#Screenplay Ideas

[anarchic-miscellany]

Terrible Screenplay Ideas: "Clean Getaway"

Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster need a vacation: so where better than New York?! For Shawn, it's a chance to re-enact Beastie Boys videos, and for Gus, more importantly, it's a chance to visit the esteemed Soap Museum in Brooklyn! Jules is on board, but insistent that she be Ad-Rock. Both Shawn and Gus are okay with this (even though Shawn wanted to be Ad-Rock)...

There, they meet fellow tourist Adrian Monk and his lovely assistant Natalie: here to help her daughter Julie on her thesis and extra credit at school, having twisted Mr Monk's arm in order to have him come along and help them here. He actually rather likes it: but has a few problems with the displays not being parallel.

Gus and Trudy trade knowledge of their soaps, and he gets on swimmingly with Monk (who despises the loud and slovenly Spencer), whilst Natalie and Jules also get along swimmingly, and Julie finds Jules cool.

Things take a turn South, however, when the curator turns up horribly murdered! He is another victim of the Brooklyn Butcher, sliced and torn to ribbons, a horrifying case! So, resigned to having to work on a murder investigation, Shawn and Gus and Jules get to work, but also have to work with Monk.

Only not so fast! On the scene are Detectives Jake Peralta and Charles Boyle, delighted to be working a serial killer case and surrounded by lavender respectively. Jake and Shawn bond over their love of all things weird, and he has to take them all to the station for questioning.

MEANWHILE

Amy Santiago is looking into getting a new place for her, Jake and the baby here in New York, but has not been having much luck. She meets a pair of absolute sweethearts at an organic sandwich shop by the names of Joel and Sheila Hammond: "real-tors" who are here to meet a client (Joel is carrying a peace lilly, at Sheila's behest. He is terribly allergic but must make a good impression) and they very quickly chat and get along, she's a sweetheart after all!

Amy comes to the station to do her job and tell Jake, on her day off, about the great times she had. But what is this?! A development in the case of the killer slashing apart innocent people and sometimes devouring the remains?!

Captain Holt has his hands tied: the latest victims were from Chicago, and thus this is a joint investigation. Randy Disher and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer are coming over to liase with their departments. Monk should just go home, but he needs to solve this. Shawn is here to have a good time and solve the case (and beat that smartass Jake Peralta, who's not even Ad-Rock, he's not even "Skee-Lo"! To which Gus responds only HE can be Skee-Lo, and Shawn tells him he's way too cool to be Skee-Lo, and Gus fist-bumps, he is correct there! Not that Skee-Lo isn't cool) and Gus just wants to get to the theatre on time, because he has tickets to "Hamilton" and he can't miss it even though the show is 3 days away. Natalie and Julie are interested if he has them going spare. Detective Carlton Lassiter, upon finding out that Spencer is going to bungle a serial killer investigation, takes his banked 400 days of leave to go to help. ESEPECIALLY when he discovers that the greatest cop he ever worked with (Captain Leland Stottlemeyer) is there on the job, and he gets furious when Shawn and Gus refer to him as a "weird looking House on the Prairie Bloodhound". Unfortunately for Lassie, he gets saddled with Lieutenant Disher, who is eager and keen, but oh so daft... Joel and Sheila, meanwhile, fall into a panic: they are trying to keep some human flesh for Sheila, but the cooler broke (fucking NEW YORK!) and they need some flesh fast. PLUS cops just turned up at the house of their client, who was slashed to pieces, and Sheila left their card there! ("Well excuse me for promoting our business!" "Nobody hates you for that honey, it's empowering and effective, I'm just a little stressed that the cops may figure it's a clue." "Do you think I murdered him, Joel?" "Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm... No?" "Good answer honey!") Plus Ms Santiago is very perky and eager, and a police officer, they'll have to keep their cool...

[ash-eats-film]

Considering writing a screenplay about an OC that’s been manifesting in my brain the last few months. Something short, only a few pages, specifically about his origins.

He’s a priest who was forcefully turned into a vampire, constantly contemplating killing himself because he’s now so at odds with himself and his morality and religion and what he must now do to survive.

But of course, his religion teaches him that suicide is the worst sin, and over time he slowly loses his faith and feels God has turned His back on him, though he continues to preach and convinces his congregation the best time of worship is in the darkness because ✨they are the light✨.

He also has a whole moment where he finds joy in the kill and ridding the world of what he considers sinners, also discovering himself and fighting his repressed sexuality forming a relationship with a member of his congregation only to ultimately kill him for his sins.

