Screenwriting : Screenwriting Tip by Maurice Vaughan

I agree and disagree. Movies cost money. Sure it is not a smart career decision breaking in by writing a thing with a large cast, top shelf Vfx, exotic locations. These spec scripts we write are basically writing samples - auditions. So write whatever that will make your voice and storytelling jump off the pages - if you want a career/occupation.

Do not write with a budget in mind. You tell a story! Your story!

Thanks for commenting, everyone. I'm not saying be restricted by budget when writing a script. Keeping a budget in mind will help you avoid including characters and things that are expensive or unnecessary.

That's a neat way to film an airport scene, Michael LaVoie.

I mentor new writers and let them know that there's a fine line between creative writing and writing a budgetary nightmare. The more specific a writer is on props, scenery, costumes and even people in the script, the more a movie will cost to make. The more a movie costs to make, the less likely it is to get made.

I had one of my mentor-ees describe what the hero was wearing down to the socks. I asked one question. Did the color of the characters socks have any bearing on the plot?They said no. And I informed them that designing and creating a costume that looked exactly as described would cost a fortune. And that was just one character. When we went over a couple of more, the scenery (locations), and props the cost was already in the tens of millions. And that didn't include the salary of the actors, cast, crew and special effects. That's when reality sunk in.

After that the script was re-written to take out all specific items, unless absolutely necessary to the plot. And the estimated cost of making the film came down to 1/10th the price. The rewrite would be much more attractive to someone in the industry who's looking for a script.

Hey Maurice Vaughan! Thanks for sharing. I agree that you should be able to tell a story efficiently (ie if 2 teens suffice then why narratively use 4?). I think many writers - especially in early drafts - tend to write in too many characters thinking that each one serves its own unique purpose. And then they come to realize that they can collapse or eliminate characters in later drafts. Which ultimately impacts the budget.

But on the other hand, if one wants to write the big car chase scene, explosions, war/battle scenes, Titanic-hitting-the-iceberg (has that movie been done yet?), then just know you're going to limit your pool of potential buyers. So be sure you're good with that.

Thanks for sharing, Anthony Moore. Coming down to 1/10th is a big difference.

I do that, Jason Mirch ("I think many writers - especially in early drafts - tend to write in too many characters thinking that each one serves its own unique purpose. And then they come to realize that they can collapse or eliminate characters in later drafts. Which ultimately impacts the budget.").

Keeping reality & budget restraints in mind helps determine the script's marketability. A lower budget script is an easier sale than a high budget script.

This is where experience counts as a screenwriter. My first few screenplays were written "budget-be-damned." I took them out to LA for a face-to-face pitch conference, and universally heard "Oh. You wrote a James Bond villain". My latest screenplay is focused on telling a cool sci-fi story within a tight budget with simple special effects and a small, but lively cast. Your post is a great reminder of the need to consider budget when writing for movies.

This is a great post. I always say make a short film if you want to know about film making. VFX etc are the obvious expenses. That can also be done cheap in camera, which is surprising.

Things like getting a person wet is expensive. Throwing a drink in someone’s face. That costs money. You have to dry their hair, change wardrobe (depending on the colour of the clothes), fix make up, dry the areas that got wet and refill the glass to the exact level (for continuity) for ever take. Time is money.

Every location costs money. Public spaces need permits (unless you can dodge rules and be smart). Each location will need assessment for insurance, a house is different to an abandon factory. Plus transport and storage.

There are a 100 things that impact budget. Which month you shoot in effects things like available light, you are better off INT.

Craig, a person getting wet in a film is more complicated than I thought.

Time disappears (taking money with it). We were doing a short in a forest near my home for a bit of fun. There is one character handcuffed and another one holding a gun to his head making demands.

We were doing a master shot (long lens) so the camera wasn’t obvious. Some hikers spotted the scene from a distance an ran off. We had to go find them and explain what was happening before the police appeared. That held us up for a while. It was a fun shoot, so not much money involved. But if Time was Money on that production. Hikers stumbling in, would cost cash.

This thread is one of my favorite things that I've read in a long time. Also, Jason, I'm so sorry: what is this iceberg-thing you're talking about? What's a "Titanic"? (juuuuuuust kidding, Teenage Me had that movie memorized front.to back.) (I probably still do).

I'm still learning so my question is this: what decides the budget of a film? The script or how the director wants to shoot it? My story focuses on the emotional journey of my protagonist. Any scene details that I do put in writing are important to that journey. The rest is open to creative interpretation. Or is that not good either?

Annelies Morlion A producer looking at it will see a rough estimate based on the scope of the action sequences, effects, locations etc. The actual budget when it comes to shooting will depend on if you get a director with clout or a big actor, but that's way later down the road. Unless you're specifically writing for a shoot, just try make it as compelling and clear as possible. The specifics always end up changing anyway.

Hi, Annelies. Things that impact budget are cast, character count, director, type of locations, CG, stunts, props, etc. The director's vision for a movie might increase the budget.

Genre also plays a part in a movie's budget - for instance, realistic dramas and Spaghetti Westerns are going to be inexpensive and fairly loose on the wallet, while sci-fi movies and horror/fantasy works are going to need a few dollars more.

Yeah so there has to be a fascinating or practical reason for each of them in the first place, like maybe serving a butterfly effect or a realistic team/gang/family role. I check with my gut and trust my feelings too when it comes to considering the budget. If the perfect cast or music has the ability to arouse large groups of target audiences that justify their value, I just go for it.

I'm to the point now where I am alternating so I can work through all my concepts,

I developed one early this year that is reasonable budget range,

the one before that is a budget-buster, the one I'm working on now is a budget-buster, the next one I'll do another low-budget piece I already have a concept for,

so by middle of next year my portfolio will consist of two or three pitchable lower-budget feature scripts, as well as several fun higher-budget stories that can be good reads and serve as writing samples for projects of greater scope and

demonstrate that I'm capable of writing to a contained budget but also well into developing innovative ambitious concepts that focus on mammoth entertainment value.

Mostly I am making sure I give myself room to not get stifled creatively, and the budget-busters are things I can expand and write as more novels to be self-published

mostly for the creative satisfaction and to continue improving my craft, I'm ten years in to screenwriting and very grateful and passionate to develop further.

Stefano Pavone, I saw what you did there! When you're talking about budgets for spaghetti westerns you can lowball but there's definitely going to be a need for at least a fistful of dollars.