How Many Pages Before A Reader Detects A Bad Screenplay?

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How Many Pages Before A Reader Detects A Bad Screenplay? - Naomi Beaty

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Күн бұрын

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Naomi Beaty is a screenwriting teacher, screenplay consultant and author of Logline Shortcuts: Unlock your story and pitch your screenplay in one simple sentence.
She is a former development exec-in-training at Madonna and Guy Oseary’s Maverick Films, working on projects like Twilight, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and The Stanford Prison Experiment.
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Пікірлер: 25

@larkmacallan4257 3 жыл бұрын

I did coverage at a major agency. You can tell in less than three. Agents can maybe give you the first scene or the first ten at most. You need a page turner. A “fast read.” It should stimulate your visual cortex and keep you involved

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

Would you say that format is very important? I can imagine a certain story can be a page turner, however it could still not be conform industry standards. I don't know if it ever happened to you, but would it make a shot at being produced?

@larkmacallan4257 3 жыл бұрын

@@mr.b6789 Format is EXTRAORDINARILY important. Let me say that again. Proper format is EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT. There are so many scripts online, I really like Vince Gilligan and Terrance Winter. For example, if words are superimposed against the screen, instead of writing "SUPER:" OR 'INSERT' or 'TITLE CARD', Terrance Winter (in the pilot for Boardwalk Empire) simply centered the word CHICAGO and put it in bold font. I do the same with my main characters. I'll double space, write their name, (left justified and bold) then double space again to describe them a little. This stands out to your audience and lets them know they are important. As many people that Film Courage have interviewed have already pointed out, they will often stop reading your script after 3 pages, maybe 5 pages, maybe one scene. You have to hold their attention for dear life. They are reading your script at the end of a long, long day, and they have a million other things they'd rather be doing. They're reading your script because it's their job, and they have to. If you can't take the time to properly format your script, it's an insult, and it shows you are not serious, and they are more than happy to chuck your script into the waste basket and pluck the next one off the pile, which WILL be properly formatted. In screenwriting, there are so many things you can't control. You have to ACE the things you can control, and this is one of them. I go over my scripts dozens of times before sending out. Rewrite and look for spelling mistakes, make sure you didn't write one character name rather than the one you meant, make sure your scenes have started as late as possible and ended as early as possible, etc. Go over them again and again. Format them perfectly. Final Draft software is a MUST own. Ask for it for christmas. Without it, you're no screenwriter as far as I'm concerned. Hope this helps.

@feralmode 3 жыл бұрын

@@larkmacallan4257 I don’t think he was asking about formatting i thing he meant genre

@jackfrenchpresents 3 жыл бұрын

Such a better answer than the generalistic "your screenplay will be judged by the first ten pages"

@veradragilyova3122 3 жыл бұрын

This is some great advice! I would love to hear more in detail about her “favorite” problems in scripts.

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, which ones she throws almost immediately in the corner and why..? 👍 Then I can adjust our script 😉

@larkmacallan4257 3 жыл бұрын

I'm happy to answer any questions. Anything for Film courage!

@veradragilyova3122 3 жыл бұрын

@@larkmacallan4257 Thank you so much! I guess, all we can as viewers is wait for another one! 😁

@filmcourage 3 жыл бұрын

How many pages does it take for you to detect a bad screenplay?

@insanejughead 3 жыл бұрын

In my local scene, it's on the first page... These m-f'ers don't know shit about writing. Cliches abound without purpose, basically...

