How to write a movie script

Movie script writing

This is an article about learning script writing. This is an article about how to write a good movie script. This is also about theater, film or tv script writing. And these principles of "story" also very well apply to books or novels. To write a great movie or novel you should know these principles. We will follow my own method of movie script writing that I developed over many years. It gives you a good idea of writing a great or exellent movie, film, theatrical play or tv film or episode. All movies are written with the knowledge of such principles and rules of script writing. So for writing a really good movie script you need to understand the rules first.

Movie script that "works"

In movie script writing theory there is the expression: a script "works". That means that the film script catches the viewers attention. If you see the beginning you want to see the end of it, that means a movie script works. The same rules to make a movie script work also apply to a theatrical play, a film script, a book or novel or a tv script.

Despite from all art you can do into a movie script at first you have to make shure that it works. That the script works is really one of the most important aspects of script writing or books / novels.

So now we will speak about making a movie script that works. And then you can put more "art" into it.

The graphical elements

I have long time worked on a theory of script writing that uses graphical elements. Actually it is meant for a board game I am developing in which you tell stories. So from my board game "Mythos" I now introduce you just into the part that is about making the story work.

So from the things I list now you can build a working script.

A land. This is the world of the movie. The Place the Bad Guy wants to govern / rule and the Good Guy wants to defend. So you can say Good Guy and Bad Guy both want to govern this world.

Good Guy or Hero. Always the only one who has the ability to save the world from the rule of the Bad Guy.

The Bad Guy, he or she wants to rule the world of the Story because this brings him or her advantages

A tool or weapon. This can be a lightsaber, an army, or a fine starship like for example the enterprise. Any "tool" that the Hero can use

A Power. This is something that somebody can do. This can be the art of Kung Fu, or being able to use the "force". Any special ability.

Now often there are magic tools or powers. For example "the force" in Star Wars is a power that gives you the ability to move objects without touching them. This is in a way a magical force. And you could say that the lightsaber in Star Wars is a magical weapon bacause only special people can really handle it and then it is the most powerful handweapon in the universe. So sometimes tools or forces are "magical". Think of an enchanted sword or superhuman powers.

A magical tool or weapon

A magical ability.

Ideology. An Ideology is a way to see something, a philosophy. Like being against racism.

The anti Ideologie is in this case the evil opposite of an Ideology. If the Ideology is being against racism then the anti Ideology is being racist. If the Ideologie is that all people should be free, then the anti Ideologie is that some people can be enslaved, or somehow be unfree.

Having advantages from the land. The Bad Guy profits somehow from the land if he or she governs it.

Trust. This is the ability to be able to trust that you can use a Tool or a Power. Remember in Star Wars 1 The teacher of the Good Guy appears as a "Ghost" and tells him that he must have trust in his ability to use his "magic force". Also in The Matrix the Hero first succeds at the point where he has build up enough trust to use his "magical" abilities. In Back to the Future 1 The Hero first succeeds with his mission after he has found the trust that he can play guitar well enough to give a concert in his shool. In Star Trek 6 Kirk can first attack tha Bad Guy after he has build up enough trust that the idea not to hate other alien races is the right attitude.

A Place. Going to a Place. Sometimes the going to a Place has also to be at the right time. but most times it is just getting somewhere.

Those are the factors that you need for a great movie script to make it work. You do not always need all of them. But focus on these factors.

Building the movie script

The Hero must proove himself one time in three categories. Getting the necessary tools and abilities to win. Having trust in the ability to use one of these "tools". And he or she must succeed in going to a place.

First things that you must have for a working film, tv or theater script or a book, a novel.

You have a World of the movie or a Place, that is the place that The Good Guy and the Bad Guy want to govern or rule. It can just be the real world. You have a Good Guy and a Bad Guy. The Good Guy or Hero is always the only one who can stop the Bad Guy from governing the world. The Bad Guy must not really attemt to "rule the world". He just has to try to have power in the world that gives him advantages but brings something bad for good people. In Lethal Weapon 1 two cops want to stop a Bad Guy who wants to build up a big drug delivering company. So to be able to hold up this drug delivering company in this case means "to rule the world". It is to rule the drug world, and if the two cops win then the Bad Guy can not sell drugs and then the Good Guys rule the drug world. The Red Arrow indicates the advantage the Bad Guy has from governing the world. You need to talk about this advantage in your movie.

