So I'm thinking I might write a movie script in the near future. I'd try to sell it if I could, but if not it wouldn't be a big deal to me; I'll mainly just do it for fun, and I'd keep it low-budget enough that I could produce and direct it myself. Has anyone here ever written one? Any suggestions on format? Any do's and don'ts you'd care to share?
That's my area. A good place to get started is http://www.scriptbuddy.com. I use it myself for formatting and the setup keeps my characters in order. I've been involved in Low budget independant filmmaking for the last six years or so and it can be fun or it can be hell, my own horror stories on set could fill a book. I wouldn't concern yourself with writing around a budget because the script starts to show it. It works better to write it all out and just do what you want and if you decide to film it, use your own creativity once again to solve budget constraint problems or sell the script. Anyway, if there's anything else more specific you want to ask, don't even hesitate.
yo i came up with a good movie idea in the "jessica and nick" thread in the hippies sub-forum. it went like this i swear, it would be a good movie if bush dug a huge pit using bombs and crap, and it would be the whole states of Nebraska, iowa, colorado, and some more middle states. it's just a huge pit, about 100 miles below sea level. then, as the pit's spokespersons, jessica and britney said that to be patriots, we should blindly follow Bush and live in this pit. then, bush used the remaining land outside of the pit to train his real christian coalition, equipped with wmd's, helicopters, nuclear bombs, and the rest of that stuff. to build all of this crap, they hire the FBI to snatch men 15 to 20 years old, and force them to work in the pit. then, for every man caught, two women would be caught. and the man would be forced to mate with both of them every nine months. the children would be educated in huge schools, and all scriptures dealing with rebellion and anarchy would be destroyed. anyway, so the people in are in the pit. there are two groups of people, pretty much the conservatives and the liberals. the liberals were forced down here by cattle pryers and electrodes. there is also a group of hippies, who have secured a 800 square mile section, where they build a huge forest. in the middle, there is a town, where there are no tyrants or greedy politicians. anyway, 100 years pass by, and america has changed. the conservatives are warring with eachother, and the liberals are watching them fight eachother like dogs. the hippies are still living happily, and they have the best education system in the world and the best healtcare system in the world. more of the liberals are moving out to this utopia. but, above the pit, the christian coalition has conquered the world. most countries are either destroyed or are in the midst of being destroyed. now they have directed their attention to the people of the utopia. they are going to be launching nuclear bombs into the pit to destroy the hippies. they have called upon the conservatives in the pit to rise together to cut of the hippies supplies, causing them to scatter throughout the pit in search of supplies. the conservatives would give their lives to see the people they hate die. but on the day of the launch, the children of the schools rise up against the dictatorship, and direct the missiles all over the country, and at the territory of the conservatives. at the time, George P. Bush III, George W's great-great-great nephew is in command. he dies when a nuclear bomb hits the capital. the hippies, though, are killed due to the scattering, and that is the end of all civilization as we know it. but it turns out, there is boy in somolia and a girl in belize who are still alive, and are told by God that they must reproduce to bring back all humanity. they must make the journey to england and reproduce, for this is the second Garden of Paradise or whatever.( i thought a funny thing would be that they are both gay or the boy can't reproduce due to the nuclear bombs going off) the thing that seperates this from all of those other pit stories is that this one has no words. it's just led zeppelin, black sabbath, the who, hendrix, neil young, and other music people's songs in the background.
I'm in the process of writing one. I'm undisciplined, unseasoned, and at times I doubt my talent, so I'll probably never finish it. But, before you write a page, you should read Syd Field's Screenplay. It's basically a step-by-step manual for someone who wants to be able to put together a solid, sell-worthy screenplay. It's a quick read, too.
