I think you need to put some rules in it, but it s for you, it s not a generale method, but it seems to make you work in a step by step way of thinking and not see the whole big impossible monument , ypu need to creat your own bullshit method
The important part of these videos is how different every approach is. I beat myself up from time to time that I'm not approaching my writing in the "right" way (especially in terms of outlining), but the important thing to remind yourself is that processes vary and as long as the end product is a finished script then there is no wrong way to make your first step toward that goal.
I used to think the advice "find what works for you" was stupid. I thought that there must be 1 right way to rule them all. I'm realizing though that it really is the truth. Whatever gets stories out for you... stick with that! Good luck, man. Thanks for watching.
It’s true that it depends on the personality type of each person. However, there really is something to letting the horse guide the cart and allowing the characters to dictate what will happen. That’s how Tarantino writes. He’s in the audience’s shoes while writing because he himself doesn’t know what will come next. On the other hand, Rian Johnson plans everything out before, but his characters always seem to get drowned out to the plot in my opinion.
@@BehindtheCurtain And on top of that "find what works for you", it's also that each of these different processes produce slightly different results, each with it's own pro's and con's, and some might work better depending on the type of story or theme you're working on. So you might even decide to try a different process you've never tried before for a new story. Let's say, maybe a stricter outline, like Rian Johnson's or Michael Arndt's workflow, might be better for a "whoddunit" focused on power plays, while you'd like to keep that intuition based, slow discovering when working on a subtle, more realistic more character focused story, with something akin to "The Phantom Thread" or the sorts, when focusing on a certain attitude to life. It's a lot of fuckin fun experimenting in writing and I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the video, was one of the best crafted summaries on the topic. much appreciated.
“It’s the fastest way to kill all my ideas” Man, this hit the nail on the head. As soon as you start trying to rationalise and logic out an exciting idea, you only see the problems and not the potential.
Forest Gump is a great example of this. All the plot points that Forest goes through is seemingly impossible yet its been expertly crafted in a way that you are more than willing to suspend your disbelief because it honestly doesn’t matter.
@@bawol-official True. However I feel supension of disbelief can vary alot depending on which tone or genre the film fits into. Forrest Gump has a “heightened reality” / fabel type tone to it that makes it easier to buy intoabsolutely wild scenarios. You’d have a harder time selling those story beats to an audience in a more a social realist or straight drama/thriller film fex :)
I hadn't realized to what level other industry people were openly teasing Tarantino about his foot fetish before I heard the one Brad Pitt quote "Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA" lol like anyone who's even a moderate film fan can easily tell it's a major thing to him, but that's different than big names blatantly talking about it in the media either in front of him or where he'll definitely see it, that's cool
You know you’ve watched too many film essays and interviews when you’ve heard most of the audio clips before and even know where some of them are from.
Crom it’s done. If the pandemic clears up anytime soon and I actually have the summer to shoot it it’ll be a completed no-budget film by the end of this year.
Haha, that's hilarious. I try my best to find some deep cuts, but sometimes there are a limited number of interviews available. Good luck on your film!
Behind the Curtain Thank you so much! Don’t worry about your selections, I’ve gone way too deep into the back catalogue of interviews and podcasts especially when it comes to Gilligan and Tarantino. Keep up the great content, it’s been a phenomenal resource.
Behind the Curtain I’d mostly just point you in the direction of the podcasts Tarantino has done within the last year, he did a bunch on the press tour for Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood that are great but he’s also done some other ones on some under appreciated gems of films on podcasts like The Ringers’ “Rewatchables” although those can get quite film specific. If I could actually make a recommendation for a video topic (if that isn’t stepping out of my bounds) I think a deep dive on the idea of the “no-budget movie” would be very helpful for aspiring filmmakers. Films like Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Christopher Nolan’s Following are not only inspirational, but the techniques used to make them are still very applicable for the next generation. Without them, I really wouldn’t have known where to start and I definitely wouldn’t have developed the DIY mindset that really drove me to believe that I can actually just go out and make something.
@@MrParkerman6 doesn't have to. i was generalizing. a few lines can be a scene, one line can be multiple scenes. what i was trying to say was that i liked the idea overall.
@@karmasameh9351 If you are interested in other books that treat the sane kind of subject, I suggest: The Screenwriter Looks at the Screenwriter part 1 and 2 by William Froug. And his other two books Zen and the art of screenwriting part 1 and 2. All four books regroup interviews of professional screenwriters.
I wish I could find a book just about movies from the 1930’s, my favorite decade for movies, music, clothes, cars. But not art, that’s the 1630’s. (Rembrandt)
@@C.Hawkshaw Haha it was a great decade for movies. My favourite is the Bride of Frankenstein. The only book I could recommend is the art of dramatic writing by lajos egri 1942 which was a personal recommendation to me by the producer of back to the future.
So many young filmmakers don’t follow the most basic rules of structure cause their heroes didn’t and became celebrated for it, but the truth is even they had to start with the basics of scene and movie structure before they played around with it. Love this vid.
@@sc9048 sure but somebody could have the potential to make something great and end up not making anything great because they never learned the rules in order to break them
Outline or not, I think the most important thing is to know you're characters. I always start with characterisations, contradiction characters with similiar goals but different methods. Then it basically writes itself.
