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This is a six-month Challenge. Do you accept the challenge? |
  Writing a Movie Challenge Welcome all to this scriptwriting challenge. For the next six months, you will be challenged to writing a full-length motion picture script. Are you up to this challenge? You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. I warn you right now it’s not going to be an easy challenge, but it’s not going to be as bad as it may sound or look. I’m sure that all of you will live up to this challenge. Each month will be a different aspect of writing your script. They start with figuring out what you want to write and ends with the Treatment. Within that month each week will be devoted to a different part of that month’s aspect. Every day there will be a question that needs to be answered. You don’t need to answer all of them or even any of them, but it will help you with your final script if you do. This isn’t a prerequisite to writing your script. It just helps you in writing it. You should be writing it while you are doing this challenge. True, you will be re-writing parts of it all doing this challenge, but that’s a part of writing a script. That’s what this challenge is all about: to write your script as good as you can get it so that it will become a theatrical motion picture. The Challengers ▼ This is where I will be posting the participates in this Challenge. You will get to see who all is participating in it. There are two ways to handle this Challenge: b-item, c-item, or entry. It’s not a requirement, nothing is with it, but I recommend creating a Book-Entry Collection. It will save you a lot of Static Item space if you do it this way. Like everything else in this Challenge, the final decision in how you do it is up to you.
The Rules ▼ What are the Rules. There are always Rules. This Challenge is no exception. Only there aren’t too many of them for this one, and even them aren’t really rules, just suggestions. 1. Each day there will be a different question about that month/week’s prompt. You don’t have to answer it, or any of them, if you don’t want to for whatever reason, you don’t have to do it. It’s up to you, but I think that you should. It will help you in writing your scripts. You can change them, and you probably will some, at any time. 2. True, you don’t need to start writing your script until you answer all these questions if you chose to do so, but I think that you should do it. It’s true, that you will probably be changing it a lot because of these questions or sudden thoughts, but if you wait until you answer these questions it will be a lot harder for you to write it. It might sound easier, but it isn’t. 3. You don’t have to send me a monthly update on your script so far, but if you want to you can. I will read and review it: tell you to want I like about it, what I don’t like about it, the formatting of it, etc. Whether you take my advice or not is up to you. 4. If you have a question about how to write your script, what you can and can’t put into it, etc. feel free to ask me at any time. there are two ways for you do that: you can email me or if you think it might relate to some of the others in this Challenge you can post it. The only things that will be Judged for the Prizes will be your final scripts, but they don’t have to be a completed script. They should be, but they don’t have to be. Depending on what kind of a script it is, it will probably be anywhere from ninety to one hundred and twenty pages or more long. That’s about fifteen to twenty pages per month. About a page every day or two. So, it is possible to write a script in six months, but things can happen to prevent that from happening. That is why I’m not going to be judging on just completed scripts. I do think they should be at least half done to three fourth of the way done, but they don’t even have to be that long. The Prizes ▼ There is five hundred GPs up to grabs in this Challenge: Two hundred and fifty thousand for First Place, one hundred and fifty thousand for Second Place, and one hundred thousand for Third Place. Now for the bad news: There must be three participates for First Place, four to six for Second Place, and seven or more for Third Place too. I’m hoping to get at least ten participates for it but would like fifteen to twenty. The final amount is all up to you. The Judging ▼ I’m the only Judge for this Challenge so far. Probably will be the only one. If you would like to be a Judge for it too just email me. It would be nice to have at least one other scriptwriting Judge, but they don’t have to be one. In fact, I would like to have one or more that aren’t scriptwriting Judges. That decision is up to you. The Donations ▼ Right now, there are no Donations for this Challenge. So, it will be up to me to foot all five hundred thousand GPs for it. That is a lot for me to do, but I will do it if I need to. Any donations that you would like to give for it will be greatly appreciated. You can donate to the Writing a Movie Challenge Bank below. Of course, if you do please email me with which Merit badges and/or Awardicons that you want. A list of those is listed below too.
