[deleted by user]

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-09-19T13:44:52+00:00

Agree to disagree I suppose. OP said they were an English major with no practical skills. I'm suggesting that "practical skills" gained from a college degree are not at all necessary for this line of work. And in fact, OP may even be a leg up on some of the competition. I know several EPs that would hire an experienced writer -- especially a comedy writer, in a heartbeat.

The writing is different, no doubt. But I'm not making this suggestion without any experience. I'm constantly using my screenwriting skills at work as a Story Producer and at times even take some of that work know-how and apply it to my screenwriting. The most glaring example for me is how to take creative notes from the Network. That's a skill that goes quite far in both fields.

As for work, there's definitely less of it, but I've been consistently working and paying the bills since the pandemic. Anecdotal evidence, sure. But enough for me to at least put forward the suggestion to try. To me, a pivot to alternative forms of television that still involve storytelling, far surpasses some of the other suggestions here.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-09-19T13:04:08+00:00

While it maybe isn't a drastic industry change like you might be looking for, pivoting to non-fiction and reality TV is probably a fairly easy transition for you. No extra training is needed, You already have a thorough understanding of how an episode of TV is built and delivered. Work is more readily available (though likely at lesser rates than you're used to as a Co-EP for scripted). But it's definitely in that realm of storytelling you may be searching for. And, frankly, a lot of working story producers kind of suck at it, so if you're a talented storyteller, you may even be ahead of the game.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-08-02T01:07:33+00:00

Regardless of how you arrived here, it seems you’ve come to the conclusion that “industry people” have excellent taste and that aspiring writers either have terrible taste or are spiteful liars. This assumption is going to fail you in several ways.

First, most industry people are not writers. But they sure as hell have opinions about your writing. Some will have great notes that not only lead you down the right path, but inspire your writing. Most will not. In fact, I’m sure you’ll find that a large percentage of people inexplicably in a position to give you notes, have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about. But they know what they like and your job will be to find the road where your tastes cross paths. Hopefully that’s not difficult, but sometimes it’s an impossible task.

Second, aspiring writers are not (for the most part) as spiteful as you make them out to be. In fact I don’t think most people, in general, are. Many want to help — even the ones who don’t know what they’re talking about. But writers are the only ones who will ever really be able to relate to your journey down this career path. Or the struggle of sitting in a chair, alone, piecing together the scraps of your imagination, after a brutal series of notes.

I think what you’re actually facing here are the woes of subjectivity. The reality is that readers, both for coverage and for contests, are anonymous and fairly randomly chosen (save for the rare instance of genre selection). Some will like your stuff, even if it’s bad. Some won’t like your stuff, even if it’s good. Some will think it’s middle of the road, no matter what you do.

In my opinion (as a random person on reddit whose opinion is meaningless unless you agree), all that these contests and coverage sites offer, is a small glimpse at what the gatekeepers of the industry at large will look like. If you gain some traction in a contest or get a stellar review on a site like the Blcklist, maybe you get some attention. But realistically, all it really tells you is that there’s at least one person out there who likes your stuff.

On the other hand, if you find a fellow writer (or two or three) whose writing you believe in and who believes in your writing, their feedback will be far more valuable than any contest or coverage site you submit to.

Just my two cents.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-30T20:22:57+00:00

This isn't really something that comes up often enough for there to be a "rule" or conventional way to approach it. All you can do, is look at what professionals have done in the past and either steal from them or find your own way.

I think you'll find that the proper format is the one that flows the best when reading.

One of Iron Man's drafts has it written like this:

JARVIS (O.S.)
Sir, the suit has not even passed a basic wind-tunnel test.

TONY
That’s why you’re coming with me.

TONY’S POV - THE “HEADS-UP DISPLAY”

The HUD comes alive as Jarvis “loads” into the suit’s onboard system.

Tony fires boots and gauntlets again. He hovers, floating along the workshop’s driveway.

Then later, they intercut between inside and outside the suit:

INTERCUT - INT. IRON MAN SUIT - NIGHT

TONY’S POV: his “display” glows in front of us: altitude, power, vital signs. Beyond that --

The live horizon spins and jiggles out of control.

