"Ask the Screenwriter" with Christina Hamlett
| Screenwriting for Teens was released in November 2006 (Michael Wiese Productions) and is the second text I've written targeted to high school students who want to break into the film industry. Written in a vein similar to my 2002 release, ScreenTEENwriters (Meriwether Publishing), the new book contains over 300 idea-starter exercises that can be used in independent study, film camp, or classroom and is supplemented by plenty of been there/done that advice from industry pros. My most recent screenwriting book, Could It Be a Movie (Michael Wiese Productions) departs from regular film-oriented how-to's by inviting readers to assess whether their plots have adaptation potential for novels, short stories or stage plays. Additional releases this year include Movie Girl (Hard Shell Word Factory), the launch book of a new fiction series targeted to teen girls. Described by yours truly as "comically autobiographical", it not only follows the exploits of Cambridge high school student Laurie Preston but attests to the observation that, "at age 15, every generation of women has gone through exactly the same scenarios of angst". Also hitting the bookstores in 2006 is Awesome Plays for Teens and Tweens, a collection of Hamlett one-acts published by Sterling Partners, owners of Plays, the Magazine for Young People. |
| Ever wondered how you write a movie screenplay? Ever wanted to write one yourself? How do you do it? How does it work? Thankfully, now your questions can be answered by Christina Hamlett, author of numerous books on screenwriting and making movies. Ms. Hamlett has graciously offered her time and talent to TeensReadToo.com to answer your questions about all things screenwriting-related! Simply email your questions to us, and Christina will give you honest, helpful answers that will be posted here on the site! |
One of our TRT readers, P.C., recently had some questions for Christina regarding formatting a script. Here's Christina's response:
Hi, P.C.
Proper formatting is critical if you want your screenplay to be taken seriously by agents, producers, and contest committees. One of the easiest
websites I recommend for newcomers is http://www.scriptologist.com which not only walks you through the rules of proper formatting (which
can be replicated in a Word program if you have the patience) but also provides all kinds of fun tips, script samples to study and industry expert
interviews. Professional screenwriters rely on software programs such as Final Draft (my own preference) to place all of the elements in the right
configuration. The absolute basics are that the correct font is always Courier 12 and that the margins are 1 inch all around. The reason that the
master scenes, action lines and dialogue blocks are standardized in this industry is that 1 page should equal one minute of screentime. This is
why the average script is 120 pages (2 hours of film). When people start arbitrarily changing the fonts and margins, it skews the playing time and
does not give a realistic sense of how long a particular script actually is. Preparing a screenplay in Word takes much longer than if you were using
screenplay software, especially since you have to pay even more attention to page numbers and to accidentally separating a character's name
from his or her dialogue at the bottom of a page.
If there are any other questions I can answer, just let me know.
Good luck with your writing!
Christina Hamlett
Author of Screenwriting for Teens, Could It Be a Movie, ScreenTeenWriters, Awesome Plays for Teens and Tweens...and a whole lot more!
Movie Girl
Christina's Latest News
Outskirts Press
American Chronicle: Christina Hamlett
The Penn Group
Hi, P.C.
Proper formatting is critical if you want your screenplay to be taken seriously by agents, producers, and contest committees. One of the easiest
websites I recommend for newcomers is http://www.scriptologist.com which not only walks you through the rules of proper formatting (which
can be replicated in a Word program if you have the patience) but also provides all kinds of fun tips, script samples to study and industry expert
interviews. Professional screenwriters rely on software programs such as Final Draft (my own preference) to place all of the elements in the right
configuration. The absolute basics are that the correct font is always Courier 12 and that the margins are 1 inch all around. The reason that the
master scenes, action lines and dialogue blocks are standardized in this industry is that 1 page should equal one minute of screentime. This is
why the average script is 120 pages (2 hours of film). When people start arbitrarily changing the fonts and margins, it skews the playing time and
does not give a realistic sense of how long a particular script actually is. Preparing a screenplay in Word takes much longer than if you were using
screenplay software, especially since you have to pay even more attention to page numbers and to accidentally separating a character's name
from his or her dialogue at the bottom of a page.
If there are any other questions I can answer, just let me know.
Good luck with your writing!
Christina Hamlett
Author of Screenwriting for Teens, Could It Be a Movie, ScreenTeenWriters, Awesome Plays for Teens and Tweens...and a whole lot more!
Movie Girl
Christina's Latest News
Outskirts Press
American Chronicle: Christina Hamlett
The Penn Group