He also feeds off the unfortunates unlucky enough to wander into the church in the later hours of the evening, those that no one would blink an eye at if they disappeared.

AND even though he loses his faith overtime, he chooses to stay in the church as they become a form of protection and take pity on him when finding out who he is, the cardinals moving him from church to church across the country over centuries in order to keep his secret hidden. He’s moved whenever people start digging too deeply into his past or someone discovers what he is.

I totally haven’t thought about this way too much lmao. His name is Father Elias btw.

But yeah idk I think that sounds fun to write and it’s been a minute since I made an attempt at a screenplay so why tf not.

[valtsv]

Please write your inception screenplay and will that the film be produced either after the abolition of intellectual property or whenever inception in particular becomes free game

o7 yes my liege

[parasocial-paradox]

Rebrand Trailer Screenplay Pitch

Throwing my proverbial prophecy-hat into the ring here in the buildup to the imminent rebrand! Considering how much fun they had with the first one, it seems pretty likely that we might get a trailer similar to the absolute cinema that was the gaming channel's revival announcement. With that in mind, i had my own stupid ideas for what this might look like, so i put a little screenplay together. Here’s what i’m squinking:

Something something. Parasocial subversion of expectations-themed "wedding", plus the wedding itself looking like it was plonked on top of the funeral set to represent parting with the past and embracing something new. There's symbolism here I swear

[gorgynei]

im testing out nonstandard layouts for haywood. much to think about. much to think about. !

[ronniaugust]

How to Write on Final Draft (without it feeling so daunting)

It's incredibly difficult to open up a Final Draft document without feeling like you're literally writing your final draft, so here's a few features you can use your advantage!

1. Turn on dark mode

Dark mode makes it look like less of a script and more of an outline. Edit and rewrite in light mode, you will feel the difference.

2. Use speed view

Speed view gets rid of pages and page numbers and therefore you are only looking at the words you type.

3. Use focus mode

Focus mode removes the scenes, page numbers, and outlines you have at the top on the program while writing. Another way to forget about focusing on progress.

4. Make a messy beat board

Throw all your ideas onto the beat board, it should help make the document feel a bit more lived-in and less pristine.

Bonus:

5. Set a template with your formatting and use that to start every script you write

While a script format is very ridged, there are things you can do to personalize it. When you find those things, make them in a Final Draft doc (without actual writing) and save as your own template so you don't have to change all the elements every time.

[munamarvel14]

If you were to watch this show, what would you expect from it? Tell me the first words or phrases or anything that come to mind

🌌Juno Wade, a teenage girl from space and the masked hero Supernova, navigates high school, heroics and the unravelling secrets of her past in the retro-futuristic metropolis of Sentinel City🌌

[bizlybebo]

loving cinematography is horrible i see every frame of pd so beautifully and it’s not even real . it has never been a gorgeous live action or animated show. this is my curse

[righteousimperator]

i really want to make a mockumentary sitcom-style fic about copia and the ghouls after the events of RHRN. kind of like WWDITS but also with elements of the office. what are we thinking

[chroniclesofatboy]

my writing process: day 1

had an insanely strong burst of motivation to write, and so I opened a google doc and got some words in. new script just dropped! formatted the document, then created the bare bones for a script and its prequel. the prequel does not exist, but is a thought which has been lingering in my mind for months (if not more!!). excerpt below :)

currently working on: scene by scene outline. word count: 750.

[thecursedcake]

Something I wanna draw but don't have the time to:

[Screenplay, title: "The Lighthouse cultist strike again."]

[Scene, setting: library]

[Melonie enters stage]

Melonie: "Hey Da-"

Librarian!Sozo: [turns around from bookshelf, very confused.]

Melonie: [slightly distressed] "you're not my dad."

Librarian!Shamura: [enters from off stage] "Sozo I need-"

Melonie: [Now very distressed, Librarian Shamura is rather intimidating.] "YOU'RE NOT MY PARENT!"

She and Librarian Sozo then proceed to read The Lambs fanfics together until My Lamb comes to get her.

Fucking lighthouse cultist and their interdimensional travel.

Based on the AU by @eliza-forget because I love it and their Sozura dynamic.

