Producers look for low budget but high concept spec scripts. How do you come up with a high concept idea? I keep reading that you should ask these two words: What if...? Example: What if you went to college with your dad? = Back To the Future. What if you could create dinosaurs? Jurasic Park. Remember that a true high concept idea has to: •Be easily understood •Ably summarized in a sentence or two •Intrigue the audience •Be full of conflict •Have a big event •Leave room for a sequel •Attract an A-list star •Be fresh and marketable •Have a unique take on an known idea or genre More on this at: www.filmscriptwriting.com/highconcept.html
Screenwriting : Writing High Concepts For Screenplays by Vonnie P. Davis
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Scott Myers at GITS in one of his articles, had this to say about Concepts: If you write a spec script based upon the first story idea that comes into your mind, that script will likely suck. Even if it’s decent, it probably won’t sell. Why? Because almost assuredly, it is not a strong story concept. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of a story idea to the eventual success of a spec script. A good story concept enables producers and studio execs to ‘see’ the movie. A good story concept provides ammo for marketing departments to advertise the film. A good story concept emboldens managers and agents to sell the crap out of your script. I believe a script’s concept can represents about half of the value of a screenplay to a potential buyer. That’s right, half. Are you thinking of story ideas every day? Do you have a master list of story ideas that is… growing? Is one part of your brain on auto-pilot, always sifting through the daily data that comes your way in search of possible story ideas?
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Fantasy spec does not sell as it is mostly done inhouse. I have one started called SWEEP (a twist on Cinderella)
Watch the films that inspire the strategy: Primer, Safety Not Guaranteed, Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich etc. Typically people of below average means discover a fantastical science and then pursue against all theoretical odds.
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That is true, Dan. I decided just to write my scripts and not worry about all this guru advice, afterall.
It's hard to keep it so low budget. Some gurus agree with your comment, to go for the middle budget range. I think I may have to for my Belly Bump comedy script. I want more than 2-3 characters, for one thing.
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I think there is value to using gurus for reference. That does not mean following everything they say, it just means using their views as guides for seeing and understanding your own views. They have decent ideas for catalyzing a good concept, but there are other ways of doing that. Some independent films are not the most high concept, but have good deep characters. Some good films are 'slice of life' kinds of shows done beautifully with a lot of focus on the imagination and heart. Some are standard classic structures. If you love high concept, go for high concept. If not, go for what you love. High concept can have a lot of magnetism in terms of blockbusters. But not everyone wants to write blockbusters. I love high concept done in a more realistic way. Comic book films are interesting when they take the surreal and make it real, or take the unreal and make it real. The same is the case for high concept projects. Sometimes of course high concept can be about taking the real and making it unreal and taking it into fantasy - entering a fairy world from the real world for example - "Labyrinth" would be an example of that. Harry Potter also has that element. Peter Pan has that element. As the adage goes 'rules are meant to be broken'. Knowing rules can be powerful when they are used as a foundation of giving the audience what they expect. Sometimes what seems so new and fresh is a classic done in a new way, not really something that is all new.
I tried to change email and got the second profile. I had the second one deleted, so everything is fine now. Glad it did not effect the posts here.
David, I agree that there are many "gurus" with many "rules" and you just have to take them as advice, not cardinal rules. But like posts in threads, the more you seem to read, the better the overview of the topics.
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I remember reading a screenplay of a friend with ambitions to be a professional screenwriter and/or director. He had no respect for the conventions and no interest in the industry ways of doing it. Last I heard he was working at a video shop. Nice guy. Very nice guy, but nothing anybody seemed to be able to teach him about writing. Plot was an inconvenience. He had put over a decade into his 'writing', but not much effort into' craft'. Screenwriting is an art and craft and so many people want to poo poo the gurus. I applaud you for looking into what they have to offer and picking and choosing what works and what does not for yourself.
Egos of artists can be interesting to navigate. The balance between art and commerce and self and collaboration can be challenging and painful sometimes.