Screenwriting : Does a visual aid impact? by Mark Thorpe

This is really cool, thanks for the tip!

A visual aid does impact, Mark Thorpe. I make script posters with Canva. Script posters, cover images, etc. attract producers, directors, etc. like movie posters attract audiences.

A visual helps define the aesthetic for the work. The online AI tools are great for folks like me who aren't graphic artists but have a clear idea of what the work might look like. Still, I want to have someone who is a graphic artist rework what I have. I've seen what someone with that talent can do to transform a visual more than once.

Cheers for the responses, folks. As an addition, it can also go to demonstrating one's attention to detail and project dedication.

Nice work with this! I think a visual aid like this would be great in a pitch deck but not as a cover of the actual script.

Wow, that’s really cool! Thanks for sharing your AI use!

It’s an interesting conversation. I just saw a script that was interlaced with artwork to enhance the read. The pilot script for GENIUS: PICASSO had photos of several of Picasso’s paintings interspersed for effect. I think it’s cool and may become more the norm but I think it should be used surgically so it doesn’t pull away from the script. I do think it can be effective on a cover page for sure.

The sub-title is too small to read without squinting. Not sure the picture matches the title. Natural Selection is a Darwinian term, the methodology of evolution that weeds out the weak/less adaptable ... I think you can do better with either changing the title (A Voice No One Hears? The Tree Whisperer?) or cover picture. My first thought was, oh this is a serial killer in the woods. Then I read the fine print and thought, it's a do-gooder climate change warning. Or maybe the person is going to marry a tree? Save a forest? But the picture is interesting.

Do you mean a cover image on the cover of a script, Mark Thorpe? I thought cover image was another name for a script poster. I've seen some scripts with cover images, but not a lot. I agree with Nick Waters.

I like changing the title font on my title pages to match the genre of the script.

Cheers Jenean. If that was the actual size of the book, I'd be worried, but in life size, the sub-title reads fine. The aim of the protagonist in the film is to weed out certain elements of society, not necessarily the weak. Just those he sees as committing crimes against the natural world. In that sense, I believe it to be a good fit. The script has recently been read by a Hollywood based entity, who responded very well, given that I'm not a trained writer and this is my first project.

Ahhh, I see. So, he is a "sorta" a killer in the woods. (Please, don't hurt Bambi!) I assume these are human miscreants. Well, good. It's time someone did something instead of forming a committee and having meetings while things get worse. (Don't ya' just hate that?) Good luck with the script.

Posters on screenplays don’t add much. Since is it so early on in the project’s development any artwork tends to be a bit nondescript. What will impress an executive most will be the content.

Cheers for that, Ewan. If it serves nothing more than to set the tone, then it's not too much of a step to take as a precursor to the pitch deck.

nobody is stopping you from making script poster covers. Do what you gotta do for reads. At this stage of the game, two goals are Reads & recommendations by Peers. Not "spec" posters; this stuff is cart before horse thinking.

Dan, you can sit at the stop light in a beat-up old Mini or a nice, shiny Ferrari. Irrespective of the engine under the hood, it's all about appearances. Maybe a closed-minded way of thinking fails to recognize that?

Another writer friend also uses MidJourney to create art for her pitch decks. I'll be subscribing soon.