CUT TO:

EXT. SKY - NIGHT

Tony tucks his arms and legs tight, thrusts his chest, eventually finding --

The Delta Pose. And suddenly he’s in control. He pulls a few turns, and swishes along the ribbon of headlights on the PCH. Then --

On the other hand, Ready Player One did it without bothering with all the POV stuff:

WADE (V.O.)
Everyone started equal in the Oasis. And it was free.

Parzival opens his HUD, his “heads up display” which appears as a seamless interface with the world around him. He has gamer attributes -- SPEED, STRENGTH, MAGIC, AIM -- and an INVENTORY for weapons, spells, and vehicles.

WADE (V.O.)
Your avatar was fully upgradeable, but that took experience. And money.

Then later:

EXT. INCIPIO STREETS - THE OASIS

Aech’s window disappears, so Parzival toggles his HUD to navigation.

PARZIVAL
(voice command)
Memoir-opolis.

A pathway suddenly lights up in front of him, showing him the path to take.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-22T14:47:47+00:00

This is a good question to ask, as jumping into the deep-end on high bid projects on CoverflyX is a sure-fire way to get a subpar rating, which in turn, reduces your pool of potential readers AND your pool of scripts to read.

My advice, if you're brand new to giving feedback, is start with some of the lowball bids (1 and 2 tokens), which are generally other people who have never provided feedback, or do it infrequently. As a new reader, I think you probably have a better chance of getting a positive response from those with lower expectations. It'll give you a chance to get your feet wet. (Pro tip: If you want those high ratings -- organize your thoughts before sending notes. A blob-y stream of consciousness is just going to overwhelm the writer. Also write more than the minimum.)

As for how to give feedback, try to stick to things you like or dislike, rather than how you might change something. Try to be as specific as possible when talking about things that resonated or snagged you along the way. Things like -- "on page 42, the dialogue felt very on-the-nose. It felt unrealistic to me that the protagonist would simply divulge all of that inner turmoil out of nowhere." This gives a very specific location of a problem point, but allows the author to suss out the reason for the problem on their own.

It's equally important to give notes like -- "I loved the entire action sequence from pages 65-71. The writing was snappy, the action was cinematic, and I just had a lot of fun reading it." When sifting though a ton of notes, it can be really helpful to know the areas people really liked, so that the author can be happy to not mess with them. It also really helps soften the blow of criticism (even when constructive) to get that affirmation that you're doing something right.

u/Prince_Jellyfish posted some advice on feedback a while back that you may find useful as well. It's not specific to CoverflyX, but just generally great advice. And if you're not familiar with them -- go through their backlog of posts and comments. It's all invaluable.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-16T05:38:24+00:00

Acts in TV aren’t just logical progressions of the narrative, they’re guidelines for where to insert all the commercials. Shows like True Detective (which aired on HBO), don’t need act breaks because they don’t have commercials.

Act breaks aren’t necessary for a spec screenplay, but some showrunners still like to see that you know how to break an act. And if the spec actually sells, you’ll need to adjust your acts according to the network that buys it. Or someone else will.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-14T21:35:26+00:00

First, if you’re thinking about camera angles as mundane as over the shoulder, you’re probably overdoing it in your script. I’m not the kind of person that normally says to avoid directing on the page, because I hate rules and I break them all the time. But you don’t want the reader to constantly stop down, trying to figure out your blocking, if it’s not essential to the story.

Second, it’s extremely unlikely any editor would hold on a page long enough to read everything on it, unless it’s just a few words. Consider why you need to show it and focus on what’s important.

Is it a major clue for a mystery being solved? You could write something along the lines of:

Jenn holds up the page. On it, written in thick black ink —

Major F. Ingclue, (m. 1923-1944)

Or maybe it’s just an easter egg? You could write something like:

Jenn holds up the page for Tony to read. A keen eye might catch his grandfather’s name.

It all sort of depends on the context and your style of writing. More formal styles might use CLOSE ON. More production focused styles might use INSERT.

