Some Writing Tools for Short Screenplays

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

EDIT/NOTE: Also, Jared Meyer found this article on structuring 5 minute films.
http://www.channel101.com/articles/a...?article_id=29 (http://www.channel101.com/articles/article.php?article_id=29)
While the flash fiction points below are general strategies, the article gets into act structure and length for a 5 minute movie.

Here's some advice on writing "Flash Fiction", i.e. ultra short fiction for the web.

Unlike The Novel and the Full Length Screenplay, which bear some similarities in strategy and form, this structure and methods for Flash Fiction and Flash Films, fairly identical.

So I'm cutting and pasting what I found here, because it echoes my own sentiments to a "T" and it's easier than writing it all out myself. :D

Though I can take or leave #6, you will find that the most successful films in past DVXuser fests have made use of a fair number of the rest of the 7 points.

I've ignored 1,2 or 3 at my own peril and as a result I have some "flashily edited" shorts that cram lots of info into 5 or 6 minutes, but if you have a good idea and can take advantage of some or most of the formal strategies below, then you will be will be will be well on your way to doing very well in a DVXuser Fest.


EDIT / NOTE: This is not a "you must have a twist ending" thread, nor is it a "twist ending is always the way to go" thread. This is just food for thought. Likely one or a few of the points will be of use to someone. The twist ending is just 1 of the 7 points that may be of use to the writer of incredibly short fiction on the screen or page. The value you give it relative to the other points is up to you. Having said that - it's not my intent to discourage discourse on the subject, just to clarify the intent of the thread. OK ... here's the tips ...

...

Writing Flash Fiction
By G. W. Thomas
With the advent of the Internet, editors are looking for shorter works, more easily read on a computer screen. The current term is "flash fiction", a tale between 300-1000 words long. Longer than micro-fiction (10-300 words) but shorter than traditional short stories (3000-5000 words preferred by most magazines), flash fiction is usually a story of a single act, sometimes the culmination of several unwritten events.

This article will offer several strategies for writing flash fiction. Used by themselves or in combination, the writer can focus their story to that brief, interesting event.

1) The small idea
Look for the smaller ideas in larger ones. To discuss the complex interrelationship of parents and children you'd need a novel. Go for a smaller piece of that complex issue. How kids feel when they aren't included in a conversation. What kids do when they are bored in the car. Middle child. Bad report card. Find a smaller topic and build on it.

2) Bury the preamble in the opening
When you write your story, don't take two pages to explain all the pre-story. Find a way to set it all in the first paragraph, then get on with the rest of the tale.

3) Start in the middle of the action
Similar to #2, start the story in the middle of the action. A man is running. A bomb is about to go off. A monster is in the house. Don't describe any more than you have to. The reader can fill in some of the blanks.

4) Focus on one powerful image
Find one powerful image to focus your story on. A war-torn street. An alien sunset. They say a picture worth a thousand words. Paint a picture
with words. It doesn't hurt to have something happen inside that picture. It is a story after all.

5) Make the reader guess until the end
A little mystery goes a long way. Your reader may have no idea what is going on for the majority of the story. This will lure them on to the end. When they finish, there should be a good pay off or solution.

6) Use allusive references
By using references to a commonly known story you can save yourself all those unnecessary words. Refer to historical events. Use famous situations from literature. If the story takes place on the Titanic you won't have to explain what is going to happen, who is there or much of anything. History and James Cameron have already done it for you. Beware of using material that is too obscure. Your reader should be able to make the inferences.

7) Use a twist
Like #5, the twist ending allows the writer to pack some punch at the end of the story. Flash fiction is often twist-ending fiction because
you don't have enough time to build up sympathetic characters and show how a long, devastating plot has affected them. Like a good joke, flash fiction is often streamlined to the punch-line at the end.

To read step by step examples from a short story by the writer see the original article
HERE
(http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/flashfiction.html)
EDIT: A few more endings that work well on shorts.
A STRONG BUTTON: In some way we get new information, the world is opened up, at the very least, some point is underscored.
A CYCLICAL ENDING: This will all happen again.

