screenwriters toolkit

Let’s use the ending of a film to practice creating scenes. Your Task: Pick a movie - any movie. After watching it, jot down 4 alternate possibilities for an ending. Now, pick one of your 4 new finales and use standard screenplay format to write out one of these endings.

Have you ever seen Ghost in the Shell? There’s a scene in the middle of the movie’s buildup that’s a contemplative movement where the main character watches the city go by. It’s the perfect example of place as action. The pensive main character is taken away by place in a moment that gives the viewer a chance to reflect on the action and philosophy in the movie. My question: Are there other examples of place as action? Can place move the plot forward? Your Task: Brainstorm 5 movie scenes where place is the defining factor in the scene.

When I’m writing a story, I like to get descriptive. If I’m writing a screenplay, I’m trying to narrow that descriptive drive into shorter sentences and less words. The point is to get more into less so the production crew doesn’t have to decode fancy descriptive paragraphs while turning the script into something filmable. Your Task: Practice your economy of words on place descriptors. Go somewhere you want to write about. Being there, come up with 10 words that describe this place. Now, narrow it down to 3 that truly capture it’s essence. Finally, write 1 descriptive sentence that shows where you are.

How do movies influence, change or effect us? How can 1 scene have so much staying power in our lives? I’ve seen it many times. Friends will refer to a specific scene from a movie to relate experiences in their lives. They’ll use scenes in movies to justify a decision. It goes on. Your Task: Watch your favorite scene of a movie. Freewrite for 20 minutes on anything that comes up.

Place effects us. We react differently based on where we are. See for yourself. Your Task: Take a character from a movie (one that you’ve created, or one that you like) & place them in several different locations and time periods. Imagine your character’s main attributes and how they change relative to where they are. Also, notice what remains the same. Freewrite: How does place change us?

What changes in your scenes when you reduce or expand them? Screenwriting books almost unanimously call for an economy of words — choosing your words wisely and using less to say more. Practice this. Your Task: Come up with a scene from a movie and write 3 versions of the same scene. Write the first one using a 1/2 page; the second one with 1 1/2 pages; and the third one using 3 pages.

Here’s another practice exercise for creating a scene. Your Task: Think of an incident that happened in your life where you were unsatisfied with the end result. Now, write a scene that goes through this incident. Change the scene to reflect the way you’d rather have this incident turn out.

Sometimes we get so into the challenge of finishing our screenplays that we forget to go back and make sure our characters have a consistent voice. Your Task: Read a screenplay that you or someone else wrote. Get into the mindset of one character and read it thinking of them. While you read, consider what’s awkward, what’s natural, what their voice is and if it’s being followed throughout. How is the character real or superficial? What could make them more consistent?

Examining how others view and use place will give us a better idea of how we can use it to strengthen our stories. Your Task: Watch a movie set in another country made by someone who’s not from there. Now, watch two movies set in the same country made by people who are from there. Freewrite: How is place perceived and setup differently?

Can you defend the choices you’ve made in your own writing? Try it. Your Task: Take a screenplay that you’ve written. Pick out the major plot points and defend your decisions for the way you’ve written them. Write a short essay detailing the decisions you’ve made for the plot of your story and defend these choices against potential criticism.