Re-writing Your Short Film Script

Okay, so short films are short...so any unnecessary business that doesn’t propel the story forward or isn’t necessary to the story needs to go. You'll need to...

Find More Efficient Ways to Convey Information

 Anything extraneous should be avoided. For example, people driving or walking from one place to another – if the audience doesn’t need to see it, cut it out. 

The writer is constantly being challenged to find quicker or shorter ways to convey information. Consider the following cinematic techniques:

• Images/Symbolism

• Sound/Music

• Montage

• Recurring Motif

• Choice of Location

• Effective / Visual Characterization
  

How can you use these cinematic techniques to convey information and meaning in your story?

Make Every Word of Dialogue Count

Ask yourself – how can I convey this same meaning in fewer words? When you are editing consider the following:

• Is the same thing being said twice?

• Can lines be replaced with an action that conveys the same meaning?

• Is the dialogue telling us something we can see?

• Is verbal conflict moving the story forward or revealing information about the character? If not – why is it there?

• Is the exposition natural or clumsy?

• Is the dialogue true to this type of character?

If your character’s dialogue isn’t moving the story forward, revealing information about them or someone else then it probably needs editing or re-writing.

Tip: Read your dialogue out loud. You’ll very rapidly discover what sounds clunky and long-winded.

Take a Break – Then Re-evaluate Your First Draft

An overwritten first draft is very common and writers are invariably and understandably resistant to significant editing because they have an emotional connection to the work. So how do you overcome this problem?
Firstly step back from the work (often having a break from it is a good idea) and before you start any re-writing, take an hour to ask yourself (and write down the answers to) the following questions:

• What is the core idea of this script?

• What genre am I in?

• What emotions do I want to create in the audience?

Examine the main character, main and plot points – do they contribute to the core idea of your script? Is there too much back-story? Is all the interesting stuff happening in the past? If so, re-think your core story. What is the story or story element that excites you?

Examine Each Scene

Ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of this scene?*

• Does this scene contribute to the core idea?

• Does this scene end on a question that will lead the reader/viewer into the rest of the story?

• If a scene isn’t working – can I brainstorm another idea for the scene?

• Have I given too much screen time to unimportant or minor characters?

• What is the question posed by the beginning of your story? Does my script answer it? (If your script revolves around a bank robbery, your climax can’t be about the robber’s marriage break up.

*If you can’t answer the question that’s a good indicator that the scene might be redundant.

Go well peeps!

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