THE HIGH GROUND:
THE STRAIGHT ENDING: Things progress in a straight line to a foreseeable or probable end.

You are an artist and you reject the notion of a twist ending. You think they are cheep and gimmicky and insulting to the viewer and who knows, maybe you're right.

The straight ending CAN work. It's just very hard to do in short fiction. In a feature, at the end of the 2nd act, you do every thing you can to suggest that the protag cannot possibly get what they set out to do.

Then in the 3rd act they get something different and better than what they set out for which may just be a different perspective in the face of total failure.

But you don't really have all that time to have the characters want something, spend time trying to get it, seem like they won't be able to get it, switch gears and get it another way or get something else, because you don't really have time to dwell on the end of the 2nd act.

The idea with button, cyclical and twist endings is that they often seem to provide more order than the straight ending by making the viewer feel that there was some reason you just showed them what you showed them by very economical means. They lend themselves more to an "Ohhhhhhh, I get it" moment.

What you may want to avoid is a completely straight trajectory where you suggest something might happen, and then it does, and then that's all there is to your film. This can potentially leave viewer with a "yes and?" feeling.

While that might look like this in feature:
1) Boy meets girl
-----
2) Boy pursues girl and makes some progress in the face of many setbacks until ...
Something happens that will keep boy from ever getting girl. Oh no.
-----
3) Boy gets girl.

(you could substitute Superman learns of a bomb threat, makes progress towards stopping it through a series of wins and losses with the bad guy, looks like he will certainly fail, then somehow wins)

But in the short form, you run the risk of this happening:
1) 1) Boy meets girl
-----
2) Boy pursues girl
-----
3) Boy gets girl

This will almost invariably lead to the "yes and?" feeling. To pull it off you must give us a dazzling and rich character study and have the experience of what the characters are going through be enough for your pieces to stand on, or have some other element that's so well done it makes your piece worth watching ... in five or 6 minutes.

Of course if you attempt this you'd probably start with what would be the end of the 2nd act in a feature.
2.5) There is anbsolutely no way in hell that this boy and this girl (who are in the middle of their story) will ever be together,
----
3) Somehow they get together

For more see post #7.

...................

[Kholi]

Great tips, Jack.

Although, number seven is a personal pet peeve. I might be the only one totally annoyed by twists in shorts.

[Brandon Rice]

Nice jack... I followed most of those ideas :)

[Mark Johnson]

Thanks very very much, Jack.

Kholi, you don't like twists in shorts? (I'll avoid succumbing to making a crack about testicular tortion here and, instead, merely refer folks to the Scrotal Safety Commission: http://www.scrotalsafetycommission.com/

[Kholi]

L O L Mark J.

That's just bad.

[Brandon Rice]

You know it! LOL

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Great tips, Jack.

Although, number seven is a personal pet peeve. I might be the only one totally annoyed by twists in shorts.

I feel you dawg.

Hopefully if it is earned, though, and not just tacked on then the twist ending works.

There have been really succesful twists in the fests and some that worked and were more satisfying than a flat ending, but were more gimmicky.

A few thoughts.

As the writer points out above,
--- you don't have time to establish a real emotional connection, so the piece needs to be buttoned in some way that feels complete.

--- I think the issue even more than that is somewhat structural. In a feature film we have time to
1) set up an expectation
2) make it seem that the expectation will fail (even though we never really believe it will)
3) and then fulfill the expectation

In a short you have time to either
1) Set up an Expectation
2) Fulfill it
or
1) Set up an Expectation
2) Deny it

To use the most obvious exmaple:
Boy Meets Girl
Boy Looses Girl
Boy Shows up at the Airport and Gets Girl Back
In a feature this works because we have time to invest in the end of the second act where all hope is lost (Boy Looses Girl) so that when he meets her at the airport and gets her back, or says "You complete me" there is (hopefully) an emotional pay off.

