Composing a movie script is one of the arts and crafts that seem simple until one embarks on the process. It is one thing to have an idea – perhaps a great idea – and it is another thing to translate that idea into a properly formatted emotionally gripping script that works as a piece of cinema. The fact that it is a learnable one is good news.
Being able to write a gripping movie script entails knowing not only the technical aspects of the format but also the more artful side of writing. Each of them is not sufficient. An empty script properly laid out and free of any emotional centre will not get anywhere. An excellent story concept that has been written without any consideration being given to the format of a screenplay is no better to get going. You need both.
Begin With Your Main Idea and Theme.
Any good screenplay begins with a definite central concept and often a theme below it. The main concept is your premise – what is the surface level of the story? The theme is what it is about underneath what truth or question is what the story is actually about?
One of the premises is a script of a detective solving a murder. One of the themes is a script on whether justice can be achieved in a corrupt system. People are made to read on the premise. It is their theme that causes them to feel something.
Know thy theme before you write the first line of dialogue know thy theme. Not because you will write it explicitly in the script – you practically never should – but because it will serve as the guide to all your decisions of character plot and structure. When you are uncertain whether a scene is part of your script the question “is this to serve the theme or not? is often answered by the answer to the question does this serve the theme or not?
Understanding Three-Act Structure
The reason most mainstream movies are structured in three acts is certainly not without reason – it is the structure that is most comfortable to the human brain in processing stories. Act one establishes the world that the character inhabits and the main conflict. The presence of act two makes the situation more complex and increases the stakes. Act three lets go of the conflict in a manner that is unexpected and unavoidable at the same time.
This is not to say that all the scripts can and should strictly adhere to the template. However, when you fully grasp it, you have the means by which you can intentionally escape it as opposed to accidentally. Numerous great films subvert or play with the three act structure but the authors behind these films knew all too well what they were subverting.
This is especially critical and underdeveloped by amateurs, the midpoint of the act two. There should be something of importance at the mid point which elevates the stakes and turns the tide of the story. In the absence of a good midpoint the center of your piece of writing will lapse and lose its pace.
How to write Characters That are Real.
Scripts are life and death in characters. You may have a brilliant plot but when the audience is not interested in the people who are going through the plot they will not be interested in anything. Good screenplay characters seem to be real people, whose desires fears habits and contradictions.
The best question that can be asked about your main character is what does he/she want and what does he/she need? Nevertheless, these tend to be various things. One of the characters may be desiring to finalize a business but has to reunite with their estranged family. It is the tale of the conflict between the two things.
The reason why there are secondary characters is to bring out the qualities in your main character that he can never bring out in his character alone. All of the important relationships in your script must in some manner change or challenge your main character. When one of the characters can be erased without having to influence anything about the protagonist or the plot that he is likely to be.
Mastering Screenplay Dialogue
One of the most misconceived aspects of the screenwriting is the dialogue. Novices have a tendency to produce the dialogue, which resembles the dialogue of the people. Good screenwriters write the dialogue as though people were talking, but actually doing five things at the same time – revealing character advancing plot creating conflict expressing subtext and moving the scene forward.
The actual talk is replete with repetitive filler and digressions. Even dialogue in a screenplay is concise and intentional even though it may seem natural. Each line must be gaining its position. When a line will only sound good, but will not have anything cut, cut it.
Your best tool of dialogue is your subtext. What is not said by the characters is usually more interesting than that which is said by the characters. When two people are fighting what restaurant to go to, they are in fact fighting something a lot more serious. Allow the audience a sense of that distance between what one is talking about on the surface and what is actually being talked about.
Formatting and Presentation
The correct format of a screenplay is non-negotiable when the screenwriter seeks to have his/her screenplay taken seriously by any person in the industry. It has the conventional form – scene headings action lines and dialogue blocks – because it makes sense to have it in a standard form. It renders scripts simple to read and enables the industry professionals to approximate the number of pages and consequently the screen time with ease.
The amount of screen time in a screenplay equals approximately one minute of screen time per one page of properly formatted screenplay. The average size of a feature film script is 90-120 pages. Exceeding or falling way below is an indication of a problem.
Install an industry-standard word processing software such as Final Draft or the free Highland to make sure that your formatting is right. Don’t attempt to re-create script format in a word processor – it will cause more problems than it will solve.
The Real Work Begins Where revision is concerned.
It is estimated that your first draft should not be perfect. Its task is to be there – to provide you with something to work with. Screenwriting is a game of revision, where you scrutinize every scene and every line and every character beat with a critical eye.
Read aloud your script. What appeared to be a fine dialogue on the page, turns out to be unnatural to pronounce. Look to scenes that either come in too late or come out too early – most scenes should enter the action as late as possible and leave the action as early as possible.
Get trusted feedback. New eyes see things that you are too close to see and hearing how a reader has experienced your script is priceless data, which you simply cannot create without any assistance.
Final Thought
It is a lifetime process to acquire knowledge on how to write an interesting movie script. Each of the scripts is something you never knew before about story character and writing. The most rapid writers are the most consistent writers and the most active seekers of feedback and the most frequent view of each draft as a learning experience rather than a final product. Start your script. Finish your draft. Then get down to the real business of making it something worth watching.
FAQs
Q: How long should a movie script be? A: Most feature film scripts are between 90 and 120 pages with one page equaling approximately one minute of screen time.
Q: Do I need special software to write a screenplay? A: Yes. Final Draft is industry standard and Highland is a free alternative. Both handle formatting automatically.
Q: How important is three-act structure for a screenplay? A: Very important as a foundation. Understanding it deeply allows you to work within it or subvert it intentionally.
Q: How do I make my screenplay dialogue sound natural? A: Read it out loud. If it sounds forced or unnatural on your own lips it will sound worse coming from actors.
Q: Can I write a screenplay without any industry experience? A: Absolutely. Many produced screenwriters were self-taught. Study great scripts read books on the craft and write consistently.
