THE IMPORTANCE OF PREPARATION

Writing a feature film is always bound to be an overwhelming, daunting task. Whether it is the first or fifty-first one that you are writing, it’s a lot to delve into.

This is why a major head start is in the preparation. Any initial thoughts, ideas, lines that strike out of nowhere, write them down. This will all help prepare for what you are about to write. If you keep all of the ideas for the film loose in your mind then it’s all likely to jumble up. It helps to have as clear a mind as possible.

A vital aspect of writing is enjoying what you do. If you went to a shift at work on minimum sleep and nothing to eat, it’s not going to be enjoyable (yes, it may not have been enjoyable in the first place but it doesn’t help the case!) The point is, perhaps not everyone, but most try to be prepared for their shift in this way, it’s a similar principle for writing a feature film. You wouldn’t just, open a blank script document with no idea what you’re about to write and create it on the spot- although, if you have, kudos!

The points throughout this article will elaborate on preparation and let you know how to help towards it.

KNOWING YOUR CHARACTERS

The more you know your characters the more you can bring to the film, through them. It’s best to know even minor details about your characters: their habits, tics, what they’re proud to have in their lives and what they’re missing. These are all elements that bring your story to life, the more realistic your characters are.

It’s easy for you as a writer to know that your protagonist is a good person (not all protagonists’ are good people, this is just an example) however, this may not be as easy for an audience to interpret, they didn’t create them so can only judge off what they see. I’m going to explain an example from BLAKE SNYDER’s book- SAVE THE CAT!- of how this can be done. If your protagonist walks past a child who’s cat is stuck in a tree and decides to help her by getting it down, it is shown that he is a good person. This basic moral of helping someone can be applied to any scenario in your script, it still portrays the same message that the protagonist is a good person without force-feeding it to your audience. This can also be flipped into reverse, if the protagonist chose to ignore the child and leave the cat, it conveys the opposite message that the character perhaps isn’t so nice. It’s the art of SHOW DON’T TELL.

The depth of your characters is another important element, an audience will invest in your characters the more real and believable they are. Consider their behaviour and how an audience could relate to them… do they doubt themselves very often? Do they question how capable they are? Make them not just characters, but human. Apply these inner questions to the story, then decide whether you want your character to conquer them or surrender.

This leads me on to character development. If your character is in the midst of self-doubt, but need to snap out of it in order to reach their goal, consider how they do this. What will motivate them to continue? How will they overcome their fears? By the end of the film, they should be a different person to who the audience meet at the beginning.

STRUCTURE

Typically, feature films begin with somewhat of an equilibrium. Just incase you’re unfamiliar with what an equilibrium is- it’s the idea of balance within the world of the film. The film opens up with an… okay world, could be better for the protagonist, could be worse. Allow the audience to become familiar with this world, then drag it further through the mud. Create the DISequilibrium- remove the balance. Now, the protagonist has to do something to bring the balance back, whether it be overcoming a fear, standing up to someone or breaking out of their comfort zone… they need to restore the old world; only better than before.

Once the equilibrium, then disequilibrium is set up, introduce the quest. The initial plan to restore the peace and balance, make it as difficult and complicated as possible because- touching on the previous section- your protagonist is human and nothing comes easy.

The A-Story is the main narrative flow within the feature, but the audience need a minor break to the primary story around half an hour or slightly further into the film. Introduce a B-Story, one that doesn’t require as much investment but matches the theme of the A-Story. For example… I’m going to use Shrek (why not, everyone knows and loves it?) Shrek is initially a love story where the relationship is unconventional, the B-Story reflects this through the relationship of Shrek and Donkey, as well as Donkey and Dragon. All three are unconventional relationships, the symmetry of the theme allows the audience to not completely leer away from the A-Story.

As the equilibrium is nearly the reached, the protagonist should’ve changed from who the audience saw at the start, perhaps for better, perhaps for worse. However, test this newfound, developed character. Push the equilibrium further away from them around an hour into the film. Test how this developed character will handle the situation in comparison to who the audience saw at the start. Make them push the boundaries, think outside the box for the final equilibrium- the ideal one- to finally be reached.

HOOK AND SINKER

It’s important to hook your audience in from the very start. Make it clear who the protagonist is, then refer back to the points made in the KNOWING YOUR CHARACTERS section. The initial set up of the film should clearly portray the stakes that are crossing the protagonist’s path in order to reach their goal.

By the final scenes, the stakes should have somehow been conquered and the goal reached. In some cases, the goal is adapted into something else as the story progresses. Nevertheless, it is reached by the end.

