Dr. Vergerus

Posts: n/a

Spreading erroneous screenwriting myths



http://www.screenplay.com/t-mferris-...%40inbox.co m



Here's the part that prompted me to start this thread:



Quote: MISTAKE #1: They use camera directions.



Let me simultaneously grab my megaphone, bullhorn, soapbox, and bully pulpit, and trumpet this announcement once and forever:



MODERN SPEC SCRIPTS SHOULD NEVER CONTAIN CAMERA DIRECTIONS.



(And by this, I mean both explicit camera directions and implicit camera directions: Using "IMAGES OF" or "WE SEE" is every bit a camera direction as "CAMERA TRACKS.")



To use them is a cardinal sin, especially in this age. Like the use of "beats," scripts used to have more camera directions. But with the rise of The Director, they have been eliminated from the words on the page. Essentially, it pisses off a director when you tell him how to shoot the movie, and it confuses actors because they don't care about camera directions.



Yes, I know: You've read William Goldman's screenplays. Even the ones written today, and he uses 'em. You've read David Koepp's, and darn it if there weren't a crap-ton of camera dictates in his scripts.



Well, allow me to kill the suspense: because they are William Goldman and David Koepp, they can do whatever they damn well please. .



The fact is, those guys are established, and what goes for them does not go for you. They can write whatever they darn well please and get away with it (Exhibit A: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL? Sigh.)



I'd prefer Write Brothers would put more effort into fixing the bugs in Screenwriter 6 or releasing version 7 (which they recently said will be out in 2014) instead of propagating wrong ideas about what aspiring screenwriters can and can't do on their specs.



From an amateur to other amateurs: Don't listen to this nonsense. Use WE SEE and PULL BACK TO REVEAL as you see fit. Sometimes a camera direction is the best and most economical way to communicate your ideas.



(This applies to most screenwriting don'ts you may have heard of.) Today I received an email from Write Brothers (the company that makes Movie Magic Screenwriter and Dramatica). As a customer (although I think non-customers can subscribe too), they send me articles about the basics of screenwriting from time to time. This one is titled: "TOP 5 Mistakes Aspiring Screenwriters Make" by Michael Ferris. You can read it here:Here's the part that prompted me to start this thread:Not only have we had dozens of professional screenwriters tell us otherwise in this forum and in other places (blogs, podcasts), but anybody who reads screenplays (and I don't read that many) knows this is utter bullsh*t (and by "screenplays" I don't mean just scripts by established pros but also Nicholl finalists and first sales by unknown writers).I'd prefer Write Brothers would put more effort into fixing the bugs in Screenwriter 6 or releasing version 7 (which they recently said will be out in 2014) instead of propagating wrong ideas about what aspiring screenwriters can and can't do on their specs.From an amateur to other amateurs: Don't listen to this nonsense. Use WE SEE and PULL BACK TO REVEAL as you see fit. Sometimes a camera direction is the best and most economical way to communicate your ideas.(This applies to most screenwriting don'ts you may have heard of.)