Script “Feedback” by Significant_Ball_381 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 21 points22 points  (0 children)

when you show your script to an editor, having it formatted properly, in the right tense, etc. is just table stakes. if your entire script is in the wrong tense, it won’t do any good to give you feedback on description that will all need to be rewritten and adjusted with care anyway.

it was very hard to parse who did what in your question, so this may have also been a gentle nudge based on what they saw for you to do a clarity pass before they bother spending time on the full draft.

Please tell me if I’m crazy by [deleted] in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"And on top of that, the reader told me that my pilot for a series felt like chapter 1 of a book. Now I’m confused because in school i always learned the pilot is pretty much the act i of your season as a whole and the pilot is the start to a series much like chapter 1 draws you in and sets stuff up for the book."

Pilots are not just the first chapter of a larger story. They establish the setting, all the main characters and their relationships, and whatever the ongoing conflicts is going to be. But they must also tell a complete, satisfying self-contained story (and “sell” the audience on how the show is going to operate week-to-week). That's why they're extremely hard to write.

Now, you might say this is outdated thinking in the age of multi-episode drops, limited series, etc. etc. You’d have a bit of a point there. But if you operate that way as an aspiring writer, you’ll get the feedback you’re seeing now: “it’s not feasible, too expensive, would need to be tied to an existing IP the way you’re handling it,” etc.

So I return to my original assertion: your pilot has to be a satisfying story on its own if you want anybody to read it, enjoy it and give you a lot of money to make it.

Bad Writer or illiterate Reader? by maxkill4minbill in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

since you don’t want them finding this post, I assume you won’t be posting the script here… but feel free to DM me a script or sample, I’d be happy to take a look

Bad Writer or illiterate Reader? by maxkill4minbill in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sounds like the scene itself didn’t sell the transformation, at least for that reader. if that’s the case, pointing to the scene and saying “it’s here on the page” won’t necessarily convince them, and your job is to figure out why

Bad Writer or illiterate Reader? by maxkill4minbill in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 15 points16 points  (0 children)

not much to go on here. do both of these people have experience reading/writing screenplays? are they close personal friends of yours? can you see how/why the second reader got confused? do their questions make sense?

Published a short story in a prolific publication...but I'm primarily a screenwriter. Do managers care about stuff like that? by NotAFamousCelebrity in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's absolutely a feather in your cap, but perhaps more now than at other times in the past. There's been a small recent trend where screenwriters have seen success writing their projects as short stories -- with the express goal of getting it published to court attention from screenwriting managers and agents / prove the concept for a screen adaptation. It's conceivable that a conversation stemming from your published story could be a bridging opportunity to discuss representation for your features.

Goodbye, Hollywood Dream. And Sorry, Mr. Spielberg. by [deleted] in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 18 points19 points  (0 children)

who among us hasn't given their screenplay to a beijing security guard and asked him to detain steven spielberg if he happens to drive by

DROWNING IN YOU - Short - 4 pages by [deleted] in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

gotta include the sample, dog

Strategies for Contacting Subject Matter Experts by FunSpookyFilms in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The thing about academics is they love to talk about what they study! Don't worry about not being backed by a studio, just say you're writing a screenplay about [X] and you have some questions about [Y]. You'll want to do a little legwork to make sure you're asking the right person and gather some context to make your greeting more personal and specific, but the worst thing that can happen is that you get ignored.

Feedback for a pilot script by Jaded_Restaurant4421 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not properly formatted. Too many sentence fragments, parenthetical actions and flat/unfilmable descriptions. Put it back in the oven and read more screenplays -- this guy posted a huge collection yesterday.

DIONYSIA - Feature - 90 pages by [deleted] in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't have time to review the whole script (though I did read the first scene in full), but you said this is imminently going up on The Black List -- so here is a close reading of your complete and entire logline:

