Screenwriting : What do you watch when you’re writing? by Alex Winstanley

Hey, Alex Winstanley. Hope you're having a good week so far too. Congratulations on the progress! I watch different things when I write. I watch something that's related to what I'm writing if it's for research.

Hi Alex Winstanley - the saying "There are no more new stories to tell, only new ways to tell old stories" is very much true. Most of my creations are action/sci-fi and there's usually a Star Trek, Star Wars, etc... on in the background and I have yet to find them creeping into my writing. If nothing else, it makes me think of new ways to tell what's already out there. Hope that makes sense :-)

Alex Winstanley Funny enough I avoided watching some space/deep-space-related stuff recently while writing my current feature, but then I realized what I am writing is so far off from what I normally gravitate towards as a film consumer I kind of shrugged off the avoidance plan. The historical watch stuff (hundreds of movies and series) is always going to be there trying to poke its invasive head into the mental writing room. I do think if, based on synopses, something appears superbly close to what I am writing I would likely delay the watch.

I don't watch anything when I'm writing. I already visualize it in my mind. What inspires me to write is my imagination, naturally, and music. I always play music on my IPod either from my own music collection or Spotify.

Marcel Nault Jr. Whoa, you are just talking when you're at the keyboard right? Not during an entire project? When I write I can either be in complete silence/darkness, or have the TV on, music playing, and have a troupe of mimes engaging in interpretive dance at the same time!

Like you, I watch the complete opposite eg writing a horror feature, I would watch SCI-FI when taking a break.

Nothing. I don't have the mental capacity to pay attention to writing AND watching at the same time.

Unless you mean during the course of writing a script (weeks)? In which case I watch whatever I feel like watching. ;)

PREwriting, though... if I have an idea for something and I find out there are other movies on the same topic? I'll watch ALL of them (if I can find them) as part of my research on the project. Because just as you said you don't want accidentally steal from what's already out there -- I don't want to write something that's just like stuff that's already out there and then it SEEM like I "borrowed" it...

There's a famous musician (probably multiple) who said, "We all steal from each other." With writing there's definitely one level where it's like, "This is pretty trope-y. I am now the Mayor of Trope-istan". Then there's "Oh yeah, I definitely just re-wrote the drop ship scene from 'Aliens'..."

I find it nearly impossible to write while watching a movie. If I know the movie real well, I can write while listening, but I do my best work listening to music.

i like to binge movies in a similar oeuvre when i'm writing certain genres. i wrote a high concept comedy this year, so i watched a bunch of big studio comedies and even the bad ones on streamers, just to get into the headspace. i just finished up a techno horror script so i was watching movies like Cam, Missing, Unfriended, M3gan, Tim, Host, some Cronenberg along the way. next up is a desert horror script, so gonna be throwing Hills Have Eyes, House of 1000 Corpses, etc. into the mix. i think it's a great practice and helps refresh your mindset a lot

Sometimes, a great character will be beneficial to watch while writing.

Try it with... try it without... you'll find what works for you... most likely something different on different places on your journey. Enjoy the process.

I wonder if there have been any screenwriters who didn't enjoy film?... There are some authors and playwrights who allegedly didn't find pleasure in their craft outside of their own works ("It's a job Bro..."), and Stravinsky in music (I think this is just based on a misinterpreted quote of his).

I can't multitask like that, I usually just listen to music that I absolutely love, fills me with a vibe (set up my spotify likes and leave it on shuffle everything from fly my pretties and aphex twin, neil young, stooges and pantera and down to greta van fleet, idles, nada surf, suicidal tendencies, grandson, ghost, sepultura and the band, crosby stills nash and young, to creedence, bowie, one day as a lion, devildriver and fogarty, black label society, five finger death punch, saliva, rancid and lynyrd skynyrd) btw I love aja's hills have eyes remake and rob zombie's films.

I actually read the script as research back in the drew's scriptorama days, of house of 1000 corpses enjoyed reading the script even more than the movie, strangely, I thought it was a really good script, still a good movie tho

winstanley, as in gerard winstanley?

