Screenwriting : One-sheet by Pierre Chambers

Hi Pierre. This is a decent link from a site you can trust: https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/reader-question-what-should-be-on-a-o...

thanks, I saw that one

That's a great link. Thanks, Phil.

A 'one sheet' aka, a 'leave behind' is essentially a synopsis of your story. It's generally a little thinner than a story treatment but fatter than just a logline and used by the people you just met with to remember who pitched what during post meetups/conferences (it's also a sampling of your writing skills).

A One Sheet written by-the-book.

The Dark Side of the Day

WGAw Reg#1625287

by

Kay Luke

LOG: Cassandra, suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder and all it’ s complications, returns home after a year in a Mental Institute only to face the unbearable truth behind the accidental deaths of her Husband and Child.

Cassandra Wells has just been released from the Mental Institute, her acute Social Anxiety Disorder (S.A.D.) thought to be under control. She and her older sister, Sophie Davenport, are heading to Cassandra’s house, the scene of the tragic loss of Cassandra’s husband, Ron, and young daughter, Kelsey, a year ago.

With the help of Doctor Cryer, Cassandra appears to have accepted the death of her family. But Sophie isn’t so sure as she waits while her little sister enters the house alone, only to find pictures and nostalgia and pain. Cassandra spends the night haunted by memory and maybe more… The next day starts rough when, the house being listed in the Historical Registry, a group of Tourist invades her privacy, pushing poor Cassandra into a full-blown Panic Attack.

Later, Cassandra meets a drifter and his daughter, Don and Kelsey. The resemblance to Cassandra’s dead family is highly noticeable, which pushes her to the brink of both denial and remembrance. Meanwhile, as Cassandra struggles to find inner peace, the differing opinions of Sophie and Doctor Cryer with regard to Medications aggravate an already difficult situation. Everything goes well with Don, although Kelsey is shy and hostile. But when Cassandra tells Sophie about her guest, Sophie, suspicious, heads over to check out the situation. Cassandra searches for Don, but the doorbell rings, pushing her toward a Panic Attack. Kelsey urges Cassandra to hide in the barn, but Cassandra won’t go, “That’s where they died.” Sophie arrives with Sheriff Lane, but he finds no trace of anyone else. Sophie furiously blames the drugs for Cassandra’s “hallucination” and leaves her sister alone for another night. After Don explains his absence away, he, Kelsey, and Cassandra share dinner. Later, Cassandra hears a crying child and invites Don and Kelsey in for the night where she reveals her problems with Mental Illness, and, after a sexual encounter, what she knows/remembers of the death of her family.

The next day, Cassandra throws away her medications and spends the morning babysitting the ever elusive Kelsey, who causes Cassandra to nearly have more than one potentially fatal accident. When Sophie calls, Cassandra lies, “They must’ve left.” Through the lens of drugs, grief, and mental illness, Cassandra sees a second chance. She begins, with his cooperation, turning Ron into her dead husband. Kelsey, however, is rebellious and suspicious and will have no part, and although they’ve interacted, Cassandra has yet to clearly see Kelsey’s face.

That night, Cassandra grows upsets when she awakens to see a Little Girl enter the forbidden Barn. Cassandra angrily confronts Kelsey and finally gets a good look at the little girl— but what she sees is the face of her own dead daughter, and the shock pushes her over the edge. Don is fearful for his daughter’s safety when an obviously unbalanced Cassandra orders them off her property. Memories haunt Cassandra through the night, and as the sun rises, in a moment of desperation, Cassandra swallows a handful of her discarded medications. But an omen widens her break with reality and Cassandra, finding a new reason to live, forces herself to vomit up the poison.

Cassandra, haunted by loneliness, hunts for Don, but encounters only Kelsey. But Kelsey is mean and accusatory. Sophie arrives, threatens Cassandra with re-commitment and searches the property, finding no one. A carload of TOURIST shows up, and as she watches Sophie confront them, memories crash in on Cassandra. Alone again and holding on by a thread, Cassandra searches the house, but is lured to the Barn by Kelsey, Don, and memory. Cassandra’s mental schism erupts fully, and, intertwined with the reality of the moment, she is flooded with the memory of the last time she’d gone to the Barn. In the Barn, Cassandra finds Truth— that she not only caused the fatal accident, but was stopped from saving her daughter’s life by her Mental illness. She also finds the inner peace she seeks by joining her Family in death. The Police conclude that Cassandra Wells was alone when she committed suicide, but Sophie knows better. “For Cassandra, Hell was empty and all her devils were here.”

It's a logline and synopsis. You may want to check out an S32 block I wrote about submitting a written pitch.

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Submitting-Your-Written-Pitch

In a written pitch, am I restricted to Courier New or Times New Roman for a font, or is it all right to use any reasonable, legible font out there?

JIM--

By-the-book, use only standard fonts.

And, as someone who has read at least 1000 scripts and more than a few query letters, in my opinion, any use of non-standard fonts for any reason looks like a cheap attempt to make your writings stand out, which is a signal that the content is not what it ought to be, and that's one mark against the Writer before I've even read a word.

Kay, thank you!

When it comes to writing the actual screenplay and a standalone synopsis, I actually DO play close to the vest and follow the rules...including when it comes to fonts (Courier New for the scripts I type out with Final Draft 6, Times New Roman when I use Libre Writer to do the synopses by themselves).

So...with so much at stake, I'll only use one of the two aforementioned type faces for written pitches.

Anything to keep myself from getting labeled as an amateur.

All the very best to you, Kay!

It sounds like a one sheet is a treatment, or am I incorrect?

Howard --

Generally, Treatments come in three sizes: One Sheet, 3 to 5 page, and 30 to 35 page. The first two are must haves. The third will be needed if the project is about to sell.

Thank you Kay Luke.