Monday 27 January 2014

WRITING NO BUDGET SCREENPLAYS

READ THIS : Before we get started, Let me just say, once again, that this is my approach to writing and developing film projects. I'm not saying it the best way, just one way of doing it. In the end, you should really find your own way of doing anything, shit that works for some people doesn't work for everyone. It's all just a matter of what works for you as a filmmaker/writer/artist/juggler, whatever. However you should be able to apply any approach back to your own work to try and better the final product.

Also please try to bare in mind I have NO idea whatsoever how good of a writer I am. I've had reveiws that called me 'The Next Tarantino' and on the other hand, I've had reviews that have said that I write at a "GCSE Level" and that I "Should never be allowed near a film again". So all I can say is that I write from my own heart and my own experiences and write with a love for what I do, I can't control who enjoys it and who doesn't. I can just remain true to myself and that's all you can do. So with that said lets go.

Before you start writing you should have done some preparation. I've gone over some of this previously. You Can Find my previous articles to get you to this point below :


When writing most scripts I write looking at 'The Bigger Picture'. That means that, most of the time, I'll be producing or directing the film afterwards and so therefore I keep that in mind when I'm scripting. Looking at what's possible, available, and more importantly, 'exciting' whilst not blowing the budget into the stratosphere. It takes a little bit of practice, but it's something you soon get used to. I'm not saying you should do this, If you want to write a Hollywood blockbuster go ahead, I'm writing this simply from my perspective, as a filmmaker, I make most the scripts that I write and so I'm always keeping that in mind. Slasher House started out as a big budget movie that I planned to sell to a studio. 

Also note that even though I tend to be writing for a low budget, I never let that dicatate what goes into the script. I just write what the film needs most of the time and terrify our art department (Which is usually one guy) with how we are going to achieve it. Put it this way, I wrote a Helicopter into Legacy of Thorn. Everyone thought we would drop it. We didn't. 

Anyway on we go.

My first rule, is that I allow maximum 5/6 locations in a movie, Making Horror, that makes it pretty easy and I like the challenge of trying to make my story work within those constraints. However this is not set in stone and you have to know when to break the rules. 

I learned this the hard way, my first feature Creepsville had 32 locations, it's not surprising that the 14 day shoot ran over into 5 months of pick up shoots and with another 2 days of pick ups etc about a year. Which ultimately led to a delay in its release by 4 years, maybe forever. 

Learning my lesson, when I did my rewrite on Slasher House, I kept my main shoot down to 1 location. and shot for 13 days. (I did do 5 pick ups in my own time when people were available. Even then all these pickups took about 5 days in total. 18 days however is a lot less time than 5 months.  

There are 3 simple steps that I take when writing a script (After all of my pre production for it of course). 

STEP ONE : FINISH YOUR SCRIPT

Seems like a strange first step I know, but finishing your script even in its roughest possible form really is the best first step. Your work really doesn't begin until you've finished your first draft. I know it sounds hard, it is. The simple fact is this, once I finish a script I can see in much more clarity where it needs to be fixed. Kind of like putting a model together, when it's all just bits and pieces its hard to see how it's going to come together. But once you have a framework in place, adding bits, taking away bits and reworking pieces all together becomes much easier. 

My first draft of Legacy Of Thorn was a nigthmare to get through, I was worried that I was over explaining some things, leaving some things out all because I was too close to the story to see it clearly. So I finished it, in the roughest, most brutal way that I could. I just ploughed through, dropping every idea that felt natural and some that didn't and just made sure I got to THE END. 

STEP TWO : REWRITE YOUR SCRIPT

This to me is where you actually find your script and get it to where it's going. Where you nail down important plot points and disregard others, where you add characters, cut characters and everything in between. This is the moment you shape your film into what it will become.

On any script, once I'm done, I send it to various trusted sources and then insist that they ask me questions about points that don't make sense or are vague. Unless you are a genius, then your first draft should raise a bunch of issues that you'll want to try to fix second time round. Armed with what's wrong with your script you should be able to fix most of its major issues right here.

Always try to choose people with as much writing experience as possible at this stage to give you feedback. I haves a little group of experienced writers/filmmakers who I know won't bullshit me when it comes to feedback and I send my 2nd or 3rd draft out to them.