[anarchic-miscellany]

Terrible Screenplay Ideas: "Vexing: A Benoit Blanc Mystery" Debonair detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) finds himself in Salem on a "Witch Tour". He and his fellow tourists shall experience the dark, spooky corners of the most haunted city in America under their guide "Virginia" (Ayo Edibiri) - a college student just trying to make money during the dry months. But Benoit doesn't believe in all of that hokum mumbo jumbo: he's here to try and find a particular cafe where, many years ago, he enjoyed a rather delectible hoagie. One tourist (James Marsden) gets everybody's backs up: he's rude, arrogant, vulgar, interrupts a lot, and (to Blanc's horror) seems to know more about this place and the trivia than him at every turn. So when he turns up dead, seemingly of a heart attack, it is no great loss and Benoit can go and find his sandwich. But he cannot let this be, something nags at him, and he must solve the case. Not only is his suspect list the entirety of the tour, but many of them believe this murder to be that of a long deceased witch, not least of all the Detective on scene (Jeffrey Combs) And his suspects include: Horror maestro Simeon Kincaid (Brad Dourif), hoping that inspiration will strike him here after his last book received mixed reviews. He is accompanied by his daughter Kitty (Fiona Dourif), an academic and scholar on a leave of absence after an embarrassing meltdown went viral... Goth trio, occult fanatics and theatre kids Kyle (Skyler Gisondo) and Belladonna (Molly Gordon) and Belladonna's new girlfriend Mavis (Kathryn Newton), who relish the spooky and occult, have dressed up and everything. Kyle is horrified that it's the ghost of a witch whose grave he disturbed, whilst Belladonna is convinced the result of a curse they placed on the man in a moment of anger, and Mavis is thrilled to claim that the deceased is now talking to her... Widow, social butterfly, lady of town and definite woman of culture and the arts Charity Le Mort (Christine Baranski) - who has rather taken a liking to Mr Blanc and finds herself stricken not just with he, but the city too... Retired Salem Police Detective Wolfgang Pecker (John Goodman), who is also on this tour to enjoy the culinary delights and expand his palette - he and Blanc get along swimmingly, although this murder puts a damper on things but his brain is still razor sharp! Zeke Underwood (Sterling K Brown) - a scorned tour guide (infiltrating as a customer in a terrible disguise) whose route was usurped by Virginia after a few too many bad calls, and now a loud contrarian and thorn in her side. Killing a man to haunt her tour is EXACTLY the sort of thing he would do... Can Blanc solve the murder, or is his skepticism blinding him to powers beyond this mortal coil?

[pengtheplush]

If Brûz took part in Mordor’s conquest of Minas Ithil, I imagine him to be the type to flirt with captives. This is my take on that hypothetical scene. Critics are welcome to point out ways to improve, so with that said, enjoy!

[Scene: Dusk descends upon a ruined Gondorian outpost. The heady scent of blood hangs thick in the air. The camera pans over the aftermath of a recent skirmish, battered bodies strewn about like discarded toy soldiers. The orcs who still draw breath—the victors—limp or lounge amongst the black and crimson-painted rubble, tending to themselves and their newly acquired possessions. At the heart of the carnage stands BRÛZ THE CHOPPER —hulking, smug, and gloriously bloodstained.]

[Enter TERRA, a Gondorian scout: clothes caked in dirt and dried leaves, disheveled but none too worse for wear. She strides in with as much dignity as the two Uruks corralling her on either side allow. She’d just been captured before the battle but isn’t acting much like a prisoner.]

BRÛZ (grinning wide as he turns to her): “Well now, look wot we’ve got ‘ere! A little mouse sniffin’ round my grounds. You lost, luv?”

[The keeper on her right lets out a gravely cackle while the other on her left grips her shoulder like a vice. Terra ignores them both in favor of observing the towering figure before her, the first Olog she’s ever seen up-close.]

TERRA (raising an eyebrow; his ‘grounds’ belonged to her kinsmen not 2 hours ago): "Depends. Is this the part where you bash my skull in, or the part where you make some crass joke about my ‘brittle tark bones’ first?"

BRÛZ (chuckling deeply): “Heh! Got bite, this one. I like that. Most tarks either squeal or faint when they see ol’ Brûz. But you? You look like you’re almost enjoyin’ the view.”

TERRA (eyeing him up and down, reluctantly amused): "You're not entirely unpleasant to look at, that is if one's into massive, mace-wielding murder machines."

BRÛZ (stepping closer, voice dropping to a sly rumble): “Careful now, you keep talkin’ sweet like that, and I might think you’re flirtin’. Which’d be very dangerous for a… slight lass like yourself.”

TERRA (tilting her head curiously, trying not to smile): "Is that so? I thought orcs didn’t have much use for… charm."

BRÛZ (grinning wider, revealing a pair of sharp, white canines): “Oh, we mostly don’t. But I’m a rare breed. I chop heads off by dusk, woo trespassin’ bewdies till dawn. Balance, innit?”

[He circles her slowly, casually, as if it wasn’t the blood of her kin he was treading over. Terra doesn’t flinch. Instead, she watches him, equal parts wary and intrigued.]