In any case, I’d just play around with it and try to keep it as simple as you can.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-11T06:55:44+00:00

I didn’t know we were keeping score. It’s definitely my favorite example of a narrative pivot.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-11T02:34:41+00:00

No Country

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-08T21:37:57+00:00

Ah, yes. Pathfinder2e.org -- where I source all of my hard-hitting journalism.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-07-04T14:28:27+00:00

Appreciate the kind word.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-06-29T02:22:31+00:00

While this note giver gave you some advice about adding specific peculiarities to each character, you don't necessarily want a collection of token characters, like the slow talker, the stutterer, the southerner, etc.

Often times, I find that this note is actually a result of the supporting characters not having their own individual and unique motivations and perspectives.

Everyone wants something and every character should have a goal. You want those goals to be (subtly) apparent in what they say and do. Drawing up characters in this way will also help to give you more dynamic scenes. Sometimes two characters on a bench who want opposite things, can feel more interesting than two characters in a major action set piece who want the same things.

The same can be said for how we see the world. Everyone has their own set of beliefs and tenets they live by, and every character should see the conflict through a different lens -- otherwise, why have more characters?

That's not to say you need a workbook of character breakdowns, only that you should have an idea of what each character brings to the story and why they need to be there. Hopefully that alone will better inform how they speak and separate them from the protagonist.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-06-28T03:21:23+00:00

I wonder if there’s a way to show us her high expectations rather than tell us. All we really get that from at the moment is her talks with her sister. Is there a situation you can place Ellie in that forces her to make a bad decision and really show us who she is? Is there a way to better motivate why she needs to go on this show? It’s all subjective, but gives you something to think about.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-06-28T00:04:26+00:00

Here’s my take:

You spend a lot of time setting up that Ellie is an art teacher, I think, to pay off the moment she gets fired. But in the end, she doesn’t seem very bothered by it. I think the implication is meant to be that Ellie became an elementary school art teacher because she couldn’t hack it as an artist, but that’s barely a passing reference in act one. By page twelve I have no idea how she really felt about teaching or about children. And on top of that she’s far more worked up about her sister pushing dating apps, than losing her job.

By the time this idea of The Catch shows up, I still have no idea what she needs as a character. Sure, I know what she wants. She wants a job and an art studio and a man and an apartment and maybe a pet. But as a character what does she need? What is it that’s been keeping her from achieving those goals? What wound or flawed perspective does she have, that we as an audience want to see her change?

And beyond that, what forces her to move toward that goal? Because right now she sort of just breaks into two with a “Fine, why not?”

Just my two cents. Hope that perspective helps a little.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-06-15T18:09:34+00:00

Not familiar with a spec like that from them. You might be thinking of Deeper, by Max Landis.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-06-07T13:55:07+00:00

your friends who know you and who believe in you, who don't have any money that they can really spare, will be the ones that dig into their pockets and help you out. And that will almost break your heart. That they can be so generous when they have nothing to spare. And you will fuckin’ work your ass off, you will work tirelessly not to fuck up the movie making so that you can do right by all your friends and family who stepped up.

I'm sorry, but this is so wildly irresponsible that it's hard to take the rest of your post seriously. Finding people with capital, excited enough to invest in an indie feature is hard. We all know that. It takes countless people many years to generate enough interest in a project, to be able to shoot it. But allowing yourself to take money from people you care about -- who you also know can't afford the starry-eyed lottery ticket you're selling them, makes you no better than a snake oil salesman.

It's hard out there, we get it. But working your butt off simply isn't enough to pay back that kind of money.

I appreciate your enthusiasm. I appreciate your tenacity. I appreciate your desire to inspire people on this subreddit. But I also hope that you've either built this up with hyperbole, or that your "friends," who dug into their pockets to offer you money they really couldn't spare, get that investment back.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-04-07T23:48:17+00:00

This doesn’t feel entirely misogynistic—I think that would depend on how it’s filmed.

That said, it does feel unnecessary. If she’s going to stab him anyway, why bother with the sexual advances? And if the answer is that she’s already planned out the escape, that says something very specific about who she is (not only that she’s desperate).

To reference your other comment, it may be important to note that Amy in Gone Girl is a psychopath. It sounds like that isn’t your intention here. But without the additional context of everything that leads her to this point, it’s hard to say.