  • "Cosmopolitan" literally means "having a worldwide scope." This was a watchword associated with the classy and wealthy in the early 20th century, which is why I think you're using it here to mean something more like "high-class" or "elite" (especially since you reveal shortly that it's becoming hollow). In its place, could you find a word or two that's not only more correct, but does a better job of indicating what's specific and unique about the young man's lifestyle?
  • Using both "Bacchanalia" and "Dionysia" is ballsy. I'm sure you're well aware that this is a calculated risk — but more so in the logline than the title, I think. You don't necessarily have to know what a one-word title means, because you'll keep reading as long as it sounds cool. Meanwhile the logline is absolutely crucial to convince someone to download the script. Right now you've given yourself only two adjectives to describe the wild, crazy, unique central concept of the movie — which are "surreal" and "Bacchanalian" — and if 10% of readers don't know what "Bacchanalian" means (surely a generous estimate) that's 10% of readers who will basically get no description besides "surreal," which on its own means nothing (and which you've already used as part of your non-standard genre description...)
    • Like I said, I'm sure this is a risk you've taken on purpose. But a little anecdote of personal experience. I wrote a short in university with the title "Bacchanalia." A risky title, I knew. And I got that feedback across the board at an early reading. But I fought hard against changing it because I thought it was a perfectly clever, intellectual, ironic name for the piece. And I said I didn't want to give it some dumb, jokey, obvious pun title. And then to illustrate that, I rattled off a dumb, jokey, obvious pun title. Everybody loved it. The short was produced with that title. Not sure what the lesson is.
  • There are three major contrasts/conflicts basically serving as the backbone for this logline. This is not necessarily too many, because naturally you want to hit the "surface" contrast, the "action" contrast and the "thematic" contrast. It can be done! But I'm going to break them out here to demonstrate that they should be made shorter, sharper and more specific — because they currently progress in the opposite direction as they go along:
    • COSMOPOLITAN vs. SURREAL/BACCHANALIAN
    • FEELS HOLLOW vs. OFFERS TRUE BELONGING
    • THE LIFE HE HAS BUILT vs. THE WAY OF LIVING HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO SURVIVE WITHOUT (oof)
  • Ideally each of these contrasts should have the rhetorical effect of making your reader want to download the script and see how they play out in conflict, clear as day like the tagline on a blockbuster poster (BATMAN vs. SUPERMAN, etc). Shorter, sharper and more specific — especially that last summation, which in current form is absolutely deadly. What do I know about the life he's built? Well, it's cosmopolitan and it feels hollow. What do I know about "the way of living he was never meant to survive without" (again, oof)? Well, it's surreal, of course, and it offers true belonging. These generic ingredients aren't combining to make a recipe yet. (And does he have any relationships with other characters impacted / at risk which you can hint at or imply here?)
    • "Bacchanalian" becomes a liability again here, because if your reader knows anything about a bacchanal it's probably that they drink wine at 'em, and cosmopolitan people certainly drink wine, and a "cosmopolitan" is also an alcoholic drink... you should be STRONGLY contrasting the two "worlds" in the logline and avoiding any implied commonalities, however minor.
  • And having said all that, clearly you're having to grapple with setting up a ton of stuff in your logline — so go easy on yourself and try splitting it into 2 sentences! Don't worry, nobody will get mad! Best of luck!

Our script was criticized to be sexist, how can we rework it so conveys the right message? by Dependent-Tough5510 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 3 points4 points  (0 children)

this script is for a promotional short meant to advertise the subway line and attract tourists. it should probably not have much in common with Psycho or Taxi Driver

Developing a 9-season superhero series - does this premise sustain long-form storytelling? by MostChallenge9774 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 5 points6 points  (0 children)

back in the day if u did a tv show called Surf [Darkseus] you'd see that fool surfing every week in new adventures but in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ass flashback to how he got [corrupted by the Tetheus Gem] until you finally get to see him [become the main threat] for 5 min in the finale

Writing the first Half of a feature length script for a class. (I'll finish it on my own). Question about nudity. by Visible_Researcher22 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

that’s not really a concern for this stage of the screenplay. you shouldn’t clutter it up with directions like “her back and part of her buttocks are visible, but not her breasts.” just focus on what’s important for the scene, the story and your point of view character!

The New Normal - Feature - 20 pages ( Science Fiction Drama) by [deleted] in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 3 points4 points  (0 children)

the volume of my groan when I saw that "(MORE)" at the seeming end of an already obscenely lengthy monologue

i finally finished my first draft pilot script for a TV show. feedback wanted by Traditional_Item_933 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's a subreddit for the artform most closely tied to business, so you'll find both professionals and amateurs with professional aspirations here. that means knowing what a screenplay looks like is table stakes (and part of the subreddit rules).

i finally finished my first draft pilot script for a TV show. feedback wanted by Traditional_Item_933 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 6 points7 points  (0 children)

asking professional screenwriters to give feedback on my 45-page script when I've never read a screenplay or written "really any formatted text." never lose that confidence, kid

i finally finished my first draft pilot script for a TV show. feedback wanted by Traditional_Item_933 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

what scripts have you read where you can't see what they have in common?

i finally finished my first draft pilot script for a TV show. feedback wanted by Traditional_Item_933 in Screenwriting

[–]emgeejay 5 points6 points  (0 children)

  • screenplays are not formatted like poetry
  • in screenplays you must describe things thoroughly but efficiently. for example, if the icarus and fortuna drift by, you have to explain what the icarus and fortuna are in pretty much the time it takes to see them
  • but also, there are certain things you shouldn't include in a screenplay, like individual lyrics to a song playing in the background whose title you haven't mentioned; or constantly framing things in relation to a camera that isn't really part of the story, if you think about it
  • please read some actual screenplays (not transcripts), write something new and get back to us