August 18
7 comments
August 18
7 comments
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The proposal of laying a blueprint for a film, is such an efficient way to introduce the theme of this article.
Good to know that solid actions should be described with as little words as possible.
It is true that every action should serve the story. It’s great confirmation to know that, I’ve seen films with poor reviews from critics because they have so much displaced actions.
I appreciate the example of the dusty book. I understand how to construct actions better now because of that example.
The first was a good description but in comparison to the revised action description, I see how the revised description, flows better with reading a script.
I often get so caught up in writing that I may forget sometimes that the purpose of the script is for the camera shots.
The downfalls are so clearly comprehensible. Would you consider the same for animation-based scripts?
It is important to write with intention, I appreciate the information. This is very informative and helpful in regards to describing how to properly write and describe actions in a script.
fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really appreciate this insight into improving our scripts. I started using it in rewrites already
One of my biggest challenges–tighten up! Thanks, David.
Love it. Keep it short and visually sweet.
I forgot to mention a few scripts to read with well-written action lines. They are: Spotlight, Prisoners, All the President’s Men, Call Me By Your Name, and Disturbia. Any time I want to brush up on my action writing skills, I re-read these scripts. Of course, you’ve got to read Aliens, too!
David, you’ve written another great piece on how we can improve our action lines. This is something I struggled with when I started screenwriting in 2007. Over time, I improved, but I realized I could do better as I read more professionally produced scripts. You are absolutely spot on. In my fellowship script, I went back and revised it. My goal was to improve the action, and I think it’s looks a lot better. I still see things I need to strengthen. I definitely am going to improve my character descriptions – character is revealed through behavior. Not us telling the audience who they are. It’s something I will strive to do in my next project. I feel like I’m laying down the gauntlet against the old way I’m used to writing character descriptions. Challenge accepted!! Thanks again for this well-written and prescient article on action lines. Bravo.