Writing a shooting script
Monday, January 11, 2010

The company that bought my latest short script asked for a few rewrites that annoyed me a little. They wanted details that in my opinion do not belong in a script, details like the girl carrying a backpack that is not used in any way.

Then I realized that what I was doing was rewriting my script to a shooting script.

The details were added so that everybody involved in the production should have just about the same idea about the final result. They were there to help, not to limit, as I first saw it.

I had written that they left the house. They wanted me to write what kind of house, which in my world limits, but in their world helps the location scout to find what they are looking for.

I was so blind.

I’ve been writing on speculation for so long. Then you don’t want to limit. You want to leave as many options open as possible. You don’t write things that do not in some way pay off.

But once you want produce the script the details start to be important. If the director sees the leaving girl with a backpack then this need to be communicated. And what could be easier than to write in the script that there is a backpack?

I was even asked to number the scenes. I don’t know if I’m like any normal writer, but it was a very special moment for me when I checked this option in the menu for the first time for real.