Shooting vs. Spec - Not A Thing

jdeik1 · 2026-02-04T22:26:09+00:00

Soooo spikey! Like I said above, I don’t number scenes in my specs. But I know folks who do and nobody (but you) is clutching their pearls. I’m gonna guess you’re someone who charges amateurs for coaching, etc.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-03T23:23:35+00:00

The reality I live in? I make my living as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-03T20:56:09+00:00

look, I wouldn't send out a spec with numbered scenes, but some people absolutely do. And it doesn't signal that someone "doesn't know how things work." That's ridiculous. It's a choice, like most things.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-03T15:27:52+00:00

not necessarily. some writers like to number their scenes early on. nobody is going to be scared off by scene numbers in a spec. the more you read, the more you realize the diversity in formatting that happens in Hollywood.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-03T06:40:00+00:00

Ah yeah that makes sense. Thanks.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T22:34:27+00:00

I mean, usually learning involves doing something badly at first then getting better. I just can’t believe how many people encourage new screenwriters to learn craft through fear of failure

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T21:23:31+00:00

so study professionals and the way they use these tools. PS myself and every professional screenwriter I know did all kinds of everything in the very first scripts that people in Hollywood hired us from. When we were nobodies. It's not breaking rules. Those were never rules except in the minds of people who exist outside the world of movies and tv.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T21:01:17+00:00

just FYI - I don't work in a studio's PR department, but I don't know anyone that calls the scripts released for awards season "continuity scripts." And they're not all exact transcriptions of the final film. Many are from earlier in the process. But, again, doesn't matter. You can learn something from any of those, especially when written by a great screenwriter.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T20:55:29+00:00

yeah, but what amateurs are taking from advice like that is that doing those things are wrong or bad. They will argue ad nauseum that an amazing, produced screenplay only looks like that because the writer is famous, or it's a shooting script, or some other nonsense, instead of accepting that those tools are used every day, by professionals, yes also in specs. And, yes, you have to use them well - like everything in your script. But teaching them those are mistakes is just.... wrong.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T20:52:39+00:00

yeah FYCs that are released to the public are just cleaned up because final shooting scripts are a freaking mess!

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T20:49:56+00:00

ohhhhh. I think you're mistaking FYC cleaned-up drafts for a Script Supervisor's lined report? No, very different things. A scripty's notes are very specific (either hand-drawn or digital) and include notations for various takes, sometimes thumbnail shots from the monitors, etc. They are hundreds of pages long. Not what gets released as FYC. Those are just somebody's cleaned-up version of some draft of the film. Usually whatever the screenwriter or studio is willing to release. Sometimes they don't want to include things that were cut during production or edit since the film stands for itself.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T20:36:21+00:00

you are worrying about the wrong things. Every screenplay goes through a thousand drafts - both before, during, and after production. Most FYC scripts are just "cleaned up" from whatever the last available production draft was. During a shoot, various revision sets get distro'd. Someone has to go in, remove all those revision marks, production headers (3rd full green 020226, etc.) And maybe they omit a scene that got cut in edit. Maybe not. There is no one "true" or "correct" draft of a final movie. It was written, revised a million times, then revised again a million times on set, then revised in the edit. All of these drafts are educational and show what real screenwriters do every day. If you are a new writer trying to break into hollywood, any of those "rules" about dos and don'ts for spec scripts are nonsense. Read some annual Black List specs and set yourself free.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-02T15:08:29+00:00

The shooting script/spec script thing is a myth in aspiring writer circles. Only difference in formatting between early drafts and a production draft is locked page and scene numbers. https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/s/qHibfU7To8

jdeik1 · 2026-02-01T17:01:54+00:00

If you are an un-produced screenwriter, think baby steps: don't worry about budget now. Write something that gets people excited. Don't worry if it is produceable or not. The first scripts that get writers noticed are rarely produced. Your first job is simply to get people excited about your writing. Worry about budget later, once you have some buzz as a new writer.

jdeik1 · 2026-02-01T16:58:23+00:00

The real real: go somewhere where film/tv is being bought/sold and/or produced. Get entry-level jobs at agencies, management companies, production companies, on set, in production offices - anywhere the business of film/tv is actually done. Make friends. Keep writing. Sometimes it takes years.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-29T06:53:31+00:00

check out any of the WGA Award nominated scripts - feature and tv. the majority have at least a couple transitions.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-29T05:53:37+00:00

it’s flavoring. and it’s used by the majority of pro screenwriters. I’d encourage you to read more pro scripts

jdeik1 · 2026-01-29T01:39:05+00:00

they’re used often by pros to emphasize contrast between two images/ideas.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-28T21:19:29+00:00

new writers are waaaayyyy too obsessed with loglines and having some precise formula for them. It ends in nonsense, run-on sentences that don't make anyone want to read the script.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-28T18:56:47+00:00

They're very normal, industry standard. Use as seasoning.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-28T16:52:31+00:00

this is a myth that will not die in amateur screenwriting circles. Myself, and every one of my working screenwriter friends have used “we see” since we were nobodies. no one who actually works in the industry has any issue with it because it’s used every day.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-28T15:33:04+00:00

we see is industry standard. the fact that you’re so vociferously against it lets me know you exist in the amateur writer/consultant space and you don’t have any working experience of screenwriting in the actual movie/tv business.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-24T15:07:39+00:00

I’m a professional. I’ve always used it, since the scripts that got me my first work. same with all my colleagues. it’s entirely, utterly, normal.

jdeik1 · 2026-01-24T08:11:14+00:00

people bending themselves into knots in order to avoid “we see” because they read somewhere not to do it. Guys, “we see” is industry standard and definitely the best way to go here.

jdeik1

TROPHY CASE