But how many shorts have you seen that left you with a
"Yes and?" feeling at the end.

That is because they are just
BOY MEETS GIRL
BOY KEEPS HER
or
BOY MEETS GIRL
BOY LOOSES HER

The first scenario will definitely leave you with a "Yes and?" feeling because there is no conflict. "Yes and?" Meaning, why did I watch that, what was the point of the story. It's like saying "I found a dollar bill." "Yes and?" "That's it. Pretty cool huh?" The twist which would make it worth mentioning to w friend would be "And ... it was my dollar bill. I initialed it and spent it 15 years ago on the other side of the country. Can you believe it came back to me?"

The second senario may work better. A lot of people, myself included, love "Lost in Translation". But again in a feature we really have time to get to know these people and ponder what the film is about and what, if any, the point was. Maybe the point is that there is no point. In the ultra short film, this can leave a real feeling of incompleteness (though not always) and may also be a "yes and?" situation.

To me,however , and this may be a notion that you can stomach a bit better Kholi, the TWIST need not turn the universe upside down. It just needs to expand it so that we see there was a point for dropping in on these characters AT THIS SPECIFIC TIME. In this sense it could be thought of as a BUTTON rather than a twist.

Also another ending that works really well in shorts is the CYCLICAL ending. This is all going to repeat itself again (see CHECK from Spyfest)

Here are some examples of button and twist endings from past fests.
SPOILER ALERTS BELOW
Remember I consider the BUTTON ending a type of TWIST ENDING
Pardon me for using some of my films, I just know them best of course.

S I M I L O
TWIST: the lover her robot is replacing was a robot that was actually capable of loving her.

REKINDLED
TWIST: She's actually dead (yes that old chestnut) BUTTON: the solution to their problem is killing him too.

NO MIDDLE GROUND
TWIST: One of the badguys is an agent all along.

SHED
BUTTON: He's been building a suicide machine all along. Here it's about withholding an answer to a question that's been set up until the last few frames.

CHECK
CYCLICAL: Even though we do not fully understand the full nature of the mysterious stalkers that have dogged our main character for the duration of the film (nor are we intended too), the cyclical ending feels satisfying and complete when the stalkers overtake the main character and he becomes one of them and the process begins again with a new victim.

BONE HAND
BUTTON / CYCLICAL: She's transformed to become like the superhero that saved her.

TEXAS FORTUNE:
TWIST: The Hero is actually the bad guy. DOUBLE TWIST / BUTTON: The Victim turns the tables on the badguy, and then becomes a badguy himself!!!!!!!

[Kholi]

Well thought-out response, Jack. I actually agree with you on all points, and have accepted that a "twist" in short films tends to "sell" the best, regardless.

It's honestly just something I have a hard time committing to in my own work/writing.

When constructed with a host of thought, the twist ending is most-certainly gratifying.

In TEXAS FORTUNE, I kinda feel that it's less of a twist and more character development. That this "good guy" became a three-dimensional being at the end, although he doesn't have a chance to come back to the light. That could be seen as a twist, however.

Conundrum.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

MORE SPOILERS FOR TEXAS FORTUNE




In TEXAS FORTUNE, I kinda feel that it's less of a twist and more character development. That this "good guy" became a three-dimensional being at the end, although he doesn't have a chance to come back to the light. That could be seen as a twist, however.

Conundrum.

Well that's the second twist, more part of the resolution and is a bit of a cyclical ending - not the main twist of the story, IMHO.

The fact that the GOOD GUY turns out to be a conman badguy is the main twist and a TWIST INDEED. The rest, the victim becoming the badguy, is just the resolution. But the twist is that the Cowboy is manipulating the zombie for profit, that's a fairly original idea (as original as ideas ever are) and made me go "cool" inside my head when I saw it. I would agree with you that the victim becoming the badguy is a deepening of that character.

