Composing a film is something you don’t learn overnight. It requires a lot of effort and expertise in different fields such as but not limited to creative writing, marketing and the ability to visually picture something in your mind. Nevertheless it can be learned. If you’re starting from scratch, there’s no reason you can’t be done with your first 80 page draft in 10 days. For newcomers it’s essential to have a structure to stick to. My proposal is to concentrate on just 4 basic cornerstones to get your first draft on paper. Here are the four main things you should concentrate on: The first thing is how to set up the narrative structure of the motion picture. The usual 5-act-structure originates from ancient Greek and Roman theatre and worked it’s way into contemporary storytelling long before movies existed. Writers still rely on introduction, rising tension and resolution, which fundamentally is a boiled down 3-act version of the 5-act structure formulated by old playwrights. If you look into at successful films, you’ll easily recognize similarities in their dramatic composition. Nevertheless, if you’re able to push yourself to more creative thinking you may want to try something else, something that is slightly more hard: Just don’t bring in characters in the get-go, just let them fall right into the story.
How To Write A Screenplay