The whole treatment thing....

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  • The whole treatment thing....

    I hear the argument for a detailed treatment and how it makes the writing process easier. My previous treatments were 1 page, 1 note per line affairs whilst my latest is the first to be indepth at about 20 pages but I'm not seeing any benefit to the creative process.

    In the past I'd get an idea, noodle a basic plot and then run with it. The only difference I find with the detailed treatment is that fleshing out the details of every scene over 20 pages, as opposed to just having one sentence per scene on just 1 page, means it's easier to type up when finished.

    What I'm trying to say is that the creative process hasn't changed. I get an idea and try out a few ideas. It doesn't matter whether the process takes minutes or days, once I'm happy with it then that's good to go. I don't find myself reflecting more just because I'm writing a longer treatment. As with all my scripts, I'll change what doesn't work but if I think all is fine then I'll plough on regardless. So if I have a crappy plot, a 20 page treatment isn't going to make it anymore apparent than my usual 1 pager.

    I was hoping to find some enlightenment with the more detailed process but all I'm finding is that I'm fleshing out those 20 lines/scenes of my 1 page treatments. Even then it doesn't save that much time because I still have to convert the notes into a fully fledged and uniquely voiced script and I could have been working on that instead of detailing my one line scene summaries!.
    Last edited by SundownInRetreat; 09-02-2012, 12:45 PM.
    M.A.G.A.

  • #2
    Re: The whole treatment thing....

    I think the idea is that 20 pages forces you to think stuff through more, so you'll discover plot holes etc. before you have 70 pages of beautifully crafted pages of script.

    Personally I've never found it worthwhile, I think because I can't bear not to have the prose version less than my best , so I get diverted into wordsmithing.

    What I've found useful is more like a numbered outline, maybe twenty plot points, and then writing to those. Even then, I wander off it and typically figure out the next five scenes, write them, do the next five etc., always with a good idea where I'm going, but not using such a linear process.

    The outline/beatsheet thing seems to work best when I have three sentences per beat: what happens physically, what it means for the characters, and another one to kind of pull them together. I think I got this technique off TVwriter.com.

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    • #3
      Re: The whole treatment thing....

      Thanks.
      M.A.G.A.

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      • #4
        Re: The whole treatment thing....

        If you don't like treatments, you don't have to use them. Everybody operates differently.

        That said, you do need to know how to construct a solid treatment for the days when you start to develop projects with studios.
        Chicks Who Script podcast

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        • #5
          Re: The whole treatment thing....

          I used to have a similar viewpoint - my treatments were just major plot points on a single page.

          Until the day I finished a script and discovered the most enormous plot hole. Literally unsolvable without rewriting most of the script. On that day I realized the value of a long, in depth treatment.

          Also might be worth realizing that at a certain level, if the concept and writing's great, what'll separate you from others is a great structure to your story.

          Highs, lows, great arcs, closure, etc. And an exhaustive treatment can only help that.

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          • #6
            Re: The whole treatment thing....

            The benefit of writing a detailed treatment -instead of just a 1-page beatsheet- is that you can develop not only the plot but also the characters, the tone of the story, the subtext of certain scenes, the way to express the theme, the transitions between scenes, get an idea of the pace and rhythm...

            What matters is the result, though, and not how you get there.

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            • #7
              Re: The whole treatment thing....

              To me this process helps get rid of fat. And it helps wrangle the story in.

              I suggest pitching your treatment to a friend. You will often find yourself making up scenes on the spot when the treatment gets boring, and skipping scenes when it takes too long. Those are great indicators of what needs to be added or cut before you write.

              Then when you write, your movie goes in a completely different direction from the treatment.

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              • #8
                Re: The whole treatment thing....

                Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
                To me this process helps get rid of fat. And it helps wrangle the story in.

                I suggest pitching your treatment to a friend. You will often find yourself making up scenes on the spot when the treatment gets boring, and skipping scenes when it takes too long. Those are great indicators of what needs to be added or cut before you write.

                Then when you write, your movie goes in a completely different direction from the treatment.
                That's a pretty cool idea.

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                • #9
                  Re: The whole treatment thing....

                  I see a treatment as something functionally different from an outline.

                  I have my students write treatments because the process of writing a treatment helps them figure out what the story is. Basically, I tell them, "write down the story as if you were telling it conversationally in 10 minutes minutes, like I was sitting down next to you at a bar and you were going to tell me this awesome story you just thought up."

