How to Write a Screenplay

Video Transcript

"Lawrence of Arabia. The Godfather. Gone With the Wind. Great movies. How do you write a screenplay? Well, I'm Joe Pauly, been in the television and entertainment business for about twenty years. I'm going to try and help you out. So you want to be a famous screenwriter, okay. First thing you want to do is format. What I can suggest to you is look at a library or online and get an existing format of an existing screenplay. Look at it, see how it's structured, see how the typeface is, see how it's spaced. Now you've got something to work with, you can copy that. Don't copy the stories and the characters, but the format of the actual screenplay. All right, now come up with your story and plot. Don't get too involved in camera angles and places for to move things and special effects. That's going to be handled by the director. Just go with simple fade up, fade down, when it's a scene change. Work on your characters. Keep them original and believable. Avoid stereotypes. It may seem like a lot of movies have similar stereotypes in them, but try and avoid them, it's going to help your screenplay stand out a little bit. Keep in mind the setting you're using. If you're making a period piece, it's a little tougher to sell those than it is something set in current times, because we don't have to pay for a new fort or an old Roman building. Climax and structure. Make sure you have some conflict in it and that happens at the big point of your screenplay. And again, above all, keep it interesting and entertaining. People are going to the movies to be interested and entertained. All right, good luck with it, my name is Joe Pauly, have fun."