 {{s} A fifty thousand GP donation will get you two MBs, or two Awardicon badges, or two Awardicon ribbons, or one Awardicon ribbon and one Awardicon badge. A one hundred thousand GP donation will get you four MBs, or four Awardicon badges, or four Awardicon ribbons, or two Awardicon ribbons and two Awardicon badges, or any combination of MBs and Awardicons. A one hundred and fifty thousand GP donation will get you six MBs, or six Awardicon badges, or six Awardicon ribbons, or three Awardicon ribbons and three Awardicon badges, or any combination of MBs and Awardicons. A two hundred thousand GP donation will get you eight MBs, or eight Awardicon badges, or eight Awardicon ribbons, or four Awardicon ribbons and four Awardicon badges, or any combination of MBs and Awardicons. The Months ▼ For the next six months you are going to be Challenged to write a movie. Do you think you can do it? I think that you can. July: The Plots ▼ Plots are what makes a movie a movie. Without them, there is no movie. Do you know what your movie is going to be about? If not, you have a lot of thinking to do. You don’t need to know everything about it, but you do need to know something about it. These questions will help you with that. Even if you already have your plot, they will help you. Week One - What kind of a plot is it? There are several kinds of plots. Is your movie a Comedy, a murder Mystery, a Romance/Love, an Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, etc., or a combination of more than one. Whatever it is these questions will help you. Especially, if you have not considered you plot completely. 1st – Do you know what your movie is about yet? 2nd – What kind of genre is it? 3rd – Is there more than one genre? 4th – How far along are you with your plot? 5th – Are there any dangers, death, explosions, etc.? 6th – Can you give me a little more detail about your plot? 7th – If it’s not complete, is there a reason why it isn’t? Week Two - Any Subplots? Very few, if any, only have one plot. There is the main plot, but there is usually at least one subplot. Protagonist and Antagonist each have their own plot. Of course, they will be connected but they are still individual plots. The main one will be what connects them, and their individuality will be their subplots. Depending on what kind of a plot it is, and who else is involved in it, there can be more than these Subplots. These questions can help you with that part of your scripts. 8th – Are there any other subplots? 9th – Does your Protagonist have a subplot? 10th – What is your Antagonist subplot? 11th – How many other subplots do you have? 12th – Are your subplots personal or connected too? 13th – If they are connected, how are they? 14th – How far along are you subplots thought out? Week Three - Plot Twists Like subplots, there are also Plot Twists. At least there should be. I write most my movie scripts based on television Outlines and Treatments, without the TEASER and TAG ACTs, the ACT numbers and the extra FADE INs and FADE OUTs. At the end of these ACTs I usually have a plot twist. For most movie scripts they are done in a three act structures, minus the Act numbers, with Plot Twists at the end of Act One, Act Two, and sometimes Act three. However, you write your script these questions can help you with your Plot Twist. 15th – Plot Twists don’t have to be life or death, do they? 16th – Do you know what kind of Plot Twists there are? 17th – Are there any Plot Twists in your script? 18th – Can you tell me the different types of Plot Twists? 19th – What kind of Plot Twist are you using? 20th – Cliffhangers are a part of Plot Twists, aren’t they? 21st – How are you using those Plot Twist? Week Four - End the subplots first You should end your subplots first. Not as much as for the Protagonist and the Antagonist if they are related to their main plot, but the subplots that aren’t related to it should be. These questions will probably help you with your script. 22nd – Do you have an ending to all your subplots? 23rd – How do you plan on ending your subplots? 24th – Your endings depend on the type of subplot it is? 25th – Will you end your subplots dangerously or not? 26th – Is your Antagonist subplot ready to be dissolved? 27th – What about your Protagonist? 28th – Your secondary subplots should be dissolved by now? Week Five - Do you have an end yet? Have an ending to your script yet. You should. Some writers know their ending before they write their FADE IN. They often work backward to the beginning of it. Other writers vaguely know their ending, but they do know it. They’re the ones who don’t go with an Outline or a Treatment. They just start writing and don’t stop until the end of it. You should us an Outline and a Treatment, but whether you do, or don’t these questions will help you with your movie ending. 29th – Do you have an ending to your script, yet? 30th – Is your ending life or death? 