A reader's imagination is a powerful thing. A good filmmaker is aware of how their brain is distorting a script and tries to incorporate that imagination into the film.
A bad diredctor and or cast can take a good script and turn it into garbage as well as the reverse, a good director & cast turning a trash script into something good.
Most people can’t write because most people are not self critical. A good writer recognizes their own terrible writing and cut it. Bad writers think everything they touch is gold.
Exactly. Bad writers (like me) start with an idea and polish it. Good writers take that as a starting point. Getting that white heat that Kitchen talks about is the most difficult thing in the world. He's inspired me to take my best work and step it up a few levels.
1 minute in. What difference pro's from non pro's? Takes 10 minutes to come up with this answer: Pro's know what they are doing. They have a sharp and trained eye. Wanted to close, but your comment keeps me watching
"You've got to be able to hold a lot of contradictory ideas in your mind without going nuts. I feel like to do my job right, when I walk out onstage I've got to feel like it's the most important thing in the world. Also I've got to feel like, well, it's only rock and roll. Somehow you've got to believe both of those things." Bruce Springsteen
Sounds a little like, "Feel the fear and do it anyway". Too much fear will paralyse the creative mind, but in order to do anything memorable it has to born out of a deep love and dedication.
Remember, every movie is made three times. First when it’s written. Second, when it’s produced. And third when it’s edited. It has to survive all three processes.
there are good films that are made with an average script. Dazed and Confused for example barely had a script -- and much of what Matthew M. did was improvised.
That's not a difficult thing to comprehend. 1% of scripts are readable. Maybe less than 10% actually get made. And perhaps of that tiny figure, only 1% manage to turn those films into good films. There are many amazing scripts that became average or poor films. The script is just one of many variables.
The key is to persevere with the craft that is just simply "Telling your story" whatever that is. The are rules and then there are always exceptions to that rule. Learn the basics of what genre you love and then speak the passion through your writing. "We all think in pictures not words"... Only you can know the context of the power words can have specifically to you. Its your story so tell it and believe in it :) Some really great points in this video. Keep writing and dreaming big for your passion of the writing.
This ignores how large of a role nepotism plays in the film industry. Lots of screenplays get read and seen because of the writer's connections. Chess doesn't have nepotism so it's a false equivalency.
It's all bull. Some people have talent. Others think they can teach it. Others again think they can learn it. In fact,art can't be learned. You got it or don't.
The one thing I like about this guys advice even though it's a bit all over the place is he didn't go down the route of saying "find out what sells and write that" he didn't go for the "learn how to write what the industry wants, cheesy romance and adventure flicks always sell". I like that it seems like he has integrity. He still writes to sell but he doesn't seem willing to compromise his integrity to do so.
I do think what he says is valid. But I also recall that Pulp Fiction was considered unfilmable. And for years Hollywood generally looked down on superhero movies; they didn't believe The Avengers would succeed. It's not an excuse for lazy writing, but these examples should not be overlooked.
First of all, saying something is unreadable is purely a matter of a opinion. I think it’s incredibly arrogant to say that. I’m going to say something rather controversial, but I don’t have respect for most writing teachers. If these people were truly successful in the areas they’re talking about, they wouldn’t have to make a living teaching. Of course, this goes for teachers in almost any field.
Depends on your definition of 'successful'. ; if you're just referring to being famous and rich, which in this industry like the music industry is generally the commonly accepted benchmark for success, then this would be the cause of your comment that they would not have to teach to make a living IF they were successful. The problem with this statement is that there just isn't enough room for everyone who writes scripts or songs to be 'successful' enough to make a living (financially) from. There are thousands and thousands of highly professional artists who've honed their craft and have 20 years experience in the industry that need to have a sideline business/job to pay the bills. Teaching isn't the bottom of the barrel for an artist either, and to suggest they HAAVe to do it is kind of insulting as it's an extremely rewarding career, full of enriching possibilities and this attitude also denies the fact that a lot of people love sharing their craft and seeing others do well in it. Teaching is one of the last things someone would do for money if they had no inclination for it. I can tell you that from first hand experience. We all know how much is suxks to try and learn from someone whose heart just isn't in the teaching process. So, I would ask you to rethink your statement and beliefs there pls.
