Let’s assume for a moment you have decided to make your first film (or your 20th for that matter). Every great film ever made begins with a great script, so you’ll most likely need to be writing one of those. If you already have one, fantastic! Skip ahead to the part where I tell you you’ll never be able to shoot it and we tear it apart and build it up again from scratch.
Still here? Ok, you need a script. Piece of cake.
Why am I not leaping into a description of the 3-act story structure and how to grab your audience in that first opening scene?
Because before you have a script, you first have to have an idea… a good idea… for a movie…
Don’t worry, you can do this.
Get yourself a spiral notebook that fits in your pocket. And a pen will be useful.
Open the notebook to that first blank page, and write down the idea for your movie. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Is the page blank?
Then write down 10 ideas for 10 movies. Off the top of your head.
Now put that notebook away for a week. Go read some articles about low-budget filmmaking on the Internet.
unFilmSchool has some nice ones. Maybe check them out. Get inspired.
Back already?
Okay, now it’s time to read those 10 ideas and rate them from 1 to 10, based on which movie you’d most want to watch.
Now look at your top five choices. Would you plunk for $15 right now to see any or all of them? That should get you started in the right direction as to what kind of movie you want to make.
Take the top three and think for a moment, really think, about how producible a movie in that genre actually is. For you. With NO money.
Got a good idea of something you like and something that can possibly be made? Good. Let’s fill up that notebook already!
Your job over the next couple of weeks is to jot down, systematically, EVERY idea that pops into your head about your chosen film. Brainstorm. Imagine characters, names, and events. Scribble down bits of scenes or dialogue as they occur to you. Don’t judge anything, just write it down.
Each day you do this take 30 minutes at the end of the evening to read back through that day’s notes. And ask yourself “What if”? What if the bad guy is dying? What if the girlfriend is actually double-crossing him? What if there is no cure to the zombie plague? What if the car breaks down right then? Write down those what-ifs on the next blank page and look them over. These are the questions that will allow you to expand out your ideas and find the good ones hidden in among the dreck. There will be lots of dreck.
Now read over the day’s notes again and ask a new question, “But Why”? This one is even more important than “What if”? But why is the bad guy dying? He was poisoned by the Russians after he botched his last job! But why is the girlfriend double-crossing him? Because the girl he was hooking up with in scene one was her little sister! But why is there no cure for the zombie plague? Because he’s imagining the whole thing! But why does the car break down right then? Because… um.. well… cause if it doesn’t they won’t get a ride from the guy in the convertible.
Wrong answer.
Nothing in your movie can just happen because it needs to happen to progress your plot. It has to happen because it makes sense to the world you are building. But-whys keep your story honest. They make sure your great ideas stand the test of time.
And you need both constantly in this brainstorming process. What-if in check and balance with But-why. That’s the foundation to a strong, logical, and compelling story. It’s the process that makes a movie like Fight Club(1999) – and the Novel Fight Club of course – all make sense in the end. But it applies equally as well to a romantic comedy or a horror film. Good films make sense.
As you continue this process of brainstorming and review you’ll start to have bits of inspiration from the real world around you. A snippet of conversation overheard at the mall. A story your aunt told you once about her childhood. Whatever you do, do not hesitate to write these down. You won’t use any of them verbatim in your final script but the raw reality of real life is a powerful tool to ground your fictional characters and story.
In fact here’s a great exercise for character development. Think of one of your main characters, one you have a pretty good picture in your mind of. Write their name down at the top of the next blank page in your notebook. What name actor do you see playing them? Based solely on appearance, are they Brad Pitt or Liam Neeson or Carrot Top? Great, write that down in the notebook too.
Now imagine someone from your actual life. Don’t think about how they look, but rather choose someone who acts or feels or responds the way you see your character acting or feeling or responding. Write a description of that in the notebook as well.
From now on as you think about that character, see the name actor’s face and imagine your real person’s actions and reactions. You’ve mixed fact and fiction in such a way that your script is grounded in reality but that real life inspiration is never fully exposed or identifiable in your work. You taken inspirations from real people, places, experiences, and memories, and jumbled them around to make a fictional story.
Before we close out this section and send you on your merry way generating cool ideas for your screenplay, let’s throw in one more questions.
How the Heck?
Let’s imagine you’ve written a fantastic What-if?; “What if they jump in their cars and chase through the city trying to stop the madman with the time bomb?” Great! Now you ask But-why? “Because the madman took off in HIS car and the only way to follow him in that short amount of time is to jump in their cars and go.” Makes sense. You’re good to go!
Or are you?
Now ask How the Heck? As in, how the heck am I doing to shoot a 4-car chase through the streets of a busy metropolis on the miniscule budget I’m expecting to have when we actually make this movie? Don’t have a good answer? Maybe it’s time to re-think things a bit.
“What if the madman and the heros can teleport through space using devices on their belts?” Gets rid of that nasty car chase for sure. Sold! Did I mention this is a sci-fi movie? Well apparently it is…
So you’re off to a good start filling up your notebook with ideas and asking yourself the What-if and But-why and How-the-Heck questions to fine-tune those ideas into something usable.
Keep at it. If you run out of notebook, buy another one. They grow on trees after all.
Next time we’ll see a process for taking those rough ideas and translating them into the 40 or so scenes you’ll need for your feature film.
Until then, KEEP WRITING!