[MacDV] Re: Writing a script for DV

[Ross Jones]

>Learning the format of feature screenwriting takes about 10 minutes. 
>You need to set a total of 3 primary, and one optional tab stop. 
>That's it. Which words to USE are the problem.

Read Joseph Cambell's book The Hero With A Thousand Faces to 
understand what stories are lasting and powerful.

>  I have written produced screenplays way back when on Atari 
>FirstWord, People write them longhand and hire typists. How you 
>write the script and what program used is always irrelevant next to 
>intent and determination. The day you fail is the day you give up. 
>Passion is everything to the neophyte, and sometimes, it's enough.

Some of the greatest fun at the LAFCPUG.org meetings is kids showing 
their stop action GI Joe videos.  We all wish we had the access and 
talent to produce such epics when we were young.


>As an independent, especially the first time filmmaker, the problem 
>is in understanding the nature of film storytelling, and most 
>importantly, avoiding the pitfalls of producing your "personal, 
>important" film first. High art and commerce rarely mix for a first 
>time filmmaker, lest that "first time" filmmaker be a product of 
>USC, the AFI, NYU, or some other institution which has both 
>instructed the craft and provided necessary contacts, not to mention 
>many short films in-between.

I also think too many scripts call for complicated scenes that are 
beyond the resources of young filmmakers.  Keep It Simple is 
important to a quality finished project.  Look at old films & Perry 
Mason and use their locations.


>We are in a scary new era. The tools to dazzle are all of a sudden 
>available to the masses. Talent and tenacity are the variables, and 
>hurdles over which only a few can soar. Knowing where the 
>independent fits in this mix is critical, as indie budgets are so 
>microscopic. The independent must be the filmmaker and the marketer 
>- delivering the same sort of things a major does to the 
>standardized methods of distribution. You must dot the "i's" and 
>cross the "t's" on every detail or your film may languish unwatched, 
>as many, many do...

You mean those talent release contracts have to be signed?  Shucks, I 
thought my driving to Sundance with a few VHS dubs would get my foot 
in the door.

That's why I'm still in education,

Ross