How do you work on character? Lately, learned from a free online course I did from the University of East Anglia, I've found it really helpful - and very enjoyable - to kind of 'interview' mine.
@@MrParkerman6 Different strokes for different folks (which is the point of working on character!). So much of story seems to me to be character: wound, want, need, arc, conflict.
@@JohnMoseley I mostly have a wage idea of what the protagonist must accomplish in the end. So I start with answering following question. *Why does this character want to achieve this particular goal? How does this character go about achieving this goal? Where does this character come from financially/socially/intellectually/emotionally? Where does this character's moral center lie?* If I manage to answer those questions, I get a pretty good handle on who I'm dealing with. From there I can already begin raising the stakes, by creating formidable opposing characters and/or circumstances. Then I answer these questions for the main antagonist and main allies. I also make sure to weave the protagonist's emotional progression into the film's main theme. Every main character gets their unique approach to the theme. Whoever I deem righteous succeeds in the end. Whoever acts out of touch with my ideals fails. So I begin with the characters and build the story from there, from beginning to end.
I think writing a script is a hugely personal process and everyone seems to have their own methods. Hearing other people's process is always nice, especially if you're struggling to find your own.
0:00 Vince Gilligan 0:20 Quentin Tarantino 2:18 Paul Thomas Anderson 2:47 Alex Garland 3:53 Coen Brothers 4:14 Rian Johnson 5:06 Greta Gerwig 5:34 Aaron Sorkin 6:07 Kenneth Lonergan 6:54 Michael Arndt 9:06 M. Night Shyamalan 9:34 Vince Gilligan & Breaking Bad Writing Team
I just love hearing how they’re all different from one another. It shows that it all really comes down to personal preference. You just gotta try out a bunch of techniques and see what ends up clicking for you
Exactly! And I want to get right to the source; the people that are actually producing results. Thanks for supporting the channel for as long as you have.
this is the best and most informative docu-style video about other screenwriters and what they do well. some other channels just post nonsense, so this was a refreshing change. thank you
I like how you showed many different approaches for different writers, some of which are contradictory - giving the viewer the opportunity to decide what might work best for their own writing based on the evidence than insisting that there is one way for everyone.
The key to any writing is just to write: plan, outline or no. Whatever works, get it on the page. Alex Garland was spot-on - getting something to work with and shape and refine further is the most important first step. If you need an outline to do that, go crazy, but remember, letting the story speak to you rather than seeing yourself as the 'author' of the tale is also very helpful in creating the most organic, free-flowing and sound story. In other words, don't think about your story or characters, feel your way through them. This is how Hayao Miyazaki tends to work and his characters and stories are some of the best in movies period. Learn from the best I say!
Any time I've been told to outline first, it's come from people who went to film school, where they got taught all kinds of rules. I never went to film school, but I've watched a ton of movies since childhood. So far I have written 5 feature film screenplays in the last 7 years. One of which was optioned by a production company. My friends who went to film school have been in the "business" 10 years longer than me and between them have written 2 feature film screenplays, neither have been optioned. So yeah, it took a long time but I finally started trusting my own personal methods instead of theirs. Even though their ideas might lead to something it seems like they're forever stuck in outline and treatment hell, spending years on a script. I never outline in the classic sense with "acts", "structure". At most I write out a simple form of a beat sheet combined with a series of loose notes, and then I start on the screenplay itself. The only part of structure I like to make clear beforehand is a good midpoint, because a solid midpoint can really infuse a ton of new energy to your story (ex. the dinosaurs break out in Jurassic Park, Chief Brody goes to sea to hunt the shark in Jaws, the chestburster shows its ugly face in Alien etc). Most I've spent on a first draft of a feature screenplay was about 2 months, the fastest was 4 days (don't ask me how I managed that last one, I barely know myself).
I realize this is an old post but I just saw this video today and was intrigued by your comment. Having not gone through film school and yet managed to get a screenplay optioned, I’m curious how you went about that? Did you land some representation? I went to film school and felt restrained by a lot of they were teaching. That was over a decade ago. Since then, I’ve written my own stuff in ways that felt more natural to me. But I’ve never landed representation, never mind option deals. If you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to learn how you kept going and maybe learn some tips. Thanks! Ryan
Before this video I was trying to complete a story and I blueprinted the starting and endings in my mind but I was stuck in the middle and I can confidently say this video helps me out.
I find it astonishing how all this great writers have incredibly different methods,which proves that only you can teach yourself how to write your own movie and develop your own method.
Hats off to the whole team for compiling such a delicate area, solely for the betterment of fellow writers around the world. Really appreciate the effort. Keep up the good work!
This was a huge help! In screenwriting university we were taught to keep action lines to four consecutively, but I always think In beats, not shorthand so several of these methods have been a huge help in showing through my action sections! Thank you!
