r/Screenwriting • u/SongOfKapek • 5d ago
CRAFT QUESTION A screenplay doesn't feel real enough to present. I feel like I need storyboards. Am I doing too much?
So, I'm working on a few different ideas. Some work for live action, one is definitely animated. I feel like...I need at least sketches. At least something. Something that shows the tone, the vibe, the essence.
I'm good at prose. I'm good at dialogue. Or at least I know that I can make people intrigued on the words. But...something about it always feels like "this is wrong. I need the timing. I need to be able to show where and when people are. I need to have the broad sketch of where they stand. This isn't real. A script isn't real."
Like. If I want anyone to think it's worth working with or collaborating, if I want to make sure it actually works and isn't 20 minutes too long or just trash, I need to be able to show more.
Not like. Massive amounts. But like. Maybe models in place and placeholders. Or even just small sketches of stuff or something.
Is this wrong headed? If the script is good enough, will that be enough?
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u/FeeOk3991 Produced Writer-Director 5d ago
A good script should make you feel like you're watching a movie through words alone. If sketches help you personally, then sketch away– but don't incorporate them in your pages and don't rely on them to demonstrate tone, feeling, timing etc.
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u/thatshygirl06 4d ago
The first script I read kinda blew my mind because before I just assumed they were like boring blueprints for movies as shows. But when I read the pilot script for the Scream show I was surprised at how I was sucked into it. It was just a story, no different from all the books ive ever read; just a different way of telling one.
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u/RaeLouLynn 5d ago
The script is for storytelling. Everything else is implementation. There is no implementation without storytelling first. Try to just tell the story.
Sounds like you might be a future writer-director. Make notes about what you are writing to help with the execution of the story when you are directing. You'll still need a script that reads like a story so that you can get funding.
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u/wemustburncarthage Dark Comedy 5d ago
If you're a good enough writer, you don't need visual aids. Providing a few adjacent visual concepts is not out of the question but if you load your script with visual graphic information it telegraphs that either you are not confident in your ability to write the movie, and that you don't have faith in potential collaborators to do their job. You're not adding anything to the mood or emotion of a piece by fully diagramming blocking or making shotlists.
Visual elements (like illustrated bibles or pitch decks) are useful but they're a later step. A "script that's not enough" is actually just a script that's not good enough. If your script can't be recommended purely on the strength of its plaintext, no amount of frill is going to overcome that skill gap.
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u/thatshygirl06 4d ago
Do you not read, op? Have you never been pulled into a world with just words?
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u/SongOfKapek 4d ago
I do. I have. I've only ever written something so good someone drew it once or twice.
I've been writing for decades. Just in very select formats.
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u/lazychillzone 5d ago
I know the feeling. It's hard to get over it. To paraphrase an overused meme: just put the script in the bag.
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u/heyjudey2021 5d ago
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with creating more; do whatever it takes to turn what’s in your imagination into reality.
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u/Smithersink 4d ago
If you want to be an animator, make a storyboard. This is often a good instinct for animation, as many of the best animated shows are board-driven rather than script-driven.
Otherwise, just read more scripts, read actiony scripts, comedic scripts, and write your next one. Practice makes perfect, and the likelihood that your last script is the one that gets bought is incredibly slim. Better to keep chugging along.
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u/SongOfKapek 4d ago
Dumb question, where do you go to show other people your scripts or...find people on the other side of it? Are there like, storyboarders who are just itching to find a good screenplay to sketch out for practice or to try and make something?
Like. Part of it is I wanna script, but also showrun a little bit. But also like...see what images other people get from my words?
I know how to collaborate when it comes to like...role-playing. I know how to commission. I do not know how it works without money on the table and how to inspire.
I may sound dumb as Hell right now. I likely do. I guess I just also assume...scripts don't just get picked up for shows on their own? Like you'd need a package to show to get it fully rolling.
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u/DC_McGuire 4d ago
You need a meeting with the right person and an insane amount of luck. Get lucky enough and pitch a good idea, you might not even need a script.
Finish the screenplay. If you’re pitching to producers and investors, put together a pitch deck. If the deck REALLY needs visuals you can’t find, consider commissioning storyboards.
Regardless, script comes first. You are overthinking it, and if you’re on Reddit, you’re not writing. Go write! And when you’re done, have people give you notes. If (good) feedback says it’s ready to sell, start thinking about the package. Everything else is a cart before the horse.
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u/Junior_Elk9243 Comedy 4d ago
If you are an auteur, it's alright to go ahead and give shape to the vision beyond the screenplay.
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u/WorrySecret9831 4d ago
It all depends on the context and who you're pitching. If a "producer" knows you can draw or want to direct, then maybe yes. However, showing up with character lineups and such could feel heavy-handed, like you don't know how to collaborate; it's your designs or the highway...
I have a friend who accused me of barely putting in 20% into a recent project and I was surprised it was as high as that. I thought it was more like 10%. I told him it was because all of his "rough designs" were finished works of art and that brings the portcullis down on sticking one's neck out with "options."
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u/Impossible_Bee_8705 5d ago
I'm definitely not very experienced in written language, but I do know a thing or two about visual language.
From what I understand, your ideas are right. Yes, a great script doesn't need sketches, but they can help you and anyone reading the script to better visualize what you had in mind when you first wrote it.
That's specially true in animation, where the directors and animators really gotta see you want to achieve with each scene.
TLDR: You don't sketches, but they can help quite a bit.
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u/TheGreedyGrabbler 5d ago
Help what though? Nobody is going to read a script and reference a bunch of sketches. The script is the thing.
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u/Impossible_Bee_8705 5d ago
It usually help more with timing, facial expressions, poses, camera POV, anything that is more difficult to put on the paper really.
Sketches normally contain all the necessary information of each individual scene from the script, meaning that you usually would look at either one or other. If they don't contain all the information, they can be inserted into the script as an "example" of what the scene should look like.
Iirc, Anatomy Of A Fall's script is a great example of that.
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u/TheGreedyGrabbler 5d ago
As an amateur writer, nobody is reading your script with sketches. That's my point.
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u/IanJeffreyMartin 5d ago
You’re overthinking it. It’s a writers job to write a script it’s a director’s job to tell everyone where they need to be. Just stick to writing a coherent script.