Introduce these things quite early in the movie because from there the viewer can hope for things to happen or other things to be avoided.

The Ideology of the Hero

Next thing you absolutely need is the Ideology of the Hero. The Hero must be absolutely convinced that it is necessary to prevent the Bad Guy from governing the world. And this Ideology of the Good Guy must be in conformity with what is generally accepted as something that is good, wise and reasonable.

The Land which is protected must also live by this good and reasonable Ideology. So the Hero protects the Land and the Ideology. The Hero can come from a bad Ideology to the good Ideology over the course of the movie and so learn during the film that it is necessary to stop the Bad Guy from governing the world. Importantto make the movie script work is that at the end the Hero has the right Ideology. Also important is that the saved World in the end has the right Ideology. So in movie scripts where the Hero learns and his Ideology develops from bad Ideology to good Ideology often in the end the good Ideology is transfered from the Hero to everybody else in the Land. Important is at the end both Hero and Land must have the good Ideology.

The Ideology of the Land is shown in the image as two little opposing Ideologies beside the Land, a good Ideology to the left and a bad Ideology (blue) to the right.

The Bad Guy attacks

The Bad Guy now has to work on getting all the things that he needs to attack the Good Guy who is the only one who is strong enough to make the plan of the Bad Guy fail. Destroying the Good Guy so makes it sure that the Bad Guy can govern the Land. The Bad Guy attacks either the Good Guy, or one of the "tools" the Good Guy needs to stop the Bad Guy. The Grey Arrow shows that the Bad Guy can attack the Good Guy during the whole movie, but first if he has all things together that he needs he can use the Black Arrow in the middle which promises a definite win for the Bad Guy. The things that the Bad Guy needs for this definie winning strike often include a Place the Bad Guy has to go to. The Bad Guy can possess some of the "tools" already at the beginning of the story, but for some things he still must work to get them over the course of the movie script or novel.

The Good Guy attacks

The Good Guy also has a possibility to destroy the Bad Guy or to destroy one of the "tools" the Bad Guy needs for destroying him or his "tools". The White Arrow in the middle defines a definite win for the Good Guy that is possible if he or she has all "tools" together. In most cases these "tools" include a Place where the Good Guy must come to.

The Trust of the hero in him or herself

The Green Arrows now are Trust. As the third thing the Hero has to succed in besides gathering his "tools" and coming to a certain place also the Good Guy must at some point have a problem to trust in his ability to use one of his Tools or Abilities and he must get this trusting in his ability to use one of his Tools or Abilities. Also the lack of trust that must become trust can be about his Ideology. So at some point the Good Guy must win or win back the trust to being able to use one of his Tools or Abilities or win or win back trust that his Ideology is really a good thing. If the trust is about his or her Ideology then often the Ideologie comes from the Hero to the Land at the end of the movie. If the trust that the Hero gains is in the ability to use one of his Tools or Capabilities then most times this trust comes from the Hero to the Land. And the people of the land also start to trust in the capability to use their Tools and Abilities. For this to become clear it can be a good idea to show that in the beginning the people of the Land do not trust in ther capabilities. Also it can be good to show how the Hero in the beginning has a problem to trust in him or herself.

That is a working movie, film or theater script. If you make shure that these things are there in your script then it will be working. The viewer or reader will want to read the script to the end or watch the movie or play to the end. If you have the feeling that something about your movie script is not good somehow you should check these features given here and see if osme might be missing in your script. Of course the Good Guy does not need a Tool and a special Ability. The hero definitly needs a good Ideology. The rest is actually up to you. If the Hero already has a good Ideology then He or she should achieve something before he can destroy the Bad Guy or his "tools" but this is actually not necessary to make the script or book work.

One more thing, note that in Back to the Future 1 The Hero has two problems. He must return to the future and he must bring his parents together again. For that he has only one chance at a certain time and if that is missed he fails. So in this movie we have the role of the Bad Guy divided between The Bad Guy and "being in another time". Because both work against the Hero because he has two different goals.