Cheap Movie Tricks

Set your ego aside. Really. Dislodge from your five-star ego brain for five seconds. Every story and script needs revision. No first draft is amazing (though the ideas behind them may be). It’s your second, third, or sometimes your fiftieth draft that shines. Is the script in your friends’ hands? Good. Your filmmaker and writer buddies will understand how your story needs to match your locations. They’ll see whether or not your dialogue is too longwinded, or too boring, or too choppy. They’ll catch those underdeveloped scenes and flat characters, and help you identify those areas that could grow your story.

s in Hectic Films movies:
1. Explosions: They’re dangerous

Okay, that’s an extreme example, but the fact is, we love action. We integrate as much as we can. Let’s face it—action will probably help you get attention with your short film. What constitutes action? Someone running. Good. Someone fighting. Even better. Find some stunt actors who need to build a demo reel and suddenly you have more options! Let’s face it: great stunts, car chases, shootouts, and zombie attacks are pretty cool. Did we mention we love action? Here are a few action moments in Hectic Films movies

Neither reaches their goals in this mini scene. Observe how they ask questions yet receive no answer. If an apple can cause tension in a scene, imagine what else you can do as a writer and filmmaker

Remember, in dialogue, characters need to banter

1. Goals. What the heck do your characters want or need to do?
2. Obstacles. This is the tension and conflict that causes your story to keep going because your character fails to reach the goal(s).
3. No Victory. If every chapter ends in victory your reader will fall asleep. Keep the stakes high. Keep the tension off the chart. Make your scenes full. Give them a beginning, middle, and end. If they don’t have goals, obstacles, no victory, or a beginning, middle. and end, then your scene is not fully developed

Oh, and one more thing. Remember what we said about location? Don’t forget to write a story that fits your locations. We’ll remind you again when we talk about scripts

). We want to feel when we write the story because we want our characters to feel

. This is easier in prose. You can write what a character is thinking, how Jennifer wants to toss her guts because she’s terrified of what the judge might say if she’s caught not just holding up a liquor store but sleeping with the judge’s son, who happens to be a cop. Now dive further, go past specific character thoughts into character feelings. You can describe all sorts of emotions. Make them desperate. Painful. Jarring. Stomach churning. Tortuous. Good job

Now we need some character and scene development. Most of all, your audience needs to know what every character wants. Let’s look at some fictitious situations