31st – Maybe you have an ending that really isn’t an ending? August: The Scenes ▼ Like plots, scenes are what makes a movie a movie. You start with what I call a Scene Heading, but what in the industry calls a slugline. Then you have a Scene Description that should start each scene. After that comes the Character Name and Character Directions. last but not lease, is where the dialogue is placed. Not all of these parts make up a scene, especially the Character Directions, but most of them will be. The following questions will help you in creating the scenes for your script. Week One - A scene is made up of? What is a scene? I have already answered that question in the August Dropnote above. Only I didn’t get into any detail on how it should be done on WDC. These four questions will address those details. 1st – Is the Scene Heading really how you start your script? 2nd – How far do you indent your Character Names? 3rd – What is the indent length for Character Descriptions? 4th – Both end of your Dialogue should be how long? Week Two - Scene Headings Most of you, if not all of you, already knows how to write a Scene Heading. If you don’t these questions are for you, and if do then they are a reminder of how it should be done. 5th – Are there any limitations with Scene Headings? 6th – What parts of a Scene Heading are there? 7th – EXT. or INT. comes first, right? 8th – How many parts are there to Scene Headings? 9th – What comes after EXT. or INT.? 10th – Can there be more than one Location setting? 11th – The last part of a Scene Heading is what? Week Three - Scene Description The industry calls these paragraphs Action Descriptions, but I call them Scene Descriptions. Like the Scene Headings they are the full length of the lines. That’s about all there is that’s the same about them. These questions deal with what they don’t have in common. 12th – What is the biggest difference between the two? 13th – Should you ever indent these paragraphs? 14th – The length of these lines is? 15th – Is there a limit on the number of sentences? 16th – Should you start your scene with a Scene Description? 17th – can you have more than one paragraph to start it? 18th – What do you do when a character is first introduced? Week Four - Character Names/Descriptions Also, like the Scene Heading, Character Names in done with all CAPs. Character Descriptions are a little different. They are done within half circle brackets. Some of these questions below deal with Character Names, but most of them are about Character Descriptions. 19th – How many names should appear on this line? 20th – Can these not be names at all, but titles, etc.? 21st – Names and descriptions can be more than one line? 22nd – Do you capitalize any of these descriptions? 23rd – Are descriptions only under the names? 24th – What about punctuation in descriptions? 25th – Is there any words that you can’t us in descriptions? Week Five - The Dialogue This part of a scene is the easiest to write once you know how to format it. At least I think that it is. There are several ways you can write your dialogue. These questions address the different kinds of dialogue. 26th – Should you keep your dialogue short? 27th – Punctuation is very important in dialogue? 28th – Do you capitalize names when they are first used? 29th – How do you handle thoughts in dialogue? 30th – Is there anything that you can’t write in dialogue? 31st – should you capitalize sound effects in dialogue too. September: The Protagonists ▼ Every movie needs at least one Protagonist. They are the main reason why there is a movie. Who are they? There is usually only one Protagonist, but there could be two or more of them. Is there more than one Protagonist? The questions for this month will be reflect on your Protagonist(s). Week One - Your Protagonist is? There is only one question for this week. It’s about who your main, if not only, protagonist is.{/qoute} 1st – Who is your main Protagonist? Week Two - What does your Protagonist look like? You should never base any of your characters on a specific actor or actress that you think would be perfect for the part. That’s up to the Casting Director, the Producer, and maybe the Director. True, you can still do it through your description of your characters, you just shouldn’t be directly specific about it. These questions will help you to do that. 2nd – How tall is your main Protagonist? 3rd – Is your main Protagonist skinny, fat, average, etc.? 4th – About how old are they? 5th – Do they have anything weird or unusual about them? 6th – How do they like to dress? 7th – What about their ethnic background? 8th – Do they have any scars, tattoos, etc.? Week Three - Are there anymore Protagonists Buddy movies, especially Action/Adventures, usually have two Protagonists. Romantic movies have at least two, sometimes three or four Protagonists. War movies can have several of them. There can only be one main Protagonist, but there can be more than one Protagonist. The questions below are related to those individuals who are your Protagonist too. 9th – Does your story call for any other Protagonists? 10th – If so, how do they know the main Protagonist? 