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rewriting, scene work, screenplay, screenwriting, storytelling - May 01, 2019

How Many Drafts Will You Write Before Your Script Gets Produced?

Rewriting is writing. Nothing reinforces this more than seeing how many drafts it takes to move a feature from first draft to produced film. For this example, we’re going to use a project written by one of our ScriptArsenal readers. This was a low budget film, which means that in this case, the amount of drafts is likely lower than what you might see in a higher budget film. In this case, the writer was hired and wrote several drafts, adapting a novel, for a production company. After three drafts, the production company took the script and partnered up with...

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Oscars, scene work, screenplay, Whiplash - March 19, 2019

Effective Scene Work: Enough Is Never Enough

Effective scene work often is the difference between a solid and a spectacular screenplay. It’s one thing to have a great concept, but in the gladiatorial death match that is professional screenwriting, a great concept alone isn’t enough. That concept must also be impeccably executed. What do we talk about, when we talk about effective scene work? Often, we’ve found here at ScriptArsenal, it comes down to refusing to let up. Let’s take a scene example from WHIPLASH, a film that won four Oscars (and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture). Miles Teller’s student character is trying...

Screenplay Rewrites: And/Or Hell For Screenwriters

Rewriting your screenplay sucks. It’s painful, exhausting work. You, as the screenwriter, already know what your movie should be. You’ve seen it in your head. You know what the final film should feel like, and you’ve put the roadmap on paper so other people can see it, too.

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