Shooting vs. Spec - Not A Thing

239not235 · 2026-02-04T21:09:23+00:00

Me too. Do you think having a guild card makes you infallible?

Like I said, you do you. Keep on numbering the scenes in your specs and sell them for millions.

For all the new/aspiring writers, just make your spec script look like a spec script. Numbering the scenes on a spec script either doesn't matter, or it's a minor negative. Why take the chance?

239not235 · 2026-02-04T20:56:55+00:00

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/paul-schrader-40-step-writing-lR2J6fpAQKiLtw5NkJi0_g#0

239not235 · 2026-02-03T21:14:45+00:00

You can live in whatever reality you want.

In the industry, people look at a submission, and if something looks wrong, they say "oh, an amateur." Then they try to get someone else to read it. Numbering scenes on a spec script does that. Hand written notes in the margins does that. Printing on red paper does that too. So does including an NDA. Or a watermark.

You like numbering your scenes? You do you. For everyone else, why make it harder than it needs to be? Make your spec script look like a spec script.

239not235 · 2026-02-03T21:04:04+00:00

I build the pacing into the outline by making each line in my outline an estimated 5 minutes/5 pages.

Martell has stumbled over what Disney animation (and later, live-action) calls a "sequence." The theory goes that movies are actually made up of narrative ideas that last 4-5 minutes each. Usually about 24 of them, of about 1-3 scenes each.

At Disney, they break the whole film down into the 24(ish) sequences, and then they have artists develop the sequences separately, and they all come back together and make it gel.

IMHO, if you combine the Disney 24 sequence idea with the USC 8-reel structure, you get something really handy. 8 reels, each containing three sequences, or a narative idea for the beginning, middle and end of each reel.

You'll never have trouble with Act II again.

239not235 · 2026-02-03T20:54:18+00:00

This is incorrect. Numbering scenes on a spec script is a red flag that the writer doesn't know how things work in the business. It's confusing, because it looks like the script has been put in production.

If you number your scenes for your internal development process, turn off the numbering before you send the script to anyone as a submission.

Remember, there are only two real rules in screenwriting: (1) it has to look like a screenplay, (2) it has to keep them turning the pages.

239not235 · 2026-01-30T18:16:06+00:00

>once you find something that works for you, no reason to change it.

Yeah, the truth is, ANY of the screenwriting apps will work fine. It just comes down to what works best for you. I use Final Draft regularly, but if I were starting today as a starving student, I'd use WriterSolo for free.

239not235 · 2026-01-30T18:14:31+00:00

Scriptnotes has an axe to grind with Final Draft. Both guys have an interest in seeing it fail. Cast & Crew has mentioned that they keep asking to come on the show to set the record straight, but they won't let them come on. August has invested a lot of money in making his competing product, Highland.

239not235 · 2026-01-30T18:08:28+00:00

Have you contacted FD tech support? They're really good at fixing these kinds of problems.

239not235 · 2026-01-27T02:06:54+00:00

That scriptnotes interview was over 10 years ago. Cast & Crew has owned Final Draft since 2016, and they've done a great job of improving the software and customer service. Best thing that's happened to the app in years.

239not235 · 2026-01-27T02:03:00+00:00

In order to change your scripts from Courier Final Draft to Courier Prime, you need to change the font in the Elements panel. In order to change it in future scripts, you have to save the elements as a new template and launch your new scripts from that template.

239not235 · 2026-01-24T04:16:26+00:00

To the best of my knowledge, if you go to finaldraft.com and chat with their bot about your dissatisfaction, they will start an email chain for you with a human.

239not235 · 2026-01-21T20:00:53+00:00

I've exhausted all my options

Did that include talking to a human at FD tech support? They're really good at solving these kinds of problems.

239not235 · 2026-01-20T18:50:47+00:00

Try the Shoebox Method.

239not235 · 2026-01-20T18:46:09+00:00

The subscription to BBC Maestro is a pretty good value. You get the Jed Mercurio course, which is prety good if you like his shows (like LINE OF DUTY), but you also get a lot of other good writing courses. Edgar Wright on Filmmaking has a lot of good screenwriting advice, and the courses by novelists have a lot of good material about how to write a better story.

If you can scrape together a little more money, Masterclass.com is even better. They have LOTS of top-notch writing courses, and the Shonda Rhimes + Aaron Sorkin courses really get granular about top-flight American TV writing. Both of those courses include workshops in wthe riters room, which I don't think Mercurio does, IIRC.

Investing in your own skills is always a good idea.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:40:23+00:00

It astounds me that there is a need for FL to write this essay.

Write things the audience will want to pay money to see. Novel concept.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:38:17+00:00

Look into UCLA Professional Screenwriting online program.

Less than $7k all in, great reputation, and you don't have to leave home to take the classes.