@@lilledrum I have of all people understand that financial success isn’t a measure of talent or ability, but many teachers claim that if you follow their advice, you’ll be successful, which is rarely the case. Someone could be very talented, but that doesn’t mean they have any business giving advice to others. In my experience, most teachers are uncreative, set in their ways, and lack imagination. They spew whatever is the currently accepted dogma in their fields. I’m not criticizing all teachers, of course, but most of them match the description that I described.
@@batman5224 Great, but you're still equating success with money, which is what I'm trying to point out is the problem. Maybe I'm not explaining myself clearly. ( Have I got that point wrong?) What I mean is that to be a successful writer also means that you do a damn good job at it; you write compelling plots, your characters are believable and the timeline makes sense etc etc etc , even if no one ever makes your script into a movie which becomes well known and you become rich and famous. I think talent and ability definitely go towards your success, not as much as hard work and networking and being able to work with directors though. I know plenty of brilliant musicians that will never become famous for writing film scores simply because they have no collaboration skills which are vital for working with a director. Are you saying though that these teachers are telling their students that they will become financially successful scriptwriters by following their advice? That's very shady and completely manipulative ( plenty of other expletives come to mind as well ). I agree that these people are the weeds in the garden.
@@lilledrum I’m saying that the quality of a writer’s work can’t be objectively measured, while financial success can be measured objectively. Part of a teacher’s job is to make sure that their students succeed in their profession, and if they can’t do that, they’re not doing their job right. When it comes to subjective criticism, a writer can certainly tell other people what has worked for them, but they should never act like their opinion is law, which the guy in the video most certainly did. By saying that a script is unreadable, he is basically saying that the script will never be accepted by the industry, but he doesn’t have the experience to say that. He can say that he doesn’t like it, but not that it’s entirely unreadable.
Exactly. If this guy is right,there would be only excellent movies.The contrary is the case. So the really good scripts are forgotten somewhere and never get made into movies. Sad.
I can’t tell if film courage made this channel because they’re just genuinely passionate and want to pick brains, or if it’s like this small group of people who couldn’t break into the industry so they found a way to attempt to be a part of it by interviewing low to mid-level tier artists. I find the channel interesting, and I can tell from the comments that probly 90% of the people watching their vids are pretty clueless about how to approach the industry, whether in front of or behind the camera, so they have definitely found their audience. And then there is the 10% who actually work in the industry that just like watching for kicks. Some of it is informative but a lot of these guys make money by doing workshops etc. and you have to be careful of that. Myself, I’ve been acting full time for a while now. And I suppose with some down time I could offer ‘workshops’ but that would be ridiculous. But that’s what a lot of these guys do, they’re basically salesmen. If there’s one piece of advice I would give anyone trying to do anything in entertainment, it’s this: There are no rules. Do it your way.
Roger you make some great points...The “workshop” People remind me of the people that make all their money teaching people how to make money. You Definitely have to watch out for scammers. My brother Used to say that those who don’t know how to do something well enough become critics of the people who do. Like movie critics who couldn’t make it as actors. Sometimes They also become paid instructors.
This guy talks like one of those artists that sketches his paintings and your like "what the F is that" until he turns it upside down and your like..."oh, its Bob Marley".
1:35 That says a lot right there! I believe there are no geniuses in filmmaking... only grit, willpower, and the desire to improve your skills. Certainly, there's some level of raw talent, but the rest you build it as you go. And whether you make or not (and when you do it), really depends on many factors, some of which are totally out of your control. Btw, this guy is great!!
Hopefully' bullets over Broadway is wrong. I'm a newbie and, as I write, I'm causiosly optimistic. (60-40 ratio) that writing is a Craft not a talent, unlike acting at least for me. Writing is more democratic I believe because it doesn't matter what you look like or sound like. And you don't have to write in real time. You always get to select your best ' take'.
Sturgeon's law (or Sturgeon's revelation) is an adage that states that "ninety percent of everything is crap." The adage was coined by Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author and critic. He meaning EVERYTHING on Earth. For something as hard and technical as screenwriting, 99.9 percent suck is conservative.