That day/night method is actually brilliant, especially when you're finding the structuring goes well and want to ensure you're flowing things. Imagining "oh this scene I already planned is now at night" can change the whole story and feel more connected.
so THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF PANTSERS! love it! well probably mostly plantsers but still haha love that they're so blase about it appreciate the detailed outliners too like rian but overall they seem to really use trial and error and feel which I really appreciate
How I do it (and no, I'm not a famous producer or anything) *First.* Get the most basic info of the story. Genre, setting, theme, moral of the story. etc. Gotta know what framework I'm working within. *Second.* Like what is said at 4:52 "Draw arcs and split them out into sequences." Start listing _multiple_ arcs. Not the main arc (usually). Start with the small stuff. Character arcs, sub-plots, chronological events that need to happen in a set order. The more the better. Because you'll cut out any that don't fit well, so its good to have plenty to choose from. For example: a character's life >> baby, child, teenager, adult, old man, dead... and (usually) can't escape that order. Love story sub-plot >> Dislike person, grow to like them, fall in love, convince them to like you, get married. Betrayal character arc >> work with person, trouble happens, try to find who did it, discover it was your best friend, confront them Redemption arc >> Character does bad thing, realizes its bad, vows to do better, tries to fix their wrongs, gets forgiven by people he hurt. *Third.* Each arc has a list of "beats" that need to happen in that order. Now try to link as many beats together as you can. Does the betrayal happen at the same time the other character falls in love? Does the person die shortly after discovering the truth? Does the big reveal happen before or after the fight scene?... and so on. This serves as a framework to build the story around. EG If Plot A goes A,B,C,D,E \ Plot B goes W,X,Y,Z \ Plot C goes 1,2,3,4,5 Then the full script might go A, B, 1W, X, C2, Y, 3, DZ, 4, 5, E *Fourth.* I do what I call the "caveman draft." Sort of like what was said at 3:17 in this video. Use the above story beats as the framework, and then write out the first draft of the story. Except, My first draft is with no frills. "character does thing. Other character enters room." Just to get my ideas of the scene onto paper. Then after that I'll write the first proper draft. With more poetic language and stuff.
Love that you highlighted different types of writers and different exercises! I'm a huge fan of what Alex Garland and Michael Arndt suggested and definitely will be trying them out.
Rian Johnson’s perspective is my favorite. It inspires me to think of outlining as training for a marathon or cross country race, and the actual screenplay is the race.
Alex Garland’s method literally blew my mind on how incredibly simple but efficient it feels to blow through your first draft. Gonna definitely try it soon
Even though I’m not on the level of writing as Tarantino, I did remember having an outline for my short film, and somehow, the ending of the film is entirely different than what I had in mind originally.
I'm experimenting with a bunch of different methods. I plan (lol) to try a bunch of techniques in one novel and see which sessions come up with the best ideas. Don't be afraid to experiment and "waste time". That's what experimentation is.
I feel like it's incredibly relieving to hear all these acclaimed writers talk about how they don't know everything from the beginning. One of my biggest anxieties was trying to figure out how to organize my ideas and get coherent sequences on paper but to know they're just kind of trying their best too and figuring out what works for them is pretty freeing.
Definitely know your ending first. It really helps. For a screenplay, I think plotting works but be flexible enough to change lanes if you discover a new story idea that's exciting. It's the FUN!
Outlining, over the years I have honestly gotten to the point where I have a story and I know where it starts, where it will go and how it ends. Planning everything out. But in the process of making it many of the thing I made and plan are just going to the chopping board, I know the beginning and the ending but the way getting there keep change everytime I write a line (also How They Wrote House M.D)
I'm someone who is very detailed in the way I outline, but I've found that sometimes that can box me in. I think the sweet spot for me is having a strong understanding of the story before I write, but being okay with going off track while I write if the story leads me there.
In design, there is a concept known as Macro to Micro. Essentially you start with the big elements and slowly build up layers of detail. If you start with the micro details, you will mess up the proportions somewhere and have to restart the whole thing. If you start with the macro and mess something up, it's far easier to fix or start over. I'm not saying you have to do this for writing, but it's an approach.
thank you for this long video of writers contradicting each other and ultimately giving very little advice since everybody's creative mind works in a very different way. real useful content
that's the whole point. it's a trove of advice not only offering you many approaches to try but also overall telling you that there is no exact formula you can use, so you shouldn't feel you're using a wrong approach. you seeing it as "little advice" is only because you were looking for some cheap and easy way to the top of a creative skill, which was never a possibility. it is your own failure to gain from this, not the video author and not the original creatives. hell it even gives you insight you can correlate between a directors style and their process; you could compare it to what you want to do, but you're too busy complaining to see that.
Brother, you are KILLIN' it with these videos lately. Well done. Great resource. I'm in the "outline first" camp. Worked on a pilot with a partner who was a free-writer and, holy hell, did that suck. 😂 Never again. 😑
I appreciate your comment. I'm in that camp as well. I am realizing, however, that while writing, a more unconscious approach is beneficial. Rather than clinically following my left-brain outline, allowing myself to take different routes while writing (if the story leads that way) has produced good results. There balance of the conscious (outline) and unconscious (writing) has improved my stories a lot.
@@BehindtheCurtain Agreed. You say "unconscious," I say the characters themselves will guide the story. It took me a long time to get to this point, where the characters dictate the direction of the story instead of me wrestling them into submission. All I gotta do is complicate things for them just enough that they change for the better. 🙏 Love your work. Keep it up.