TERRA (playfully sarcastic): "You are surprisingly well-spoken for someone who got intentionally mauled by a caragor just to try and win a drinking contest."

[Brûz’s stride halts for a moment, surprised yet refusing to let it show. So, the little mouse knew a thing or two. It would seem his moves to cut off Minas Ithil from the rest of Gondor hadn’t truly gone unnoticed, nothing their pitiful defense would have lead him to believe. Despite the offense, he had to give her some credit. He couldn’t be too mad since he does love an audience after all.]

BRÛZ (chuckling again, but with a darker undertone that makes Terra shiver —almost imperceptible beneath his gaze): “Won that contest, thank you very much. And I’ve got the marks to prove it.”

[Beat. There’s a long pause as they lock eyes, a strange kind of tension fills the space between them, like a primed bow string. Terra finally breaks it.]

TERRA (exhales sharply, feeling heat beginning to rise in her cheeks): “This is ridiculous. I should be planning my escape. Or stabbing you. But instead, I’m just… standing here, wondering what you'd be like if you weren't an enemy."

BRÛZ (leaning in close, his breath hot against Terra’s upturned face): “Oh, don’t let a lil' thing like war get in the way, darlin’. I always say: ‘Chop first, chat later.’ But for you? I could... rearrange the order.”

[Brûz graces her with a disarmingly lazy smirk, and for a moment, Terra is visibly blushing —which she immediately curses herself for.]

TERRA (turning away with a huff): "This is insane! You're unbelievable."

[Brûz waves his hand to signal she be taken to what are to be his new quarters for the foreseeable future.]

BRÛZ (calling after her as she’s escorted away): “Sure, but you like that, don’t ya?”

[The camera lingers on Terra’s flushed face as she’s escorted away. Her flustered expression hardens… but there’s a definite, undeniable grin tugging at her lips’ ends. Although this battle has died, it would seem something else stirs within the ashes…]

[Fade to black.]

[tvboxi]

*wait's and silently hopes someone asks me about my tsbs au*

sun sketches under cut because they're not as great T^T

[unopenablebox]

you guys are too good for the west wing now???

[ronniaugust]

How To Write Good Dialogue (Part 1)

I'm gonna start this by saying I'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all. I am just tired of posts like these being absolutely fucking useless. I am aware this is basically me screaming into a void and I’m more than okay with that.

This guide is meant for intermediate screenwriters, but beginners are also absolutely welcome. :)

(about me)

-♠︎-♠︎-♠︎-♠︎-

I've noticed a rise in film students who want to make films that have no dialogue. Probably after your professor showed you Doodlebug, right? Fuck that.

I'll make another post about writing a short film, but all you need to know is: Don't waste the audience’s time. Most of these no-dialogue shorts have very little substance and take way too long to tell the shortest possible story. Not a good idea.

Useless Dialogue

Plain and simple, don't write useless dialogue. Useless dialogue is dialogue that just doesn't fucking matter. Dialogue matters by having ✨subtext.✨

What is subtext? Subtext is the meaning behind the action. That's it.

If I tell you that I love you and I got big doe eyes while I say it, it means I love you. If I tell you I love you through a clenched jaw without looking at you, I don't necessarily love you right now.

Simple, right? Great.

Now think about the subtext behind every line. Does your character mean what they're saying? Are they doing it to get what they want? What is going through their mind as they say it? As long as you know your character, you’ll have these answers ready to go. If you don’t, you’ll figure it out eventually. Just keep writing.

When you write your character walking into a Starbucks and saying, "One venti iced coffee," does that do something? Why do I need to see someone's boring Starbucks order? Do I need to know that your character's boring? Why are you writing a boring character? [Of course, in the rare situation where this is some revealing clue to the massive crime investigation, then it makes sense.]

Useless dialogue is any dialogue that has no meaning or purpose in your script. Delete and move on. You don't need to write entire conversations or scenes that bore us, just write what we care about.

I took a class once where my professor called a version of this "trimming the fat." Get us into your scene and out of your scene in as little time as it takes to have it achieve its full purpose in the script.

[P.S. You don’t “inject” subtext into your lines. Idk who started that vernacular in subtext teachings but I hate it.]

Show vs. Tell

I remember a glorious fight I got into with a Redditor last year about show vs. tell… TL;DR: Dialogue is “show” if you write it with intention and subtext. If someone says that dialogue is inherently “tell,” they’re wrong and can go fuck themselves.

