Screenwriting : What is the required level of detail of world description in a spec script? by Ingo Haumann

Hey, Ingo Haumann. Sorry to hear you got ill for nearly two years. Welcome back.

"If it is not relevant for the story, but it is relevant for the image on screen, is it my task to come up with that and write it?" If it's relevant for the image on screen, it should be relevant for the story.

"Same goes for buildings and clothes, for example. How far do I need to go with thinking about these things and describing them?" You want to paint a picture with your action lines so the reader can visualize your script, but you don't wanna put unnecessary things in the action lines. Focus on the important details/relevant things in your action lines.

You could read Sci-Fi scripts and see what the writers included in their action lines: https://screencraft.org/blog/131-sci-fi-scripts-that-screenwriters-can-d...

May I suggest reading a few scripts of produced films in the same genre with what you would take to be the same level of world building required as in your own script?

@maurice, relevancy is my problem, I think. For my story it's not relevant how other people go from place to place or how they dress. But it feels strange to not mention any form of transportation. So, I'm leaving out a lot in my action lines already, which got me wondering.

But I'll take your and @Eric's advise and look at more examples, see how others went about it. Solid advice, which might be exactly what I needed to hear.

Cheers, guys!

Ok, Ingo Haumann. Yeah, you could leave those two things out of your script and if a few readers mention that it's a problem, you could add an action line or two about how your characters go from place to place and dress.

Hi Ingo Haumann - I highly recommend this Stage 32 webinar on world-building in screenplays. Brian is a great resource and educator. Here's a link so you can check it out: https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944942547251

You need to figure out your writing style on your own; you can take whatever webinar or advice but ultimately, your brain has to click and write with confidence.

Start reading stacks of scripts; like 200 scripts by end of year. Download The Black List's best unproduced specs for the past 5-6 years; majority are rookie writers. They figured it out. GL

Thanks for the tip, Sam. I run Linux exclusively and last time I checked, the proprietary software that Stage32 uses does not support Linux.

I do have my own style, Dan, but not yet for screenplays; they are more technical, so to speak. I need to find the line between necessity and too much, since action blocks should not be too verbose. I'll check that list you mention; sounds like a good source as well. Thank you.

Ingo Haumann these specs we write are writing samples, auditions for employers looking for cheap new writers to hire. That's the spec game. And yes sometimes employers buy spec scripts.

hello! write in general terms the most important thing in the descriptions. drama and conflict are important for a screenwriter, other people will come up with the entourage.

Dear Ingo, I am an astronomer. So please write something which scientists like me find realistic.

When it come to the amount of detail. The director and producer presumably want to add some of their ideas, so I suggest that you tell as few details as possible. If you write too many details, these people will feel that there is nothing fun for them to add.

And the world you create is not the important part. The important part is what is going on inside the main character. So you only need to describe those details which are important for the main characters feelings.

Спасибо, Алексей. I love that notion of entourage.

And Göran, I think you may have put it clear for me: leave stuff for others to add. I don't have to think of everything, just enough to get the story across, the character's journey. And I can use my world as a frame to tell the story in, so the story make sense there.

Thank you, all!

The world is really important. Describing the world will help the reader visualize the story, and parts of the world could be crucial to scenes and the overall story (Examples: "Star Wars," "Infested," "Jurassic Park," "Anaconda," "Mad Max," "Predator").

Hi Ingo, what Maurice says, and I think the world partly dictates what the characters in it do, how they act, not the other way around. It all has to be functional to the story. But in brought strokes. To get a feel for those strokes in your genre, for instance read The Handmaid's Tale, Neon Flux, and Equilibrium. That's my two cents. Groetjes, Rutger

Sometimes small details can give a world a sense of tangibility but its also easy to get carried away. Think about shows and movies where you've been impressed by the world building and see if you can find the script online to see how they did it. I'd recommend screenplayed.com

Dankje, Rutger and thanks, Ewan.

Small details can make a difference, indeed, and intriguing details can trigger the mind to think up the visuals that go with it: how is it used, the person holding the item, what material would make sense, etc.

And that is what I should trigger with my writing: the desire to fill in those details and show the story.

As much detail as is needed for tone and action. But remember less is more. People create images in their mind, you just need to give them building blocks. Here is the description out of 12 Monkeys.

Then, as he "recovers" from his very vivid dream, WE GET OUR FIRST LOOK AT HIS ENVIRONMENT...A WINDOWLESS UNDERGROUND WORLD OF ETERNAL NIGHT SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE...AN ALMOST COLORLESS "REALITY" OF BLURRED EDGES AND ECHOEY SOUNDS, MUCH MORE "DREAMLIKE" THAN HIS DREAM.

I got interested and looked up the supposed screenplay of THE FIFTH ELEMENT. That film literally takes place on Earth and a cruise ship, and yet the screenplay has plenty of world building description. It's necessary to give the audience the image of Earth hundreds of years in the future.

Yes, I happened to pick The Fifth Element as one of the first to study too and was surprised about how the aliens in the first scene, the Mondoshawan, get no physical description apart from that they're wearing armor. Now that I'm actively looking for how far to take things, I'm actually getting a better sense for it.

I'll re-read some more to hone that sense, and I think I'll get the hang of it.

Thank you all.

The important context here is your role within what is a highly collaborative effort, and looking at scripts written by high-profile writer-directors is doing yourself a disservice.

As a spec script writer, the chances of you having any significant influence over anything but story are low, and to be frank, thinking otherwise will almost certainly lead to disappointment.

On top of that, sci-fi suffers badly with writers who want to show off that they've done their homework. I once was asked to read a script that went into tedious detail, even going as far as to specify things like the dimensions of solar panels on space stations. It was painful.

Screenplays are to stories what haikus are to poetry - they are lean by definition and their creative beauty a result of it.

If you are struggling to find the right balance, start with the timings. A two minute scene should be about two pages. If it's coming out as more like three pages, trim. That will give you an idea of how much canvas you have to paint within.

Ultimately though, your voice is your voice. Write your early drafts fearlessly. It's just words and digital words at that. The absolute worst thing you can do, and sadly most writers end up doing it, is writing with constant questions in your head over if others will approve of it.

Thanks for the warnings, CJ.

(The rest of my reply was not posted because I put in an emoji, it seems.)

I said, I'd use the scene duration tip as a yard stick for when I think I'm going overboard, so thanks for that.