WD Filmworks

Why Your First 10 Screenplay Pages Matter The Most

The First 10 Pages Of Your Screenplay Make Or Break You As A Writer. How Can Your Pages Stand Out From The Crowd?
When you sit down to write a screenplay, it’s no coincidence that the first ten pages will wind up being the ones you rewrite the most. Opening scenes have to hook the reader and convince executives to make the script, but even before that, the first ten pages will make or break how you’re seen as a writer.

Your Opening Scene
I’ll be brief since we have a whole article on opening scenes, but they matter. Duh. Your opening scene has to set the tone for the whole film or TV show. In your first pages, I need to see the heart and soul for why this project needs to get off the ground.

The Characters Who Populate The World
Inside your first ten pages, we should also meet your main characters. It’s always fun to nail character introductions in a fun way. What’s the most stereotypical way to meet your character? What’s som**hing that can define them? Okay, what’s som**hing we haven’t seen before?

A Day In The Life
We want to know how our characters spend their day. Whether it’s Michael Scott giving us a tour of his office or Steve Rogers getting his ass kicked in an alley, we want to know about their struggles. Some of my favorite day in the life moments come in Young Adult. We see a woman one the brink, prone to self-destructive behavior, and addicted to adulation.

This Is The Story
Once you have the change in place, you have a movie or pilot ready to start. Some changes come upfront. The Office has a camera crew in it now. So do Parks & Rec and this Modern Family. Other changes come a little later. Walt has cancer, the people from Up in the Air are going to fire people in a different way, and the gals in Booksmart want to live a little.



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How To Shoot Gorgeous Interviews In Hideous Locations

If you are a small skeleton crew or a one-man-or-woman-band wearing many hats, it can be easy to plunk your subject in a chair somewhere and start rolling. We’ve all been there. You’re in a time-constrained situation. You don’t want to test the patience of your subject.

Step 1: Scout The Location
The first thing that DP Casey McBeath suggests is to look for what you DON’T want to be in the frame. A bathroom. An awkward corner. Find the least offensive spot, and then make sure to put your interview subject far away enough from the background wall to create space.

Step 2: Camera Placement
According to McBeath, people benefit from a slightly lower angle, not right at eye angle as we often place them. He’ll have the subject look left to right, which is a standard he feels makes the person in the frame look more glamorous.

Step 3: Key Light
McBeath starts with a key light that is soft and attractive. He feels that 45 degree is best, with a 40-degree fabric grid to prevent too much spill distracting the viewer.

Step 4: Backlight
Short and simple, it helps separate your interview subject from everything else.

Step 5: Background Light
McBeath’s trick for background? Add some color to contrast.

Step 6: Light With Practicals
Get a hand dimmer for $10 from Walmart, and then dim a nice lamp in the background. Just make sure your practical is not poking out of your subject’s head.

Step 7: Set Design
Basically, you can start by removing distracting elements from the frame. When it doubt, use brightness to guide the viewer’s eye. Guiding to what? The interview subject. We’re starting to catch on.

Step 8: Second Camera
Why should you use a second camera? Because it makes it a lot damned easier to cut between moments of what your subject is saying. You can only cut to B-roll to splice to interview clips together so often.

Step 9: Audio
The head of Deity Microphones, Andrew Jones, steps in to give us some insight on proper mic setup for an interview. His take? Put a boom on a stand. (Not with a shotgun, as we are indoors, but rather a hypercardiod pencil mic.)

Step 10: Talking To Your Subject
Break the ice, but when you start, avoid talking over the subject. You will have a hell of a time editing your voice as you step on what the interview subject is saying. And try to get your interviewee to respond in full sentences.

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LAGOS filmLAB - Open Call by British Council & BAM The 2019 call for application for the LAGOS filmLAB opens on Thursday, 22 August 2019 and the submission process will close on Wednesday18 September 2019 9:00GMT+1.

How Long Does It Take To Write A Screenplay?

Lets talk about the strategy, process and few other questions
How Long Should A Screenplay Be?
I get this question a lot. The general answer is 80-120 pages. There are a ton of exceptions to the rule, but if you’re a first-time writer, those are the parameters most producers want to see your script stay within. After people figure out how many pages they have to write in a script they usually ask the next biggest question…

How Long Does It Take To Write A Script?
As I covered in the opening, screenplays are like snowflakes; they all have different shapes, sizes, and needs. Generally speaking, you can plan on any first draft taking you around three months. That’s my general rule of thumb. I came up with that number because the usual contract for writing a script allows for 12 weeks for the delivery of the first draft. I usually try to finish the draft and leave a month for polishing.

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