I usually enjoy these videos but this one wanders and doesn't make clear, actionable points.... it's so boring and incoherent. I haven't seen a worse interview on this channel.
Summary: Regularly challenge yourself to generate ideas and return to ones that might be interesting. Combine them with other ideas. Be bold with your concept and message (not derivative, not conforming, not weak), but use craft to make it work for the audience as a story (not be a mess). The writing can elevate the depth and impact of the idea, and safe writing can ruin a wild/exciting premise. In short, consider the intention of what you’re writing and the best way to write for that intention. Writers need awareness of their own writing in order to fix things that don’t work, and finding the most exciting ways to advance the plot. His example of Being John Malkovich makes his point quite clearly. An unusual premise, that could have been a boring and safe movie, but makes bold choices in execution, character and the ending. It wasn’t just the premise that made it great, but equally, it also had a great idea to be begin with. Kaufman even said the screenplay came from combining two ideas he was working on, one about a man who loved someone other than his wife, and one about the portal into someone else’s head. I think the answer in the writing process is to continually challenge and “destroy” the ideas you’ve written, knowing that most of what you write isn’t the best idea you can have. For example, brainstorming everything that could happen in the ending, rather than writing one ending you think of, and then polishing it and calling it finished.
The moving parts in a story are quite complex. Subjectivity comes in play, so many times you can make a great movie with an average or a bad script because it’s improvisation and execution is upto the people making it. To create authentic art one has to be truthful with themselves and to be aware of being entertaining while being truthful. The most popular and loved films are truthful and a reflection of the world at that time in a direct or indirect way.
I enjoy how he talks about the craft of storytelling as "bringing a hard structure to something messy and organic." I always like to refer to it as "trying to catch fog in a jar." It's completely possible to do, but requires some ingenuity and mechanical know-how in order to condense the fog in a way that it can be collected and stored.
Just like a great screenplay on its first draft, Jeff has wonderful things to say, but those things need to be mulled over in the brain once or twice to concretely solidify the concept of it.
Thank you for submitting your screenplay for consideration. Unfortunately, your application has not been successful this time but we wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Please send an A4 sized envelope with postage stamp affixed if you wish to have your screenplay returned. Yours faithfully, from random movie executive's 14 year old on 2 week work placement.
She asked him a very important question and he wanted to provide a very precise answer, not leaving anything to interpretation. The clearer the answer, the more helpful it would be for the listeners. His book btw, is very useful and insightful.
It’s so fricken difficult to make any movie,much less a great one. All the parts must line up in great fashion,which includes the public. What makes a great film is not as crystal clear as some want to believe,yet at the same time,all great movies have common denominators every time,without failure
A beautiful script to study is The Crying Game. It is a perfectly written masterpiece of screen writing. 6 Academy Award noms, including a win for screenwriting.
I learned very early that I couldn’t translate my thoughts into writing. Because I can’t figure out how to make someone feel the passion in my words when they’re just words on a page. Everything in my mind sounds better when I’m telling it vocally.
That's because you don't get semantics right: knowing the true measuring of a term is key to pin it into another persons mind. It's usually poetry and tautologies the resources that can catch emotional attention without being too obvious.
In summary, raw talent does not equal quality writing. The raw talent can have great ideas but conveying that idea in words is where the professional and the non-pros/untrained diverge
I read James Altucher Idea Machine and been writing 10 ideas a day for years. I've published 6 books under two pseudonyms with about 100K copies sold and sold two screenplays. Writing ideas every day let's you really keep that creative piece of you going. I think I've written or used maybe a total of 30 of my ideas and have been doing 10 ideas a day (maybe minus 30 days altogether) since Fall of 2018.
If %99 of screenplays submitted are unreadable and of what does get made only a small percent is well received what does that say about this industry of storytelling?
"non professionals don't have the ability to critique their material at a professional level". NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!! that's why they're not professionals!!!
I don't believe a movie needs to tell a story as its most basic requirement. A story is basically any narrative with a beginning, a middle and an end. So, a story is structure. In my view the basic requirement for a movie is to offer the viewer an emotional experience. And then, because feature films run for between 90 mins and two hours on average, one needs a series of acts - a dramatic structure - as a vehicle to effectively deliver the emotional experience.