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not in the position to, but I think I would do as advised in this video and try help fix the script.. "It never hurts to help" 😉 Eek the cat had had quite an influence on me when I was a kid 😄

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

I reacted rather negative on an earlier video because that specific producer didn't have to read an entire script to know if it's good or not. But in this video there is an explanation why certain producers may act in such a way, but basically one still has to read the entire script to value it for its true potential. Much better and definitely a better producer! 👍

@JacobPatrick1 3 жыл бұрын

No. You don't have to read the entire script to value its true potential. No one cares about 'potential' if that 'potential' isn't realized. If the ending is so amazing, it's still the screenwriter's job to have the first 95% of the script worth reading/watching. If you can have a super uninteresting, boring, and poorly written film, but then the end is amazing it just means it needs more work. You should be able to have an interesting, entertaining, well-written film that also has a phenomenal ending. You don't use the excuse that this part is good enough to make up for the stuff that isn't. No, you make the rest of it live up to how good that ending is. It's not their fault you didn't make it worth it for them to read to the end. This car body is beautiful but it has no engine, no seats, no mechanical/electrical elements. Why don't you want to buy my car, can't you see the potential of how could it is or could be? This car has the best engine in the world, the rest of the mechanics suck, it has square wheels, painful seats, no shocks, and a tin foil frame. You don't want to buy my car? Make the mechanical elements live up to the beauty of the car body. Make the frame, body, and comfort of the car live up to that engine. It's not enough to have 1 element. You need them all.

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

@@JacobPatrick1 Are you a producer? Because you sound as a writer.. Wouldn't it be nice if a producer can tell why YOUR script isn't quite there yet?

@JacobPatrick1 3 жыл бұрын

@@mr.b6789 you're absolutely right. I am a writer and not a producer. It would be nice if they did tell you, it would be very nice. We all wish they did. It's refreshing when some do explain why it doesn't work for them. However, that is them going above and beyond the call of duty. That is not their job. Their job is only, does it makes sense for us to make this movie. They could stop reading a script after half a page, it has a bloody death scene and they only make pg family movies. It doesn't mean the script isn't good for what it is, it's just doesn't make sense for the production company they represent to make that movie at that time. To get the response you're after, there are other people whose job that is. Because that's their job to do, they're usually paid to do that. There are people you can pay to read your script and give you feedback on how they feel it can be improved to get it there. It may take a few back and forth discussions for you to trust that conclusion, or you may need to try a few and get a consensus. Alternatively, you can try to find a group of other screenwriters and trade scripts and feedback. This also may take time for you to find screenwriters whose ability and analysis you trust.

@tymkoc3293 3 жыл бұрын

I tend to overwrite. Can't cut down from 135 pages. Been told the pacing is great, so is the dialogue-at times, however, protagonist goal isn't clearly defined from the start. Since it's a coming of age story (to a point), her goals are developing as she grows. I find this demand for clear a protagonist goal from the start of the story too stereotypical and boxed in.

@JacobPatrick1 3 жыл бұрын

Often her initial 'goal' isn't her end goal. So she can have an initial goal that ... She thinks she knows what her goal is (I want to be the president, I want to be a mom, then as you said through developing she has new different realizations that she wants neither of those things.) Or, her goal could be to know what she wants, she has no clue and she hates it. Then... over the course of the movie she realizes she's okay not knowing, or she does figure out what she wants. etc. You can satisfy your reason for not doing it, and their desire to have it. That being said, if it works, it works, and if it doesn't it doesn't. You could have an established goal and the movie not work. You could not have the established goal and the movie does work. If people aren't giving you that note because they heard it somewhere and truly mean it and you get it repeatedly, you probably need to make some change. If people are raving about your script and not giving that note, then it doesn't matter that it's not there.

@JacobPatrick1 3 жыл бұрын

She can feel, all she cares about is getting this person to like her. Then she grows and realizes she just has to like herself. OR she realizes she loves helping people and the joy she gets from that fills the void she felt she needed a romantic relationship to fill. It can be different, but if you have a theme, you can use it to drive home the emotional point you're trying to convey and make your film that much tighter.

@mr.b6789 3 жыл бұрын

There are plenty professionals out there that don't follow the rules: some add pictures 😄 I believe Tarantino writes too may pages, in that case you're in good company 😉

@JonnyGee Жыл бұрын

The most auteur filmmakers do not focus on the model. Audiences who watch these indie films that win artistic awards are ok with a slow burn opening because they know the film is rich in meaning and not just punched up for instant gratification.