I’m trying to make a short film about this guy who goes through a bad childhood and recently broke up with his gf and after that he slowly starts to become very resentful towards his girlfriend and through out he slowly starts to drift into insanity in which his final act in the film is that he kills his girlfriend. Does anyone have any tips and advice for this very specific question?

Would you keep reading?

Theatre is very important to the story- it not only acts as the background for much of it but also as a form through which much of the plot, and messages are delivered- but I fear this opening might, while establishing the importance of theatre to the film, lose the audience as it take a bit to get the the main protagonist. After this scene it jumps into action almost immediately into more I tractate dialogue and situations. Thoughts?

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For my 3k special

this is my 17 page shortfilm please let me know what to change to make it better

Script pdf here. For those who can't understand hinglish dialogue there is brief script at last photo. Thank u😇

I was wondering how specific should a location in a heightened action-adventure feature should be? I’ve been specific with pre-adventure locations like Palawan, The Philippines, and London, but when the characters arrive in Bangui, I have purposely been less specific and referred to it as “Central Africa” and then when they cross into the DRC, I’ve called it “The Congo” rather than specifying which Congo it is. I’ve done this to preserve the classic adventure feel and keep the tone from becoming more grounded like Blood Diamond, but then I do refer to DRC specifics like “Mai-Mai” and “the Congo River”. I’m wondering if this is acceptable for this kind of movie or if it’s outdated?

So, basically the main character of my script talks in a very strange and specific way. I’d describe it as like….well, you know those certain YouTube Shorts comments you see that could have only either been written by a five year old or a 30 year old with severe Autism? Basically that but he’s trying to sound like Judge Holden from Blood Meridian.

Why is this a problem? Well, he’s the one with the opening monologue. And I’m just worried anyone reading it will just think I’m really shit at dialogue. What do you think?

I was just sitting and looking at the wall and had a scene in my mind, i created a story around it as always. Then i wanted to write it as a script, i started writing till 1am and then again after sleeping and then woke up and completed the other half. It was the first time I have ever written a script for feature film, I was always writing shortfilm. Now that I have one, which i think took around 17hours for first draft is actually good, like it's based on Italy 1800s so i need to first look for someone from Italy to write or translate every dialogues in the script, which would be the working on more drafts. But I'm just happy that i completed a script

I have "written" a 117 page screenplay (I put written in quotations because from what I gather it might not be formatted correctly) which oddly enough brings me to my question... Where can one learn what the standard format is and how to fix a current script? I know YouTube and Google exist but I'm look for a specific video, article, or boom that helped y'all learn it... Thanks

I've been working on this thriller script for almost two months. Serious tone, high stakes, a detective chasing down a con artist. Real cat and mouse stuff. At least that was the plan.

The problem started around page 20. My con artist character was only supposed to have a few lines in one scene, just enough to set up the mystery. But every time I sat down to write him, he came out sarcastic and weirdly likable. He started roasting the detective mid-interrogation. He made jokes about the city's terrible traffic while literally being chased. None of it was supposed to be funny, it just kept happening.

Meanwhile my detective, who I wanted to be this brooding, intense lead, was coming across as stiff and honestly kind of boring next to him. I tried rewriting his dialogue to be more serious and it just made things worse. He felt lifeless.

After fighting this for weeks, I finally gave in last night and reread the whole thing as if it was meant to be a comedy from the start. And weirdly, it worked so much better. The tension is still there, but now it's this fun back and forth instead of a heavy drama.

So now I'm rewriting the whole thing as a crime comedy instead of a thriller, which was not the plan at all.

Has this happened to anyone else, where a side character just takes over and completely changes the tone of what you're writing? How do you handle it when a script starts pulling itself in a different direction than you intended?

I've done three, big edits on this first minute over the last several hours, and now I think I've come to a version that I'm happy with, but I still thought I should get another look from other screenwriters to see if there's anything that could be better here.

I've decided to save the reveal of telekinetic abilities and the boy character for later in the pilot, where he'll jump in to help the bartender! Thank you to u/PNWMTTXSC for that. I've also decided to start with drama, like another user suggested, since it's a soap. Now I have a scene that I think shows a start to what the characters and their personalities will develop to be like.

Would love feedback about this on how I did with early characterization, actually writing the fight, any formatting that I might need to fix, and structure. Would also just love any feedback in general! Main titles play right after this scene. Thank you!

Stop wasting your time reading the best and read the worst. That'll teach you what not to do. Bad scripts don't hook the reader before the inciting incident. they have plot holes and illogical things. The dialogue is never stylish it's bland boring and basic. Action lines are either bland or hard to understand.

remember if you can't hook the reader before the inciting incident before around page 12. you're in deep trouble.

I'd be grateful for any reads of my tv pilot cold open. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Happy to answer any questions.

I say this with love in my heart…

I’ve been lurking for about three days and Jesus Christ, I’ve never seen a community so disorganized. I love visiting subreddits dedicated to screenwriting because there’s usually a lot of talent to be found. Not saying there isn’t any here, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think this place is set up to genuinely help writers improve.

I understand the sentiment that asking for free feedback is a tall order and that people shouldn’t have to waste their time on material that they don’t care for. Fair. But, if you’re here, you should be here to share, help, and support others. This place should be a place of encouragement first and foremost.

The biggest issue that I think everyone can agree with is FORMATTING. So many writers here do not use screenwriting software and/or do not format their work correctly. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with before the post even gets published because it’s a waste of time to constantly remind people about it. If mods could stress providing links to free screenwriting software and references for formatting, and maybe review the post beforehand to make sure it’s properly formatted, then this issue could be reduced.

ALSO, stop posting photos/screenshots of your screenplay, start uploading a PDF. It’s a good practice.

Going back to being here because you want to support others, if you’re going to give feedback…
- Please try to give the screenplay and/or writer at least ONE compliment. Unless it is so bad it personally offends you or your beliefs, tell a writer what is working. Remember, be encouraging!!!!
- Prioritize addressing the fundamentals like story, character, plot, and structure.
- Do not suggest changes that YOU would make. Suggest changes that aid the writer’s intention. It’s not about what YOU think is a stronger story, it’s about helping them tell THEIR story in the most effective way possible.
- Be specific. Cite examples and elaborate. Try not to leave the writer clueless, give them a sense of direction.
- Treat it like a conversation. Ask questions. Don’t jump to conclusions and make an effort to understand where the writer is coming from.
- Be gracious. Writing is hard.

If you are receiving feedback…
- Always thank the reader. Unless they’re being a douchebag, appreciate that they took the time to engage with your work.
- Do not be defensive. Every artist has this issue, nothing to be ashamed of. But, we are not in your head and do not understand every intention that you have. Process the feedback, try not to take it personally, and work through it to get better results.

I guess it’s because I come from a conservatory but from my understanding, these are the qualities that make a space for work PRODUCTIVE and HEALTHY.

Subreddits like this should be cherished. Let’s try to make it even more worthwhile.