Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques & Tips?

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  • Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques & Tips?

    Following on from my successful thread on "THE reason people still write", I compiled a chart of all of my concepts by genre and found the most titles were in thrillers, then action, then horror. So essentially Genre aka B movies. A few of you recommended to write for a $5m budget.

    How do I do this? Should I purposely leave out certain set pieces and scenes? Or just write it as is, and leave it up to the producer to tell me what to leave out?

    If you have written/or write Genre scripts, do you have any techniques and tips? And I know these are essentially straight to DVD movies
    I post too much.

  • #2
    Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques & Tips?

    Central location, limited cast.

    For Action look at movies like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (original).
    For Thrillers look at movies like THE GIFT and ALICE CREED.
    For Horror look at... well, almost any recent horror movie is about moving into a haunted house.

    - Bill
    Free Script Tips:
    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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    • #3
      Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques & Tips?

      MP - Take a look at a few of Jason Blum production scripts. Outside of "The Conjuring", "Sinister", "Insidious" series, "Hush" and "The Visit" are among a few that are great examples of tight script that resonates with target audiences. A lot of writers get bogged down with writing great stories, leaving out the commercial viability. Key is to marry those. Distribution is so f**king fragmented this days, it's unreal. A few tips:

      1. A high-concept (high <> expensive, BIG).
      2. Whip up a strong genre logline. Pitch to target audiences (survey, focus group). If 19 out of 20 come back saying, "wow"...you got it.
      3. Create 2 page Outline. Use following checklist:
      • Less than 3 locations: Check.
      • Less than 5-7 speaking parts: Check.
      • At least one small key character for a name talent: Check.

      4. Repeat #2. If 18/20 go, "wow", start writing.

      If you want to write, I can help Produce. Hit me up with PM. Yes, there will always be exceptions. My advise is worth what you paid for.

      --fallen

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      • #4
        Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques &amp; Tips?

        Originally posted by fallenangel View Post
        MP - Outside of "The Conjuring", "Sinister", "Insidious" series, "Hush" and "The Visit" are among a few that are great examples of tight script that resonates with target audiences. A lot of writers get bogged down with writing great stories, leaving out the commercial viability. Key is to marry those. Distribution is so f**king fragmented this days, it's unreal. A few tips:

        1. A high-concept (high <> expensive, BIG).
        2. Whip up a strong genre logline. Pitch to target audiences (survey, focus group). If 19 out of 20 come back saying, "wow"...you got it.
        3. Create 2 page Outline. Use following checklist:
        • Less than 3 locations: Check.
        • Less than 5-7 speaking parts: Check.
        • At least one small key character for a name talent: Check.

        4. Repeat #2. If 18/20 go, "wow", start writing.

        --fallen
        Sure, that's a nice formula but those movies weren't dirt cheap to make. THE CONJURING budget, for example, was upwards of 20 million. What kind of budgets are you aiming for?

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        • #5
          Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques &amp; Tips?

          DayJob:

          I think there is a disconnect here. I was alluding to the fact that OP needs to consider writing a high-concept genre story which requires limited production resources & probably one name talent. I would go an extra mile and think "sequels" or "prequels" when writing. Not only are those easier to make, but more importantly, easier to sell. And at the end of the day, it's all about selling. Nothing more. Nothing less.

          On a side note, using Budget published on imdb.com is same as using Wikipedia articles to make educated decisions. FWIW, below are a few samples budget (source: imdb.com) that did reasonably good at the BO. Pay attention to the loglines, concept & production values. I vaguely remember when "The Purge" came out a few years ago. The "target audience" could not wait for the release date!


          Hush
          Budget: $1,000,000 (estimated)

          The Purge
          Budget: $3,000,000 (estimated)
          Opening Weekend: $34,058,360 (USA) (7 June 2013)
          Gross: $64,423,650 (USA) (2 August 2013)

          Sinister
          Budget: $3,000,000 (estimated)
          Opening Weekend: $18,007,634 (USA) (12 October 2012)
          Gross: $48,056,940 (USA) (28 December 2012)

          Insidious
          Budget: $1,500,000 (estimated)
          Opening Weekend: $13,271,464 (USA) (1 April 2011)
          Gross: $53,991,137 (USA) (26 August 2011)

          The Visit
          Budget: $5,000,000 (estimated)
          Opening Weekend: $25,427,560 (USA) (11 September 2015)
          Gross: $65,069,140 (USA) (20 November 2015)

          cheers,
          fallen

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          • #6
            Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques &amp; Tips?

            By the way INSIDIOUS was only $800k - inflated for the press because nobody understands budgets that low in a world where some movies cost $250m.

            When Fallen mentioned Blum - his company's films are all made for $5m or less in a world where the average studio film costs $107m. He produced THE GIFT that was one of the thrillers I mentioned.

            So even CONJURING is cheap for a studio film (I have no idea what they paid for rights on that film, since it's a true story).

            Central location, limited cast, idea that everyone else wishes they'd come up with, "dog juice".

            - Bill
            Last edited by wcmartell; 08-18-2016, 09:53 PM.
            Free Script Tips:
            http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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            • #7
              Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques &amp; Tips?

              We made HAUNTING IN CT 2 for just under 7m. Accomplished by limiting practically the entire movie to one property (and all other locations were within a mile or so). SOLO was similar. Whole thing takes place on one tiny island. Normally Blumhouse shoots everything within 26 miles of LA because crews offer a better rate when there's no travel involved. But they bent their rule for this because there was nowhere to do it around here, and they found an island in Malaysia where they could still hit their target. So my advice is to limit locations and cast size, avoid water sequences (shooting on/in water is complicated, unpredictable and expensive), don't lean heavily on effects that will require CGI, and be prepared with cost-effective solutions when they say "we can't afford this part", which they will.
              https://twitter.com/DavidCoggeshall
              http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548597/

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              • #8
                Re: Writing for genre/B-movies - Techniques &amp; Tips?

                Awesome thread! Before I took an extended break from screenwriting due to burnout, I had mostly been writing big-budget tentpole specs, but as someone still breaking in, scripts along these lines seem like a better plan. (Though, as I have been told, the spec market's so terrible that anything you write will likely at most be a calling card for assignments anyway).
                Last edited by Patrick Sweeney; 08-31-2016, 08:23 AM.
                Patrick Sweeney

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