How to Write a Feature Movie Script Part One

I won’t pretend that I am an expert on script writing. I am working out for myself how to write a feature movie script and record what I have learned. I want to share my thoughts with others since it may help them, and they may have advice for me.

These articles are based on my personal experience, but I also draw from the thoughts of others. I steal my ideas wherever I can find them, and don’t always remember where.

What is a movie script anyway?

A movie script is a tool to help you make a movie. I think of myself as a filmmaker first and a writer second. The script is just one of many tools that you will have to make a film with.

You can make a movie with out a script, and this has been done. Many of Warner Brother’s cartoons went directly to a story board with no script. Many documentaries don’t start with a script either. A script provides a way to organize a movie, which is essential if you want the movie to be made. But, a script is not the only way to organize a film.

In the end, when we start to write a script we must remember that the final product is not a script, but a movie. A script is never finished, because work on the movie continues until the movie is done. The script is changed all the way through the process. At some point you no longer need the script to complete the movie and you abandon it.

A collaborative art

Making a movie is a collaborative art. Many people are involved from start to finish. Each of them brings their part of the puzzle. The director, the director of photography, the actors and many others have their parts to play.

What does this mean for the writer? You have to leave room for the others to contribute. You need to provide a strong framework that others can build on and expand on, but you need to allow them to make their contribution.

I wrote a scene for a film where I had the character talking on the phone. I just gave the dialog and nothing more. A reviewer criticised it saying that I should be indicating that the character was doing something visually while he was talking to maintain interest. I thought long and hard about that. First I was thinking about what to have the character do. Then I asked myself: is this my job as a writer?

As a director I know that during preproduction and then on the set the details of each shot are worked out. Sometimes little details, like what a character does when he talks on a phone are suggested by the director and sometimes by the actor. A line that looks good on paper gets reworded with each take.

When making my movies little bits of business for the actors have been suggested by other actors, the assistant director, the director of photography, the gaffer and a grip. A director needs to maintain control of the set, but he should be open to good ideas, wherever they come from.

Since I plan to direct the movies I write, I often confuse the two roles.

A writer needs to understand what everyone else does on a movie production. They should accept that what is written in the script is often taken as a suggestion and can be changed by any one of many people.

The role of the writer is to create a character that the actor can bring alive in performance. The role of the writer is to create the opportunities for fascinating images that the director of photography can seek and capture. The writer does not have to do everything. Others are there to finish the job. The writer starts it going.

Read How to Write a Feature Movie Script Part 2