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STEP THREE : REWRITE YOUR SCRIPT

No, its not a typo, Once you're 'done', don't just stop. You've got some feedback, now keep going back over, trying to trim the fat, get rid of as much as you can whilst maintaining your story, add information that might make your audience less confused. Make sure the themes of your story are clear and intact. Just keep polishing it, until you simply have no time left to do so. Every film I have ever worked on, I have carried on writing right up until shooting and sometimes during the shoot, things change and you may have to adapt. 

On Legacy, the location we secured didn't have the school assembly hall mentioned in the script. However, we simply couldn't find another school that met the rest of our needs. The school did however have a set of science labs that were very cool and so, we rewrote the scene to fit with that instead. We didn't really lose anything in the end and actually got a slightly more tense scene than the original out of it, because of the tighter nature of the set.

Your screenplay should be your plan for your film and plans change and you need to be prepared for that. 

BONUS STEP : KEEP WRITING

Getting a little ahead of ourselves here, but its important. Even when you are done and cutting the film, the choices you make here will change the way that someone perceives your film. The choices of shot will completely determine how your audience feels when watching it.

In Legacy, I added a Janitor character in the background of a couple of shots, He was only marginally important in terms of the script and even when shooting. However when cutting the film, I found that he helped solidify one of the major plot points, by including him in more shots. It shifted the focus of the film from the Teenage characters we were following to focus more on the underlying evil that fits the theme of the film. 

Anyway for now focus on getting your script right, it is the foundation from which you will build your film, make sure it's sturdy. 

MJ

IF YOU FIND THIS BLOG USEFUL. PLEASE SHARE. You can keep up to date with our filming goings on at our FACEBOOK PAGE :)

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Monday 20 January 2014

THE 4 ELEMENTS OF GIVING CHARACTERS CHARACTER

READ THIS : Before we get started, Let me just say, once again, that this is my approach to writing and developing film projects. I'm not saying it the best way, just one way of doing it. In the end, you should really find your own way of doing anything, shit that works for some people doesn't work for everyone. It's all just a matter of what works for you as a filmmaker/writer/artist/juggler, whatever. However you should be able to apply any approach back to your own work to try and better the final product and with that said lets go.

I jumped over creating Characters briefly in my first writing blog HERE

Concept Sketch of Jody from Creepsville.
Jody was based on an old college friend.
In my first blog I briefly talked about how I sometimes begin by designing a character and then work from there. Which is fine when you're creating killer clowns, Giant brutish psychopaths and Demons from other dimensions. Here I draw from comic books, films, real life horror stories and many other sources and then can retrospectively create backstories for them based on the story needs or what suits that character, But when crafting real, rounded characters I have to draw from a different source all together. 

Over my 30+ years on this earth, I have lived a very strange and interesting life and as a result I have met all kinds of different people, talked with them, seen the good in them, the bad in them and shared moments of joy, sadness and boredom with them. This is the pool into which I dive when I need real people, when I need characters. 

When I started writing what would become my 1st feature Creepsville in 2008 I was a fresh graduate from University with a degree in Screenwriting that had taught me how to craft a story, but had been somewhat lacking in helping me find my own voice. Being a little nervous about it, I asked a more experienced writer friend of mine, to help me break the script. We agreed that I would write the first draft and he would tighten it up before shooting began in mid 2009.

As we broke the story I began to develop the lead character in the first draft, he suggested that I base the character on someone I knew well. I, of course, chose myself. Taking it back to him, he felt that the character was lacking something, he wasn't rounded enough. This was simply because, when it comes to ourselves, we simply can't be objective enough, We project our ideal decisons into characters rather than real ones and although it worked ok, I was lacking an objective approach to myself. 

Fisrt quick sketch of Red. Complete with outlines for her backstory.
Blurred to avoid Spoilers. 
He suggested that I chose someone else to base that character on, So I looked at the story and looked at the people I knew who would realistically fit into that scenario. I chose,  a guy who I had gone to university with, a decent guy, but a guy who was somewhat flawed at the same time. Then an amazing thing happened, The flaws of that character actually started to give the story greater grounding. My lead went from a character who finds himself in a bad situation, into a lead character who, through his own selfish actions, puts himself and the woman he loves in a bad situation. The stakes were raised and the film now had a much better character arc.

