The best piece of advice for new screenwriters: Show, Don’t Tell.
One of the biggest advantages film has over other art forms, such as radio or novels, is the ability of the filmmaker to show the audience visual aspects of the story in almost infinite detail. Indeed the first 30 years of film were devoid of all exposition through dialogue, while title cards were few and far between – filmmakers relied on the action and actors to tell the story. The old saying holds true – a picture is worth 1000 words, and what is a movie if not 150,000 pictures shown one after the other? Why would you want to ruin that with talking?
Equally important to what you write is how you write. A screenplay is an art form in its own right, not a technical blueprint for a film. It’s designed to entice and intrigue, to separate producers and financiers and their money. However great your ideas, your screenplay will not do this if it’s not written with flair and creativity.
Watch our video below to find out more about writing action!
.
Brett Welcher was a student at Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY, USA) where studied Public Relations at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He is interned at the Raindance Film Festival the summer or 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed his time working with professionals and learning about different aspects of the film industry. In the fall of 2007 Brett returned to the States where he will be finishing his last year in school.
Since then we have lost touch and found this excellent article in the archives. Brett – if you see this, get in touch! We miss you!
