Creating a great film: "Writing"

A great film starts with a great story. As much as people think they know this part, there are still tons of writers forgetting what makes a story watchable. They worry to much about putting in jokes or special effects. They think to much toward production value instead about what the story truly is about or how it is progressing.

The first thing a writer should do Is outline their whole story. Sounds simple but so many writers just start writing without knowing where their story's going. By outlining your story you can always keep a clear idea of where you story is going, this eliminates the possibility of useless scenes that don't make the story move forward. Eliminating these scenes that don't do anything but maybe make a joke or kill someone will instantly make the story more effective.

Next a writer will want to make sure the characters change over the film and to make sure the progression of that change is spread out over the course of the film. This simple change keeps the audience interested over the whole film because they watch the character change more in each scene. This makes the characters more relatable and more real, because No one in real life would change right away so making the characters change over time makes them realistic.

Another thing a writer can do is write their story to the purpose they have. Meaning if they are planning on putting the script in a film contest or know they will have a huge budget, write a story that has many characters, outrageous locations, or even other planets. However if you know you will be pitching your script to independent film makers or someone who will only be able to raise a small budget, write a story that has minimal actors, one to two locations, and simple shots.

Writing a great story is always hard but if you keep all these things in mind when you write, you will be selling your scripts and winning contests everywhere.

Creating a great film!

Over the next few blog posts we will be talking about what makes a great film and how to do it on a small or a lot of times non-existent budget. The many topics we will discuss will include writing, camera, lighting, sound, and many many more.

Stay tuned for the blog posts that will change how you create your films.