Goonies, it has comedy, adventure and action

Mike Childress I see amateur screenwriters on social media all the time giving the line of "all the movies they make are garbage!" and they write because they believe they can do better and save Hollywood. smdh

Travis Seppala As my fraternal grandmother would have said, "Why bless their hearts..." My motivations were WAY more self-interested...I just wanted to see MORE stuff for Mike! One thing is for sure, i.e. the Savior Complex transcends professional realms...

I personally operate the other way around—I like to watch as many films as possible in the genre I'm writing about. Every 'original' idea is inspired by something else! Overall, it doesn't matter what you watch, as long as it either gets your creative juices flowing or allows your brain to switch off!

sometimes the history app on stream, you can get some cool ideas for stories.

Whenever I imagine an idea, I dive into movies and screenplays similar to mine and I wanna read how the screenwriters did it on the page; I copy/paste their screenplay pages to my document, rewrite it and make it "original." GL!

Mike Childress I talk when there's no one around... lol Specially at the University library.

I tend not to watch anything specific while I am working on a script. I do however pay attention to certain actors demeanors in films and use their performance value to guide my character's emotional development in a particular story idea. If I can see the scenes and the performances on the screen in my head and emotionally follow the arc I have given my lead throughout the story line, I feel much more comfortable with my overall creation.

Alex Winstanley A few months ago I watched some films of various genres. in one of the films, LINCON listens to the crowd, the same as in FATE OF A NATION, where Churchill pays more attention to what the crowd is saying. I went out into the street in the crowd for 30 minutes. there are three or four stories I heard. I've heard three or four stories, each of which could be used to make a feature or short film. another was in a bar, drinking a coffee and watching the crowd. more scripts. If my script is analyzed and they say it won't pass, it's because the one they analyzed isn't reaching the masses. but you have to have an idea, yes, I agree. but the crowd brings you a world of history. drama, suspense, horror, adventure and science fiction. listen to the crowd

Since I'm usually writing Fantasy in fictional worlds, I watch documentaries looking for ideas for setting, culture, flora/fauna etc... that can be adapted to my fantasy world.

hello I am a very good writer and I can write good scripts that can bag awards, it’s a promise, I just need an opportunity

Always when I have a tight deadline I watch YouTube interviews with John Truby during lunch breaks. Not because what he says but because how his heart bleeds when he says "That's not the best way to go".

I watch a lot of diverse content all the time. I try to mix up the genres and styles of content that I'm watching as much as possible between binges/ watches as I feel it keeps my awareness of story and popular content more current and well-rounded. Which inspires me in surprising ways when it comes to my own writing.

I'm the kind of person who constantly needs background noise because quiet makes me antsy and easily distracted. So when I'm relaxing on the weekends or in the evenings, I watch movies and shows that require direct attention- anything with subtitles, complicated elements or layers like high-fantasy, deep sci-fi, or heavily layered mysteries.

But when I'm working, researching, outlining, worldbuilding, etc. I can easily listen to/watch what I consider "light" content, anything traditionally structured and formatted such as sitcoms, straightforward/procedural dramas, uncomplicated crime stories, comedies, documentaries, teen drama/ coming of age stories, etc.

I also enjoy listening to audiobooks and podcasts while I'm working, researching, outlining, etc. I usually have at least one audiobook and up to three podcasts that I listen to on and off each week.

But when I sit down to actually write, not just prep my writing, I tend to listen to music. I curate specific playlists for what I'm writing that help keep the tone/momentum of what I'm working on. That way I don't get distracted and can disappear into it entirely.

Imitation is a form of flattery, not theft. By watching and reading movies or tv shows in a similar genre, you not only avoid repeating what is already out there, but you absorb how other similar movies are put together. And you will probably be inspired to create some unique scenes of your own. Compare, for example, the movie Saving Private Ryan with any episode of the old TV series Combat. Or compare " It! The Terror From Beyond Space" to "Alien." There's no shame (or liability) for being inspired by another film.

I write horror. So I tend to watch a lot of horror. I find that it gives me inspiration. I find what works and what doesn't in movies and and use that to help me in my writing. I say watch what gives you inspiration. What helps keep your ideas flowing? Watch what you enjoy.

