a sense of justice when your villain gets punished.

[@spacecatboy2962]

@@claudiamanta1943 the villians doesnt really get punished, he just gets shown

[@randomspirit]

Helpful and informative! Thank you!

[@matthewlavagna6080]

Mark Twain once said, “I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.” This is one of the major challenges of screenwriting and it's counterintuitive to anyone who may not be familiar with the process. It actually takes far more time and effort to write less than it does more.

[@spacecatboy2962]

i thought hemingway said that

[@matthewlavagna6080]

@@spacecatboy2962 Maybe he said it too.

[@thomascrump1165]

Cool quote thanks for explaining too.

[@paulaperez1596]

But, what if I don't have time to write a long letter either?

[@PCIMPOSSIBLE]

Your information always matters, brother Jake. ☝️😇👍

[@thomascrump1165]

Yup knowledge is power in any form.

[@badandy9716]

Another great video. Thanks for posting!

[@thomascrump1165]

Right, always learn or reminder of something.

[@JJSeattle]

Been studying and writing story for visual media for 25 years (?), and I just entered my first screenplay contest with Austin Film Festival (2 screenplays), but these scripts went through no less than 20 re-writes (conservative number, I lost count). I recommend, when you feel like you have a solid product, pay a professional reader, get feedback. For example, I paid a professional reader for my sci-fi screenplay, and she gave it a 4.7 out of 5 stars (aggregated rating on dialogue, tempo, characters, etc.) and said, "Jokes were timed perfect to give audience a relief," but she found 2 typing errors late into the script.

[@JamesFleming1]

How did you do?

[@thomascrump1165]

This is a great video for someone thinking about trying screenwriting. Filled with things to know about the business side. I like number 8 the most it's similar to one of my favorite things I heard since learning. Don't remember source but they were talking about formatting, structure,save the cat and thing's. They said learn it,know it, then take what you need and throw away what you don't. I'll give example of how I took this. Not every story needs every beat in save the cat. If all your stories are missing the same beat that's a problem. But maybe this story doesn't need this one or that story doesn't need that one. Btw Jake watched your save the cat video I liked your take on it. Definitely love or hate with people.

[@BigRedStripe]

Thanks, Thomas. Glad both vids were helpful!

[@sagestudy]

Thomas I have a script and its does not have a status quo but still the whole script js awesome. Maybe status quo is not good for that script

[@thomascrump1165]

@@sagestudy True do what works for you and your stories.

[@DanielL.Phillips]

I love your presentations. Thanks very much.

[@shridharsharma2526]

9:02 you are the next Green goblin in spiderman

[@BigRedStripe]

If they wanted to hire me, I'd talk to them about it.

[@TiagoCavalcanti-ji6hu]

Neat! Cheers!!! BTW, 6 and 7 make me wanna write a story, lol. My mom did actually almost kill everybody in the car for trying to respect the speed limit-on a steep downhill in the middle of nowhere with several massive cargo trucks behind and around us, so... woah. ON THE OTHER HAND: It's kinda weird to (more than) imply that rules don't really mean that much, and it's OK to break them now and then (if you're good enough, sure...). See? Everybody will think they're unique and get to do it. Hum... not a story yet., eh. Should I credit you in case I write it, tho? LOL

[@claudiamanta1943]

Umm… not sure about that. I know that the Heroes in the movies are not perfect, but I, personally, would not have them depicted as breaking the law. What’s the message you give to audience? And what kind of Hero-as-role model is that? You can create conflict without making your Hero do outrageous things. (Unless it’s a horror movie, as there are no Heroes there- just monsters some of whom might be less bad than the others). That’s my take on it.

[@martinrizzi8419]

"Put yourself in the shoes of the agent for a moment, which of the following emails would you rather receive? Number one: i've finished my script about zombie aliens and it's similar to other projects you represent and i think you'd really dig it i'd love to send it to you -OR - i have a studio interested in my zombie alien script but it's the first studio i sent it to. I think more may be interested would you be willing to read it and hip pocket me for this studio as i don't currently have representation" Please, WHAT does "hip pocket me" mean, exactly?

