One way to get your novel or screenplay filmed is to do it as an Indie production.
I’ve talked about doing indie productions before in very generic terms. Today let’s talk a little about how to go about it.
There are technical schools and universities with film departments nationwide. I actually can think of a couple in the city I live in, and we’re about as far as you can get from a movie studio.
This is actually your best bet. Contact the professor of that class and ask about course schedules. Is part of his curriculum the production of an indie film? Ask about the possibility of doing a scene from your book or screenplay. If he’s willing, he’ll fit it into his schedule so that his class can actually film it and produce it.
A film department of a college or university has benefits. You’re more likely to find cameras, lights and sound gear, ready for use. And the class will have learned how to use them.
Here’s where it pays to get Final Draft to write your screenplay, instead of Scrivener. While I believe in Scrivener whole-heartedly, the formatting of Final draft is designed to keep with Hollywood standards – one page of film is one minute of screen time. If the professor of the department asks for a 20 minute project, you need 20 pages of screenplay. Don’t expect them to be willing to produce a complete 110 minute motion picture – more than likely, it’ll be a crucial scene they’ll film. Have two or three options, so that you can either film one to three scenes. This can serve as a book trailer you can throw on Vimeo or YouTube (or both).
The world of video editing has jumped greatly in a few years. I can take Filmora or DaVinci Resolve and a replica prop hand gun, and I can literally add muzzle flashes to the gun. A couple of years ago, I’d have cautioned to avoid the use of any shooting in the script to avoid problems – now it’s not a problem if your script calls for it.
Understand that the moment any kind of production starts, you’re going to lose some control. Expect whoever is going to produce it (the professor, or someone he picks) will try to change things. Consider explaining politely that any changes they make will make the need for the film obsolete – you’re trying to showcase a scene from your novel, and they’re welcome to a certain latitude with it, but the plot and dialog can’t change. If they change any of that, you won’t be able to use the final product. Explained that way, they’ll either withdraw from the project, or agree.
If this is a script for a movie you’re trying to show, then by all means let them change things. This will accustom you to getting into actual Hollywood or cable television work, where losing control of your script is an accepted thing. By using the film as a “leave behind” with the script, it gives the studio or agent two things about you – you can produce, and you’re not hard to work with. Film studios need to mess with scripts – watch the “Making of Braveheart” on the DVD – you’ll see the cavalier approach that they had with the script. Sometimes its budget based, actor based, director based, or time crunch limitations. There are some movies where they planned on filming certain scenes, but the film had overruns and the actor’s time commitments had expired. Those scenes went by the wayside.
Sometimes filming has its problems, where an actor simply refuses to deliver a line you’ve written. There’s often no explanation, just “I’m not comfortable saying that sentence.” And on the fly you have to think of a line of dialog to replace that. Letting the class make those demands on you shows that you can work with a director and producer.
Examples of this? Christopher Lee once was in a movie where he felt his dialog was too stupid for words. So the writer simply cut every line of dialog, and Lee simply hissed his way through the movie without saying a word. After two movies with little to no dialog, Lee began to stop being so demanding about scripts.
Another example is “The Tower”, refilmed as “The Towering Inferno”. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen both insisted on the same amount of dialog. The screen writer had to count and make sure both of them spoke the same number of words.
My first movie had a similar situation where the man who would have played that character refused to say one line I’d written. I had to re-write the line. Fortunately, my film never actually got filmed!
And of course, there’s nothing that says if the film department gives you 20 minutes of product you have to use all of it. They’re more than likely going to commit to eight minutes, and you can cut and splice 20 seconds of it for your promo film.
But it’s going to be absolutely fantastic to see your novel on film, no matter how little of it!