[Kholi]

That was definitely a rather unique idea, agree on that! And, it's interesting the different perspective on work you'll get from different peoples. I didn't venture into Texas Fortune's thread enough to really get to discussing what was thought-- and it certainly deserved discussion.

On about twists: I think another reason I've got a very slight issue with such is that I've always felt that a "twist" should immediately recontextualize the entire story. Not just bits and pieces, but nearly every single scene.

I think that's what I define as a "twist" and should probably open myself up to the different variations of it.

A [Good] example includes THE PRESTIGE.


On the entirety of the topic: It's really a great way to approach short narrative work. Iconic is always a great way to go for short work, as it's recognizable to the masses.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

... On the entirety of the topic: It's really a great way to approach short narrative work. Iconic is always a great way to go for short work, as it's recognizable to the masses.
Which brings up another good point.

The above points should be thought of as syntax ... grammar ... not hard RULES.

New and deeper meaning may be found by bucking the syntax, going outside the grammar,
BUT ...
the audience for your film may shrink the further you go outside the grammar that resonates and has meaning for the viewer (whom you are presumably communicating to).

This is not an evil thing. Just knowledge to wield in casting off the grammar.

As McKee puts it, the further you get away from the Grand Argument Story (for features) the smaller the audience. And that's OK if that's what you want to do. I love David Lynch, and I mentioned Lost in Translation. McKee mentions an auteur filmmaker friend of his who's narratives are very challenging but who continuously gets his films funded. He asks him how the hell that works and his friend tells him that his pictures only cost 1 Million dollars to make and make about 2 million total (or numbers to that effect) so he has no problem making more.

My goal is to be communicative and accessible with impact while having some meaning and depth.

[Kholi]

Which brings up another good point.

The above points should be thought of as syntax ... grammar ... not hard RULES.

New and deeper meaning may be found by bucking the syntax, going outside the grammar,
BUT ...
the audience for your film may shrink the further you go outside the grammar that resonates and has meaning for the viewer (whom you are presumably communicating to).

This is not an evil thing. Just knowledge to wield in casting off the grammar.

As McKee puts it, the further you get away from the Grand Argument Story (for features) the smaller the audience. And that's OK if that's what you want to do. I love David Lynch, and I mentioned Lost in Translation. McKee mentions an auteur filmmaker friend of his who's narratives are very challenging but who continuously gets his films funded. He asks him how the hell that works and his friend tells him that his pictures only cost 1 Million dollars to make and make about 2 million total (or numbers to that effect) so he has no problem making more.

My goal is to be communicative and accessible with impact while having some meaning and depth.

And, such an explaination is why it's always good to get a writer on-board. We've generally had time to study what makes something iconic or accessible to the masses. What's been working for decades, what will continue to work.

Writers exist so that you guys don't have to sit down and read Joseph Campbell's work. =D And, that stuff can get down-right confusing.

Sorry to derail your thread here, Jack. It's a very good addition to this section and should help people out; including m'self when the brain fries and I can no-longer fight off the "twist".

[Attic6]

But the twist is that the Cowboy is manipulating the zombie for profit, that's a fairly original idea

I love this line!!!

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Thanks very very much, Jack.

Kholi, you don't like twists in shorts? (I'll avoid succumbing to making a crack about testicular tortion here and, instead, merely refer folks to the Scrotal Safety Commission: http://www.scrotalsafetycommission.com/

Damn you, now I can't stop laughing!:thumbsup::-Mark-05(DBG)(yes, that's a finger and two knuckles).

[cinealma]

As far as twists go in short fiction/films, the best of the best aren't really twists at all. They are more like a slight turn of the screw. Things become skewed SLIGHTLY or a new door is SLIGHTLY opened. Jack mentioned this in one of his posts above but I really wanted to reiterate it strongly. Twists in films are rather cliche right now thanks to Mr. Shyamalan. I don't especially advocate them in short films either. BUT, if you just skew something a little in the end, that's the best.

