Hey everyone! I wanted to make sure you saw that we have a new webinar coming up next week that's all about how to write a great short film.
If you've written a short film before, you know it can be deceptively hard with how much you need to accomplish in just a few pages, but nailing it can open doors in a really big way.
Leading the webinar will be award-winning filmmaker Clay Liford, who's had shorts play at Sundance and many other festivals and has a really interesting and unique approach to short film writing that has helped a lot of fellow writers craft better shorts of their own.
I hope you join us! You can sign up here (and you can still purchase it a the Early Bird price!) https://www.stage32.com/webinars/How-To-Write-A-Short-Film-That-Gets-You...
Anyone here have tips on writing short films? Or have challenges you're currently facing?
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I've written several short films. Two of them has been awarded this year at Rome Short Film Festival. One was a finalist the other one a honourable mention. My advice is to start early on with action or conflict. You don't have the time for long introductions or establishing your characters.
I live in the land of shorts. I produce 'em, teach writing 'em, direct 'em and teach DSLR filmmaking. I do it all for free in the hopes of inspiring a few young 'uns to evaluate their future careers. I see you charge money for this.
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Avoid dialogue when you can, keep your scene descriptions to 3 lines, get to the point straight away, make each characters actions believable (set them up) or they look silly.
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Currently in pre-production for my first ever film shoot and it is a short film!
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best way to learn is by making a thing. mental stamina and physical labor. And you never know who shows up. The last short movie I worked on, Oscar winner James Ivory showed up to help. 85 years old and he's still passionate bout filmmaking.
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I love this! So worth it! So much great advice from the professionals.
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None of the shorts I ever wrote were particularly good. Most went nowhere, even when optioned, and out of the handful that were made, most were terribly executed and barely followed the script. None of them ever brought any attention on me.
Still the best boot-camp I ever had as a writer. Forced me to focus on storytelling, taught me a great deal about logistics, and gave me a load of experience collaborating with directors. On top of that, they helped me find my voice and confirm that there was an audience out there who valued it. Plus, they gave me a load of motivating little wins and I've found industry members really admire people who've come up from that world.
Just know that what makes an award winning film and profit making film can often be very different and the festival world can be like the upside down when compared with the indie film making world.
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Yes, I'm grinding down a sequence of Act I excerpts from a feature script of mine, with an eye to creating a micro-budget short,
currently about 20 pages and I'll be working through different versions to clarify the pace, character focus, a real challenge in implying antagonist and opposition without burning too much page time so early.
I'm already enjoying this creative challenge in my writing and punch-up practice this week while I also go back to building Act II of a new feature-length project in a different genre.
I love how various projects can create momentum to nurture each other forward. Happy Friday!
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This is all such great advice and perspective! Christina Patjens , that's so true and I wish more people followed that advice. So important! Same with your points, @Dan. There's no time to waste when you only have a few pages.
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CJ - that's why I haven't sent any scripts. I live in the world of the shots.
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A short script won't have as much structure as a feature script, but a short script needs structure. A short script also needs to feel like a complete story.
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I've written a few short screenplays ranging from 7 pages to 20 pages and hoping one if not all of them get produced.
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Ok