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INDEXStudio Reader Shows Results
11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich
Thought you guys might find this interesting. Here's the link:
http://io9.com/nothing-wrong-with-anonymous-small-towns-many-of-us-ha-1514525292
Last year, a scriptreader read 300 scripts for 5 studios, all the while taking notes on the problems and trends he saw. The number 1 problem? The story started too late in the script.
The scriptreader listed 37 frequently occurring problems, here are the top 20:
The story begins too late in the script
The scenes are void of meaningful conflict
The script has a by-the-numbers execution
The story is too thin
The villains are cartoonish, evil-for-the-sake-of-evil
The character logic is muddy
The female part is underwritten
The narrative falls into a repetitive pattern
The conflict is inconsequential, flash-in-the-pan
The protagonist is a standard issue hero
The script favors style over substance
The ending is completely anti-climactic
The characters are all stereotypes
The script suffers from arbitrary complexity
The script goes off the rails in the third act
The script's questions are left unanswered
The story is a string of unrelated vignettes
The plot unravels through convenience/contrivance
The script is tonally confused
The protagonist is not as strong as [he or she needs to] be
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11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich
For the rest, click on the link. There's an "info graphic" that is hard to read, but with enough squinting...
Response from 11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich SHOW
11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich
HA! I'd say that is incredibly accurate, Paddy! My experience with the studios was so long ago, that I wouldn't make that claim anymore personally. But I've tons of working writer friends who would say exactly that. "If they wanted it, why do they want to change it so drastically?" Is a pretty common complaint.
Response from 11 years, 6 months ago - Dan Selakovich SHOW
11 years, 6 months ago - Allan McTaggart
Dan,
Thanks for posting this! I think I'm actually going to make that list my desktop background! Most of the points are really quite obvious when you stand back from a script but, it's hard to see the overall piece when you're in the 'guts' of it! Thank you. By the way, what were the other 17?
Response from 11 years, 6 months ago - Allan McTaggart SHOW
11 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Amusing list, especially as we've all seen big-budget movies that fall at at least one of those points. Does this suggest a script needs to be better to get past the first reader, but then gets homogenised once it has studio money behind it?
Response from 11 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW