It's up to you. The cards represent segments. One card can represent one scene or several segments can happen in one scene. I've had one card last for six pages and others last for less than one.
That's a little straight A for me, but I understand the concept. Whenever I wrote scripts in the past I never quite organised my thoughts, and it felt like my characters completely took over the story. It would be nice to have control of my own story, so thanks for sharing. At the same time, though, I do like that type of free-writing for short scripts.
Great video! I just finished reading “Save the Cat” and your video really drove in the importance of story boarding-especially spotting the areas where a story has holes. Good job!
Very good points indeed, thanks. I have Save the Cat as well, and I second your recommendation to any writer, not just screenwriters. I wish all script writers would not only realize these "gaps," but fill them with things that *matter* and that keep a tempo! Unfortunately, there's not always time to step away and let other ideas incubate. Gotta' make a paycheck!
No. A 2 second scene is most likely a part of a larger event. For example: a 2 second scene could be a guy loads a gun in his car. The next scene is he robs a liquor store. Then there's another 2 second scene of him driving away. All of these scenes would be a part of the liquor store robbery sequence and would only constitute one card.
I'm between buying a white board or pin board. Would you say "I wish I'd bought a white board" instead of pin board? And what about the size of it in this video? I'm thinking to buy 60x90
You say 10 cards in each row, summing 40 cards total. What if I have much more scenes? Would you still limit them to 10 and bake them together in 10 sequences?
Hey, that's a really good question and kind of tough to answer. First, don't think of the cards as scenes. Think of them as actions or beats in your story. One card could contain multiple scenes or multiple cards could take place in one location over the course of an extended period. Lets say the action is "Main Character escapes from jail." This action might not take too long even if it takes a few scenes to accomplish. In this case 1 card is fine. One the other hand, if the act of escaping from jail takes several minutes, lets say 7 or 8 minutes (7 to 8 pages), then it's worth breaking this up into 2 or 3 cards. The important thing to remember here is that the story needs to progress through this long section. At this point there needs to be a bigger thing happening than just escaping jail. Maybe the character also has to get something or someone before he can escape. So there needs to be more obstacles, more plot progression and more character development. And then there's the 3rd possibility. You've got too much in your story and you need to cut the fat out of your script. If you can't figure out what to cut out then make sure you've got your complete story outlined on your board. Figure out where your act breaks are, see where those extra cards end up and figure out how you can get rid of actions that really don't support your story or consolidate multiple small actions that add up to one cards worth. Well, hope I didn't make this harder on you. Good luck in your writing.
@@jwhofilm Thank you for taking the time to write a thorough answer. I am serious about screenwriting so I wasn't just throwing something out. Your answer is really helpful and you also provided additional recommendations that I will take with me in the further process.
Great and thanks for sharing. Totally in agreement with your methodology. I do it slightly different in what I call "storyline" but the same principle applies except yours shows the holes, where mine does not. I like your idea lines better while the conflict and horizontal path to carry out a thought. Also, is "Save the Cat," By Blake Snyder yours? If not, does this storyboard plan you speak of come from that book?
Thanks, Dimento. This story board comes from "Save the Cat." In the book it says you can use whatever method of marking your cards you want. So I used colored cards.
Thanks jwhofilm. I did find that a feature like this is available in Final Draft 10 called "beats" and it is amazing. Kinda works the same way only you can move them around and view them in different ways plus pump in cam angles and other nice little things like costume and props and the cards are pretty much resizable and movable.
Question: do you know of any software-based versions of this? I know they have something similar in Scrivener, and probably also in Final Draft, but I don't want new WRITING software, per se, just some application for storyboarding without pictures and where I can rearrange tiles by drag and drop. thank you!
For me it does and since the second act it the largest it is broken up into 2 lines, purple and yellow. Red represents scenes of great conflict. Remember that every scene should have conflict but the red ones are the ones that the audience will remember the most, be shocked by, or trigger special events such as breaking into a new act. But you can color code however you want. If it helps you, you could use blue cards to represent your hero and yellow cards to represent your villain, etc. You could even go so far as to use different colored ink for different characters on the cards or get colored stickers to put on each card. The choice is yours.
The card packs I buy happen to have 5 colors. So I chose Blue to represent "The land of 'I want,'" Purple for "Fun and Games," Yellow for rising tension "The bad guys close in," and Green for the "Enlightenment." The red cards are the scenes of intense conflict. Each line represents one quarter of the film and in each quarter there is an important ark to achieve. Thanks for asking
great video, I still have a tougha time believing screenwriters in LA do this--Save the Cat is the book everyone uses, but are we really getting better scripts because of this method?
I think there will always be an argument for and against formulas for script writing. But the more I've read and learned and the more movies I watch and analyze, I feel like it's true.
For a script story board you want to make a complete story board first. There may be some other steps you can take as well depending on what writing methods you are using. Reading "Save the Cat" will give you a lot more steps to take before writing your first draft of your script. But once you are ready to write your first draft, you should write the entire script without stopping to rewrite the first few pages.
I'm not sure. There are lots of writing tools out there and I know that there are similar products for PCs so I imagine you could find an app similar to this.
I don't think methods/formulas are inherently bad; it's the over-reliance and strict adherence to those formulas that cause issues. Screenwriting is an art form, a craft, not a math equation.
Hey Sir, Thanks a lot for your energy aand amazing videos!☀️ Can I reach you somehow, maybe email? Have a veeery important question to ask, would be super-grateful if u could answer Thank u💫
good shit dude. People that say everything is "formula" only when the story is bad. Notice when story great you never hear someone say formula. Check out my video Don Juan For Dummies. Might find it funny
I’m a Professional Storyboard Artist from working on Cartoons and I’ve many novel/script ideas and this looks like it would work best for me. Thanks!
Dang! This video is incredibly insightful. I prefer chaos over structure in my life but this is a really good idea for script writing.
thank you so much, greetings from Bolivia, your video is really helpfull
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
It's up to you. The cards represent segments. One card can represent one scene or several segments can happen in one scene. I've had one card last for six pages and others last for less than one.
That's a little straight A for me, but I understand the concept. Whenever I wrote scripts in the past I never quite organised my thoughts, and it felt like my characters completely took over the story. It would be nice to have control of my own story, so thanks for sharing. At the same time, though, I do like that type of free-writing for short scripts.
Great video! I just finished reading “Save the Cat” and your video really drove in the importance of story boarding-especially spotting the areas where a story has holes. Good job!
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you. Yes, Save the Cat is a great book!
Good advice, I usually start writing half-cocked and get stuck. I'll be sure to give this a shot.
Thanks. Your video is good regardless if someone is writing a novel or script--thanks for sharing!
Direct and to the point. No bs. Nice job.
Thank you! glad you enjoyed it.
Very good points indeed, thanks. I have Save the Cat as well, and I second your recommendation to any writer, not just screenwriters. I wish all script writers would not only realize these "gaps," but fill them with things that *matter* and that keep a tempo! Unfortunately, there's not always time to step away and let other ideas incubate. Gotta' make a paycheck!
Yep. When you can see your whole script on a single board it really makes you realize where the problems may occur.
thank you for sharing Joshua!
My question is do i need 40 cards exact for my script. for instance a 2 second scene should have a card too ?
No. A 2 second scene is most likely a part of a larger event.
For example: a 2 second scene could be a guy loads a gun in his car. The next scene is he robs a liquor store. Then there's another 2 second scene of him driving away. All of these scenes would be a part of the liquor store robbery sequence and would only constitute one card.
@@jwhofilm Your explanation is super helpful. Thank you!
interesting method. i'm just wondering how much do you write in an index card? does each card represent a whole scene from the script? thanks!
I'm between buying a white board or pin board. Would you say "I wish I'd bought a white board" instead of pin board? And what about the size of it in this video? I'm thinking to buy 60x90
I love the pin board. Wouldn't change that. I think mine is 2ftX4ft but you could certainly go bigger. I wouldn't go smaller though.
Actually, Very good ideia!
Wow that.. was pretty useful actually! That's exactly what I was looking for, thank you
Glad I could help! It's quite enjoyable once you put the last card on the board!
Clear and useful.
You say 10 cards in each row, summing 40 cards total. What if I have much more scenes? Would you still limit them to 10 and bake them together in 10 sequences?
Hey, that's a really good question and kind of tough to answer. First, don't think of the cards as scenes. Think of them as actions or beats in your story. One card could contain multiple scenes or multiple cards could take place in one location over the course of an extended period. Lets say the action is "Main Character escapes from jail." This action might not take too long even if it takes a few scenes to accomplish. In this case 1 card is fine.
One the other hand, if the act of escaping from jail takes several minutes, lets say 7 or 8 minutes (7 to 8 pages), then it's worth breaking this up into 2 or 3 cards. The important thing to remember here is that the story needs to progress through this long section. At this point there needs to be a bigger thing happening than just escaping jail. Maybe the character also has to get something or someone before he can escape. So there needs to be more obstacles, more plot progression and more character development.