From here I realised I had a whole world of inspiration to draw from when it came to developing the people who inhabited my fictional world. It helped me find a voice specific to me, as I was drawing from my own experiences of others.


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We've all heard the idea of 'Write what you know", well my approach since then has been much more about writing "Who you know".

For every Character I add to a script I look at four elements.

1.THE GOAL
What is it that this particular character wants? What do they hope to achieve both short term (in terms of the story) and Long term (in the bigger real world). How far are they willing to go to achieve these goals? Does their want and desire define them or is it an unlying part of their personality?

2.THE SECRET
For me humans are more complex than just one setting or emotion. Real people are not just what you see on the surface for the most part and so they usually have a deeper agenda. Thats important to how and why a character does what they do. So I always ask myself what deeper agenda does each character have.

3.THE WEAKNESS
Everyone and everything has a weakness, that's what makes people 'people'. It is our vulnerability that makes us seem the most human. Good characters have a weaknesses whether they are good or bad, there has to be a chink in their armour somewhere. Weakness is usually the key to me fully understanding any character that I create. 

4.THE FLIPSIDE
No one is the same all the time, we all have aspects of our personality that sit on the outside most of the time, but even the kindest, calmest person can be angry and cruel at times in the right situation. Most rounded characters are capable of all emotions and its interesting to watch those characters whilst putting them in different situations. People change dependent on what they experience and characters in a story are the same. Looking at your characters from every perspective is important to get a full picture of them. 

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These elements are important in getting an understanidng of each character you put down on paper, even if you're not putting this information into your story, it's important that you know it, as it will help you get a feeling for each and every character you add to your script. 

As a low budget filmmaker, I constantly try and reduce the amount of characters in my script to as few as possible, this way not only do I get more time to focus in on their 'character' and backstory, but It saves time and money in production. 

There are only 5 main characters in Slasher House, but every single one of them has a large fleshed out backstory, much of which we don't see in the final film. Yet there is enough history for each character that they could each carry their own movie. In fact one of them already has in Legacy Of Thorn, you can check it out HERE

MJ

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Monday 13 January 2014

HOW TO TURN IDEAS INTO STORIES : 3 'EASY' STEPS

READ THIS : Before we get started, Let me just say, once again, that this is my approach to writing and developing film projects. I'm not saying it the best way, just one way of doing it. In the end, you should really find your own way of doing anything, shit that works for some people doesn't work for everyone. It all just a matter of what works for you as a filmmaker/writer/artist/juggler, whatever. However you should be able to apply any approach back to your own work to try and better the final product and with that said lets go.

Ideas are the easy part, Some people come up with a hundreds of ideas everyday. However those people are very lucky. If you struggle to narrow your creative flow down to any one idea then check out the Last weeks Blog Here for some ideas of how to do just that.

Yes having an idea is pretty easy, It can happen relatively naturally and be inspired by the strangest of things. Getting those ideas out and down on paper into a coherent story is another matter altogether. 

So you've come up with a concept for a film. Brillaint. However a film cannot live on concept alone and so you need to turn that idea into a script if its going  to become a movie. I started out as a writer and so I have a habit of writing a lot of the material that I Direct and Produce. I won't go into writing theory or anything, There are a thousand books out there that can help you with that, It took me 4 years at University to really get to grips with my own writing, But my approach is this.

1. SUM YOUR FILM UP


One of my favourite ways of figuring out my story is to give it a vague premise, the kind of thing that you would find on the back of DVD. If your submitting scripts to production houses this is great to get into the habit of anyways. The Blurb for Slasher House that appears on the back of the DVD is almost the same one I wrote before I started writing the film in 2005.


"When Red wakes up naked in a prison cell in an old abandoned madhouse, she has no idea how she got there or why she has been placed there. As her cell door opens she soon discovers that she is not alone. Trapped with the worlds most notorious serial killers she finds herself caught in a deadly game with no escape as one by one the other 'inmates' are released to stalk her. Red must now battle these psychotic killers and try and free herself from her incarceration but she soon realises she is being manipulated in a much deadlier game." 