Also important to note is that they refer to the US.tradition of movie writing. The world is bigger than the States. Check out weirdo French movies from the 60s or some dark hopeless shit from Eastern Germany from the 70s. The range of storytelling is endless. I hate that "I tell you how to....." attitude here.
It’s hard to watch, sure, fore various reasons. But stick with it til the end. The attention/ intention analogy is the juice bits😇 (deliberate practice)
Want to hear a true story? way back in 2004 i wrote a stage play, i had never been to the theatre before, ever, i had never seen the text of a play before or even knew how they were written or formatted, i just wrote how i 'felt' it should be. I sent the play off to a top London theatre, this theatre receives about 12,000 spec scripts a year. About 3 months after i had sent it i got a phone call out of the blue to say that they were going to produce it, which they did and it won 1 award. So there, right out of the box and straight into a top London theatre and won awards with absolutely no guidance from anyone, a rank amateur who had never written a single word before.
99%, where have I heard that before? Another book? You've got to be kidding. Screenwriting for the amateur is like that movie National Treasure. Another clue, another clue. Keep buying books, keep paying for script consultancy (which i never will) I've read enough books on writing. It's a cottage industry. I did enjoy William Goldman's book Adventures in the Screen Trade. And many others but no more. Enough is a bloody nuff.
So, how should a script be written so that your script doesn't fall in to the shit category? Does it need to be written in a short fiction format, or is adapting your story into a boring he says, she says script the problem?
INT. DARK INTERVIEW ROOM - mid afternoon/golden hour/sunrise... (😐) JEFF was despondent about the state of screenwriting in 2021 JEFF KITCHEN Prodigies, those people dont exist, you hear about them, but its not true A LONELY ARTIST emerges from under a mossy rock LONELY ARTIST Hmm. Guess they left this stone unturned. .... lonely artist returns to underside of rock, turns into a starfish and befriends a yellow sponge named Bob. "Are you ready kids!"
as an upstart screenwriter, i tell you getting coverage or feedback from other professional screenwriters granted they don't try to steal your idea is invaluable. I'm working on a feature since the last April and every 25 - 30 pages i would get some feedback. it helps to get an outside perspective which allows their perspective to help you get a better grasp on your writing. now I'm finally writing my last few lines and actions before doing a good proofread and print off and binding .. never give up, whether or not you get your scripts on-screen you still accomplished something great.
In art school, we were taught to copyright it. As though it goes without saying, and regardless of the fee, regardless that major changes made later need to be copyrighted again using the long form, regardless of the fact that no one can copyright an idea. Just always copyright it. I bought a couple of websites with phrases that one of my characters, an ad exec, uses in a bizarre ad campaign. I could sell them now for low four figures. (Who would have thought? So funny.) Hope this helps! But maybe you knew, as in, everyone knows. (The websites are funny, though. That occurred to me on my own.) Happy New Year! Best of lu. . . break a leg. :)
Take every piece of advice with a pinch of salt. Use it as caution but otherwise its not law and everything is circumstantial so do what you love and don't listen to anything that will discourage you from getting that script finished
I don't agree with the fact that professional writers can eyeball their material at a critque level. I get a lot of script submissions and some of those are written by WGA writers. Guess what? Some of them are pure garbage and some of them need a lot of work. Even screenplay gods like John August or Aaron Sorkin's work gets rejected. Professional writers though, know their clients very well and they have a good understanding of what that specific director/producer/studio/production company wants from them. But anytime they write a spec to get it produced, their quality of work is not very different from other people who are not even in the industry. But I do agree with the fact that 99% of screenplays are unreadable. Because at the end of the day, almost all writers are delusional about their work.
This is so much bullshit.......off the charts ......look at TV......look at movies........where are these great great stories?..........They all boil down to episodes of the Brady Bunch anyway!
