WANTED: HORROR SCREENPLAY!

If you've never tried filmmaking before, I STRONGLY suggest that you not start out with something this long.

Being able to make pictures in your head (something every reader does, btw) has nothing to do with being able to put those pictures into a movie.

No problem. If you want, I can give you a list of project type things that'll help a TON if you want to move into directing.

Yeah, I'll agree with Samurai here. Try something short and with a small cast (two people one location). Don't have anything that requires extensive acting because with this being a no budget (I gather) you'll be slim on the talent and bad acting can ruin anything fast.

Jacintha,

The followng link is to an older thread where we discussed a horror short on YouTube that lasts a mere 9 minutes of screen time. And the formula is:

9 minutes of screen time = 9 pages of script length


I believe I can see just two locations in this entire film, and I also count about 10 actors, including a little girl (kids and animals can be very expensive, so avoid kids and animals if you possibly can).

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125002

Check out that movie and see if you think you could duplicate something like it on a zero budget. But instead of aspiring to 45 pages (which would be 45 minutes) shoot for 9 pages instead.

Hmm, I made a pseudo-documentary with my mates, a (very) short clay animation and was planning to shoot a short Power Rangers-style farce for a chuckle but didn't have the equipment to film outdoors (we're talking close to fifteen years ago). I was interviewed to go to London Film School but they were telling me that due to funds, I wouldn't obtain access to a camera until the THIRD YEAR(!) and would learn light and sound THEORY for a year each before that, with SOME practical work.
Their main selling point was that I could MAYBE get a job CLEANING SETS on a studio shoot or making tea in a production company.

After having made made a 50 minute documentary, an animation, learning editing at home and constantly playing around with my own camera, London Film School didn't seem to have anything to offer.
God damn it, I wanted to learn it all immediately and get out there, making my own sh*t!
Oh, I'd also done a video for a song my mate wrote and performed... nothing serious, but to go from being productive to being told I couldn't even touch a camera until the third year...

Anyway, my advice is simply this: if you don't have a clue, DO NOT advertise for writers - even as a freebie.
Get out there, shoot a few scenes, edit them together, get your sound right (relatively easy unless you want to have a professional finish, but then, sound and lighting men will always know their thing and EVERY director in the world uses them) and maybe, just maybe, once you've gotten the hang of it, come back and ask for a SHORT script... say around TWENTY MINUTES.

Being an indie director - even an amateur - requires perseverance and you'll learn a lot while you're learning - just like writing!
Good luck and sorry for the mini bio/rant, but seeing kids of nineteen playing around with state-of-the-art equipment in local colleges in this country really makes me feel gutted as to what could have been...
Or what may have never been, but I don't regret it.

I'm with PD. Good advice and a VERY solid example of a very low budget short.

Plot Device said:

Jacintha,

The followng link is to an older thread where we discussed a horror short on YouTube that lasts a mere 9 minutes of screen time. And the formula is:

9 minutes of screen time = 9 pages of script length


I believe I can see just two locations in this entire film, and I also count about 10 actors, including a little girl (kids and animals can be very expensive, so avoid kids and animals if you possibly can).

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125002

Check out that movie and see if you think you could duplicate something like it on a zero budget. But instead of aspiring to 45 pages (which would be 45 minutes) shoot for 9 pages instead.

Click to expand...

I watched the film that "Plot Device" linked to and it is by far a very exceptionally well done film. I can't even begin to describe be it, but can say that is what you need to aim for.

Almost agree. 20 minutes is a heck of a long script for someone who's never dabbled in film before. We can tell you till we turn blue how much work it is, but you'll never realize it until you go in for your first one. Nothing personal - it's just that nuts.

There are bunches of one minute short contests with themes you could get ideas from.

And fair warning - the first couple are going to suck. Everyone's first few movies suck. It's like learning any new skill, save you get the dubious pleasure of having to learn multiple things at once.

"Almost agree. 20 minutes is a heck of a long script for someone who's never dabbled in film before. We can tell you till we turn blue how much work it is, but you'll never realize it until you go in for your first one. Nothing personal - it's just that nuts."

I totally agree. I once had a friend who wanted to shoot a 45 page script in 3 days. I literally laughed in his face. It took me almost 2 months to shoot a 15 page script...

With an experienced crew, and everything prepped within an inch of it's life, (and in one location) I've pulled off 8-9 pages in a grueling 16 hour day. That's a horrible way to work.
Additional caveats: There were no trick shots, special effects, or any other time eaters that day - it was pretty straight shooting.

Had a problem recently with a friend who thought he wanted to act in films - he IS a good actor, so I cast him in a short. Started getting fussy around the fourth take 'I have to do it AGAIN?' - sigh.

On a really complicated day, you can get as little as half a page shot.