Writing and Selling Thriller Screenplays PDF
Preview Writing and Selling Thriller Screenplays
creative essentials CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 1 8/21/13 2:02 PM creative essentials CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 2 8/21/13 2:02 PM LUCY V. HAY WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS creative essentials CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 3 8/21/13 2:02 PM First published in 2013 by Kamera Books, an imprint of Oldcastle Books PO Box 394, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 1XJ www.kamerabooks.com Copyright © Lucy V. Hay 2013 Series Editor: Hannah Patterson The right of Lucy V. Hay to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the publishers. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 978-1-84243-971-5 (Print) 978-1-84243-972-2 (epub) 978-1-84243-973-9 (kindle) 978-1-84344-263-9 (pdf) 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Typeset by Elsa Mathern in Franklin Gothic 9 pt Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 4 8/21/13 2:02 PM CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................. 7 PART ONE: WHAT IS A THRILLER? ....................................... 9 •DefinitionofThriller .................................................. 11 •CharacterisationinThrillers ........................................ 39 PART TWO: WRITING YOUR THRILLER SCREENPLAY ................ 77 •Pitching&Preparation,Part1:Premise&Logline ............ 79 •Pitching&Preparation,Part2:TheOutline .................... 95 •TheFirstTenPages&SetUp ...................................... 103 •TheConflict&theShowdown ...................................... 111 PART THREE: SELLING YOUR THRILLER SCREENPLAY .............. 119 •Feedback&ThingsToConsider ................................... 121 •GettingYourWork‘OutThere’,Part1: Pitch Material .......................................................... 141 •GettingYourWork‘OutThere’,Part2: Strategy Routes Available .......................................... 151 •Money,Money,Money ................................................ 173 •Packaging&Attachments .......................................... 187 ADDENDUM .............................................................. 199 Resources ................................................................ 203 Index ...................................................................... 219 CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 5 8/21/13 2:02 PM CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 6 8/21/13 2:02 PM FOREWORD WhenIwasaskedwhatgenreI’dliketotackleforthisseries,I answeredimmediately:thethriller.It’stheonegenreInevertire of watching. Thrillers come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny indie productions to massive blockbusters. They straddle every imaginable genre, creating sub and cross-genres of their own, embracing elements like vast science-fiction and fantasy worlds or period settings; female protagonists; ensemble casts and non-linear structures. In short, there’snothingthrillerscan’tdo,andaudienceslapthemup,making them a good bet for producers and/or screenwriters looking to go into filmmaking themselves. Before we start: Writing and Selling Thriller Screenplays is not a ‘howtoscreenwrite’book.Iassumeyouhavethenecessaryskills to format properly; to write sparkling dialogue; to know how to paint an interesting arena. Instead I focus on the two elements most likely tosellyourthrillerscreenplay‘offthepage’:storyandcharacter. Similarly,asIamalwaysatpainstopointout,thereareno‘rules’! There is only hard work to do in making your script the best it can be, and even MORE work in getting it to the screen. There are no easy answers, no quick fixes and no limp promises. Divided into three parts, the book first gives a brief history of the thriller genre and the characters that frequently appear in them, both in produced content and the spec pile. This is followed by a look at what goes into produced thrillers, both large and small, plus how spec thriller screenplays can emulate these successes whilst still retaining their own originality. I then break down the writing of a thriller 7 CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 7 8/21/13 2:02 PM WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS from premise through to first draft, including rewrites and feedback, plus finding filmmakers. From there, I encourage writers to consider what it takes to make a film on a limited budget and what writers can do to make their thriller screenplay a viable, commercial prospect. Last of all: a few words to the wise… There will be spoilers: LOTS OF THEM. There will be some swearing. Conversely, there will be NO reverencetowardsdirectorsoractors;norwilltherebeany‘geeking out’aboutDVDextrasorcommentaries.Ihaveattemptedtocollect asmanyindustrypeople’sopinionsaspossible;theirTwitterhandles will feature next to their names if they have them and their works or otheronlinepresenceswillbeinthe‘Resources’sectionattheback of the book. Story is king (or queen), so bar the odd actor who has become a brand in (usually) his own right, I refer to the characters in the various thrillers I mention by their own names, not by the actors who play them. Inevitably, I can only scratch the surface of such a broad genre intermsofexaminingproducedmovies,soI’vemadeaneffortto include as many of the classics as I can, whilst still attempting to draw attention to more hidden gems. Last but by no means least, the focus of the book concentrates on the Hollywood model of the thriller genre, so the majority of films I discuss are British and American. Ifyou’reabigfanofEuropean,Easternorart-housecinema,you maybedisappointed,butgiventhe‘hugeness’ofthethrillergenreI had to make a decision on what would mean the most to the most amount of people, especially when so many native English speakers appeartohatesubtitles.I’mremindedofagoodfriendwhosaid,‘If I want to read, I’ll read a book… And if I’m watching a film, it’s because I don’t want to read a ****ing book!…’ …Okay it was me. But then you knew that, right? Lucy V. Hay, August 2013 8 CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 8 8/21/13 2:02 PM PART ONE WHAT IS A THRILLER? ‘Nine million terrorists in the world and I have to kill one with feet smaller than my sister.’ John McClane, DIE HARD MARIE: Do you have any ID? JASON: Not really. THE BOURNE IDENTITY ‘Smile, you son of a bitch.’ Brody, JAWS NATALIE: What’s the last thing you do remember? LEONARD: My wife… NATALIE: That’s sweet. LEONARD: …Dying. MEMENTO ‘I’m gonna save the motherfucking day.’ Cameron Poe, CON AIR CE GENRE - Thriller.indd 9 8/21/13 2:02 PM
The list of books you might like
