My latest 5 Star reviews for my book Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader http://ow.ly/zW3sw: “An insightful book from the perspective that matters the most...that of the professional reader. As writers we sometime get far too absorbed in the minutiae of our story that we can easily miss the forest for the trees. Howard's book helps take a couple of steps back and allows the writer to step into the reader's shoes. I think this book should provide useful and practical advice to any aspiring screenwriter. While this is not a how-to manual on the art of writing, it should nonetheless be a good addition to most screenwriter's libraries. Highly recommended.” Kays Al-atrakchi “I read this book to get a perspective from the “other” side, the side of the screenplay contests readers. Howard tells it like it is. His “rantings and ravings” details how screenplays succeed or fail with specifics of what contest readers look for in great scripts or find in horrible scripts. In more than half of the book, Howard presents examples of movies, in different genres, that show original screenplays, successful character development, plots, premises, and concepts that work.” Dinah
Read a Good Book Lately? : The latest 5 Star reviews for my book Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader by Howard Casner
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How many lines do you or can you read before throwing a script against a wall?
It varies from screenplay to screenplay. And even if I do throw it against the wall, I always go and pick it up and read the whole thing (I have to, it's my job), though by at least page 50, if I know I'm not going to recommend it for a second read in a contest, I tend to read faster and faster and faster. If I have to do coverage, I can't really do that so much, I have to pay closer attention. But I have had screenplays where I wanted to throw it in one page, others five, other ten.
Do you often find a rejection comes down to one glaring error in the script?
It depends. If you mean a technical error in the narrative or formatting, then no. I've never seen that. But there is something I call the river of no return--an author takes a plot turn from which I think there is no way the screenplay can recover, no matter how well written the rest of the screenplay is. One example, that I see over and over again, is when the central character doesn't call the police or someone in authority when they could. Another is a cliche like a cell phone running out of power or not being able to get reception or the character forgets it, etc.
Cell phones have introduced an element to movie goers who ask--why not just call someone? Sorry to ask you so many questions but I'm bursting with them. Who, in your opinion, ends up ruining a script? I'll be watching a movie when suddenly the whole thing turns to crap--a hackneyed cliche is introduced (like you mentioned) or a character goes on a filler rant (the movie Non-Stop comes to mind) to answer viewers questions or explain plot holes. Do those disaster moments come from a poorly written script that somehow gets made into a film or changes to the script during filming?
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Both. There's no way to tell unless you go back to the original screenplay and compare it to what is on the screen.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Cheers.
Sure. Glad to help.