[@claudiamanta1943]

2:13 I would send an email combining the two, something like ‘I hope that you’re good enough at what you’re doing to recognise the opportunity that I am giving you to dig some green gold in the shape of my Oscar- material screenplay. Hugs and kisses xoxoxox I am looking forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully’

[@BigRedStripe]

Haha!! That will ensure they never read anything of yours ever again.

[@claudiamanta1943]

8:08 I’m not sure about this. Yes, you must take into account the market trends to a certain extent, be a nice person, work with other people…but do you risk your individuality for money? Screenplays are commodities, not people. I’ve treated like a commodity, I tried it and it’s not for me. I wouldn’t treat you like a commodity. Another point is about writing a personal brand genre. It’s counterintuitive. I would have expected producers to be more interested in somebody who is versatile whilst retaining his/her own writer voice/ identity. Trends come and go, why would they employ someone who can write only stories about giraffes who ride monocycles on Jupiter?

[@BigRedStripe]

Commodities... no, don't sell your soul for a dollar. But you do have to understand that's how others view writers. It's not good or bad just like money in and of itself isn't bad. How people use money? That can be good or bad... so try to not confuse the two. And yes, trends come and go... but your example is too specific. No one looks for things like that. They might look, however, for someone who can write period dramas with a female lead, or contained action films that can be made for less than 10 million, or coming of age stories. Think types of stories... not what the components of the stories are.

[@spacecatboy2962]

Few years ago i had an idea for a story. Dragged my feet getting going on it, but its now 127 pages, and i am starting on draft 26. I think it needs at least 3 more drafts. To tell you the truth, i feel a bit sick to my belly when i start reading it again. Thats a lot of self torment to go through for something that most likely will never make me a dime.

[@matthewlavagna6080]

Did you outline before you started writing?

[@spacecatboy2962]

@@matthewlavagna6080 i did make up some notes, but didnt nail it all down. I mostly thought about it a lot. Once i started writing things sort of fell into place. But it sure takes a lot of honing to get the thing in shape

[@matthewlavagna6080]

@@spacecatboy2962 I highly recommend outlining your story first. For me outlining is 90% of the work. Once I have a solid outline writing the first draft is relatively easy because I know the scenes I need to write and the order that they follow.

[@spacecatboy2962]

@@matthewlavagna6080 but you still have to write the script and more things will pop up and things have to be groomed over and over

[@matthewlavagna6080]

@@spacecatboy2962 Yes, always be open to new ideas. You may write a great outline but you may think of better ideas while you're writing your first draft. If you do, try to incorporate them into the script.

[@paulaperez1596]

...owning some kind of ip that the industry may want - the world of the traditional mexican woman, faithful, virtuous, loyal, etc?

[@BigRedStripe]

IP stands for Intellectual Property, which are things that are already published (novel, short story, comic, graphic novel, song, news article, etc.). If you have the rights to the IP, then you can write a screenplay based on that IP, which tends to get some traction depending on how well known the IP actually is.

[@paulaperez1596]

@@BigRedStripe Here the government anthropolgists (INAH) call it "patrimonio inmaterial" or "patrimonio cultural"; as if mexican traditional culture were somehow patentable by its creators.

[@claudiamanta1943]

Thank you. I’m not sure about myth no 10. I am confused. Maybe the broad themes are universal (some would say they follow the psychological- cultural archetypes), but how they are translated into specific ideas is the writer’s own work for which he/ she should take credit when credit is due. If the execution is all that matters, then… I could steal the idea from a movie/ another script, tweak it a little bit (have 2 spaceships instead of 3, switch a couple of scenes, defeat the villain in scene 100 instead of scene 98, have the main protagonist brunette instead of blonde)…and claim ownership/ copyright. It doesn’t feel right to me. (I’m sorry I raise stupid points as I am not familiar with the industry. Please don’t kick me out of your channel… It’s just that it does not seem right to me).

[@BigRedStripe]

This would just feel derivative and wouldn't get past any reader anyway. And stealing ideas in Hollywood is expensive... lawsuits are always more costly than just paying someone outright to begin with.

[@chriswest8389]

Whats the differance between format and struture?

[@BigRedStripe]

Format is storytelling... how the script looks on the page and using that to tell the story. Structure is story and has to do with how the story is composed to make sure all of the story parts are there and working properly.