TONE AND THEME

May your film be purely a drama, comedy, comedy-drama… make this known during the set up and maintain it throughout. If the film has the audience laughing for the first twenty minutes, then a death is suddenly thrown in and things get dark, the inconsistency will most likely disengage your audience.

If the theme is betrayal but the story follows mainly loyal characters, this juxtaposition will remove the intended theme. With this in mind, it would probably require a look at your characters to have a story about betrayal featuring loyal characters; it’s an oxymoron that wouldn’t bode best with the story.

KNOWING WHAT YOUR FILM IS ACTUALLY ABOUT

More often than not, it’s beneficial sometimes to sit back and question, WHAT IS THIS ACTUALLY ABOUT? Think if you were to be asked the quick-fire question, “The film you’re writing… what’s it about?” For instance, on the surface Legally Blonde may be about a woman who wants to win back her ex-boyfriend by attending Harvard with him. However, Legally Blonde is REALLY about breaking down the ‘ditsy blonde’ stereotype associated to the hair colour.

A long-winded synopsis isn’t necessary, just a one-liner can really help put your mind into perspective.

LENGTH

The basic guidelines for a feature film is anything from ninety pages to 120. Many films pass the 120 mark, some excessively. For your first feature film, I’d definitely recommend aiming for the ninety page mark as your minimum.

PRACTICALITY FOR WHERE YOU’RE AT

The first time I wrote a feature film was for my final year at University. I wrote a period drama set in New York, I submitted it to be marked and then I sat there and thought…

NOW WHAT?

I couldn’t send it to anyone because it would’ve needed a big budget behind it, bigger than any filmmakers I knew could supply. The practicality of it being filmed was too unlikely. Maybe one day… certainly not soon.

Now, when writing a feature film, I take into great consideration the cost factors and creating a film that’s easy as possible to film. To start with, the number of characters. For an entire feature film I try to keep it below ten, and make sure the characters that I have created are significant to the story. Next, location. New York would certainly be hasty, so I try to think of places near to me that are easy to go to.

The more practical a script is to film, the more likely it will be filmed. Unless you’re well established and director’s would jump at the chance to create a film you’ve wrote- try to keep it simple.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE

As an idea for a film script develops, you should know somewhat how you want the audience to leave the cinema. Floods of tears? Happier than when they entered? How ever you want them to feel, strive for it, even if that may mean killing off a good, innocent character. Go get them tears, make the audience angry. As long as they feel something, it shows they are engaged in your story, they’re a story-aware audience.

If your script reflects a moral message and has made a member of the audience cry, they’re likely to leave the film and reflect on the message, and how it made them feel. They may even keep your moral message in mind in order to not feel the same way again. Emotional responses generate word of mouth.

"Oh, have you seen that new film? Got me in tears!"

"You need to watch that new film, had me laughing for hours!"

Audience members are likely to remember an emotion just as much as a specific plot point.

A strong example- Marley and Me. I’ll leave that there.

A way to create emotional response is to, before the script reaches it’s end, remind the audience of the heart of the story. Why did you want an audience to come and see your film?

IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG TITLE

I’m sure I don’t speak for myself when I say that a strong title is one that tends to stick around in my head. I know many writers that pick their titles before actually sitting down and writing their film, personally I can’t do this at all. I have to write the entire script before a title comes to mind.

Usually the title is one, or a collection of words that reflect the theme of the film. If I completely hit a brick wall with finding a title then I’ll resort to methods like finding a significant line that I like in the script that would suit as the title and going for that. Another thing I resort to is searching sayings that other people would be familiar with that suit the moral of the story.

WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Who you are writing for needs to be kept in mind throughout the script-writing process. If you’re writing for a young-adult audience, get your characters to speak more modern (unless it’s a specific characteristic that they speak old-fashioned perhaps) as this would keep a younger audience engaged.

Basically, try to imagine what your target audience would like to see, then present that to them. Example- if women are your target audience, they wouldn’t want to watch a male-dominated film that undermines the female characters.

IS THERE A MORAL MESSAGE/ PERSONAL OPINION YOU WANT TO EXPRESS?

In some cases, having an opinion that you feel strongly about implemented into your story can fill you with even more motivation to get your script written and the story told. The opinion doesn’t have to be drastic, it can even be something small that you feel generally in your day-to-day life.

In my most recent feature, the story is about a man who thinks he can sponge on a woman for an easy life by making her his girlfriend.

The moral purpose of this is to challenge the stereotype that women are the Golddiggers in the world. The moral message is that men are just as capable of earning this label.