Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original story!

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  • Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original story!

    Has this happened to you before? Or is this your present dilemma?

    Your amazing story is just too long...

    The solution, you decide, is to split your story into two movies.

    You already have most of the work done for the first one and an ending for the second one. All you have to do now is to find a satisfying ending for the first one?

    And (well, I almost forgot) re-structure your baby - up and down, left and right - organically...so you really end up with two wins?

    Not so simple, eh? :eek

  • #2
    two stories

    No. That doesn't happen to me. Because I spend a lot of time in the outline phase. I've found it saves a great deal of work to know exactly where your story starts, moves to, and ends before you sit down to write.

    In other words; Know your story before you write your story.

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    • #3
      Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

      Before you are done you will be combining the best of both into one screenplay ... that will still need extensive rewrites.

      Don't get cocky ... finish your story.

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      • #4
        Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

        whistle

        Nobody spends more time than I do outlining a story, so don't give me that! How does page count enter your outline? :rollin


        TwoBrad dude

        Did you mean "don't get greedy" - my favorite subjet? :lol

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        • #5
          Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

          I agree with 2Brad - you should be focusing on cutting down your great but too long story into a manageable size - not splitting it up into two half-finished stories, IMHO.

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          • #6
            Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

            How does page count enter your outline?
            As I use Sophocles I don't count pages, I go by the minute time that appears on screen. but I'll get to the spirit of your question;

            When I'm outlining I put a time down at the end of the scene breakdown. thusly

            INT: SHODDY COCONUT CAFE
            Brian and Olivia
            brian tries to break up with her
            Olivia threatens his life
            Brian cries like a six-year old with a skinned knee.
            Olivia, disgusted by his weakness, beats him.
            everybody laughs at Brian being beaten by a woman.

            3 minutes/ 25 minutes.


            so, that's a rough look at my early outline. as I spend more time on it, I'll add more things. LIke snippets of particular dialogue, scenic elements, certain subtext, and plot b or plot a elements that I want or need to deal with. I'll even put in where I want the camera to be. Although I won't write in camera directions or even a we see, I'll make a big effort to write it in such a way that the camera can only be in one place.

            The minute timer at the bottom is for how long the scene is and where it's at in the movie. It's there so I can get a sense of timing/ pace within a script rather than a page-count. I've found that works much better for me.

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            • #7
              Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

              whistle

              I'm glad it works for you.

              But I'd rather focus on other aspects of screenwriting when preparing an outline or jumping into the story.

              I always have more than I need and end up trimming everything down.

              Rewriting is my passion, counting fractions of minutes is not.

              But I see your point.

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              • #8
                The seduction of rewriting

                Hey, whistle, my apology.

                I had misread your comment earlier. I thought you wrote 3 min and a quarter (a fraction). :eek

                So now I see you meant this particular scene is 3 min long and happens 25 min into your script (movie) - a good way to keep track of timing/pace.

                But, still, I prefer to work my way â€" by instinct and tons of rewrites as I move along and after I finish the story. Rewriting to me is a super aphrodisiac!

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                • #9
                  Re: The seduction of rewriting

                  I've had two ideas that I combined into one to make a bigger and better story...if that counts...

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                  • #10
                    Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

                    Actually, something like this happened to an old novel I had written years ago. It had a lot going on and I decided that three of the characters that I liked the most and some similar events as the novel would make one really good script. I'm finishing up that script now and see that I can take the parts that I didn't use from the novel and turn that into a different script with a different approach.

                    Sometimes there's just so many things you want to say or include and when you step back, you realize that it was too much. Of course, this is something I had written in '96, and I doubt I would make that mistake again.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

                      Excuse me for chiming in here, I know my experience counts for little, but it happened to me with the orginal script I came here with; "Computer Age...Computer Rage" a story about computer intelligence gone awry...

                      Well the characters in that and the story lead to another script (yeah, a sequel to an unmade movie) in which the computers not satistisfied with merely thinking, wanted now to reproduce (The J.A.C.O.B.S. Project). Two different scripts but with the same main characters.

                      Yeah, they still sit. But these stories were so neat, I know I will eventually get back to rewriting them.

                      It wasn't actually a thing were there was too much stuff in one. It was more like the story itself lent to more.

                      anyway, just my non-authoritive 2-

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                      • #12
                        Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

                        Sometimes even trilogies happen this way. You don't plan for them, they just evolve into three from one.
                        :eek

                        And you end up praising yourself three times instead of one.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Bingo! Getting 2 snappy movies out of your original stor

                          "Excuse me for chiming in here, I know my experience counts for little, but it happened to me with the orginal script I came here with; "Computer Age...Computer Rage" a story about computer intelligence gone awry"... writepro


                          no writepro, that's not true. the only reason people get upset with you is because it seems you care so little about your writing and the craft. it is hard to respect someone when it seems they are not listening.

                          vig

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