Film Courage: What is the difference between a professional level script and one that is
written by an amateur?
Mark Sanderson, Screenwriter/Author: A professional level script I would say can compete in the
professional marketplace where someone could receive a screenplay, read it and not go Hmm,
this has too many problems that this person is probably not writing at a professional
level meaning that someone would say Oh my gosh?
We could make this!
That it’s not plagued with the problems that we spoke of before you know…first time
overwriting the script and the structure doesn’t really work and it’s confusing and it’s
not fulfilling (the ending doesn’t wrap it up) if you were to read that.
Also, what we mentioned before format too.
You look at the script and if it’s all over the place where it’s kind of clunky and
weird and it’s not professionally written (“professionally written”).
Film Courage: How soon into reading a screenplay do you know that it’s bad?
Mark: Well it’s usually in the beginning but many times you are fooled because the
beginning is easy to set up so you’re like Oh this is great and then the longer it goes
on it runs out of steam and then it just really is like Okay?
Or that it is too long.
It’s like too many pages and there is a whole other story and a half there that shows
that it needs to have a lot of editing.
If it’s a first draft it’s a script and a half almost (a script and a third let’s
say) which is overwriting.
Film Courage: Then a reader will know fairly quickly?
Mark: A reader will probably know in the first page or two if it’s the format giveaway
or it’s just the style giveaway where you can tell.
People all the time post one page on the Internet.
They put up a page of their script and you can see it and go Okay?
It’s a giveaway, it’s a clear giveaway.
Or you can see another page and go Wow!
It’s so clear.
You are seeing what they meant.
You are seeing what they are writing.
Not….whoah!
Bump…who got out of the car?
Oh?
And that in a way goes back to format and how you know what you’re going to put in
and what you’re not based upon story.
Film Courage: What do you think about 99 percent of screenplays being rejected after the first
page?
Mark: I don’t know if they are…I think they would be read.
They are not thrown in the garbage after page one.
I think a script is given a chance, I mean I would hope from a reader and then it’s
the overall feeling of it.
But like we were discussing before if there is too many bumps and the famous thing is
Oh this bumps for me.
It bumps okay it means…I know what they mean but it probably like “boomp,” you
know it sort of bumped and not in a good way where it was confusing or the story was like
why did it go that way and I didn’t understand it was this and that.
A lot of times sadly it’s because of skimming you know someone just literally I had read
one time that some people just read the dialogue or some producer just reads dialogue.
He doesn’t read the directions, he just reads the dialogue you know.
I don’t know?
That’s not really reading the script but I think as we were discussing before you can
tell in the first few pages if it’s going to be one of those scripts or if it’s going
to be like Wow!
This is a page turner.
I can already see that.
It’s hard to hide that if you’re not writing at that particular level.
So that will be a dead giveaway which is not good.
Film Courage: So you think that people give it more than just a scene?
Mark: Oh sure, yes.
The old adage ‘Well if it doesn’t happen within the first 10 pages.”
It used to be the first 20 but now it’s shrunken down.
If it doesn’t happen…if I am reading and it doesn’t happen for me, you sort of have
to know what we are getting into.
But again these aren’t rules not coming from me.
I am just saying that some movies like European films take longer to happen and.
I’m talking about Hollywood and if you want to work in that system, it better happen.
The reader has got to go “10 pages?
I still don’t know what is happening?”
You’ve got to get an idea like Oh we see this and that.
This is what they are talking about.
They will read through the script but if you’re plagued with typos, three or four page, it
means you don’t care enough to proofread your script and you don’t care enough for
the person who is reading its time so right away there is a disrespect there.
Like Well I’ve just got to blow through it because my idea is so good I don’t have
to proofread the script.
Oh okay?
These are attitudes that won’t serve you well in the long run.