[quote=“Noir_Fiction”]
I’ve lost all faith in the modern channels screenwriters use to get anywhere. I think the best way to really show you can write is to film it. Write a short get a camera and film it. Best representation of the written word and even if you’re not a filmmaker there’ll always be someone looking to direct.
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Yeah, it’s a shitty career choice. Most studios won’t read your script if you don’t have an agent and most agents won’t hire you if you haven’t sold a script.
Filming it is only the best way to go if you can do it well. Shitty actors working with shitty directors can make a great script look pretty shitty.
[quote=“Dex”]
Shitty actors working with shitty directors can make a great script look pretty shitty.
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That’s another thing that you can only learn from doing it. Goddard said it best;
"Up to now – since shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution – most movie makers have been assuming that they know how to make movies. Just like a bad writer doesn’t ask himself if he’s really capable of writing a novel – he thinks he knows. If movie makers were building airplanes, there would be an accident every time one took off. But in the movies, these accidents are called Oscars."
basically the best way to see whether or not you can actually do the job well is to do it and look at it objectively. If you suck, then strive to get better or find a new career choice. No one wants to be in a Uwe Boll kind of position.
[quote=“Noir_Fiction”]
That’s another thing that you can only learn from doing it. Goddard said it best;
"Up to now – since shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution – most movie makers have been assuming that they know how to make movies. Just like a bad writer doesn’t ask himself if he’s really capable of writing a novel – he thinks he knows. If movie makers were building airplanes, there would be an accident every time one took off. But in the movies, these accidents are called Oscars."
basically the best way to see whether or not you can actually do the job well is to do it and look at it objectively. If you suck, then strive to get better or find a new career choice. No one wants to be in a Uwe Boll kind of position.
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Maybe, but not necessarily. Sometimes bad to one, is good to another. So you will never know until you make a movie. Tarantino said himself in one of the interviews he showed reservoir dogs script to someone, i think at the a little film type program in sun dance (not really sure), they told him it sucked. Uwe boll is a little extreme also. Look at ed wood still has a cult following and made enjoyable movies, although in his time he sucked. Citzen Kane bombed when it came out and look at it now. If you like doing it, then do it. The whole striving to get better thing is not much either. Yes you can get technically better but everyone has a nack escpecially in art forms like film. So although u may make the film look better and the script better does not mean people are going to like your style. The reason why most movies suck today is because everyone looks for the easy way out. Most people do not like making movies they are more into the money part. Another reason no one wants to be original everyone wants to copy stories, now an influence or a homage is one thing a copy is another. I personally am i huge fan of b movies most would say they suck or are unwatchable but since the good old exploitation movies have turned into shitty dv attempts at making movies, low budget world is pretty shitty right now. The reason, no one wants to put the effort in. Take for instance my friend. I had a friend who is no longer my friend. The kid never made movies had no interest in it. Did not collect movies, was not a movie buff, nothing at all. One day he sees me making a movies. He is a poser type of kid. So he decides that he is going to start making movies. They sucked so bad and were so idiotic that i think my little sister could write better. The main reason he was not doing it because he liked it nor because he was interested. He was doing it mainly for popularity.
Say whatever you want but bad filmmakers making bad films isn’t a benfit to the business. I can’t play basketball worth a damn and I love it… but I’m not going out and trying to make it as a pro because I know my skillset and my mind isn’t naturally inclined to that line of work. Filmmaking is a very in thing to persue now and a lot of people who are neither suited nor have any talent try and make it. Learning ones own limitations and being able to except them is important. And as for Ed Wood. His films were terrible then and are terrible now, he has a cult following because people tend to flock to what isn’t popular or isn’t accepted by the majority for the sole reason of standing out. I also think that he is the epitome of someone who can’t recognize their strengths. Had he been interested in Producing, he would have been a legend. He somehow got all of his terrible, terrible movies made and distributed. I think people like that, like your friend should get into producing. There’s a lot of money in that and it’s challenging and to be good at it there’s no prerequsite for talent.
I get were you going with the basketball thing but there is a very big difference. Film business is all opinions. Unlike basketball where it is concrete facts. If you suck and someone thinks that you are good you still suck. In basketball you have proof a scoring system. This is a good ball player this is not a good ball player. There is a solid way of looking at someone and judging them. Where as in film making it is an art form, which means it is all opinions no concrete actual proof that you suck. Everyone may think that you suck distributors think that your good. Everyone thinks you are good distributors think you suck who’s to say who is good and who sucks. There is no concrete rule set to being a good filmmaker or being a bad filmmaker or universal scoring system. You can not say well to be a great film it has to be “this”. That varies from person to person.
