Thread by @bryanedwardhill

ON WRITING: This week, I'm turning in a first draft of a screenplay assignment, something on the bigger scale of genre, so I thought I would thread a bit on how to make this kind of thing less intimidating, whether it's an assignment or your own spec. Might be helpful to you...

It can be daunting, these bigger things, but remember that even the biggest genre story is usually made of two-three character scenes. That's the BULK of it. You never really write the cast of thousands for most of it. Focus on that. Not the scope. Two-three character scenes.

Those scenes may happen in fantastic places, but don't worry too much about describing the mis en scene with all the detail. Just put enough to set the stage for the scene and keep as much white on the page as you can. You're writing. Not directing. Not doing production design.

Usually, for a first draft, I'll just describe the environment in ONE SENTENCE, just to set it and I'll move straight away into the dialogue, just to be faster through the draft. Once I get to the end, I'll put some music on and go back through it, adding a LITTLE description.

The action/VFX sequences can get VERY technical (and boring) if you let them. I tend to just put place holder paragraphs for those bits, so I know what's supposed to happen, but I'll write through all the dramatic scenes FIRST. Then I go back and do the action on a later pass.

This allows me (as well as having a scene by scene outline) to be very fast as I draft. I know what scenes are coming up. I don't get stuck in describing the action, and I can push forward through to the end of the STORY. Then I go back and do the detailing in the action stuff.

You figure it out with experience, but you don't have to do a detailed play by play in the action. That can fill your page with words and drag down the read. Just describe what MUST be described, the detail in the action should be the moments where CHARACTER IS REVEALED.

Page count and pace also come with experience, and you get a feel for it the more scripts you write. Now, I know when I'm on track for my act breaks, but if you're learning, use your outline to make sure you're pacing through your acts properly. Until you get the instinct.

About that scenework, think about HARRY POTTER, for instance. He may be in a banquet hall with a billion characters, but the MEAT of the scene is usually his interaction with one or two characters. Get that right first, then build out the room with a sentence or two. Don't --

get lost trying to put in every little beat for every character that might do something interesting in a larger scene like that. Just write the meat of it in your first pass, and then ACCENT it once you know the necessary parts of the scene works. Layering makes it all easier.

I study @andmichaelgreen and Hampton Fancher's BLADE RUNNER 2020 script often because that's a HUGE canvas of a film, but the script is told in an intimate way. The STORY of that is basically a stage play. You could tell it with black box theater because the script is focused.

For me, moving forward is the most important thing. If a scene is giving me trouble, I'll just copy my outline description into the draft and move past it. I write what I KNOW how to do first, with momentum, and then I go back and tackle the tricky bits. Usually, having more --

of the script done makes those tricky scenes easier to execute. I know where it's headed and that brings clarity to what needs to happen in a scene that was out of grasp when I first arrived there. The more you've written, the easier it is to write. That's my basic rule.

Character design, tech design, fantasy description, you don't need to drown in that. I use what I call "Vague but emotional" description. Something that gives the effect without describing helmets and armor and laser pistols in details. That's a department you're not running.

Ex:

INT. STARSHIP - NIGHT

KYLO REN enters, a lean vision of a sith warrior in layered black robes. A garish helmet over his face. His voice altered by unseen technology.

That's enough. The reader gets it. You don't have to design him. Your job is drama and character.

Ex:

EXT. SPACE - NIGHT

X-WING fighters twist like wasps around the massive STAR DESTROYER, firing into the blue bloom of the spacecraft's shields.

Done. There's a space fight. Now cut into the cockpit and give me more story. I don't need the novel. Keep me moving forward.

Fight choreography (a passion of mine) can absolutely KILL the pace of your read. If you're fortunate enough to get into pre-production, you can detail it all then, with a director, but in a draft just do the EMOTIONAL MINIMUM and push forward through story, focus on the heart.

Ex.

INT. NIGHT CLUB - NIGHT

JOHN WICK enters with a gunshot. Another. The guards have become dominos and they're falling with each shot.

Don't give me a page and a half of each guy getting shot, tracing all of John's steps. Find the MUSIC of the action and describe that.

Ex.

INT. THRONE ROOM - NIGHT

Rey clashes sabers with Kylo, neither of them giving ground, light slapping against light, the shrieks of their weapons echoing in the room.

Then into dialogue. What's the STORY of the fight? How are they CHANGING during the fight? Show me that.

But again, the main point is even the biggest epic is usually a series of scenes between two - three characters. They may be happening on a burning tower in the rain, but it's still a series of small things that add up to the epic. Don't be intimidated by the genre scope.

Even the most conceptual action can get boiled down to keep the read moving.

Ex.

EXT. ROOFTOP - DAY

DR. STRANGE casts spells of light. Skyscrapers twist and fold. Reality bends. Gravity exists under his feet as he jumps from surface to surface and makes it to BARON MORDO.

You may go back and put a little more than the above, but when you're making it through that first draft, just put down what you NEED and then go back and add more detail. It'll turn your crawl into a sprint. You can ALWAYS go back through it. You SHOULD go back through it.

If a script is 110 pages, 60-70 of those pages will probably be dramatic scene work. Dialogue and dramatic action. I'll get all of that down first, and then fill in the action the next day. That way I can keep my mind on the scenes, and then focus on the action the next day.

And make sure you're clear about how the characters are GROWING and CHANGING through the action. If it's just WHIZ-BAM with no arc progression, you're in B-movie territory. Always be telling story. Make everything integral. Sometimes, you won't know what needs to happen --

in the action until you've written past it and you realize you need to addressing THIS character issue, or THAT character issue. When you do realize it, you can layer that stuff in as needed. I usually go back through and add little emotional moments to all my action --

so I know that the character arcs are being addressed properly, but I can also move a little faster through it because I'm not getting hung up on details that don't matter at that stage.

And that's basically it, I guess? I hope that's been helpful. / END