21 Screenwriting Tips from Working Pros (James Gunn, Iceberg Theory & More) | Kinolime Compilation
NN
Hosted byn.a
Review on your platform
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bioi1RzdCAMhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/Bioi1RzdCAM
Show Notes
We’ve curated the ultimate masterclass for screenwriters from the Iceberg Theory to James Gunn’s unfinished screenplay secrets. This video packs 21 essential tips from industry pros, indie filmmakers, and hit-making writers to help you move from a finished draft to a career in active development.
Full Transcript
[00:00]
I need 10 drafts to get my story done. And I think that's the key here. So just keep
[00:09]
rewriting, rewriting, rewriting, polished that stone chip away from that marble. The
[00:12]
statue of David will come out. I like do whatever job you got to do, but then try and
[00:16]
reinvest a little bit into your own writing. Start with the action and purpose first.
[00:24]
Like they're going to just like pick up a glass and throw it against the wall. I don't
[00:26]
know that you're character. That's what comes to life. But if you have the safety of
[00:30]
the dialogue, it really does block the creative juices from coming out. Like make them make
[00:35]
physical choices.
[00:36]
I get a coffee with half and half. Okay. And I use final draft on a Mac computer. Yeah.
[00:41]
Okay. And then, but you never write it home. Always out of the house. Yeah. I've said
[00:46]
what coffee shops I rotate around. Okay. They know me. I'm a regular. Okay. I have a couple
[00:50]
of places. I have the same seat. I get it every time. For the most part, I just like
[00:53]
writing with a friend. And I love that I have a person I can write with because it makes
[01:00]
me feel funny to be around someone. It's never one idea. It's usually I'll have a few
[01:04]
ideas kicking around in my head. I'm fascinated by civility, like these sort of our social
[01:09]
norms. And you can go comedic with that. And that's where we have like curb your enthusiasm.
[01:14]
It's funny when people don't play by the rules of polite society. But it's not that far
[01:20]
of a departure to make that scary. Everything doesn't have to be big. And I like intimate.
[01:25]
I find people I found characters fascinating. So I really wanted to do a study on characters.
[01:31]
If you have the capability to write a really strong screenplay, you have the same capability
[01:35]
to make a great deck, to make great one-pager, to write a great treatment. And again, if
[01:40]
you're going to be proactive enough to be part of the lesson, one percent of people that
[01:45]
sell their screenplay make their movie, be proactive in every part of the pitch.
[01:51]
When you have a log line, there are elements to it. It's kind of like an equation. A plus
[01:56]
B equals C. D. Why don't you tell us what the magical equation is?
[02:01]
Yeah. So essentially in two sentences, what you're trying to do is you're trying to articulate
[02:06]
us as simply as you can. Where you're kind of meeting your story, who your main character
[02:12]
is, who your antagonist is, and what the stakes are conflict of the story are.
[02:18]
But it's essentially your protagonist, your hero, goal, and conflict.
[02:22]
At the kind of core of every great brief pitch is like the main plot points in the story,
[02:28]
right? Like an act one, they want your inciting incident, they want your setup, they want your
[02:33]
turn into act two, they want your midpoint, they want your turn into act three, and then
[02:39]
you want your climax, maybe say how it ends, maybe down. But if you could kind of boil
[02:44]
down the structure of your story, it becomes a lot easier to articulate it in these longer
[02:49]
form documents.
[02:50]
They never made you read a book of how to write a screenplay. You take ten of your favorite
[02:58]
movies and you watch them over and over and over and you develop like involuntarily a
[03:06]
muscle in your brain that teaches you how to write. You don't even think about it.
[03:11]
You just absorb it. And then when you start writing, you develop like this muscle in your
[03:17]
brain. I can't explain it. But it's like an automatic response as you write.
[03:22]
It's a memory where you go, okay, this has to come next, this has to come next. And you're
[03:27]
not thinking first, second act, midpoint, point of no return.
[03:32]
When you're looking for attention, you want to leave a lot of the description up to
[03:37]
the interpretation of the reader. It's what makes this seem so great when you're watching
[03:43]
it.
[03:44]
Whoever's watching, it is not spelled out to you what could possibly happen and your brain
[03:50]
goes crazy.
[03:51]
On your first couple of drafts, it's okay to throw in character. You got to feel it out.
[03:56]
But once you start getting to the trimming phase, there's something I like to do. So I would
[04:00]
put the main character in the middle. And I'll have every character sort of around him.