If you want a master craft in short story telling, pick up two books: a collected short works of Chekhov and a collected short works of Raymond Carver. I think most of the people in this forum will relate better to Carver as it is more contemporary.

Yes, read Carver, all will be revealed. :thumbsup:

[Brandon Rice]

I frankly like twists if they're well done...
See... The Artist from Dramafest, where the person you think is a stalker is actually the woman's husband who has been doing something to surprise her for her anniversary
Or... ODD Squad from Sci-fest, where the partner is in fact an ODD.
Or... A Price Too High from Sci-fest, where the person who brought the girl into the psychiatrist office is in fact the one who tried to kill her, though that one wasn't a twist persey, but more of a button I'd say.

[Luis Caffesse]

I frankly like twists if they're well done...
See... The Artist from Dramafest, where the person you think is a stalker is actually the woman's husband who has been doing something to surprise her for her anniversary
Or... ODD Squad from Sci-fest, where the partner is in fact an ODD.
Or... A Price Too High from Sci-fest, where the person who brought the girl into the psychiatrist office is in fact the one who tried to kill her, though that one wasn't a twist persey, but more of a button I'd say.

Well - while those may have all been fine twists.... they probably won't have the same impact now that I know what they are.
:thumbsup:

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Heh heh

yeah how about some spoiler alerts B-man. :D

(like Luis was really gonna hunt down and watch all those films though :) )


... read Carver, all will be revealed. :thumbsup:

1) I LOVE Carver.
2) I bet you a nickel to a ginger cookie that if any one of the gazillion members of DVXuser tried to emulate him in a short they would go down in flames faster than George Michael at a rest stop. Talk about vague seemingly pointless stories.

Note that seemingly is underlined. Carver stories have a point, but whatever it is, it is sooooo subtle. He has a mercurial and somewhat singular genius. My GF a former Harvard Dramaturg, Dramaturged a theatrical adaptation of Carver and said it was like watching paint dry. And she loves him more than I do. Point is, not much happens in a Carver story. There is an underlying feeling of conflict at times, but most often they are the antithesis of drama.

Maybe someone will do a short like that and it will be profound. I'm not saying it's impossible, but ...

Having said that I just read an All Hallows Fest entry that is somewhat Carver-esque. I like it a lot. I like the Beginning, Middle, and lead up to the End (rising action), but wonder if it's ending is enough to feel satisfying as a short. It's really well written. That's the feedback I am going to give the writer - maybe the ending is brilliant, subtle, but I would be afraid of it personally.

[Mark Harris]

Having said that I just read an All Hallows Fest entry that is somewhat Carver-esque. I like it a lot. I like the Beginning, Middle, and lead up to the End (rising action), but wonder if it's ending is enough to feel satisfying as a short. It's really well written. That's the feedback I am going to give the writer - maybe the ending is brilliant, subtle, but I would be afraid of it personally.

You mean, it would not have a good chance of winning the fest?

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Hmmm ... dunno if that's what I mean exactly.

Hopefully the cream will rise as they say around here. But as stated in previous posts, the further away you get from the accepted grammar that has been proven to connect with an audience, the smaller the audience gets. It may be brilliant, but not as many people show up for a David Lynch film as they do for a Speilberg film (usually).

I think I'm mostly talking about writing a short that connects with people and feels satisfying at the end . I don't know if the short I read, even after the good beginning and middle will feel satisfying. On the page the ending feels unsatisfying to me. Abrupt. But maybe all of the dialogue and pacing will be super fast up until the end and then the filmmaker will take a glacier pace with the ending that will really allow it to sink in and seem profound .... I just do not know. I am not going to tell the guy to change it per se, just my feeling about it.

To me it will be an interesting experiment if he keeps the ending the way it is. First I will be interested to see if it plays like it does on the page or not. Second, in either case, what will the experience of watching it be like and will people connect with it and consider it a strong piece - that's primarily what I mean by I would be afraid of pulling it off personally, secondarily I guess, sure, I might be concerned with how it would do in terms of placing.