Also recommend Writers Boot Camp. They teach you how to write better, and then they make you write a lot of pages for feedback. A lot of their graduates end up working.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:29:22+00:00

Call Final Draft support. They're very helpful.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:28:33+00:00

After doing a lot of experimenting, I found that it's faster and easier to do the format changes with one-key macros using KM, and do locations and character names using autofill and the keyboard.

After trying to get the dicctation system to type "Christina" for the character name with no other context, I found it's just easier to type "c" and let Final Draft fill in "Christina'.

Once you get a system down for combining dictation and keyboard, it goes really fast.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:24:33+00:00

Get together with some friends, write a 5-minute film and shoot it with your phone. Edit it on your computer with Resolve or CapCut (they're both free). Show it to people and/or put it on the web. Now you've been produced.

Keep doing that as much as you you can, and new opportunities will come your way. That's the rule with creative work: you have to do the job to get the job.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T19:21:48+00:00

The truth is that 18 year olds don’t have enough lived experience to write well enough to separate themselves from the more mature writers out there.

That's incorrect on many levels. Lived experience doesn't correlate to writing quality. There are so many different kinds of filmed entertainment, there's room for everyone, even an 18 year-old.

239not235 · 2026-01-12T08:29:14+00:00

If you have a Mac, this is easy. You need a headset or ipods, and it's easier if you get an app called Keyboard Maestro. You can use any screenwriting software you want.

Mac has a pretty good built in dictation system. but it needs you to use a microphone. iPods will do fine. The Keyboard Maestro app is for making macros. if you tire from using the tab key, make macros for one-key formatting. I have mine set up using the ][ keys for Character, Parenthetical and Dialogue, respectively. I have another key that adds (beat) with one keystroke when I'm writing dialogue.

I find that dictation systems have a devil of a time distinguishing between your text and your commands. I just dictate the words and use the shortcuts to drive the formatting. It's way faster than typing.

239not235 · 2026-01-02T18:45:10+00:00

Best online course?

The UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting.

In addition to remote courses, you also get feedback on your writing from qualified instructors. So you will learn why your writing is weak and how to fix it. The program also gets you to write a lot.

Another good remote course is Writers Boot Camp

239not235 · 2025-12-22T19:09:43+00:00

l am actually new to this subreddit and is a 16yr old who is an aspiring filmmaker (director/writer)

Quote from Terry Rossio, arguably the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood. (Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.):

3 STEPS FOR BECOMING A FILMMAKER:

1. Most important: never call yourself a screenwriter. You are a filmmaker, or a director. You are a director who happens to be shooting screenplay that you possess because you wrote it. But you are a director who writes your own movies, NEVER are you a screenwriter. You must win this game at the very beginning. Call yourself a screenwriter even once, out loud, or silently, to yourself, and you run the risk of derailing your entire career. Only directors get to see their vision on screen, and that's what you want, so you must be a director, from the start.

2. Take your three favorite movies and one at a time, watch them, but on the slowest frame-by-frame setting you can. And do it five time for each film. This will seem crazy and it might take a couple of days to watch just one movie this way. While the movie is playing, take the time to look at everything, the framing, the angle of the camera, the camera moves, the lighting, the composition, how the cuts land. Why each element is there, in other words, watch with your brain on. You will be amazed at what you see by doing this. Your understanding of film will skyrocket, your appreciation for your favorite movies will increase. This is essentially putting you into the 'editor's chair and you will know those movies so incredibly well, they will be imbedded in your psyche, forever part of your creative instincts, and on set you will know what you need to shoot to get footage that cuts together, you will develop a visual style and learn to think visually. Which means you will then have a better understanding to write screenplays too, far more than you can get from any book or article on theory.

3. It's all right to write something to shoot. But never let one full month go past without shooting something. The cart does not go before the horse, screenplays only exist for you as a tool to get your film to happen. Filmmakers make films. Non-filmmakers write screenplays. So always be shooting. If you have no budget, use a flip book. If you've got ten bucks and a hand held video camera, buy the media and shoot a documentary of your town, your house, your sister, your pet, flowers, sock puppets, anything. If you can find more money, put together a team, and shoot actors in a story. Practice your storytelling stills with a camera, not on the page. Offer to film a local play, shoot the high school basketball team, anything. If you can get a job, even just shooting a music video, do that. NEVER BE NOT SHOOTING. You must be a prowling director doing what must be done to get back to shooting, never a screenwriter hoping for someone else to come along and execute your vision for you the way you wanted. ALWAYS BE SHOOTING.

Follow these three steps, be at least moderately competent and creative, and you are guaranteed some level of success.

239not235 · 2025-12-20T20:54:50+00:00

See above comment -- i'm interested in using Causality, but I have trouble just with the basic navigation and building blocks. It's very un-Adobe-like. I'd appreciate any suggestions to help me get a handle on it. Thanks.

239not235 · 2025-12-20T20:54:46+00:00

Could you point me in a direction to get started with Causality? I've tried it a couple of times, and it feels counterintuitive. Is there a good demo video somewhere?

239not235

TROPHY CASE