                  I've found that process really helps them wrap their head around what the interesting parts of the story are. It helps them think in terms of a story, rather than as a "this happened, then this happened, then this other thing happened" series of events. So I use it as a pedagogical tool for them.

                  For jobs, I've sometimes been required to turn in a treatment. I hate it. It's a sales document - my goal is to write the most compelling prose text version of the story that I can in a relatively limited page count. I think this is a horrible thing for development execs to ask writers to do because it stifles the process of discovery which is inherent in the first draft. You learn things about your characters, about your story, which bring them to life. You discover jokes and actions beats, and it's also impossible to discover those while writing a treatment.

                  They're an attempt by development execs to exercise control over the process. But I've never seen how they help it. A treatment for an action movie is never thrilling because the action is inherently stripped down. The treatment for a horror film is inherently not scary. THe treatment for a comedy script will have far fewer jokes than the script, and will be less funny.

                  And I've never found them to be functional working documents for me as a writer. An outline? Sure. A beat sheet? Sure. That helps me see the whole story. But I'm at a point where I would only ever write one if it was a requirement of the job. A treatment isn't a document for you - it's a document for them.

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                  • #10
                    Re: The whole treatment thing....

                    I think Terry Rossio said it best. You want to see an Exec get frightened and clam up, ask them to show you a treatment that they love as an example. They have none. Treatments are terrible waste of times execs use to exert control and micro-manage projects. I understand doing a treatment for yourself (which I do), but whenever you show an exec a treatment they pick it apart to death.

                    You can pick part any treatment, because *GASPS* they are just treatments. Not scripts. I seriously hate them. But unfortunately they are a document you better get familiar with if you want to work. Pretty much all execs ask for them.
                    Last edited by Deion22; 09-03-2012, 10:17 AM.

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                    • #11
                      Re: The whole treatment thing....

                      You might need to learn how to write a treatment for when you start working with producers, but you don't need them when working on your own. I've always considered them a waste of time if it's just a personal document used to create a story.

                      The treatments I've seen are basically outlines written in prose paragraph form, something close to a short story. In order to write one, you have to have already worked out the story (or you have to rewrite it several times until the story is complete).

                      You can work out the story in a "bullet point" type outline or step outline or whatever you want to call it. That's what I do. My outlines list slugs for every scene in the script & what takes place in every scene. Since finished screenplays are presented as a list of scenes, one after the other, that's the way I've gotten used to thinking. You can detect plot holes very easily in this form. Fashioning complete sentences-- prettifying it-- just seems like an unnecessary step.

                      But if you come from a short story or novel writing background and are used to writing this way, I can see how a treatment might be helpful. It becomes a tool to help "get to know" your story. Anything that helps with that is useful.

                      "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                      ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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                      • #12
                        Re: The whole treatment thing....

                        I'm not fond of writing treatments either. I recently took a course in screenwriting that required submitting a treatment. I found that assignment to be the most difficult of all. While I could easily sketch a few plot points, I had to supply details that I didn't yet have.

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                        • #13
                          Re: The whole treatment thing....

                          Originally posted by Dazz1 View Post
                          ... I had to supply details that I didn't yet have.
                          That is the difficulty I find with writing the screenplay.

                          For me it's easier to change (edit, cut, reorder, add) a full treatment than a screenplay. It's too easy to get married to my completed scenes.

                          Over half of my first-draft phase is spent fleshing out the treatment. I prefer to use 4D Outline instead of Word - for no other reason than it feels more "official".
                          "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                          - Clive Barker, Galilee

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                          • #14
                            Re: The whole treatment thing....

                            You do what feels more comfortable and wind up with results.

                            I've nearly completed Act 1 after writing scenes and sequences. Developing each of them took time and a great deal of editing, but it was worth it. I know specifically what happened, why it happened and where it's all going. Wrtiing this way has been helpful to me. There was no way that I could have ever imagined that stuff in a treatment beforehand.

                            Those early treatments that I struggled to write are worthless.....

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                            • #15
                              Re: The whole treatment thing....

                              Originally posted by Deion22 View Post
                              You want to see an Exec get frightened and clam up, ask them to show you a treatment that they love as an example. They have none.
                              Bingo!

                              But, look, if you're operating as team -- agent / manager / you -- you all want to be on the same page. You want to make sure that when you hand it over, there aren't any big surprises, so even a half-ass treatment that gets some sort of buy-in is half the battle.

                              Mark

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