11th – How many other Protagonists do you have? 12th – What do your other Protagonists look like? 13th – Do they have anything weird, scars, etc. about them? 14th – about what ages are they? 15th – What makes them different from the main Protagonist? Week Four - Where do they live, work, social life, etc.? Every Protagonist has a personal life. It might not show up in your movie, especially where they live, but you need to know all this anyway. It’s usually done with a list listing everything about them from their age, height, hair color, and these listings, etc. The following questions will help you with this information. 16th – They live at? 17th – Where do they work? 18th – What kind of a work do they do? 19th – Do they anyone working under them? 20th – Is there kind of work dangerous? 21st – What kind of a social Life do they have? 22nd – Whether it’s male or female, do they have a lover? Week Five - What makes them who they are? This week is sort of a continuation from last week. Only instead of a list it’s more of a Short Story or a Biography. It can be a list too, but it usually isn’t. Everyone has a history, backstory. These questions will help you to give us more details about your protagonist(s). 23rd – Where are all your Protagonists from? 24th – Their history is? 25th – Is there anything about their past that is a secret? 26th – What is their backstory? 27th – How far back do you go in your backstory and history? 28th – Do you have to do it for all of your Protagonist? 29th – Is there a limit to how far back you should go? Week six - Their objective is? Another one question week. This one asks you what their objective is. Whether you have one protagonist or more than one all have an objective. A reason why they are doing what they are doing. This question is… 30th – What is your Protagonist(s) objective? October: The Antagonists ▼ Like a Protagonist, there must be at least one Antagonist. There can be more than one, and there usually is, but there doesn’t have to be any. Three of these weeks deal with your main Antagonist. The other two will help you with any of the other Antagonists that you might have. It doesn’t matter if there is only one or more than one, these questions should help you in writing your scripts. Week One - Who is your Antagonist? The Antagonist is the bad one in your script. They are the person who is causing all the trouble for the Protagonist. Why are they doing it? That’s what these questions are going to do. They are going to help you to answer this question. 1st – Your Antagonist is? 2nd – Why are you doing what you are doing? 3rd – What kind of trouble are you causing? 4th – Where are you at? 5th – Just how evil of an Antagonist are you? 6th – Do you have any limitations for your badness? Week Two - Is there more than one Antagonist? There is usually only one Antagonist, but they do have one or more assistants. I considered those assistants Antagonist too. They just aren’t as bad as the main Antagonist is. Do you have any other Antagonists? If you do have any these questions will help you to describe any other Antagonist that you might have. 7th – Assistants are Antagonist too? 8th – If you have any other Antagonist, how many are there? 9th – How are they connected to the main Antagonist? 10th – Just how evil is your other Antagonist? 11th – If there is more than one other, how bad are they 12th – How close are the other Antagonists to the main one? 13th – Do you need to address all the other Antagonists? Week Three - What do they look like? Like Protagonists, Antagonists can come in any shape, size, and age. Almost all of them, if not all of them, are adults. They can be younger than that, but they usually aren’t. Most of them are also older adults. Some are middle-aged adults, and some are younger. Whatever their age, shape, and size, these questions will help you to describe them better. 14th – You main Antagonist looks like? 15th – Is there a reason why they are an Antagonist? 16th – Are they tall, short, skinny, fat, etc.? 17th – About what age are they? 18th – Is there appearance what makes them an Antagonist? 19th – How do they live? 20th – What is the most dangerous part about them? Week Four - Your other Antagonist look like? Of course, your other Antagonists have looks too. The same ones as your main Antagonist. Their only difference is what they look like. These questions deal with those looks. The questions may be the same, but they relate to your other Antagonist(s) and not your main one. 21st – Are all your other Antagonist look-a-likes? 22nd – Size, height, age, etc. of all of them? 23rd – What makes them different from your main Antagonist? 24th – Do they live where your main Antagonist does? 25th – Are they secretly against your main Antagonist? 26th – How do they act when not around the main Antagonist? 27th – Do they dress differently than the main Antagonist? Week Five - The Antagonist objective is? Also, like your Protagonist your Antagonist has at least one objective. It might be something as simple as getting away with something valuable or a murder, or it could be more complicated like trying to take over the world or destroy it. Whatever your objective is these questions should help you to define it or them. 28th – What is the objective of your main Antagonist? 