Short Story first or skip to Screenplay
I'm planning to shoot and direct my own short, small budget science fiction movie as a long term project to learn more about movie making.
However, I'm at the very start where I need to write a draft story for others to provide feedback on and my question is this:
Should I first write a traditional short story and then adapt that into a screenplay or, since this is for a movie, go straight into writing a detailed screenplay?
Thanks
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3 answers
A screenplay can be much less wordy than a short story since the screenplay is not the final product--the film is. I suggest going straight to the script.
My problem is that I have very little free time to write and film (outside of my day job). If I let myself get bogged down in things that don't lead directly to the production of a film, then that film will never happen. Don't get involved in something that will hurt your momentum.
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Find a screen writing group and see how they work. It will give you a venue for feedback on your work and it will give you access to a group of people who have developed a process to get feedback on their work.
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I'm not a movie expert either, but for all the same reasons Bernardo suggests, I think you should create a detailed outline and storyboards rather than either a short story or a screenplay.
You want to tell the story before filming it. You need feedback to make sure the story works. However, the details you can use in a short story (where visuals are no object) are very different from those you use in filming.
For example, let's say your villian is the traditional Bug-Eyed Monster (BEM) with a whole bunch of slimy tentacles. In a short story, you can describe how the BEM slithers and squelches across the room, how the muscles undulate in each limb as it heaves its stinking bulk forward, how the acidic slime sizzles as it eats away the carpet. Scary, dramatic, effective. As a writer, you can keep piling on impossible details (the BEM can become invisible, it has basilisk eyes which turns its prey to stone, it can sing Russell Watson songs) to your heart's content.
But as a filmmaker, you have very different constraints.
You have a budget for SFX. You have to create the BEM puppet or spring for the computer and software (and tech person) to create the monster's movement. You'll need to get a greenscreen set and several suits to make the invisibility effect work. You have to get enough ear protection for everyone in the room when the creature starts singing "Faith of the Heart."
Writing an outline will help you make sure the plot works. Storyboards will help you ensure you can actually film the thing. Then you write the screenplay.
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