But you bring up a good point. The mark of success for each filmmaker may be different. Some may want to win or place higher than other fests. While folks in that group may think the journey itself is also very important, others may see the journey of primary importance and their fidelity to the process or exploring the material as a mark of success. Maybe I would be concerned with winning and this guy will just be like "let's see what happens".

[Luis Caffesse]

Heh heh

yeah how about some spoiler alerts B-man. :D

(like Luis was really gonna hunt down and watch all those films though :) )


Alright, truth be told I was just giving Brice a hard time.
I've seen all those films.... but not everyone here has.
:)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Alright, truth be told I was just giving Brice a hard time...

Always a good policy :beer: :D

(We kid because we care, B-Dawg)

[bosindy]

Anyone with some tips just on purely the amount of material to fit in a 5 minute short. The page a minute rule didn't work out to well last time.

Do you act out the pages to see if it fits etc...?

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I try to read it out loud - screen actions and dialogue, and visualize each action description, and I read the dialogue at a slightly slow measured pace.

So if it says, establishing shot - the cemetery, and I am envisioning a slow crane shot, I try to see it happening, then read the next bit.

A page per minute averages out over the course of a feature i.e. an hour or more.

Norm's spyfest was like 8 or 9 pages and he came in under for example.

I usually start at 9 pages and try to cut to 4 pages and wind up at 5 for a 6 minute film.

If I could get an idea fully developed and down to 4 pages for a 5 minute film then I would be stoked. More than likely I would have time to give things full weight and not have to have to short change the moments to get on to he next one.

[cinealma]

1) I LOVE Carver.


Well, then, next time we are in each other's towns, I'll buy you a drink and we can talk Carver, my friend. He's one of my favorite writers. I met Tess Gallagher a number of years ago through a friend of friend.



My GF a former Harvard Dramaturg, Dramaturged a theatrical adaptation of Carver and said it was like watching paint dry.


That's very cool. I'm sure if she would have directed it, it would have been much better. :thumbsup:



2) I bet you a nickel to a ginger cookie that if any one of the gazillion members of DVXuser tried to emulate him in a short they would go down in flames faster than George Michael at a rest stop. Talk about vague seemingly pointless stories.


I agree. I think a Carver adaptation, AND STAYING IN THE SPIRIT OF HIS WRITING, would not be satisfying to a lot of people, including the filmmaker. You just either get it or you don't.

[bosindy]

I try to read it out loud - screen actions and dialogue, and visualize each action description, and I read the dialogue at a slightly slow measured pace.

So if it says, establishing shot - the cemetery, and I am envisioning a slow crane shot, I try to see it happening, then read the next bit.

A page per minute averages out over the course of a feature i.e. an hour or more.

Norm's spyfest was like 8 or 9 pages and he came in under for example.

I usually start at 9 pages and try to cut to 4 pages and wind up at 5 for a 6 minute film.

If I could get an idea fully developed and down to 4 pages for a 5 minute film then I would be stoked. More than likely I would have time to give things full weight and not have to have to short change the moments to get on to he next one.

Good advice, I think I am going to write and idea I have and see if it can be done. One of the things holding me back from jumping in is the 5 minutes. I wonder why 5 instead of 6? although people always want more time regardless.

[Beat Takeshi]

Anyone with some tips just on purely the amount of material to fit in a 5 minute short. The page a minute rule didn't work out to well last time.

Do you act out the pages to see if it fits etc...?

One thing I do is make a few grids on paper. The first one breaks the story up in 30 second intervals and I write in what I want to accomplish in that 30 seconds. Then I break it down to 15 sec intervals for the stuff thats much to fast for 30. Then the 10 sec if need be. I do this before I write the script so I know how much I'm allowed to write. I think I made this up the first contest because I needed to see it on paper graphically to figure it out. Works for me.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Also, I'm sure you've heard to break up your action description into no more than two
line paragraphs to make for a breezier read.

