Story Telling Project: Steve Coombs Guide To Screenwriting

Following our recent lecture with Steve Coombs there were a few key points i picked up on when it comes to screenwriting. Since I will have to write a screen play for my story telling project the following points are what i found most important.

1. The average screenplay for an hour of television is approximately 12000 words, for our short piece we have 2000 words.

2. A 'treatment', is the summary of an entire story and is roughly 10 pages. 

3. A 'bible' is a summary of an entire series and details the story that will feature, the locations that will be featured, what characters will appear in the series and how the will develop.

4. After this the screen play will then take its mostly final format and become a 'shoot script' which is fit to be read by actors and directors ready to be filmed and put on the air. However depending on the opinions and creative experience of actors and directors this 'shoot script' can still be modified in order to improve it.

5. Another important thing to note when writing a screenplay is that a film can survive a bad director, snd a bad producer, but a bad actor will ruin it. So be creative when writing a screenplay and allow for as much expression in you dialogue as possible so your actor can bring it to life.

5 Golden Rules

We also went over the 5 Golden Rules of screenwriting. Which were the things Steve Coombs felt were the most important things to remember when screenwriting. They are as follows. 

1. Give detail but only about things people need to know, and not go overboard; and write at whatever pace you feel is appropriate fr the scene and allow the viewer to figure some things out for themselves.

2. SHOW DONT TELL!!!

3. A screenplay should be structured like a joke; first you set up the scene, then you create distraction, and then hit the audience with the 'punch line' or 'OMG' moment.

4. Know what your ending will be before you start so that your narrative flows well with the story.

5. Count your 'moments', try to incorporate memorable scenes of action or dialogue, that the audience will want to talk about as soon as they leave the cinema.