29th – Is there more than one objective? 30th – That objective is dangerous or deadly? 31st – What about your other Antagonists? November: The Outline ▼ Now for the fun part: creating your Outline for you movie. I am a big fan of Outlines and Treatments. A lot of writers do not like either. They don’t think that they need them. I disagree with that. Especially if you are a beginner. The questions this month will help you to write your Outlines. Yes, I know that I have said that you don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to, but I do think that you need to write an Outline. Like your script, you don’t need to wait until you answer these questions to write it. You can always re-write it at any time. Week One - What is an Outline? There is no right or wrong way to write your Outline. You are probably the only one who will see it. So, why write one? Because it will help you with your Treatment and your script. Even though you can write your Outline any way that you want to, there are some rules. These three questions will help you to understand those rules. 1st – Should you write your Outline like you do your script? 2nd – Courier and size twelve is the style you should use? 3rd – Is there more than one way to write an Outline? Week Two - Different Types of Outlines What kind of an Outline do you want to write? There are several types of Outlines. One way is to write it as a Short Story, with or without sections. Another way is to write it like the essays like you did in school. Personally, I write most of my movie Outline and Treatments like they are a television script. However, you write your Outlines, these questions should help you to do it. 4th – Do you know what kind of Outline you want to write? 5th – What shouldn’t you write in your Outline? 6th – Is your Outline type a Short Story? 7th – Maybe it’s an essay format? 8th – If it’s a Short Story, is it with sections? 9th – Do you have another way that you want to do it? 10th – Is there anything you can’t write in your Outline? Week Three - Your Outline should include? True, you can write your Outline any way that you can, but there are a few things that you should include in your Outline. Things like character names, plot, etc. You don’t need to include these things in your Outline, but you can if you want to do it. Personally, I do. I go into some detail about the plot, but I leave most of it for my Treatment. The same is true about my characters, locations, etc. These questions will help you decide how you want to write your Outline. 11th – What do you think should be included in your Outline? 12th – At least the main character names should be included? 13th – How much detail do you think should be included? 14th – What about your plot? 15th – Plot Twists should be included in your Outline? 16th – How much detail should be included in your Outline? 17th – What else do think you should include? Week Four - Organization I’m a big fan of organization. I do it a lot with my short stories. It’s probably because of the scriptwriter in me. That’s why I organize most of my scripts as though they are television scripts. Not only is it because it might be better as a television movie than a theatrical one, but because it’s easy to make it a theatrical movie by removing the TEASER ACT, the TAG ACT, and the ACT number, the extra FADE INs and the FADE OUTs. The following questions are how I organize my Outlines. 18th – Do you think about you plot first too? 19th – Is your Character Names broken down individual? 20th – The end of the Acts should be cliffhangers, etc.? 21st – Does your subplots interact with the main one? 22nd – Do you break down your scenes to certain line limits? 23rd – Should all of your endings be happy ones? 24th – Are your scenes broken into a certain number per Act? Week Five - The Final Outline Now that you have answered all the questions you are going to answer this month, it’s time for you write your Outline. That’s if you haven’t already started doing it. If you have then now all you have to do is finish it. This is the final part of this month, and the following questions will help you to do it. 25th – Have you finished with your Outline yet? 26th – If not, have you at least started it? 27th – How are you writing it? 28th – Are you having problems writing it? 29th – Is there anything I can do to help you? 30th – You are now finished with your Outline, right? December: The Treatment ▼ This is the last month for this Challenge, and I saved the best for last. At least I think that it is. You think that your Outline was hard to write. The Treatment is ten times as hard. It will probably take you the whole month to do it. So, if you haven’t already started it by now you need to start it. Like your Outline, you can always change it later if you need to do it. Week One - Treatments Vs Outlines What is the difference between an Outline and a Treatment? It’s not their page limitation. Outlines are five to ten pages long, but there is no limit to Treatments. That’s not exactly true, though. True, there isn’t any limit, but some say that it should be about sixty to eighty pages. More than that is too much. This question deals with that difference. 