Screenwriting Tips for Playwrights

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > FILM > PLAYS vs. FILM > REALITIES > TIPS >

'I usually start with an idea and discover where it's heading as I go along. . . . this has been giving me problems working in Hollywood, where they want you to pitch an idea with a conclusion before you start work.'

-- Christopher Durang

A tip sheet for storming Tinseltown . . .

• Professional screenplay manuscript format is a must.

• Use a 3-act structure.
  With a Crisis or Turning-point in the story at the end of Act I and Act II.

• Make Acts I & III about the same length with Act II about twice the length of Act I.
  [Typical page allocation for 120-pg. script: I=30; II=60; III=30.] Screenplays are continuous -- don't label the Acts. They're your secret, though the pros will know where to look.

• Tell your story visually with just enough dialogue to fill in the cracks.
  Remember that difference: Film is a sequence of visual images; theatre is a sequence of verbal images. Dip into the Working Unit of The Seminars about this business of Visual vs. Verbal Storytelling.

• Keep your lines of dialogue short.
  Even in the most play-like of films, dialogue is extremely brief.

• American films are about what happens next.
  The technology of cutting from one image to the next has a lot to do with this. European cinema is the only market for character studies similar to stage plays.

• Establish a strong Suspense Plot.
  Even in a romantic comedy. Film doesn't cope well with the mild suspense plots that work well in plays.

• Put the Hook [in theatrical terms, the Inciting Incident] in the first 2 pages.
  If you're unproduced, go for page 1.

• Keep your scenes short.
  3 pages is a good absolute maximum before you cut to a new location; half a page to a page is typical.

• Use less Subtext.
  In film, Subtext floats to the surface of the dialogue much more often, mostly because Hollywood tends to have a very dim view of the intelligence of its audience.

• Put an Emotional Pattern in the Obligatory Scene.
  These things are tailor-made for film.

• Aim toward a Happy Ending.
  It's the norm.

• Hold the manuscript to under 120 pages in screenplay format.
  Most production companies won't look at a first freelance script that's over this magic number and a 100-page maximum would make them happier. A rule before you're famous: Anything beyond 120 pages is death.

• Do a detailed outline of scenes before writing the script.
  Steve Tesich's attitude toward outlining aside, most screenwriters do this. The next step is often a Treatment [a 20-50 page narrative of the story]. And then finally the screenplay comes third.

• Practice answering the question, "So tell me, what's this about?"
  In one sentence. . . And tag on a comparison to another recent [and financially successful] Hollywood film. If you can't do this easily, or if the mere idea of doing it annoys you, go back to playwriting.

It only seems like a satire on
screenwriting and the film industry
if you haven't been around Hollywood.