[quote=“Jjp”]
I get were you going with the basketball thing but there is a very big difference. Film business is all opinions. Unlike basketball where it is concrete facts. If you suck and someone thinks that you are good you still suck. In basketball you have proof a scoring system. This is a good ball player this is not a good ball player. There is a solid way of looking at someone and judging them. Where as in film making it is an art form, which means it is all opinions no concrete actual proof that you suck. Everyone may think that you suck distributors think that your good. Everyone thinks you are good distributors think you suck who’s to say who is good and who sucks. There is no concrete rule set to being a good filmmaker or being a bad filmmaker or universal scoring system. You can not say well to be a great film it has to be “this”. That varies from person to person.
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Yes, that’s definitely true. It also kind of makes things like award shows a moot point. Maybe I just don’t have the balls to do something I’m shite at lol wouldn’t want to either. It may also be that I’m bitter that so many people wanting to be in the business who don’t belong there are making movies. And I wouldn’t say that it’s all opinion. Yes it is, but it’s mot hard to recognize a bad movie as bad even if some like it. I mean, sure a lot of people may like say Righteous Kill even though it’s a terrible film, but that doesn’t mean it is. It means they either aren’t interested in quality work or are oblivious to what quality work is.
[quote=“Noir_Fiction”]
And I wouldn’t say that it’s all opinion. Yes it is, but it’s mot hard to recognize a bad movie as bad even if some like it. I mean, sure a lot of people may like say Righteous Kill even though it’s a terrible film, but that doesn’t mean it is. It means they either aren’t interested in quality work or are oblivious to what quality work is.
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That all depends on what makes a movie bad to you and what you consider quality work. There’s tons of movies that aren’t very well made but are still more than entertaining and there’s movies that are very well made but still suck balls. If I like a movie than it’s not bad to me and that’s all that counts in the entertainment business.
Anyway my original point was that if you’re trying to sell a script filming it isn’t the best way to go because once you’ve made the movie it’s final. I’m pretty sure none of us are at a place in our lives where we can afford to make a film that a studio would be interested in buying. But once the film has been made the script is useless. A bad film can reflect poorly on a good writer. Luckily most common movie goers tend to blame the actors or the director.
Anyway my original point was that if you’re trying to sell a script filming it isn’t the best way to go because once you’ve made the movie it’s final. I’m pretty sure none of us are at a place in our lives where we can afford to make a film that a studio would be interested in buying. But once the film has been made the script is useless. A bad film can reflect poorly on a good writer. Luckily most common movie goers tend to blame the actors or the director.
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Well, I guess that depends on what your intentions are. If you’re making movies for the sole purpose of getting it sold or distributed then yes, filming your own script may not be the best answer(also depending on the quality of the script) But if you’re making a movie because you enjoy making movies then you can’t go wrong. Selling your movie/script shouldn’t be your priority. I suppose this is naivety but I would like to live in a world where people make movies because they love the work and not the paycheque.
All this got started because JJP wanted to know how to sell the script when he’s done. I’m not saying anyone’s sole purpose for making/writing movies is to sell it, just saying that making a movie is not a good way to sell a script.
Off topic but i was curious if there is any site that you can send the script to and have an editor look over it? Also i really like to use celtx the best. I used Final draft a year or two ago and still like celtx the best do you know of anyway of transporting a celtx document into a word document or a file type in that sort?
I love celtix. Used it for a few years now to great effect. When I want a decent coverage I send my stuff to www.abbotmanagement.com they do free coverages. I also use zoetrope.com or triggerstreet.com but you get reviews from fellow screenwriters not industry people.
[quote=“Jjp”]
Off topic but i was curious if there is any site that you can send the script to and have an editor look over it? Also i really like to use celtx the best. I used Final draft a year or two ago and still like celtx the best do you know of anyway of transporting a celtx document into a word document or a file type in that sort?
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I don’t know anything about Celtx, I use Final Draft. In Final Draft you just go to file/“save-as” and you can choose a bunch of different file types to save it as.
[quote=“Noir_Fiction”]
I love celtix. Used it for a few years now to great effect. When I want a decent coverage I send my stuff to www.abbotmanagement.com they do free coverages. I also use zoetrope.com or triggerstreet.com but you get reviews from fellow screenwriters not industry people.
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How long does it usually take for abbotmanagement to get back to you?
Hard to say. I’ve gotten feedback within a week or other times after a few months. It’s based on how interested their readers are in reading what you wrote. But the good thing is that as long as your work remains online they other readers can also read it. I’ve got about two to three coverages for every script I’ve uploaded. And I forgot to say about celtix that you can save your work as PDF’s which are fastly becoming screenplay standard.
A pretty cool little podcast I found. They go fifteen minutes on a different writing topic every week. While most of the people on the show write fantasy novels the things they talk about apply to all forms of storytelling.