1st – The difference between Treatments and Outlines is? Week Two - What makes up a Treatment? Treatments aren’t just longer. They are also more detailed, organized, and scene related. Each scene starts with a Scene Heading aka slugline. After that comes a paragraph talking about that scene. The length of it can be any length, but the short the better. Personally, I write three lines for my Establishing Shot/Scene, four for scenes twos-fours-sevens-nines, five for ones-threes-sixes-eights, and six lines for fives-tens. That’s how I write my Treatments. The following questions will help you decide how to write yours. 2nd – Have you started your Treatment yet? 3rd – Do you know how you are going to write your Treatment? 4th – You start your movie Treatment with FADE IN, right? 5th – Is there a wrong way to write your Treatment? 6th – Do you know how many scenes you have in your script? 7th – Using your Outline will help you with your Treatment? 8th – How are you going to organize your scenes? Week three - Telling Your Story A treatment is your first chance to tell your story without it being in a script format. There are several ways for you to do that. One way is to use Index Cards. A lot of writers use them because they can be switched around easily. Another way is to use Notes. They can be an easy to switch around, but not as easily as Index Cards. Some writers also use a board that they can either write one, place Post-It notes, or peg notes on. This way is good too, but it can take up a lot of room to do it. Personally, I use the one sentence method, that I expand into my individual scenes. However, you write yours these questions should help you do it. 9th – What kind of method do you use for your script? 10th – Are you having trouble with your organization? 11th – Do you have your own way of organizing your scenes? 12th – How are you going to write your story? 13th – Just how much do you want to write in your scenes? 14th – What do you do about your Characters the first time? 15th – How much detail should you put in your Treatment? Week Four - The First Treatment You have decided how you are going to write your Treatment. Now is the time for you to do it. In fact, you should be about done with it. At least your first Treatment should be done by now. If it isn’t, then you should be close to it. Even if you are finished with your first one or close to it, the following questions will help you with getting it done. 16th - Are you finished with your first Treatment yet? 17th – If you aren’t, then how close are you finishing it? 18th – You need help with getting it done? 19th – Is there anything I can do to help you? 20th – What do you think is wrong with your Treatment? 21st – Have you decided how you are going to do? 22nd – Is your Treatment finished now? Week Five - What happens to your Treatment? So, you are probably wondering what is going to happen to your Treatment once it’s completed. The answer to that could be very little or a lot. It all depends on who wants to see it. Unlike an Outline that only you will probably see, your Treatment will be seen. Maybe seen a lot. It will most likely be your Agent first. That’s if your lucky to get one. If not, it will be a Producer or a Production company. They are harder to get being a first-time scriptwriter, but it’s not impossible. Another choice is to enter a contest. The only problem with that is that it will cost you to try: that can be anywhere from about forty-five to sixty-five or more depending on the deadlines. The following questions will help you decide what your best way is to proceed for you. 23rd – Do you know why you need a Treatment? 24th – Have you already gotten yourself an Agent? 25th – Why do you think you don’t need an Agent? 26th – Do you know why going to a Producer is so hard? 27th – Is going to a Production Company any easier? 28th – What are your odds of winning a contest? 29th – Do you have any other ideas about your Treatment? Week Six - Your Final Treatment After you have finished your first Treatment take a few days to re-read it several times. You might want others to read it too. I’m more than willing to do it. Some of the others in this Challenge might be willing to. Then again, they might not since this is a competition. That is up to them. I will. Whether I do it, someone else does it, or only you do it, it will help you to write your final Treatment. That’s the one you will be sending out when asked. You want it to be the best that it can be. The last two questions for this Challenge I hope will help you to do that. 30th – Is your Treatment ready for Agents, Producers, etc.? 31st – Now it’s time for you to start using that Treatment? |
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