I do so much Pre-Work on my scripts. I have 56 Notecards, separated into 3 piles (Act 1, 2, 3), then the notecards are expanded into an outline format (generally 50-60 pages). this way i've basically written the script and just fill in with dialogue. Since I typically try to write dense story with a lot of interaction, this helps me keep motivations and snippets organized in such a way that I don't lose my favorite parts. I agree, you really need to know where the story is going. Loved this video.
As a writer myself with 1 book and a few short stories completed I loved this video. Great compilation, nice variety in ideas. When i started writing i had always sort of categorized writers into either outliners or pantsters. But the more i wrote the more i realized im a bit of both. after watching this it sounds like even though writers may tend towards one extreme or the other they are always a bit of both as well. Can totally relate to the outline changing multiple times
I strongly believe in using Dramatica theory, and I know there are many other ways to structure stories, but I think a writer can apply different aspects of Dramatica no matter what type of structure they're using.
Is like the algorithm is inside my head! I was just saying I needed some motivation today to sit down and write my film and this video showed up on my feed!
![Learning Screenplay Story Structure - Eric Edson [Full Version - Screenwriting Masterclass]](/img/n.gif)
Every writer seems to have their own style. There isn’t a wrong way to write a script as long as it’s good.
I agree with you!!
@@JudiChristopher its about the passion
Agreed
So true. It's about putting on paper what you think, love, understand and cherish. It's a beautiful thing.
I think you need to put some rules in it, but it s for you, it s not a generale method, but it seems to make you work in a step by step way of thinking and not see the whole big impossible monument , ypu need to creat your own bullshit method
The important part of these videos is how different every approach is. I beat myself up from time to time that I'm not approaching my writing in the "right" way (especially in terms of outlining), but the important thing to remind yourself is that processes vary and as long as the end product is a finished script then there is no wrong way to make your first step toward that goal.
I used to think the advice "find what works for you" was stupid. I thought that there must be 1 right way to rule them all. I'm realizing though that it really is the truth. Whatever gets stories out for you... stick with that! Good luck, man. Thanks for watching.
It’s true that it depends on the personality type of each person. However, there really is something to letting the horse guide the cart and allowing the characters to dictate what will happen.
That’s how Tarantino writes. He’s in the audience’s shoes while writing because he himself doesn’t know what will come next. On the other hand, Rian Johnson plans everything out before, but his characters always seem to get drowned out to the plot in my opinion.
Exactly! Writing UA-cam is way too binary. A lot of these teachers only promote one way. Structural or spontaneous, it’s always ova.
@@BehindtheCurtain And on top of that "find what works for you", it's also that each of these different processes produce slightly different results, each with it's own pro's and con's, and some might work better depending on the type of story or theme you're working on. So you might even decide to try a different process you've never tried before for a new story. Let's say, maybe a stricter outline, like Rian Johnson's or Michael Arndt's workflow, might be better for a "whoddunit" focused on power plays, while you'd like to keep that intuition based, slow discovering when working on a subtle, more realistic more character focused story, with something akin to "The Phantom Thread" or the sorts, when focusing on a certain attitude to life. It's a lot of fuckin fun experimenting in writing and I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the video, was one of the best crafted summaries on the topic. much appreciated.
yeah, I'm wonky about when I throw in an outline; Greta Gerwig's was a refreshing insight for me especially, another surprised the hell outta me.
“It’s the fastest way to kill all my ideas” Man, this hit the nail on the head. As soon as you start trying to rationalise and logic out an exciting idea, you only see the problems and not the potential.
So true ...
This is the opposite for me. Having a creative idea, then making it logical, and rationalized makes me understand the idea.
Forest Gump is a great example of this. All the plot points that Forest goes through is seemingly impossible yet its been expertly crafted in a way that you are more than willing to suspend your disbelief because it honestly doesn’t matter.
@@bawol-official True. However I feel supension of disbelief can vary alot depending on which tone or genre the film fits into. Forrest Gump has a “heightened reality” / fabel type tone to it that makes it easier to buy intoabsolutely wild scenarios. You’d have a harder time selling those story beats to an audience in a more a social realist or straight drama/thriller film fex :)
@@BashirBillowKhalid on point
"You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it" - Thomas Harris
I like that!!!
That's how my mind work. Like it's being revealed over time.
Said the guy who wrote Hannibal and Red Dragon. Silence of The Lambs is the only good book he wrote.
beautiful honestly
You did Tarantino dirty with the "foot fetish" part 😂😂😂
Haha I'm glad someone noticed. I'm sure that's one of his first ideas for any movie
I hadn't realized to what level other industry people were openly teasing Tarantino about his foot fetish before I heard the one Brad Pitt quote "Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA" lol like anyone who's even a moderate film fan can easily tell it's a major thing to him, but that's different than big names blatantly talking about it in the media either in front of him or where he'll definitely see it, that's cool
@@BehindtheCurtain The timing was perfect
This is great haha
When Tarantino makes a peace sign what he really means is "two feet please"
You know you’ve watched too many film essays and interviews when you’ve heard most of the audio clips before and even know where some of them are from.
