Short Script Toolbox

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  • Short Script Toolbox

    Thinking this could be a place where my fellow Writing Exercise competitors, and anyone else interested in writing short scripts can post resource links for writing and producing short films. I'll get it started:

    From Rebecca Norris's Script Reader Pro website: HOW TO USE SHORT MOVIE SCRIPTS TO BREAK INTO HOLLYWOOD

    Some nice tips on how to structure, write and produce short film scripts. Interesting excerpt about how the writer of Whiplash created a short to create interest in the feature script:

    He [Damien Chazelle] said he wrote the feature, and despite its inclusion on the 2012 Blacklist, it was turned down everywhere, because no one wanted to make a "jazz drumming movie.-

    Instead of giving up, he took one of the most intense scenes in the script and made an 18-minute short film out of it.

    Based on the strength of his writing, he attracted J.K. Simmons (Juno, The Closer, etc.) to star.

    The film was accepted to Sundance and went on to win the Short Film Jury Prize for U.S. Fiction. Suddenly there was plenty of interest in his feature film script, and the rest is history.

  • #3
    Re: Short Script Toolbox

    Based on the short films (under 15 mins) that I enjoyed most on Vimeo, and those that received the most contest awards, two things stand out on what makes these films work:

    1. There were very few characters (sometimes only one), with a simple, easy to follow story that stayed laser focused on the central character.

    2. There was a single, relatable central obstacle that drove the plot and defined the weaknesses and strengths of the central character.

    When I compare these two attributes to the short scripts that I've written for the DDP contests (and others), it's clear mine suffer from too many characters, and bloated plots that muddle the central theme.

    Your thoughts?

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    • #4
      Re: Short Script Toolbox

      I think #1 is true for features, as well. I recently did a read where (if memory serves) 12 characters were introduced within the first ten pages. My feeble brain couldn't keep everyone straight.

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