I then used this to imagine how the movie would play out, Your short synopsis my change as you develop your film, but for me, I like to keep it vague enough and then run around within those parameters, as I find it keeps me on my creative toes.

Anyways, after this I hit my sketch book.


2. TIMELINE YOUR FILM

Timeline for Slasher House http://slasherhouse.com
I often draw a diagram. Usually based on the 3 Act Structure that you can read about in any good screenwriting book. I use this as a guide, not a rule as to how my film will play out. It's important to understand the typical structure of films, because understanding the rules makes it easier to break them effectively when you need to.
I Draw out a chart and then start to create events specific to the story as I imagine it. Here I tend to start with my inciting incident at the end of act 1 that leads us into the story we'll be following for the rest of the film.  

In Slasher House this incident is Red being freed from her cell with no memory and left in the seemingly empty house. Her adventure starts here.

I then head straight for my ending, This is to help me know precisely where I'm going and everything in the middle serves as a step toward getting to that point. 

In Slasher House, The End unveils the reason that Red is in the house and the truth about who she is. (If you want to know in detail you can check the film out at http://slasherhouse.com)


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Then I start add my point of no return, which is slap bang in the middle. 

In Slasher House this would be our main Antagonist (Corben) being set free, which totally changes the pace of the movie and takes it another direction, whilst utilising the elements that have already been set up. 

From here I fill in the gaps, each segment encompasses an incident that moves the story forward. Revealing information that the audience will ultimately use to understand the film in its final moments.


Here's our template that we use when breaking down a story. Each line represents a major Event in the story.  The bigger the line the more important the event should be. The large one in the middle is the Point Of No Return.  I try to add mini events in between each one if I can, character beats and things like that to help give the audience information and push the story along. Obviously script writing is much more complex than that, but this a good place to start.

This is then what I use to figure out my story. Which takes me to the next step.


3. TREAT IT TO A TREATMENT


A treatment in industry terms, is the film written down in detail, as much detail as possible without it being the script itself. A treatment comes in various lengths depending on whether you are submitting it or using it as your own guide. I have always written in terms of summing up each scene as best I can without adding dialogue (although this is perfectly acceptable). 


Segment Notes From Slasher House
My approach is to break the film down into segments, and then sum up each segment till I have a full story. I hand wrote Slasher House's segments in my sketchbook, but since then I started using a program called Celtx, which is Free to use and can be downloaded HERE. That allows me to add notes to scenes and so now I add notes to each segment in the form of summaries which is mega helpful, however if I have time I do try and write full treatments in a simple word processor before I start.

Once you have your story down, you can start to find holes and problems and iron them out before you hit the scripting stage. This can be majorly useful when you get stuck and save you hours of sitting in front of keyboard with a little flashy cursor taunting you.

I used to just jump straight to script when I was starting out and the result was dozens of unfinished films that I hadn't really though through fully. Preparation is always good in all parts of filmmaking and that should include writing.


I hope this helps you in someway in moving your project on to the next stage. Remember, this is simply the way I do things and you may have your own approach or may have read about another approach or whatever. Like I said before this is not the right way, Just a way.


MJ

IF YOU FIND THIS BLOG USEFUL. PLEASE SHARE. You can keep up to date with our filming goings on at our FACEBOOK PAGE :)


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Monday 6 January 2014

HOW TO COME UP WITH IDEAS FOR MOVIES

READ THIS : Before we go any further, Please bare in mind this is simply my approach and everyone has thier own way of going about this. This is personal to me, but as with anything in creative industries the trick comes being able to apply it back to yourself and your own approach. Also some of this may seem obvious to some of you, If so good on you, you are more advanced than step one of filmmaking. Still its always nice to have a refresher. 

I think its safe to say that if you want to make movies, you first of all have to have an idea of the movie you want to make. (This is not exclusive however, as I have seen films that have been finished and they still don't really know what they were about). That aside the key to successful film is a GOOD idea. 

Good ideas are completely subjective of course, as everyone has an opinion. What tickles someones one metaphorical film boat won't necessarily grab someone else by the scrotum of cinema, All that matters is that you believe in your idea enough to bring it to fruition.


