MovieTreatments.com Forums  

Go Back   MovieTreatments.com Forums > The Welcome Center > Introduce Yourself
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-08-2010, 03:27 PM
shawnr shawnr is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: San Diego and Seattle
Posts: 1
shawnr is on a distinguished road
Send a message via Skype™ to shawnr
Default hello from sunny san diego

working on my next novel, but also decided to translate my novel "Playing the Game" into a script. Just cruising around and liked the tone and feel of the treatment section here, so I joined. So far so good.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-03-2010, 11:52 PM
marc's Avatar
marc marc is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 83
marc has disabled reputation
Default

Welcome shawnr! Sorry for the late acknowledgment on that. Would love to see a treatment for Playing the Game if you decide to do that in addition to the script.
__________________
-Marc
MovieTreatments.com Founder
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-16-2010, 06:17 PM
WriteNow WriteNow is offline
Hollywood Veteran
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Tinseltown (Not Hollywood, it's a real town somewhere else)
Posts: 58
WriteNow is on a distinguished road
Default

Hey shawnr-

You got the blessing and the curse of having a novel to work off of. You've got the double blessing and curse of it being your own.

Just remember- most books are hacked to bits in order to make screenplays out of them. It's just the way it is, nothing you can do about it. You can't film a book.

Just for fun, take the favorite chapter of your book- and get rid of it. Leave it out of the screenplay/treatment. Sucks, doesn't it? But does it work? Is the plot flowing still? My guess is it's probably flowing faster.

The thing with books is the best parts are often inconsequential to the plot. And when you've only got room for half of the story to begin with, those little extras have to go.

For example- in The Aviator Martin Scorcese didn't have time to set up Howard Hughes fragile mental state that would lead to a nervous breakdown. So instead of detailing his numerous doctor visits, therapy sessions, drug abuse, and various signs of stress he just gave him one notable characteristic- repeating his words over and over- that made it clear he was descending into madness. What could have taken pages and pages was accomplished with a few short lines.

Something to keep in mind. But hey, there are no rules, just guidelines. In the end- if it works, it works.
__________________
And remember- no matter what ANYONE says, not your next door neighbor or the head of Warner Bros.- keep at it. Eventually, you will succeed-
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:36 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2005 MovieTreatments.com