LOL... had to laugh at this heading in the article ... Misspellings... is Misspelled Mispellings. Do you think the development people in Los Angeles, basically the smartest people in the film industry, will not be annoyed and continue to read your script when you have misspelled three words in the first five pages? Perhaps. How do you feel when you’re reading something and you find misspelled words? How does your attitude shift towards the author? Exactly. If you don’t think many scripts have this problem, start a screen writing competition. Read more at http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/articles/screenwriting-tips-from-a-scre...
Screenwriting : Tips from a Contest Judge... blog by Sylvia Marie Llewellyn
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Oh gosh... never thought of that... you may be correct.
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Great insights...every one probably equal important....the one that sticks out to me, though, is about table reads. Those have been very valuable to me....very valuable. If you wanna hear how bad a line sounds, you definitely will in a table read. Nice share, Sylvia. Good luck and Happy Writing!
Hi Bill, nice to hear from you... table reads are extremely valuable... that's why I would invite actors to my writer's group for the actual reading... then the actors leave and the writers give notes... I found in the past that not all writers are great readers. :-))
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Had a table read the other night for episode 2 of our new TV series "Eden's Outpost"- grand slam! 14 true believers at the end of it.
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Sylvia - thank you...nice to hear from you, too. I'm watching Sicario right now...sixth time in the last four weeks. It's such a brilliant film...beautifully shot....and the script....it's literally 30% no dialogue....maybe higher....what a great film to study for writers who write that type of action/thriller drama. I don't...but I greatly admire the work outputs of this film. And the film itself, of course...as a patron. And yes....table readings with real actors is fricking a great experience for a writer. Buena suerte y feliz escritura, Sylvia!
@Al... that's so very cool. As Aaron Sorkin said... 'if you get it right, you feel like you can fly"... congrats.
@Bill... is Sicario on Netflix? Y Muchas gracias... :-))
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Thanks Sylvia! Some validation never hurts. Like the article said, we think the jokes are going to work, but, until we hear people actually respond to them (and to other emotional triggers) there's always that little seed of doubt. I feel that now, after both he pilot and episode two had favorable responses that we can talk about our project with confidence to potential producers.
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Thank you Sylvia, great info. Think I like the table reads as well. My writing partner and I tried it during our 1st script...we filmed the read as well ( with ourselves & friends as actors) .....WOW, what an eye opener! It worked for sure, I think we completely re-wrote a scene, cut another, and it gave us valuable insight to the character's dialogue just as stated in the article. And though it was tough to watch/listen, it was also pretty entertaining. Def do again.
@ Herb....That's fantastic... I audio recorded mine... great to have that either way to listen/watch later.... there seems to always be those cringe moments... LOL Real actors are the best, if you can get them.
Aaron Sorkin talked about writing 'A Few Good Men'... stage play came first... at a certain scene... they always got a laugh when it was in the theater... and never in the movie which came later... same scene, same dialogue... but no laughs... he thought the camera angle had something to do with it. Probably right.
Sylvia....I'm not sure about Sicario being on Netflix...I don't subscribe. Speaking of Writing God Aaron Sorkin....did you know that he winged the pitch for West Wing? He was riffing off of the knowledge he gained when he wrote An American President and "what if'ed" a TV show pitch on the spot. Talk about one thing leading to another thing.
No I didn't know that... I do know that he wrote the first 4 seasons and but not 5, 6, 7. Nor has he even seen them. An American President was originally set with Robert Redford... then they got Michael Douglas when Redford stepped out. Great movie.