Hello Spring!  

Things are waking up, as flowers bloom our ideas blossom into fully formed screenplays. Well they don’t get there without some work. Anyone can have a great idea for a film. Many people can entice you with the pitch of an exciting story. Fewer tackle the challenge that comes in translating that into a properly formatted screenplay. 

An outline or treatment is a good place to start. Having the whole concept laid out helps keep the idea on track when you open up Final Draft or other screenwriting software.  Speaking of screenwriting software,  I’ve noticed locally independent filmmakers not using proper format. There is nothing wrong with doing this if the project is totally internally produced. 

The problem with not using the software comes when trying to either market or collaborate with other professionals.  Simple spacing issues,  scene numbering for production,  improperly formatted slug lines. These can all contribute to confusion when reading the script and when working with others on a  plan  to shoot.  

If property formatted,  a general estimate of a minute per page on the screen can be assumed.  The beauty of using software? It does the formatting automatically. 

I’ve used a few different ones over the years, find one that works for you. I use Final Draft currently. The format assistant scan helps so much to find problems. Think of it like spell check for format. I’m guilty of putting extra spaces here and there, the assistant finds them for me!

Okay, off my soapbox! The next meetup is Saturday May 21st 1:30 pm at Oregon Library. Bring those scripts to read, and keep writing. 

–Virginia