Every good web series and short film starts with an idea. That idea is then taken and stretched and pounded into submission. At that point what you’re left with is a script or a waste basket filled with screwed up A4 and tufts of hair where you’ve pulled them from your head in frustration.
To help take the frustration out of script building we’ve decided to take a leaf out of the NaNoWriMo/Script Frenzy people’s book and issue a ‘Rough Drafts’ challenge. The idea being that we give you a month during which you’re to write the first draft of your short film or web series pilot.
Short film:
- Minimum 15 minutes screen time
- Stand alone story
- Begin: Saturday, 16th November at 0:01 am (local time)
- End: Sunday, 15th December at 11:59 pm (local time)
Web series pilot:
- Minimum 10 minutes screen time
- Main character bios / bibles
- Continuous story
- Begin: Saturday, 16th November at 0:01 am (local time)
- End: Sunday, 15th December at 11:59 pm (local time)
Most guides estimate that one page of script is equal to one minute of screen time but this obviously depends on content and description.
The minimum screen times listed are for the rought draft and might very well be longer or shorter than the final script(s). If you are a fan of very short web series episodes you can divide your ten minutes into approriately sized episodes and format them accordingly.
If you’re new to script writing and would like to take a gander at some professional film scripts, check out The Internet Movie Script Database.
There are a number of free script writing programs available, including: Celtx and Story Free. Or you could simply write it in Word if that’s your preference.
Finished scripts should be submitted on or before Sunday, 15th December at 11:59 pm (local time) to ralst31@gmail.com. At which time you can proudly display your ‘Rough Drafts’ winner graphic for the world to see.