So people often ask how I come up with ideas for films, and to be honest it has and will continue to happen in a variety of different ways. Here are some of the most common.




1. COME UP WITH SOMETHING CONVENIENT

One of the best ways to come up with ideas for movies in look at what you have available. Creepsville was born of a title, but its substance was based on stuff we knew we had access to. I often joke that If you look out the back window of my old university building from the top floor you can see every location that we used in the film. That is absolutely true.


Even whilst casting we held an open auditions and had people come down and do their own prepared thing and adapted the script for the people we liked. We worked with what we knew we had and it really limited the amount of things that could go wrong*, because we knew our locations and props etc very well before we even started.


*Loads of stuff still went wrong. 


2. COME UP WITH A CHARACTER




Sometimes I look around at characters I've designed, which is quite common as I do a fair amount of graphic design and comic book work. Every so often I look through these sketches and doodles and scribblings and find a character that grabs my attention. Usually something I've sketch from subconsuiness or boredom and I start to give them a story and then sometimes, that story becomes a movie, or at very least the idea for one.

Thorn and the feature Legacy Of Thorn came from using this approach. I had been sketching the skull faced brute for about a decade before I finally decided to try and flesh out a back story for him in 2007. Eventually I fleshed it out a bit more for Slasher House and then even more for his solo movie Legacy. The approach all came from designing a character and then telling his story.


Slasher House was born from creating Red, I knew I wanted to create a very specific kind of character that could exist in a world of Slasher Villains. I knew I wanted to do something interesting with the 'Final girl' archetype that appears in that kind of movie, after that It was coming up with a scenario to place her in. That scenario became Slasher House.


3. COME UP WITH A TITLE

This is quite common for me, I have an idea for a title, then I sit down and brainstorm what that film would be about. Creepsville started out as a title, then I sat down with another writer and came up with the story that I felt fit the title and tone that I wanted the film to have. 'Blood On Santa's Claws' was the same, an idea for a title that then left me with the difficult task of figuring out what that movie would be about.


Its not an uncommon approach and I find that this is a great approach to forcing yourself to be creative, by limiting what you allow yourself to input, to a degree it allows you to be more creative with the small amount of information that you've given yourself. This is by far my favourite foundation to start with. I also sometime give myself extra limits or things that I force myself to include to spark my creativity just that little bit more. 

My favourite title I ever came up with was a movie we have in pre production currently which was I'VE GOT BETTER THINGS TO DO TONIGHT THAN DIE (A line spoken in the Animated Transformers movie). That sent my brain crazy and within a few days I had an immensely complex plot for an extremely unique rape/revenge movie.



BONUS ROUND :
STUMBLE ACROSS THAT LUCK SYRUM FROM RED DWARF

I wanted to limit it to the 3 most common ways that I come with and begin to develop ideas. However, there is one other that I think is fair to mention.


On a clear night, when the moon is at its largest size, and the stars move into alignment with Jupiter and Uranus (lol) you may, from absolutely nowhere, come up with an idea so radical and fully formed that it will surprise even you. It will be instantly ready to go down on paper and you will for a brief moment trick yourself into the belief that you may actually be a screenwriting genius. 


Don't worry this attack of ego will only last till you begin work on your next script and realise that you somehow managed to fluke an amazing story from thin air. Its rare as a Pie at a Sumo Wrestling contest, but it does happen.


I have come across this amazing occurance only once in my life in which the film simply fell from my brain onto paper, but that is is a story for another time. Its safe to say that the first 3 approaches work great and if you get stuck, just rip off some blockbuster thats coming out next year its works for our friends at the Asylum. You can check out thier latest release 'Android Cop' at http://the asylum.cc (I'm joking btw).

Coming up with ideas is the most exciting part of filmmaking for me. It's the part when you are at your most creative, but it's also the easy part. Bringing them into fully formed stories is something else and turning them into fully fledged scripts is another all together. But we'll talk about that next time.

MJ

IF YOU FIND THIS BLOG USEFUL. PLEASE SHARE. You can keep up to date with our filming goings on at our FACEBOOK PAGE :)