Any limits on writing a screenplay?

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  • #16
    Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

    Stay away from porn, well hard porn anyway, and stay under the 120 page limit and you should be ok.

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    • #17
      Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

      so you saying my 300 page script for a hard-core porn epic version of the Antony and Cleopatra story has no hope?
      Where is that large automobile? And you may tell yourself, This is not my beautiful house! And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful wife!

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      • #18
        Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

        Originally posted by pipe_man View Post
        so you saying my 300 page script for a hard-core porn epic version of the Antony and Cleopatra story has no hope?
        You ever seen HBO's rome?
        But this wily god never discloses even to the skillful questioner the whole content of his wisdom.

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        • #19
          Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

          Originally posted by reddery View Post
          You ever seen HBO's rome?

          mild soft core drivel by comparison, mate.
          Where is that large automobile? And you may tell yourself, This is not my beautiful house! And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful wife!

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          • #20
            Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

            You are limited only by the extent of your talent and your persistence.
            I'm always right.

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            • #21
              Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

              How about something like this: I was thinking of a part in my story where you see God sitting on his throne playing a video game. We (humans) are the characters in this game that he is controlling. Kinda like in real life how I feel sometimes about humans are limited in what they can do and say because their religion/ their God says so.


              Speaking of porn, have you written a sex scene that it got you horny?
              Have you written a scary movie that you begin to get scared?

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              • #22
                Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                Without judging the concept, I don't think there's any reason you can't write it. Heck, with movies like Bruce Almighty and its follow up coming out, I think the topic of God is fair game.

                As far as whether I've written scenes that have impacted me that way, my answer is yes. My second script was a big epic magical fantasy story where one of the characters' love interest nearly dies at the climactic moment. At the time, we don't know that she will live and I wrote the scene so well (in my own mind) that I was actually heart broken. Kinda like JK Rowling saying she cried when she wrote the death scene for the character that dies in Half-Blood Prince.

                Horny? Not so much.
                "The only reason most scripts are bad is because most people can't write." Leslie Dixon

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                • #23
                  Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                  re do I have any limits. Nope. And most of the suggestions sofar in this thread are pretty inoffensive to me - God playing vid games with us and/or penetration is no big deal. Conceptually they're still quite mainstream concepts being used.
                  (If you arent raised with the idea that God-related material = being 'bad' - then if anything, its just idly interesting mythology. Bizarrely of interest to some, absurd to others). 'Religious' concepts are mostly the province of ex-believers of a belief system.
                  As for sex, in terms of pushing limits - 'penetration' is hardly pushing any limits at all. Unless your audience is that repressed that this is somehow 'shocking' - in which case you have to ask yourself - am I telling a story, or am I trying to shock. I like the sex of films like L.I.E or the bestiality flick ZOO, or even Roth's 'War Zone' - where the limits of acceptability are being pushed CONCEPTUALLY by the story requirements, not literally, like in fairly arb trudgefests like 'Romance' or 'Intimacy' or 'Nine Songs'.

                  Any idiot can show supposedly 'shocking' visuals - it takes more artistry and craftmanship to make and weave a compelling story that may contain elements that the middle class mainstream sensibility finds 'shocking'. And to present these elements in a mind expanding cohesive whole.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                    Secretary is a good example of a relatively shocking idea presented in a completely unshocking way.
                    "The only reason most scripts are bad is because most people can't write." Leslie Dixon

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                    • #25
                      Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                      Have you written a scary movie that you begin to get scared?
                      Sure. I've even taken a lamp outside after midnight and wrote a scene outside in the dark. Sounds crazy, but it worked for me.
                      sigpic

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                      • #26
                        Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                        Originally posted by collector View Post
                        How about something like this: I was thinking of a part in my story where you see God sitting on his throne playing a video game. We (humans) are the characters in this game that he is controlling. Kinda like in real life how I feel sometimes about humans are limited in what they can do and say because their religion/ their God says so.

                        Sort of like a dream I had not long ago where God and Satan were playing chess(with humanity), but Satan always has to play without his Bishops.
                        sigpic

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                        • #27
                          Re: Any limits on writing a screenplay?

                          In my dream Satan has all the Bishops.

                          With true stories, there are legal things to consider.

                          Other than that, the important thing if you plan on making the film yourself is what you *can* film given your resources.

                          And what you can film given your abilities.

                          I look at the scene where God is playing a video game with humans as the game, and wonder how you are going to pull that off. How will you show that the video game controls people's lives? Do you have the location that looks like Heaven?

                          Usually when you are making your own film you begin with what you have and write a script to fit. Or, at least you write something small and personal enough that you can easily find the elements in the script. You keep things simple. Because you are spending your own money, and you don't want to go broke on a film that is artistic expression and may not have an audience (or not a large audience) and you may not ever make any of your money back.

                          Even if you are writing a script to sell (where there are all kinds of limits) you need to use common sense and make sure things that are expensive or difficult to do are worth it. That money spent will result in money recouped.

                          Personally, I think even if you are writing a script that no one will ever see, you should do your best work and try to be true to format - make it look and read like a professional's screenplay. I guess that means color within the lines and write within the *format* limits. (Subject matter is up to you.)

                          If you plan on making this script into a film yourself, all of those "format limits" will help you. You will know how many pages you can shoot in a day, how many days you will need to film, and how much money things will cost.

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

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