Writing A Great Script Fast Free Online Class

[DangerAhead]

this looks pretty decent for beginners.

[Als]

It says:
"It is almost free to make a feature film."

Yeah, sure...


Als

[Sky]

This sounds interesting, I'll certainly give it a view.

[Sherri]

Hey Als - it is almost free to make a feature film! What don't you believe about this statement? My partner Nate who is a 3D Maya whiz did a 90 minute 3D opera called GeoSpirit in less than a year part time two years ago. 11 videos all with a different 3D character and set. All it costs him was about $3000 in equipment plus living expenses to pay the bills while he clicked away. He did not have a good story base so the thing falls apart as a narrative but what it proved is that one person can do it. Another student of mine M Dot Strange did a 3D microbudget film for almost nothing, got it into Sundance this year and a bunch of festivals and is now going on to major movie deals because he gets the story part.

IT IS ALMOST FREE TO MAKE A DIGITAL FEATURE FILM! This in my opinion should be the most exciting thing to indie animators on this forum. 15 years ago a gigabyte harddrive cost $10,000. I just bought another terabyte drive for $500 and have filled up three others for my DVD project.

Anyone just getting into digital filmmaking or animation is spoiled compared to what we use to have to go through in the old days. So be smart and make your film for as little money as possible. And once again the story is way more important than the technical stuff!

[Als]

Well,
there is not much to it, just the fact that we have different understanding of what term feature film means.
That's all.


Als

[robcat2075]

The first thing I notice in looking at some of the trailers is the excessive use of distracting, moving backgrounds with images unrelated to what is being communicated.

That is a technique developed by video makers who are trying to hide the fact that their content is worthless. If you believe in your message you shouldn't be resorting to that.

I can't imagine watching 20 hours of that.

[Sherri]

Well if you really look at the films Robocat you will see that there is lots of juxtaposition going on with the foreground/background elements and ideas being presented. It is harder to see in the low resolution online version. When I tested the workshop without these backgrounds in an earlier version, young people found it too slow. They wanted brighter colors, more cuts and more movement. It was made for the MTV generation that does not read much anymore.

This process does take some focus on the viewer's part to create a great story. Many people are finding this free online class very helpful for thinking up fresh ideas and developing animated scripts. I think if there are several books writtten for the largest educational publisher on the information, and it is being taught at animation schools all over the world, that there must be some value in it for people. Thanks again for trying out!

[FabioMSilva]

"Writing A Great Script Fast In A Nutshell"

funny, Syd Field told me that to write a good script, one needs to "take his time to prepare the script", "take his time writting the script", and "take his time to re-write the script". Do not rush, and spend as much time with it as you can.

im not commenting the quality of this course, but rather the title.

[Sherri]

Syd Field is an old school classic screenwriter teacher. He is good with basic plot points but not the modern in between stuff from what I got out of his books. There were huge gaps on how to bridge events and how to pull everything together.

This workshop is geared for digital filmmakers who plan on writing their own scripts then making the films. Digital filmmaking is entering a new level where one person will be taking on the creator role wearing many different hats. This to me means you do not want to spend a year or longer writing a script if you can find a faster way to do it.

I am finding that writing faster keeps the story together more then trying to remember everything I have been working on for years and lots of rewrites. It loses steam to me but can get deeper too. I'd rather do it fast now and get on to making the film, which is going to change the story again sometimes and you better know enough about storytelling to fix it in the middle of production and editing or you are going to end up with a busted film. Thanks for checking it out!

[FabioMSilva]

sorry for disagreeying with some points, but having a academic film making master degree, sometimes i need to think as an old-days-live action film maker.

as for my experience, it is a lot easier to make it with a good solid thought script than with one pulled off really quick (even in terms of getting finacement). that energy you say it gets lost, yeah, as you review over and over, u get tired of the same stuff and it seems less powerful, but usually on that task i usually wait a week or two before making another revision. it usually works,as i get to see which parts are cheesy and those who arent.

anyway, i'm not saying this is the right or best way to do screenwritting, but seems to be the one that works best for me.

good luck with classes.:thumbsup:

[robcat2075]

When I tested the workshop without these backgrounds in an earlier version, young people found it too slow. They wanted brighter colors, more cuts and more movement. It was made for the MTV generation that does not read much anymore.

They may well have said it was "too slow" but did they actually learn anything more from the distracting version? It's doubtful.

There really isn't any research to show that adding the distracting background images increases retention or comprehension.

Even if it's like "MTV".

[Sherri]

Hey I get what you are saying about things being distracting - that's never my goal. Most DVD or video classes I've seen, feature someone in a badly lit room talking at a mic for hours and hours with no editing. My goal with this DVD workshop was to make the ultimate visual storytelling class for digital animators and filmmakers. I started off with not that much going on and it was boring. If you are going to watch or do anything for 20 hours it needs lots of energy not to drag. Films today cut much quicker than they did even ten years ago. I think people are going to be learning in new ways with video classes - like in The Minority Report movie where they watch a bunch of videos fast and know things. It is so much more passive than reading.

Anyhow thanks for checking out my free class! I really did make this to help empower all indie filmmakers out there struggling to get their stories down and make the film too.

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