5 steps to make a movie script

1

Decide the length and genre of the movie you want to write. If you're brand new to this medium, you may want to start out with a film short rather than a full-length feature. A film short can be anywhere from 3 minutes to an hour and uses only a few characters and locations. In contrast, a feature film is more complex and ranges anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours, the average being 2 hours. Genre refers to whether your film is a drama, comedy, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, western and so forth. For your first screenplay, it's best to start out writing in a genre that you personally enjoy watching.

2

Rent and watch at least 1 film in your chosen genre to familiarize yourself with their structure and the elements that make them click. A comedy, for instance, relies on wacky situations, sight gags, and snappy banter. In contrast, a horror story takes advantage of light, shadow, music and surprises that jump from out of nowhere.

3

Screenwriting is about brevity. Accordingly, you're not going to be writing every single detail about what the characters are wearing, what color the house is or how many times the camera moves because these things are left to the discretion of the director, cinematographer, wardrobe designer and other professionals.

4

Outline your story before you start writing it. Screenwriting is about three-act structure. The begin of your script introduces the main characters and identifies the main conflict or quest. One of the easiest ways to outline your screenplay concept is to decide how many pages it will be and divide it by 3. Since 1 page of typed script equals 1 minute of screen time, a 15-minute film short would be 15 pages in length.

5

Identify who your protagonist (hero) will be. This person will have the most visibility on screen and will also have the main conflict or quest around which all other events revolve. Identify who or what is going to oppose your protagonist's objectives. The antagonist (villain) can't be bad just for the sake of being bad or he will come across as superficial. The villain's goals must be as clearly defined as those of the hero to constitute a battle worth watching.

FINALLY

Get feedback on your screenplay. Invite other students to read the script and review it .

SOURCE -

http://www.ehow.com/how_4895854_make-movie-script.html

Name ___________________________________________

Date ___________________ Class # _________________

Teacher ________________ Term: 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th