Dialogue that is “tell” is expositional dialogue. But, hot take: Exposition isn't just in dialogue. It’s also those annoying clichés that make you roll your eyes in the theater (which we just call clichés and not exposition). I’m sure every professor I’ve had will disagree with this and then get me into a long conversation about it, but let’s ignore that for right now.

Have you ever seen a movie where a character rubs an old, worn-out photo of a young girl while looking depressed? That's exposition. That character has a dead daughter. No shit.

Clichés are incredibly annoying. We all know that. Assume that any cliché you see - in this context - is exposition and try your best not to write it. (Tropes are different and sometimes necessary, so I’m not talking about that.)

Point blank: When you have subtext in your lines, they are "show,” not “tell.”

Before moving on, I'll bring up that while technically the dead daughter photo is subtextual, it is as close to the character saying “My daughter is dead,” as you can get. Don't treat the audience like we're fucking stupid.

The First 15

If you don’t know what the Inciting Incident is, please look up “3 Act Structure” before reading this.

The first 15 pages of your script is the part that comes before the Inciting Incident. This is the part you want to get right because, although people probably won’t leave the theater, they will absolutely find something else on the streaming service they’re using. The people making said movie will also just toss your script in the trash before it’s even produced, so it's best to get it right.

Dialogue in the first 15 generally follows the same rules, but carries a heftier additional rule. All dialogue in the first 15 minutes must, must, must tell us something about your character.

Remember when I talked about that boring Starbucks order? Why is your character boring? Don’t write that. Don’t write nice characters. Or pleasant characters. Or friendly characters. No one cares.

You want empathy. This does not mean “relatable.” It means “empathetic.” There is a difference.

I personally relate to Vi in Arcane, but I empathize with Theo in Children of Men. Both are excellent, but one personally resonates a bit more with me. You cannot write a character that deeply resonates with every single person, it is impossible.

With each line of dialogue, you must be saying something about your character that generates the empathy. Instead of telling you how to do this, I’ll direct you to a movie that will do better than an explanation: Casablanca.

Watch how Rick interacts with the world. What kind of man is Rick? Watch what he does, what he says, and how he treats people and himself. Watch that empty glass on the table. Watch his contradictions. Everything. Those things matter and it’s what makes you want to watch Rick for the entire duration of Casablanca.

“Realism”

This is maybe more directorial, but make your characters human enough, not too human.

Too human is when you’ve tried your best to capture all those little life-like speech patterns. You know, the ones that no one fucking cares about.

If your character coughs, they’re sick. If they clear they’re throat, they’re uncomfortable. If a bruise isn’t going away, they’re going to die. Simple.

Every moment on screen matters. Everything the audience sees is meant to lead them to a conclusion. Not the conclusion, just a conclusion.

The realism you want is in the choices your character makes, not how many times they say “Uh,” in a sentence.

Conclusion

Dialogue matters and should not be treated lightly or without care. Once you have this all engrained in your mind, dialogue should become effortless.

If you want an excellent way to think about this, Robert McKee's Story has an excellent chapter that helped clarify this all for me. Here's an excerpt and the context.

Warning, spoilers for Chinatown.

"If I were Gittes at this moment, what would I do?"

Letting your imagination roam, the answer comes:

"Rehearse. I always rehearse in my head before taking on life's big confrontations."

Now work deeper into Gittes's emotions and psyche:

Hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel, thoughts racing: "She killed him, then used me. She lied to me, came on to me. Man, I fell for her. My guts are in a knot, but I'll be cool. I'll stroll to the door, step in and accuse her. She lies. I send for the cops. She plays innocent, a few tears. But I stay ice cold, show her Mulwray's glasses, then lay out how she did it, step by step, as if I was there. She con-fesses. I turn her over to Escobar; I'm off the hook."

EXT. BUNGALOW-SANTA MONICA

Gittes' car speeds into the driveway.

You continue working from inside Gittes' pov, thinking:

"I'll be cool, I'll be cool ..." Suddenly, with the sight of her house, an image of Evelyn flashes in your imagination. A rush of anger. A gap cracks open between your cool resolve and your fury.

The Buick SCREECHES to a halt. Gittes jumps out.

"To hell with her!"

Gittes SLAMS the car door and bolts up the steps.

Story by Robert McKee, pg 156

The context of this page is McKee's way of explaining how to write characters. I found it very helpful.

-♠︎-♠︎-♠︎-♠︎-

Thanks for reading! I probably forgot something, so I made this a “part 1.”

I hope this helps someone since I’m really tired of finding short films on YouTube that are all fucking silent. The few who have done it well have been copied to death, so please write some dialogue. I promise you it’s so much better if you do.

Asks are open! :)