Killer Screenplays

ScriptTip - “Continuous” in your slugline

April 24, 2008 – 10:00 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

We’ve all done it. We’ve written sluglines like this:

INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

instead of

INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Most writers just type CONTINUOUS in order to clearly specify that the scene is a continuation of the last scene, whether DAY or NIGHT. However, a lot of First Assistant Directors I’ve talked to hate CONTINUOUS in sluglines. When they’re breaking down the script for production, they want to know whether the scene is DAY or NIGHT. Not DAWN or EVENING. Not CONTINUOUS. Just DAY OR NIGHT.

In my opinion, any script that’s written clearly and flowing well doesn’t need CONTINUOUS, because if it’s well-written, then it should be plainly apparent that the scene is a continuation of the last. I stick to DAY or NIGHT and leave the morning/evening specification to the brief descriptive text below, if I feel the setting needs more clarity.

Tags: continuous, day, night, slugline

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ScriptTips - Proper English? Feh!

April 23, 2008 – 11:46 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

“Movies are movies and books are books, and never the twain shall meet.” - Confucious

Look at these two examples.

(a) “Hello, Delilah. Are you going to the parade this afternoon? I am bringing my pet rock, Alfred.”

(b) “Hey Delilah. You goin to the parade this afternooon? I’m bringing my pet rock, Alfred.”

(a) Is more formal and stiff. (b) Sounds more like real dialogue - the way real people sound.

Keep your dialogue fresh and flowing and realistic. Don’t be afraid to use contractions. (don’t, won’t, I’m, etc.)

Proper English is great, but if you have to choose between proper English and dialogue that pops and sounds realistic, always opt for the fresh dialogue.

Tags: contractions, dialogue, proper english, script dialogue

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ScriptTip - Write an hour a day

April 23, 2008 – 11:43 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

How much time did you spend today in traffic?  Browsing the internet?  Watching television?  If you consider yourself a writer, there’s no excuse for you to not spend at least 60 solid minutes writing.  Every day.  Get into the habit and don’t deviate.   Writers write.  Or at least stare out windows, as the axiom goes.  Find the time in your life, at least 60 minutes each day, to write.  Even if that just means sitting in front of the screen thinking about your script.

Tags: daily writing, writer discipline, writers schedule

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ScriptTip - Keep it under 120 pages

April 23, 2008 – 11:40 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

Remember the rule of thumb: 1 page = approximately one minute of screen time. So 120 pages = approximately 120 minutes. What agent, producer, actor, or script reader wants to read more than that? They’re busy people! Don’t come off as an unprofessional hack. Keep it between 90 and 120 pages. And that means 1″ margins all around, and 12-point Courier New or Final Draft Courier for the font.

Tags: proper screenplay length, screenplay page count, script length

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ScriptTip - Lose the lingo

April 23, 2008 – 9:13 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

You might be a 30 year veteran of the Army, with three tours under your belt, or you might be the most devoted fan of a major science fiction book series, but when using highly-specific lingo or vocabulary, you need to recognize the fine line between a colorful script and a script that bogs down the reader with too many strange words and phrases. Keep in mind - film industry readers have a lot of reading to do. You’re not the only script they’re taking home over the weekend. Learning the difference between “The Magic Highborne Sword of Eldornandus” and “the Praxim Fulltower Amulet of Xauld-Enndak” is the last thing a reader wants to do on top of reading your script. Pepper it in lightly. When in doubt about a page, put it to the Mom Test: Ask yourself “Would my mom be able to understand this?” Works like a charm for me.

Tags: action text, descriptive dialogue, fantasy phrases, sci-fi vocabulary

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ScriptTip - Get your characters talking

April 23, 2008 – 9:12 am by Killer Screenplay Guy

A lot of screenwriters ask me “what’s the best way to start the first draft of a script?” Is to write an outline of the whole script? Write out index cards? Write a treatment? What works best for me is to simply get my characters in a room and talking to each other. Get a dialogue going and don’t stop for several pages. Write two pages or write 20, but get them talking, even if it’s just two characters, and even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense. For me, this is a way of channeling subconciously what I really want to do with the script, by getting my characters to tell me. There’s always at least one little nugget in those pages that really helps dial in what direction I want the script to go in. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

Tags: blank page, characters, dialog, dialogue, freeform, starting a script

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