7 WAYS TO WRITE LIKE A FILM EDITOR
“A film is born three times. First in the writing of the script, once again in the shooting, and finally in the editing.” — Robert Bresson
By Jayson Abalos
Production often complains about writers: not because they don’t like writers, but because they feel writers speak and think in a different language. This isn’t a guide to writing screenplays. This isn’t about loglines, or treatments. It’s not about one-pages, or formatting. It’s about a theory of writing a screenplay that speaks the same language as production.
Ultimately, the film is really made in the editing room. Everything before it can exist, but unlike most writers, Directors, DPs, and ADs approach the story from a position of how this will result downstream to the film editor. Remarkably, I find these considerations are often missing from the perspective of the writer.
So the below attempts to train the writer’s mind to think more like a film editor. Doing so requires rethinking script in terms of the language of film as a medium; not just a vehicle for a story. The two ways of thinking are vastly different.
Here are 7 WAYS TO WRITE LIKE A FILM EDITOR.
1. GENERATE A MOUNTAIN OF MATERIAL AND IMMERSE YOURSELF IN IT
Write down everything and ignore the page count. Then write everything again without looking at what you wrote before. This method is all about approaching writing like a film editor approaches editing. EVERY idea that you have, write it down. Even if it’s a scribble in the side of the margins..
Why? If you only have one copy, with one version of everything, then your options downsteam in editing are limited. Editors are driven by the need to generate multiple options with raw footage. There will be multiple takes of each scene, and the editor has to remember all of them and be able to run the entire film back and forth with those variations included.
Get saturated in the motion, imagery, energy, style, arcs, tempo, and world of your story. Then read everything again and take notes. Question every scene. Just because it looks like the right way the scene should be written, doesn’t mean that it’s the only way…
What does that mean for the screenplay? Write it once – that grounds the broad sweep of the idea. Write it again (and again) – which will gives you your alternative “shots”. Edit until you have the writer’s version of an assembly edit; your “first cut”.
'You’re writing a screenplay to serve others to make a film. You are attempting to be a muse; not lock down a final cut.'
2. NURTURE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
You will never work alone. Always be positive, always be helpful to everyone in your production. Being negative or resistant switches the focus from the screenplay onto you. Accept the disagreements. Try out different options (see above). Borrow the golden rule from improvisational theater: “Yes, and…” Experiment. Test and learn.
You’re writing a screenplay to serve others to make a film. You are attempting to be a muse; not enforce a final cut. So learn the language of film that your collaborators speak. If they reference things you don’t know, learn about that. If they don’t know something that you do, introduce it as an option. Professional etiquette is everything.
3. ORGANIZATION IS PARAMOUNT
You’ll be generating mountains of notes, versions of the screenplay, and even variations of scenes. Never throw anything away. Ever. If you have a scene that is being cut from a version, store it in a file that’s just that scene. LABEL your drafts. LABEL your scenes.
DON’T just pile a bunch of random scenes into a file and refer to it as your scratch pad. There is never harm in having more material, but there’s always harm in having too little. You don’t want to be sitting there wondering where you put that bit you now need, or regretting that you wrote over it and it’s now gone forever.
4. PLAN FOR THINGS TO GO WRONG
Never hit a point where you can’t write, so you just stop. Screen films, study other material, study the history of film, or even help someone else with their project. There is a wealth of options other than just sitting there feeling guilty for not writing. All of them will keep your mind sharper and running smoother. And when you get back to writing, because your mind has been kept sharp, you will be able to hit the ground running.
Regardless of anything else, save your work. At every point. Always have a Cloud back up. At the end of every day you should be making sure that your Cloud copy mirrors your local copy exactly. Equally, when you export a PDF to send out, print out a copy on paper and read it with a pen. Sit back, unplug, and slowly make your way through. Proof every single line. If you don’t, you’re assuming that everything went fine, nothing’s in error, and just sending it on its way.
Mindblindness is real. Break the environment of familiarity you have with something so you are able to see it without your mind assuming what you’re seeing.
'Give your characters the space to react to every IMPORTANT BEAT of dialogue, space to reinforce their emotions, beliefs, and world views.'
5. ATTEMPT VARIATIONS THAT SHOULDN’T WORK
Be like children. Every child, upon learning of a boundary, almost instantly pushes up against it for no other reason than to better understand it. Try that.
Try variations that are just wrong. Sometimes you might find that they lead to an interesting place. Other times they won’t, but your mind will crystalize more sharply on why it doesn’t work, which is still useful.
Allow yourself to be surprised. Allow yourself the ability to be human – to be delighted by surprise. Be willing to take risks and try wild ideas. Be willing to take time to play and experiment.
6. SPEND MORE TIME ON IMAGERY
Images aren't just pictures. They conjure up emotion. So don’t just focus on the dialogue and the character arcs. The real solid glue that binds everything together in a film will be the imagery. Images in motion are what makes film…film. It’s not a book. If you’re writing a script, and you’re not that bothered about the imagery that you’re creating, you’re not really writing a film.
Think about the story that a sequence of IMAGES collectively creates. Look to the images as EMOTION.
Learn about the Kuleshov Effect and how the relationship of images to each other changes the interpretation and understanding of the story. THIS IS WHERE SUBTEXT IS CREATED.
Imagery creates emotion. Even without dialogue or action. Film was creating emotional stories far before it was creating dynamic action and dialogue. And it was able to do this simply by the relationship of images.
The emotional IMAGE story is always better than a dialogue or action alternative. Words are misremembered. Actions are fleeting.
Are you using objects to tell stories through imagery? How many layers of visual story are taking place? What's the pacing and energy of the images? What about color? What about the setting? What's the narrative of the imagery of the settings as a sequence together?
Give your characters the space to react to every IMPORTANT BEAT of dialogue, space to reinforce their emotions, beliefs, and world views. These reactions will be invaluable in the edit. Suggest on the page the reactions and close-ups as it will help in the downstream editing.
7. WRITE TO THE SCENE BUT ALWAYS IN CONTEXT TO THE WHOLE FILM
When writing, never stop looking at how one scene fits into the idea of the whole film. Move back and forth between the macro and micro.
Always keep that larger picture in mind. You finish the first pass of the script, and then you immediately look at the page count. Likely it’s too high. That’s fine. Now you start looking at WHERE it’s too long. Which scenes are running longer than they should? What scenes aren’t ABSOLUTELY essential to tell the story? It’s the same process as in the edit room.
Now you start marking those for cutting out or replacing with shorter versions. What are the MICRO parts that are leading to that MACRO problem? Could they be arranged differently to better serve the MACRO image story? This is really where all of that extra material you generated back at the beginning will pay dividends. You’ll need variations to try to swap out to problem solve.
These “7 Laws” are really ideas to consider to improve the quality of film scripts that you write. That is all. I am well open to discussion. If you would like to contact me, please contact me either in the Scriptfella Talent Facebook group, or via email at writer.jayson@gmail.com.
Jayson Abalos
Professional data analyst by trade, Jayson Abalos is a hobbyist writer, musician, and amateur astrophysics analyst. He learned film craft from years of low budget indie production work, mostly as an editor and operator.
Connect with Jayson on Facebook, and discover more about his work on his website and on Academia.edu
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