I was kind of pushed into writing a feature film screenplay by and for an Oscar winning director. A friend and I wrote a book, Freezing People is (Not) Easy, about his days as a pioneer in the cryonics movement. He froze people in the 60's and early 70's, but had to do some crazy, and some unethical things to keep his frozen patients frozen, and failed in the end. It's an insanely good story. It got a lot of exposure before it was published because the NPR show This American Life did a feature, which went out to 500 stations. Errol Morris and Steve Zaillian too kit to Mandate pictures, which picked up the option. Zaillian purchased the option From Mandate and fired Errol, wanting to direct it first. Zaillian sat on it for ten years. After my friend passed away I took over the project. I ended up selling the option to Errol Morris. Errol had already paid one screenwriter to pen the screenplay when he was with Zaillian. After Errol got the option he hired another writer because he hated the first screenplay. It turns out he hated the second screenplay too. I wrote an alternative beginning and rewrote one of the critical scenes in the hope of convincing Errol that we can fix the screenplay and move forward. Instead he asked me to write it. I told him that I'm not a screenwriter, and that I'm not pretending to be one, but he insisted. What Jeff says about most screenplays being unreadable, I can attest to. I've been involved with this story, in one form or another for twenty years now. I had fooled myself into believing that I could do a good job. Well... I found out. I started with well over 220 pages. I had written some good scenes, but that's not enough. Over the next ten months I did everything I could to learn the craft while I wrote. I'm down to 112 pages after haven written at least 300. I had help with identifying Most of the BS that could be pulled out, along with some of which I thought was pretty cool. I got an experienced screenwriter to look at it, and he chewed it up like cheap bubblegum, which is what I needed. After addressing some of the flaws that were pointed out, I sent what I had to Errol. I put out a decent effort, but I know that it still needed some structural work. I know that it's as good as I can offer with my limited experience, I've read some other screenplays that I think aren't as good as what I've done, but I'm not fooling anyone. Hopefully Errol will like it and get me a good consultant to help me finish it right. I don't care how good an idea is, or how good a writer you think you are, turning a good story into a good film is a specialty all its own. BTW, I'm still waiting for Errol to read it and get back to me. Yes, I'm nervous.
@@robertchristensen5493 -- Wow. Okay. Not often the author themselves will chime in. No offense intended, Mr Christensen. I can't DO Kindle enough to read an entire book. I can read an article on screen and my attention level is very inconsistent even with that. I'm an old school guy that needs an 'actual' book to work with. Maybe considering its growing rarity, (used copies are up to $75 now) it's time for a second printing...?
*"Realistically" you can't read and/or have no imagination.* I've only ever stopped reading *TWO* 'unreadable' scripts. What you're saying is you stop reading if it's not written the way YOU WANT to see it written. There is no ONE way to swrite a sceenplay. Only one format. #ProducedScreenwriter
Lol These "experts" still think "Legally Blond" is a masterpiece. They never mention great movies like "To Kill a Mockingbird," "In Cold Blood" or "Days of Wine and Roses." (Maybe they just can't comprehend great films.")
Jeff eventually gets the English Creative Writing job , but has to grow on my protagonist, BENJI, late teens , who's skeptical of the new professors credentials .📝📌 sticky note
Benji wants to win the Full Sail Real World Education screenwriting competition in December , were the winner wins $20,000 and has his screenplay greenlit .📝📌📍sticky note.
This guy is terrible, in one breath he lists reasons why a script is "crap" or "sucks", and in the next breath he contradicts himself by being vague and meandering in his anecdotes, these videos are sometimes so counterproductive
His outlook and "advice" is so ambiguous. He talks about ferocity and "going for the jugular" yet he truly dances around anything he's trying to say. Sorry Film Courage, I got very little from this one.
I got to be honest. This is my concept of "they must be writting random shit on two different wheel of fortune wheels and spinning." Ok we spun sharks and we spun tornados....lets go!
so many of these professional screenwriters write scripts that turn into horrible films. I've seen some films, and some of the Spielberg films, that came mostly from story boards and improvisation.
THÉ PROBLEM WITH EVERYTHING IS THE MONEY ALWAYS TRIES TO OWN ANOTHER PERSONS CREATIVITY, I SENSE JEALOUSY FOR A LACK OF THIER OWN CREATIVITY, MONEY LIKES TO BELIEVE THEYRE SMARTER THAN THOSE WITHOUT IT. SAD THEY DONT LET THE CRÉATIVES HAVE CONTROL; ITS WHY HOLLYWOOD IS ALWAYS REGURGITATING THE SAME OLD GARBAGE
Every time I write a script and get a movie done it sucks..but every time I write and make another movie it sucks a little less each time in all areas of the craft.