Whatever I think can give me ideas and/or inspiration for whatever I'm writing at the moment - for example, for my latest script (a dialogue-free feature), I'm checking out the music video for the Queen song "Innuendo", incidentally, one of my favourite songs of theirs.

@Andre Russo Music is a good antidote, so you should do a good job of writing. I like that too. Thanks Russo!

I usually listen to music when I write.

Mike Childress it seems cognitively dissonant, but surely could be possible. I mean there have been times where I really don't enjoy hollywood films, and that's like half of what's out there. and I don't really like going to the cinema but that's because of my chronic anxiety. I love indie film and b-movies though. and horror - and other specfic. and the odd blockbuster, but not nearly as much because they lack the quality of the former, mostly in the writing. which is strange neh? they have all that money and they don't bother or can't get the writing to be good?

I mean going back to things like total recall, cameron's early films, unforgiven by peoples and the holy trilogy (star wars despecialised) the writing was exceptional, obv they had top tier screenwriters but so do we now - look at charlie kaufman, Graham Moore, tarrantino, david peoples is still alive I think, sorkin, goldman, I think most of the great writers who are willing to work on mainstream stuff have moved to tv. (penhall, gideon raff, chris cantwell+rogers, josh schwartz, chris carter, tim kring, liz flahive, sera gamble, Christopher Storer, Christian Spurrier, etc) that could be a good reason.

and then you have the anomale of who is a local screenwriter who doesn't also direct? I was asked that during my screenwriting degree and I couldn't come up with one, because alot of the times the industry is such that it's nigh on impossible to make it as a screenwriter unless you also direct (and produce.)

even nz directors there aren't a whole hell of a lot of them, esp. if you ignore those that have been doing it since I was a kid like Campion and Jackson and Sarkies. I think Murphy is dead but maybe not.

and the rise in indie film with people like hartley and cronenberg, lynch, linklater was a huge helmsman of that movement and von trier as well with dogme95 - pulled alot of people away from being interested in hollywood at the same time as they were heavily focused on the tried and true like following trend cycles and being ignorant of the truth behind the cycles and societal facts and that they are cycles but not that they are absolute. eg sequels in the 80s and remakes/reboots 90s and comic book adaptations and YA adapations in the 2000s and the disney takeover in the 2010s.

I wanna do what Jim Henson and George Lucas did, as producers, you know? completely ignore hollywood and make a huge blockbuster independently. Jim Henson was more indie as in outside of the system, but Lucasfilm is technically an independent company. but both of them had the safety of coming from working for that system Henson with television, and Lucas with (not sure if there was someone backing lucas in the beginning, fox maybe?) I think? and even alien had roger corman to start with, then Fox (alan ladd jr)?

I think star wars predated alien but ridley saved it from being a copy

even though lucas' vision was a huge copy of greek mythology, the western and flash gordon

and indie/auteurism is about the faith that there is such thing as a unique voice and original thought

Alex Winstanley very interesting to see what people do while they write , at first to get warmed up i just watch youtube shorts of my fav scenes lol .... then when its time to put words to paper ill just pop on like a hour long blade runner soundtrack and keep it low volume

Hi Alex, this is a very interesting question. I actually don't make specific choices about what to watch while writing, because I'm well aware that inspiration can come from literally anything and at any time. It's interesting to see that everybody has different views on this topic, though.

I am a daydreamer. Even in grade school, I would look out the window and daydream about faraway places that wowed and excited me on TV! So before I write a script or any story I think of a situation (betrayal, redemption from some wrongdoing, bad relationships,) then I daydream about the person(s), and places where I want this story to take place, and then what GENRE I'm feeling.

I don't watch TVS, I don't listen to music, I look at great art, walk the dog and read a lot. I research the subject matter, then all my work comes from an empty mind, I trust what comes.

Anything that's similar to what I'm writing! Or reality TV!

Alex, would love to hear about what you're writing! Email the Success Team (me, Jason, and Nick) at success@stage32.com and tell us about your feature. We'd love to help out and talk about your work. Cheers!