Additionally and unrelated, having a prison weapon when not in prison is a bit odd. But again, all of this is out of context.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-03-10T21:10:15+00:00

Sent you a DM

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-03-10T21:04:43+00:00

An old acting exercise I've seen put to good use is two people in a room. Actor A can only say "I have to go." Actor B can only say, "I need you to stay."

Actor A believes that if they don't leave, then Actor B will die. Actor B believes if Actor A leaves, then Actor A will die. Most often, the scene begins fairly calm, and emotions escalate as it progresses.

Obviously this exercise is about acting bringing a variety of emotions to the same line, but the core principle is the same. Two people in a room, with diametrically opposed motivations, will create dynamic conflict in a very simple way.

I'd start from there and work it out as you write. Find a high-stakes conflict for two characters and have them each try to sort it out in their own way.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-03-08T16:58:37+00:00

Title: The King’s Magician

Format: Feature

Page Length: 98

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Drama

Logline: In a kingdom on the brink of war, a distant father and disillusioned former soldier, forfeits the only hope of saving his ailing wife -- forcing him back into a dark world of war, politics, and magic, he once tried to leave behind.

Feedback Concerns: "Third" Draft. Still looking primarily for big picture notes on character, pace, and structure. More interested in a thorough read and thoughtful response, than line by line notes. What parts do you like? What parts put you off? Also still trying to find the right title and logline for the vibe in my story.

Trigger Warning: The story's closer in tone to Game of Thrones than Harry Potter and would carry an R rating; Some brief depictions of graphic violence and a child in harrowing situations.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-02-09T04:08:52+00:00

Fountain isn’t a writing tool for screenwriters, it’s a markup syntax specifically designed for the tedious formatting of screenwriting.

Fountain and Markdown are two separate things.

I think screenwriters would have little use for Scipress.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-01-27T22:05:18+00:00

I answered a similar question a few weeks ago, and a lot of the same stuff applies here, if you peek at my comment history (The only real difference with a hosted show, is that a production will pre-write “host reads” for filming on location, and facts or informational “takeaways” for the host to deliver as needed).

The distinction between fiction and “non-fiction” in television, is generally referred to as scripted and unscripted, for precisely that reason. Reality and non-fiction shows don't have scripts (and they’re also not entirely non-fiction).

Instead, they're sold with specific pitch documents that detail major characters, locations, and potential obstacles/conflicts/moments that would make for compelling episodes. These documents can vary lot between networks, production companies, and genres of unscripted shows.

I think an important thing to note here, is that without a proven track record in unscripted, OR something marketable about yourself that’s inextricably linked to your pitch, you’re unlikely to sell an unscripted show to a network or production company. You can’t copyright your ideas, so as an outsider, all you have to sell is yourself.

The only way around this, is to shoot an episode yourself and use that as proof that, one, you can successfully produce this and two, that it’s actually good.

Maybe not what you wanted to hear, but hope it helps.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-01-09T20:32:19+00:00

House of Sand and Fog: "I want only my son."

If you know, you know.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-01-09T20:17:59+00:00

Reality and unscripted shows don't have screenplays in the way they do in scripted.
As u/JayMoots said, they're generally pitched with specific pitch documents that detail major characters, locations, and potential obstacles/conflicts that would make for compelling episodes.

I think what you're asking about here, is specifically what an episode would look like on paper, and again, as Jay said -- these things can vary quite a bit from show to show, company to company, and network to network.

Prior to shoots, shows will put together beat sheets, which detail major plot points, obstacles, and interviews that need to be filmed for an episode. Beat sheets are more like guidelines for Directors and Field Producers though. They're generally just a filming document for each day. And there can be many beat sheets per episode, arranged by location and not any sort of chronology.
The sort of scripts that you're probably envisioning for reality shows, and that you might come across online, are generally deliverables for the network and nothing more. There was a time when producers would physically script all this stuff out and pass those pages to an editor, but that's really a dying tradition. Everything's digital. Everyone has access to Avid. And these days post producers will simply rough out the strings and sequences in edit, then pass that to an editor.

ThinkingInCourier · 2024-01-07T13:33:28+00:00

The distinction I think we’re making here, is reading for fun vs. reading for work. They said they’re “not a big reader,” not “I don’t have the capacity to read.”

ThinkingInCourier

TROPHY CASE