HOW TO WRITE SHORT FILM SCRIPT

I had written a many great script, but  when started producing and directing my own short film,  that time I thought about production costs. I had scenes in a bus, inside a mall, even at a central jail, city main road , and you can’t just show up and shoot. Locations involve rentals, permits, security... And then there is the issue of feeding everybody, not to mention art direction, set design, hair & make-up  lighting/electrical, camera, sound, transportation, film & lab, post production, legal & accounting, insurance, and sometimes even an animal wrangler: damn frog!

 

When writing a smart short film you must write an inexpensive one: limit your locations, and write in ones you know you can get for free(how to get it free check out my previous article SO how to make quality short film be made for little or even no money http://bushkatkar.blogspot.in/2013_01_20_archive.html ), limit your characters, but write a complex character driven script – no aerial shots, no exploding cars – so great actors will deliver your best work. When you write with production costs in mind, you’re saving yourself thousands of hours and Rupees on the back end. And please, leave the frogs out of it. They're divas anyway

Writing a short script is a fantastic introduction to screen-writing and a great way to get your name out there. Yet keep in mind, the short script format is just as challenging, maybe even a little more so, than a feature.

Ideally, all the elements of a feature need to be present in a short.  The beloved three-act structure, even in a five-minute film, is a vital component to your script.  A feature allows you 90-115 pages to build your conflict, characters, climax and resolution but a short script only gives you 10 to 15 pages or, well, a short time to do all that. But when you do incorporate them, it shows the world you understand story structure at its heart, and that you are writing to engage and entertain.

Some may find the short format overwhelming at first. How can I write a ten-page script and have it make sense?  Start with a simple story line, a few characters; establish what dialogue and what specific visuals need to be in your script for it to make sense. It isn’t easy. Just keep practising  Make it shorter, make it longer and then make it even shorter than before.

Experiment with it – change the scenes around. Take out all of the dialogue and look at your chosen scenes.  Are these scenes showing the story you want to tell? Read them out loud and ask a few people to listen or they can read them out loud while you listen.  What visuals are coming through the strongest?

KEEP IT SHORT - You increase your chances to  get accepted in festivals. (Think as festival programmer: take 3 short films each 10 minutes long or rather 1 short film screening for 30 minutes?)

If you apply the rule of thumb, 1 page equals 1 minute, try to keep your script around 10 to 12 pages or less.

Less is more, of course, but you still have to have a story, the way a character looks or gestures make up for extraneous dialogue? It doesn't matter what your short story is about, you need a conflict. Without conflict there's no story. Imagine telling somebody you went to buy ice cream. Imagine you tell your friend

SHOW, DON'T TELL Imagine watching this: A woman says to a man she lives in a poor hut without running water. VS We see that woman in her run down poor hut, struggling to carry water up the hill. Film is visual. Stay away from telling your story in dialogue if you can show it in pictures instead.

Watch as many award-winning short films as you can with a critical eye to see what it was that made them award winning. Some may break all of the rules, (and we ha…love them for it), some might be dialogue heavy because it suits the story and the characters, some might be more visual and less conversational, and then there are lucky ones that combine both

TRY TO AVOID HEAVY DRAMA Especially if you are a short movie beginner. It's much easier to get a laugh or a cheap scare out of your audience than to make them feel deeply moved. Most feature movies don't manage it and they had 90 minutes to introduce us to the characters and make us feel about them.

Talk to other writers – some are more gregarious with their advice and time than others.  Maybe one of them will let you shadow their process or if you ask nicely, they might even give you some feedback.

So happy short script writing