Crom it’s done. If the pandemic clears up anytime soon and I actually have the summer to shoot it it’ll be a completed no-budget film by the end of this year.
Haha, that's hilarious. I try my best to find some deep cuts, but sometimes there are a limited number of interviews available. Good luck on your film!
Behind the Curtain Thank you so much! Don’t worry about your selections, I’ve gone way too deep into the back catalogue of interviews and podcasts especially when it comes to Gilligan and Tarantino. Keep up the great content, it’s been a phenomenal resource.
Wow, any recommendations for good resources I maybe haven't found yet? Always looking for new sources.
Behind the Curtain I’d mostly just point you in the direction of the podcasts Tarantino has done within the last year, he did a bunch on the press tour for Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood that are great but he’s also done some other ones on some under appreciated gems of films on podcasts like The Ringers’ “Rewatchables” although those can get quite film specific.
If I could actually make a recommendation for a video topic (if that isn’t stepping out of my bounds) I think a deep dive on the idea of the “no-budget movie” would be very helpful for aspiring filmmakers. Films like Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Christopher Nolan’s Following are not only inspirational, but the techniques used to make them are still very applicable for the next generation. Without them, I really wouldn’t have known where to start and I definitely wouldn’t have developed the DIY mindset that really drove me to believe that I can actually just go out and make something.
I like Tarantino's and Alex Garland's and Rian Johnson's idea's on outlining. I might actually try some of these.
Great to hear! I hope it leads to creative breakthrough
Same
Double Same
Garland has been impressing me more and more with each new thing he writes and directs, namely devs
You should try comma’s first.
Structure is everything to me. I have ideas in my head but without a skeleton to put them on I just have a bucket of random organs
Exactly!
That's a neat metaphor
Structure is actually how I come up with my plot when I don't know what to write.
When Quentin Tarantino said you know the characters, they're in your blood was really touching. Great video for emerging screenwriters.
I like Alex Garland's idea of writing out the story line by line, and then replacing each line with a scene.
I've done it before after learning that Garland does it. It works well.
A line doesn't equal a scene though, stupid!!!!
@@MrParkerman6 doesn't have to. i was generalizing. a few lines can be a scene, one line can be multiple scenes. what i was trying to say was that i liked the idea overall.
Never assume or Generalize. These are dumb things to do.
@@MrParkerman6 I disagree.
I read a book where academy award winners talked about writing. One thing I noticed is that no one did it the same way.
could you please give me the name of this book ?
@@karmasameh9351 Screen writers on screen writing by Joel Engel
@@karmasameh9351 If you are interested in other books that treat the sane kind of subject, I suggest:
The Screenwriter Looks at the Screenwriter part 1 and 2 by William Froug.
And his other two books Zen and the art of screenwriting part 1 and 2.
All four books regroup interviews of professional screenwriters.
I wish I could find a book just about movies from the 1930’s, my favorite decade for movies, music, clothes, cars. But not art, that’s the 1630’s. (Rembrandt)
@@C.Hawkshaw Haha it was a great decade for movies. My favourite is the Bride of Frankenstein. The only book I could recommend is the art of dramatic writing by lajos egri 1942 which was a personal recommendation to me by the producer of back to the future.
Essentially: there is a method to the madness, yet being too methodical is madness.
So many young filmmakers don’t follow the most basic rules of structure cause their heroes didn’t and became celebrated for it, but the truth is even they had to start with the basics of scene and movie structure before they played around with it. Love this vid.
And that’s why new movies are so hard to follow. The plot line and storyline…
@@sc9048 sure but somebody could have the potential to make something great and end up not making anything great because they never learned the rules in order to break them
Outline or not, I think the most important thing is to know you're characters. I always start with characterisations, contradiction characters with similiar goals but different methods. Then it basically writes itself.
That makes sense to me. If you know what defines a character against the other characters, the conflict and story can arise out of that naturally.
Exactly Wrong! Plot is more important than character!
How do you work on character? Lately, learned from a free online course I did from the University of East Anglia, I've found it really helpful - and very enjoyable - to kind of 'interview' mine.
@@MrParkerman6 Different strokes for different folks (which is the point of working on character!). So much of story seems to me to be character: wound, want, need, arc, conflict.
@@JohnMoseley I mostly have a wage idea of what the protagonist must accomplish in the end. So I start with answering following question. *Why does this character want to achieve this particular goal? How does this character go about achieving this goal? Where does this character come from financially/socially/intellectually/emotionally? Where does this character's moral center lie?*
If I manage to answer those questions, I get a pretty good handle on who I'm dealing with. From there I can already begin raising the stakes, by creating formidable opposing characters and/or circumstances. Then I answer these questions for the main antagonist and main allies. I also make sure to weave the protagonist's emotional progression into the film's main theme. Every main character gets their unique approach to the theme. Whoever I deem righteous succeeds in the end. Whoever acts out of touch with my ideals fails.
So I begin with the characters and build the story from there, from beginning to end.
I think writing a script is a hugely personal process and everyone seems to have their own methods. Hearing other people's process is always nice, especially if you're struggling to find your own.
NGL, but Alex Garland's method of writing is fucking amazing. I'll definitely be doing this...
