Your opening scene carries a massive weight. What's going on in your story? Why is it unique? What can we expect? Generally, you've got about ten pages to hook someone, and industry pros will know within the first few pages whether they're in or out.We recently checked out writer Brandon McNulty's video on the worst ways to start a story, and we think the advice is valuable no matter what you're writing.Check out his video, then let's talk about five common screenplay openings that screenwriters should avoid. - YouTube www.youtube.com All Setting and No ActionNew screenwriters often think they need to paint a comprehensive picture of the world before anything happens. They'll spend pages describing the weather, the way the setting looks, or the story's sociopolitical context. But readers usually don't care about this. You need to balance where things are happening with what is happening. That doesn't mean you need a bomb to go off on page one. Just give us characters doing something, wanting something, then running into an obstacle. Your opening should set the tone and show us the heart and soul of why this project needs to exist.Think about how Back to the Future opens. Instead of a boring alarm clock waking Marty up, it's a series of clocks in Doc's garage, which plays directly into the film's time travel theme. The setting serves the story. In the script, we get one page of description, complete with the radio and TV dialogue. Marty appears on page...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Monday, 6 October