I'm sure it is. Sturgeon's law (or Sturgeon's revelation) is an adage that states that "ninety percent of everything is crap." The adage was coined by Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author and critic. He mean 90 percent of EVERYTHING on Earth, including people.
"Professional screenwriters have the ability to evaluate what they are creating..." So often not the case as to make the person stating it look delusional, naive, or clowny.
I have two feature length movies so far that I've adapted from books I've written. Currently, I'm working on a short story of mine that I'm adapting into a mini screenplay.
I know why there are prodigies in so many fields but not in screenwriting. It’s the same reason it is impossible to be an expert in the RU-vid algorithm. The RU-vid algorithm is constantly evolving, so it is impossible to work within a consistent set of rules. Although you can get accurate results from your work quickly and easily, the rules are always changing. The case with screenwriting is even worse. While the deep, underlying principles are always more or less the same, as you compare the best films from each decade, or even years for that matter, there are very strong differences in taste. Furthermore, it is EXTREMELY difficult for a nobody screenwriter to get any hint of how good his/her work really is. It’s sort of like how do you engineer and improve on a car design if you’re not even able to show it to anyone or put it on the road until it’s super great? You will never know the effects of the changes you are making. There is no quick feedback. In chess, piano, math, science, etc, it is extremely easy to get instant feedback, whether by seeing if the math works or by listening to your piano playing or by seeing if you win or lose games. And in all of those fields the rules stay exactly the same across decades of time. Such simply is not the case with screenwriting. That is why 99% of scripts duck suck and why the only people who are able to come out of left field and succeed are the people who have worked their buts off for years. It’s too hard because the rules are constantly changing and because it is too hard to get reliable feedback.
And luck plays such a role, too! People forget that current events affect how someone reads your script or views your movie, but it might have been written 5 or 15 years before it was greenlit. Sometimes you just get lucky that your script hits the right notes for what people want at the moment. Or get unlucky and it hits wrong like a comedy about kids and guns the day after a school shooting or it feels like a copy because someone picked the same era/theme/style/inspiration as you did and you had no way of knowing.
I might not know anything about professional screenwriting but I know enough about human communication to tell this guy is full of shit, or at least he doesn't speak with authority on the subject he claims to be an expert in. Its ironic because he talks about how amateurs lack the ability to be self critical and evaluate how they present their material... which is exactly the problem he has.
I’m sure Jeff Kitchen is sincere and he knows what he’s talking about. However, like other writers interviewed on this channel he emphasizes the importance of proper training and like them he’s selling said training via another writing course. Nothing wrong with that. He has bills to pay I’m sure and his course may be great and worth the money. The problem, for me at least, is these course are expensive (even with discounts) and way out of my budget range. That can be discouraging. Then I remember the internet offers several ways to learn how to write and discipline, time, and hard work do make a difference. Also, Kubrick, Hitchcock, and Wilder didn’t take any courses. Some did go to college. Patty Chayefsky went to City College of New York, earned a degree in social sciences and Herman Mankiewics went to Columbia university. Yet they didn’t take screenplay courses or go to film school. They didn’t have any of the resources we take for granted today. No internet and not a multitude of screenplay writing books (film schools did exist but they didn’t take off until the 60s and early 70’s). Again, Nothing wrong with screenplay writing courses or film school or Jeff Kitchen. My point is writing courses may have value, but if you can’t afford it then remember writing courses(even the best ones) are Not Necessary to learning and excelling in the craft.
Seemingly contradictory points I hear are “you have to put in the work” but also “don’t be precious just spit it all out” You do have to put it out quickly but also be willing to edit it down to its bare essentials
I interpret that as meaning don't censor yourself, don't analyze too much, just get the ideas down. Then the craft is sifting though the raw material or direction and weaving it into the story in a meaningful way. Also be willing to revise and polish it, get feedback and repeat.
Don’t underestimate yourself. Perhaps you should seek a writing partner, meet up and crack your heads together. I’m positive you’ll find the goods erry’time! As for me I have to resort to punchin myself in the face for my ideas. Qué Será Será