I've done this method and really enjoy it!
HAHA the Tarantino checklist!! I love it.
0:00 Vince Gilligan
0:20 Quentin Tarantino
2:18 Paul Thomas Anderson
2:47 Alex Garland
3:53 Coen Brothers
4:14 Rian Johnson
5:06 Greta Gerwig
5:34 Aaron Sorkin
6:07 Kenneth Lonergan
6:54 Michael Arndt
9:06 M. Night Shyamalan
9:34 Vince Gilligan & Breaking Bad Writing Team
Gilligan explains things really well. Simple, to the point, and useful.
Not really- or they would have gotten off the Island alot sooner!
I just love hearing how they’re all different from one another. It shows that it all really comes down to personal preference. You just gotta try out a bunch of techniques and see what ends up clicking for you
hey, I just filmed a video about the dos and dont's of screenwriting in Hollywood! I think you would enjoy it!
ua-cam.com/video/CFg5OloiZzM/v-deo.html
I love Quentin's idea of a checklist. An outline seems far too concrete. As writers, we do not know anything about our story until we're in it.
It’s midnight and I just got my eureka moment on how I should start writing. Thank you for making this.🙏
Wonderful!
Four years later, have you written your masterpiece?
OMG THE FOOT FETISH SHOUTOUT FOR TARANTINO!!! IM DYINGGGG!! Bravo!
I really appreciate these videos. There’s a lot of contradictory advice out there, and this helps to sift through the bullshit.
Exactly! And I want to get right to the source; the people that are actually producing results. Thanks for supporting the channel for as long as you have.
"Right ON"
Or is that "Write ON" LOL
this is the best and most informative docu-style video about other screenwriters and what they do well. some other channels just post nonsense, so this was a refreshing change. thank you
I like how you showed many different approaches for different writers, some of which are contradictory - giving the viewer the opportunity to decide what might work best for their own writing based on the evidence than insisting that there is one way for everyone.
Wise words. And liberating.
Love hearing experts and professionals talk about their craft.
The key to any writing is just to write: plan, outline or no. Whatever works, get it on the page. Alex Garland was spot-on - getting something to work with and shape and refine further is the most important first step. If you need an outline to do that, go crazy, but remember, letting the story speak to you rather than seeing yourself as the 'author' of the tale is also very helpful in creating the most organic, free-flowing and sound story. In other words, don't think about your story or characters, feel your way through them. This is how Hayao Miyazaki tends to work and his characters and stories are some of the best in movies period. Learn from the best I say!
I love how many different methods can lead to such great results, totally love this art.
This was so helpful. I am writing a script thought to the 3/4 mark. I will let the characters write the end
When Tarantino said “ the part when the characters are exciting me” that instantly hit.
Any time I've been told to outline first, it's come from people who went to film school, where they got taught all kinds of rules. I never went to film school, but I've watched a ton of movies since childhood. So far I have written 5 feature film screenplays in the last 7 years. One of which was optioned by a production company. My friends who went to film school have been in the "business" 10 years longer than me and between them have written 2 feature film screenplays, neither have been optioned.
So yeah, it took a long time but I finally started trusting my own personal methods instead of theirs. Even though their ideas might lead to something it seems like they're forever stuck in outline and treatment hell, spending years on a script.
I never outline in the classic sense with "acts", "structure". At most I write out a simple form of a beat sheet combined with a series of loose notes, and then I start on the screenplay itself. The only part of structure I like to make clear beforehand is a good midpoint, because a solid midpoint can really infuse a ton of new energy to your story (ex. the dinosaurs break out in Jurassic Park, Chief Brody goes to sea to hunt the shark in Jaws, the chestburster shows its ugly face in Alien etc). Most I've spent on a first draft of a feature screenplay was about 2 months, the fastest was 4 days (don't ask me how I managed that last one, I barely know myself).
I realize this is an old post but I just saw this video today and was intrigued by your comment.
Having not gone through film school and yet managed to get a screenplay optioned, I’m curious how you went about that? Did you land some representation?
I went to film school and felt restrained by a lot of they were teaching. That was over a decade ago. Since then, I’ve written my own stuff in ways that felt more natural to me. But I’ve never landed representation, never mind option deals.
If you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to learn how you kept going and maybe learn some tips.
Thanks!
Ryan
Before this video I was trying to complete a story and I blueprinted the starting and endings in my mind but I was stuck in the middle and I can confidently say this video helps me out.
Great to hear! Message me on Twitter if your need more advice about your outline
@@BehindtheCurtain tq 👍
I find it astonishing how all this great writers have incredibly different methods,which proves that only you can teach yourself how to write your own movie and develop your own method.
hey, I just filmed a video about the dos and dont's of screenwriting in Hollywood! I think you would enjoy it!
ua-cam.com/video/CFg5OloiZzM/v-deo.html
The Coen Brothers are some of my favorite filmmakers of all time, but I almost wasn't able to understand what they were trying to say LOL.
You have such an eye for minimalist aesthetic... the visuals were stunning.
hey, I just filmed a video about the dos and dont's of screenwriting in Hollywood! I think you would enjoy it!
ua-cam.com/video/CFg5OloiZzM/v-deo.html
Really needed this today. Thank you!