Breaking the action into two line paragraphs and skipping spaces between each paragraph
can also help make sure you've given enough page space (i.e., time) to the image you are describing.

This is nowhere near exact, but a least there is some more space to represent the time
the shot will take better than writting it one long paragrpage, which would take less space.

[Beat Takeshi]

I would get in trouble doing it that way. I need something more visual.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I hear you. Not saying breaking it up like that works, just it's a step in the right direction from a big block of text to describe lots of action which take up less space on the page.

It's always so hard to tell almost no matter what for these short ones. The page count doesn't average out as well as it does for a feature.

[Beat Takeshi]

Thats the problem my Hitman story is having, not a lot of dialog but tons of action and it feels weird typing out tons of action when I have it all in my head.

[deedive]

alot of good strategies here.
my problem is i cant read or write.
i just do storyboards:)

[Geoff_R]

Jack, great post. Hopefully this will translate to some better stories for the fest.

[Derrick_SA]

Thanks for the tips, I think I'm gonna try and come up with a short, I always find it difficult to make a movie of only 5 minutes that makes sense,

with this new learnt wisdom, I'm gonna try and make one for this fest.

THANKS!
Derrick

[Jared Meyer]

GREAT post Jack, thank you! I've never heard of flash fiction, but it makes perfect sense that we can make use of its techniques in a less than 5 minute movie.

Here's a pretty interesting read in the same vein - but written specifically about the 5 minute movie story structure. Not perfect, but worth reading!

http://www.channel101.com/articles/article.php?article_id=29

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Hey thanks. I will add that to the first post too.

[Aaron Marshall]

What an altruistic post JDS. You rock. I have most of these thoughts in mind when writing, but it's a great value to have them in such order to quickly reference.

thanks! :grin:

[Jason Ramsey]

I just wanted to bump this and move it to a more permanent home for all future DVXFest-er's.

Thanks, Jack.

Later,
Jason

[Chris_Keaton]

I like the suggestion that you just get a good writer to pen your short. :laugh:

[Matt Harris]

Fantastic thread Jack, I'll keep all those bullet points in mind as i write.

Deedive, welcome back! You better make something for Thrillfest dude.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Going back to some of the earlier comments made in this thread.

I'm fine with 'twist endings' as long as there was some indication/hint of the twist. The more subtle and well thought out, the better it will be. I just don't like when a short ends with a twist that comes out of left field and really had no business being there to begin with. It was just tacked on.

It's a cheap way of doing it and doesn't feel like a twist ending at all.

MAH

[Darkline]

I think disagreement comes from the term 'twist', which needs a bit more definition. All shorts should end with a reversal or twist of some kind, but there are degrees. A typical extreme twist ending is something which generally throws the story universe upside down. It's not just a reversal but a complete inverse of the story rules you've seen (sixth sense, Identity). The problem with them, especially in a short is its often the movies only purpose, to reveal the narrative twist. To me that's a mistake, it leaves no re-watchability. Once you know the twist, who cares?

But if the twist is linked to the emotional character arc, then the audience does care, 'The Others' ending is great because the twist isn't a gimmick, it's answering integral questions raised in the characters emotional lives/arc, and also probably the only logic ending the film could have had.

Twists are more inviting to write in a short, you barely have time to explore the story universe so you can fool the audience in ways you couldn't with a feature. You only have time to set the broad strokes, so its not hard to turn that little information upside down and say 'gotcha!'. That's the lure, and why it's done so often to ill effect. It takes a lot of skill to combine the narrative twist with character arc in a satisfying but unexpected way within 6 mins. I'd say thats why most on here don't like twists because it really is the 'go to' of short films. Done well however it can be the best that shorts have to offer.

So I would say a twist is great as long as it's not the sole purpose of your script. I want a reason to go back and watch it again.

[Chris_Keaton]

A good strategy is to find a writer whose style you like and just let them write a script. :)

[ashpatel]

Thanks for posting these guys. These are very useful for writers. Whenever I get stuck in my writing, I come back here to read these.