[04:07]
And if they are not interacting in a place where they're influencing back and forth,
[04:11]
pushing Michael for growth, plot, distraction, intention, obstacle, they're gone. And you'll
[04:16]
start to see visually if a character is really interacting and working with the main character
[04:22]
or just really being fat. The great John Himes, he's a director. He told me that when you
[04:28]
write a scene with dialogue, get rid of the first two exchanges in the last two. And
[04:33]
then everything in the middle is necessary. I always love that note because it is. You
[04:37]
normally might enter a scene saying, Hey, how are you? The weather was great. But I'm
[04:40]
about to cut it. Get right to it. When you're thinking of exposition, how to change it,
[04:45]
that's the first thing you could probably do is get rid of the first two or three or
[04:48]
whatever in the last three.
[04:50]
Stop explaining your feelings. I feel this way and you did this because of that. And back
[04:55]
in the day, like, no, like stop explaining it. I really think it's important as an exercise
[05:00]
to write your scenes without any dialogue. Like really try and convey the emotion through
[05:07]
character action. Of course, you need dialogue. I'm not saying you don't try and pick a scene
[05:12]
and force yourself to never talk about the actual issue. Have two people arguing over dinner
[05:19]
about the dinner, but they're really arguing about a topic that's important. You'll
[05:23]
say abortion or something very hot topic. Push it. Have them like, you know, I don't want
[05:29]
the mashed potatoes and it sounds silly because you're like, well, I'm just saying what
[05:33]
you mean, but that's the thing is we never say what we mean. You're saying about like,
[05:37]
oh, you don't bring out the laundry or you do this and that, whatever it is. But it's always
[05:42]
something deeper. Pick a scene and there should be a hidden argument. What does each character
[05:46]
want? What is the intention and obstacle in that scene? And what's your, like, the hidden argument
[05:53]
thematically, she know, try again, take a scene like this, you know, dinner scene about abortion.
[05:58]
Like, what is they actually arguing about? Yes, they're arguing about abortion, but what's the
[06:02]
underlying iceberg to that scene? Is it because Guy wants a baby and his wife doesn't. Like,
[06:11]
there should be the hidden thematic argument, which is larger. I mean, I love procedure movies
[06:16]
and there's a place for them for sure. But again, thinking about your idea now has to sell
[06:19]
at a sentence, which it always kind of has been. But yeah, having those larger drama films that,
[06:27]
you know, maybe don't unfurl nicely, like, but you kind of got to get to the point. High concept,
[06:33]
as of now tends to be what they're looking for. So just be aware. Streamers see rewatchability
[06:38]
and shareability is more valuable than awards procedure. They want that twist ending that people
[06:42]
talk about. They want to have that wall up at the end that hits you. So people can go to,
[06:47]
you know, oh my God, did you see this? And Spielberg said this a while ago that you are two most
[06:51]
important parts of your screenplay, the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes, right? Because
[06:56]
you hope that's what you're remembering sitting out in the theater and being gripped. And then
[06:59]
your last sentence, that's what you're leaving with. You know, having an amazing story is obviously
[07:03]
the most critical aspect of trying to get a movie made. It's like inspired, of course. But having
[07:08]
like a really great deck that can communicate to producers and to, again, like in the entire industry,
[07:15]
there is maybe one or two people in the totem pole that will actually read your story and shall
[07:19]
everyone else of its worthwhile. After that, it is primarily a sales job up the ladder.
[07:24]
Instead of me starting to think about, okay, I have this idea now how can I turn it into a story?
[07:29]
How can I turn it into a structure of, you know, beginning, middle, end, the enticing incident.
[07:34]
Instead of that, I just like meditated on it and started thinking about like visuals. Like, what do
[07:40]
I see when I feel this idea or what emotions do I feel? How can I, instead of how can I tell an
[07:46]
narrative? I was like thinking how can I make other people feel when I'm feeling when I think of
[07:51]
this idea? Like what visuals can I write that will maybe make other people feel this,
[07:58]
leading with your subconscious rather than your intellect? Like instead of letting your intellect
[08:02]
tell you logically what makes sense to happen next, I just let whatever my subconscious
[08:08]
said me be the next thing that I wrote. So I just sat down, wrote that first scene and as soon as
[08:13]
that first scene was done, instead of thinking about what happens next logically, I just,
[08:18]
whatever idea came to me, I just like wrote it down on paper. And then of course I would take that
[08:24]
and kind of flesh it out into something that kind of makes sense.