Note to self, do what works best FOR YOU!
Aaron Sorkin always has the best analogies to explain what he is saying
LOVE THIS CHANNEL. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HARD WORK
Thanks, Jimmy! I appreciate you supporting the channel for as long as you have.
Man I wish I had Garland's mind. His outlining sounds so clean and not tedious at all.
Listening to this is sooo reassuring
Hats off to the whole team for compiling such a delicate area, solely for the betterment of fellow writers around the world. Really appreciate the effort. Keep up the good work!
Michael Arndt & Vince Gilligan’s advice was pure gold!
This was a huge help! In screenwriting university we were taught to keep action lines to four consecutively, but I always think In beats, not shorthand so several of these methods have been a huge help in showing through my action sections! Thank you!
"....outline only after a great deal of material..."
That did it for me
Vince Gilligan's all-hands-on-deck style payed off big time. It was awesome.
I'm with Greta, I hate outlines. I do story beats spread across act structures but outlines kills my sense of wonder in my own scripts.
Wow Alex Garland’s approach really resonated with me as well as Michael Arndt. Thank you for putting this video together.
That day/night method is actually brilliant, especially when you're finding the structuring goes well and want to ensure you're flowing things. Imagining "oh this scene I already planned is now at night" can change the whole story and feel more connected.
Would love to see tips on 2 vids: Writing Character Backstory (as some writers don’t), and dialogue
Kenneth Lonergan’s advice rings in my head from this video all the time. I get caught in rules and craft.
so THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF PANTSERS! love it! well probably mostly plantsers but still haha love that they're so blase about it
appreciate the detailed outliners too like rian but overall they seem to really use trial and error and feel which I really appreciate
It’s great to hear how each one of them uses their own technique!
How I do it (and no, I'm not a famous producer or anything)
*First.*
Get the most basic info of the story. Genre, setting, theme, moral of the story. etc.
Gotta know what framework I'm working within.
*Second.*
Like what is said at 4:52 "Draw arcs and split them out into sequences."
Start listing _multiple_ arcs. Not the main arc (usually). Start with the small stuff.
Character arcs, sub-plots, chronological events that need to happen in a set order.
The more the better. Because you'll cut out any that don't fit well, so its good to have plenty to choose from.
For example:
a character's life >> baby, child, teenager, adult, old man, dead... and (usually) can't escape that order.
Love story sub-plot >> Dislike person, grow to like them, fall in love, convince them to like you, get married.
Betrayal character arc >> work with person, trouble happens, try to find who did it, discover it was your best friend, confront them
Redemption arc >> Character does bad thing, realizes its bad, vows to do better, tries to fix their wrongs, gets forgiven by people he hurt.
*Third.*
Each arc has a list of "beats" that need to happen in that order. Now try to link as many beats together as you can.
Does the betrayal happen at the same time the other character falls in love? Does the person die shortly after discovering the truth? Does the big reveal happen before or after the fight scene?... and so on.
This serves as a framework to build the story around.
EG
If Plot A goes A,B,C,D,E \ Plot B goes W,X,Y,Z \ Plot C goes 1,2,3,4,5
Then the full script might go A, B, 1W, X, C2, Y, 3, DZ, 4, 5, E
*Fourth.*
I do what I call the "caveman draft."
Sort of like what was said at 3:17 in this video. Use the above story beats as the framework, and then write out the first draft of the story.
Except, My first draft is with no frills. "character does thing. Other character enters room." Just to get my ideas of the scene onto paper.
Then after that I'll write the first proper draft. With more poetic language and stuff.
Love that you highlighted different types of writers and different exercises! I'm a huge fan of what Alex Garland and Michael Arndt suggested and definitely will be trying them out.
Some of the outlines that some of these filmmakers follow are quite interesting, especially those of PTA, Tarantino, Johnson, and Garland.
Rian Johnson’s perspective is my favorite. It inspires me to think of outlining as training for a marathon or cross country race, and the actual screenplay is the race.
Amazing! Great collection from master storytellers! Thank you for your hard work!
7:30 seems like a good way to do it. Having the acts/arc summarized over 4 pages looks manageable.
Alex Garland’s method literally blew my mind on how incredibly simple but efficient it feels to blow through your first draft. Gonna definitely try it soon
This was awesome, thank you!!
Just get an idea and write it on the fly ... obviously you need an idea in mind but... it’s more fun to surprise yourself as you go
As someone who finds it nearly impossible to outline before a completed rough draft, this video feels like vindication. Thank you!
I don’t say this often, that was one of the most helpful storytelling/novel/screenplay advice videos I’ve ever seen. Thank you
Even though I’m not on the level of writing as Tarantino, I did remember having an outline for my short film, and somehow, the ending of the film is entirely different than what I had in mind originally.
I'm experimenting with a bunch of different methods. I plan (lol) to try a bunch of techniques in one novel and see which sessions come up with the best ideas. Don't be afraid to experiment and "waste time". That's what experimentation is.
Great video, dude.
Thanks!