And then there's the 3rd possibility. You've got too much in your story and you need to cut the fat out of your script. If you can't figure out what to cut out then make sure you've got your complete story outlined on your board. Figure out where your act breaks are, see where those extra cards end up and figure out how you can get rid of actions that really don't support your story or consolidate multiple small actions that add up to one cards worth.
Well, hope I didn't make this harder on you. Good luck in your writing.
@@jwhofilm Thank you for taking the time to write a thorough answer. I am serious about screenwriting so I wasn't just throwing something out. Your answer is really helpful and you also provided additional recommendations that I will take with me in the further process.
@@framedheart Thank you. Glad I was able to help.
Thank you for doing this video. This really helped me.
Charts are awesome. Just charts, charts, charts all f*(%^# day, man! Just BAM!
Great and thanks for sharing. Totally in agreement with your methodology. I do it slightly different in what I call "storyline" but the same principle applies except yours shows the holes, where mine does not. I like your idea lines better while the conflict and horizontal path to carry out a thought. Also, is "Save the Cat," By Blake Snyder yours? If not, does this storyboard plan you speak of come from that book?
Thanks, Dimento. This story board comes from "Save the Cat." In the book it says you can use whatever method of marking your cards you want. So I used colored cards.
Thanks jwhofilm. I did find that a feature like this is available in Final Draft 10 called "beats" and it is amazing. Kinda works the same way only you can move them around and view them in different ways plus pump in cam angles and other nice little things like costume and props and the cards are pretty much resizable and movable.
Very nice. I use Movie Magic Screenwriter and it has a similar feature.
Question: do you know of any software-based versions of this?
I know they have something similar in Scrivener, and probably also in Final Draft, but I don't want new WRITING software, per se, just some application for storyboarding without pictures and where I can rearrange tiles by drag and drop.
thank you!
Yes, there is Save the Cat story structure software, you can find on SavetheCat.com
Nice job with the board! - What size board are you using?
Thanks! The board is 3ft X 2ft.
Does each color represent an act?... looking to use this method
For me it does and since the second act it the largest it is broken up into 2 lines, purple and yellow. Red represents scenes of great conflict. Remember that every scene should have conflict but the red ones are the ones that the audience will remember the most, be shocked by, or trigger special events such as breaking into a new act.
But you can color code however you want. If it helps you, you could use blue cards to represent your hero and yellow cards to represent your villain, etc. You could even go so far as to use different colored ink for different characters on the cards or get colored stickers to put on each card. The choice is yours.
Thank you sir for going into more detail in your comment I appreciate you getting back to me
So how did you determine each colors of the cards? thanks
The card packs I buy happen to have 5 colors. So I chose Blue to represent "The land of 'I want,'" Purple for "Fun and Games," Yellow for rising tension "The bad guys close in," and Green for the "Enlightenment." The red cards are the scenes of intense conflict. Each line represents one quarter of the film and in each quarter there is an important ark to achieve. Thanks for asking
Thanks for answering!
great video, I still have a tougha time believing screenwriters in LA do this--Save the Cat is the book everyone uses, but are we really getting better scripts because of this method?
I think there will always be an argument for and against formulas for script writing. But the more I've read and learned and the more movies I watch and analyze, I feel like it's true.
I have a question, after I'm done with the script and the storyboarding I should write down and the script all together right? please tell me
For a script story board you want to make a complete story board first. There may be some other steps you can take as well depending on what writing methods you are using. Reading "Save the Cat" will give you a lot more steps to take before writing your first draft of your script. But once you are ready to write your first draft, you should write the entire script without stopping to rewrite the first few pages.
I see all right, thank you
is there an android app that simulates this, would be great on a tablet
I'm not sure. There are lots of writing tools out there and I know that there are similar products for PCs so I imagine you could find an app similar to this.
great job.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
E = MC^2 , still works :-)
Superb
Thank you!
It helped me a lot thank you
Glad it helped! Happy writing.
super helfull
I don't think methods/formulas are inherently bad; it's the over-reliance and strict adherence to those formulas that cause issues. Screenwriting is an art form, a craft, not a math equation.
Great
appreciate
Train! 😊
The Readers Corner: How To Write For Animation
Hey Sir,
Thanks a lot for your energy aand amazing videos!☀️
Can I reach you somehow, maybe email? Have a veeery important question to ask, would be super-grateful if u could answer
Thank u💫
you can find my contact info in the "About" tab of this channel.
the board
👍
Loved this video! Very helpful... Check out mine! I have different tips 😬
good shit dude. People that say everything is "formula" only when the story is bad. Notice when story great you never hear someone say formula. Check out my video Don Juan For Dummies. Might find it funny
You're cute!