I had no film school experience when I started my journey as a screenwriter. Writing movie scripts has always been a passion of mine, but my approach to learning how to write a screenplay was self-taught.
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If you’re like me in the sense that you never went to film school but you really want to write, then I’m going to tell you how I learned and hopefully, it will fast-track your journey because mine has taken forever.
First, I wish I started with reading screenplays.
This one is free, well, it can be. You can download screenplays on the internet and if you read them you will become familiar with structure. I had no clue what the structure was for writing a movie and it took me a long time to learn. Had I just read screenplays it wouldn’t have felt like I was ticking off a list from a rule book. It would have been something that I was somewhat familiar with.
Then, it could be a good idea to save up to do a course. I did Shona Rhimes course and that changed my life. It was the first course I did so I’m sentimental about it. But seeing a woman be such a badass in the space that I want to exist in encouraged me that I’m not silly for wanting this. If you, like me, are surrounded by people who don’t really get this world, even as supportive as they may be, then spending time with someone like Shonda is the encouragement you never knew you needed.
Also, read Save the Cat. It made the beats of a story seem approachable and it almost unlocked movies for me. Once I became aware of the rhythm in movies I was inspired to test this out in my own work. The book is also brilliant for many other reasons though. Again, it was the first book I read on the subject and so it holds a special place in my heart.
I encourage you to set up a table read as a deadline. Here you invite your friends, or even strangers, to read your screenplay. Even if these people don’t fully understand story structure, they will be able to point out what they don’t understand and when they lose interest.
Now from here, it gets pricy.
I would suggest that you rewrite your story after the notes from your table read and then share you story with an industry expert. You could also share your outline with them, which means you would see them before you wrote your first draft, but this is up to you. This could be an expensive exercise as you figure out who you trust with your story, but when you find the right person it could be more valuable than a tertiary education.
Personally, I am passionate about screenwriting and movie scripts. If you would like to learn more about my journey of trying to become a full-time screenwriter, then you can check out this video: • How I Went from PASS t...
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12 июл 2024