I just gotta say... this was a great video! Keep up the great work 😊
I feel like it's incredibly relieving to hear all these acclaimed writers talk about how they don't know everything from the beginning. One of my biggest anxieties was trying to figure out how to organize my ideas and get coherent sequences on paper but to know they're just kind of trying their best too and figuring out what works for them is pretty freeing.
Definitely know your ending first. It really helps. For a screenplay, I think plotting works but be flexible enough to change lanes if you discover a new story idea that's exciting. It's the FUN!
I never know the ending tell I get to the end.
*till
2:47 Paul Thomas Anderson sounds like text-to-speech Microsoft Sam.
Very helpful. Thank you.
Outlining, over the years I have honestly gotten to the point where I have a story and I know where it starts, where it will go and how it ends. Planning everything out. But in the process of making it many of the thing I made and plan are just going to the chopping board, I know the beginning and the ending but the way getting there keep change everytime I write a line (also How They Wrote House M.D)
I'm someone who is very detailed in the way I outline, but I've found that sometimes that can box me in. I think the sweet spot for me is having a strong understanding of the story before I write, but being okay with going off track while I write if the story leads me there.
In design, there is a concept known as Macro to Micro. Essentially you start with the big elements and slowly build up layers of detail. If you start with the micro details, you will mess up the proportions somewhere and have to restart the whole thing. If you start with the macro and mess something up, it's far easier to fix or start over. I'm not saying you have to do this for writing, but it's an approach.
Great video. Really helpful for us emerging screenwriters. Can you drop the link to the full interview with Alex Garland?
thank you for this long video of writers contradicting each other and ultimately giving very little advice since everybody's creative mind works in a very different way.
real useful content
that's the whole point. it's a trove of advice not only offering you many approaches to try but also overall telling you that there is no exact formula you can use, so you shouldn't feel you're using a wrong approach. you seeing it as "little advice" is only because you were looking for some cheap and easy way to the top of a creative skill, which was never a possibility. it is your own failure to gain from this, not the video author and not the original creatives. hell it even gives you insight you can correlate between a directors style and their process; you could compare it to what you want to do, but you're too busy complaining to see that.
I always hated it when in school they would tell you "the way" to write. Everyone is different and develop their own methods.
Brother, you are KILLIN' it with these videos lately. Well done. Great resource. I'm in the "outline first" camp.
Worked on a pilot with a partner who was a free-writer and, holy hell, did that suck. 😂 Never again. 😑
I appreciate your comment. I'm in that camp as well. I am realizing, however, that while writing, a more unconscious approach is beneficial. Rather than clinically following my left-brain outline, allowing myself to take different routes while writing (if the story leads that way) has produced good results. There balance of the conscious (outline) and unconscious (writing) has improved my stories a lot.
@@BehindtheCurtain Agreed. You say "unconscious," I say the characters themselves will guide the story. It took me a long time to get to this point, where the characters dictate the direction of the story instead of me wrestling them into submission. All I gotta do is complicate things for them just enough that they change for the better. 🙏 Love your work. Keep it up.
Excellent video
God... I love "Behind the Curtain"... so enjoyable.. so entertain... so educational ... Love you guys!
I do so much Pre-Work on my scripts. I have 56 Notecards, separated into 3 piles (Act 1, 2, 3), then the notecards are expanded into an outline format (generally 50-60 pages). this way i've basically written the script and just fill in with dialogue. Since I typically try to write dense story with a lot of interaction, this helps me keep motivations and snippets organized in such a way that I don't lose my favorite parts. I agree, you really need to know where the story is going. Loved this video.
Everyone has a different style. What I got from this is just keep writing.
Thanks for sharing. We don't need Schools or Masters anymore. Knowledge is finally available to all.
8:18 this is the best method of organizing i have ever heard of! i can't wait to try this with my own scripts.
I LOVE THIS CHANNEL
Much appreciated 🙏🏻
So basically, seek your own path and don’t worry about anybody else’s way!
As a writer myself with 1 book and a few short stories completed I loved this video. Great compilation, nice variety in ideas. When i started writing i had always sort of categorized writers into either outliners or pantsters. But the more i wrote the more i realized im a bit of both. after watching this it sounds like even though writers may tend towards one extreme or the other they are always a bit of both as well. Can totally relate to the outline changing multiple times
Absolute gem of a video
I just love hearing Vince Gilligan. Such a genius!
I might have to try Alex Garland's method. It's just works in my brain
This is wonderful, Nehemiah. Thanks for such a compelling video for screenwriters!
it’s so interesting how all of these extremely successful screenwriters all have totally different strategies
This video is really great. Thanks a lot!
Thank you!
Bosses. Thanks for posting, very helpful.
I wish I’d seen this when I was a pup. The take away is that there is no right way, just the way that works for you.
I strongly believe in using Dramatica theory, and I know there are many other ways to structure stories, but I think a writer can apply different aspects of Dramatica no matter what type of structure they're using.
Dramatica?
I was disappointed that this video didn't feature perspectives from a more diverse collection of story-tellers.
Is like the algorithm is inside my head! I was just saying I needed some motivation today to sit down and write my film and this video showed up on my feed!
Great and informative video. Love how this channel is expanding, excited to see what comes next!
Thank you! There's a lot more to come.