Article / FADE IN:

Excerpt  from my upcoming book …

FADE IN was created so screenwriters would have something to stare at while trying to think of something to say.

Rub your hands together, make sure your intoxicant of choice is ready, and then type FADE IN.

FADE IN:

There! The easy part is now behind you.  You can relax.

Whatever notes, clippings, photos, recordings and brain-filed ideas you have collected now need some kind of catalyst to get them organized and moving.  I find giving myself a goal really helps. Whether you reach that goal, or even surpass it, it’s the mental discipline to at least make some kind of notch somewhere that will get you past FADE IN, at least in theory.

When starting a new feature project, I always put the number five in my head. Enough information will be on those first five pages to establish numerous important story elements, and also allow a reader to get a gist of the story. Writing the opening five pages for a feature is a huge accomplishment, as following chapters will attest.  It’s really the first footprint of many.

Make that first footprint.

For a short, be it five or even ten pages, I think getting at least the first page hammered out will give you enough story to want to keep going, or at the very least enough inspiration to pick it up again ASAP.

When you do sit down to begin a new project, how prepared are you to write that first slug? Some writers just delve in and let the story find itself, while others line the walls with 3X5 cards, with each scene numbered and outlined. Both work, but again it’s really about knowing what your own personal work habits are.

I prefer the ‘delve in’ method. I’m a big fan of discovery, and like my stories and characters to develop organically.

Think of it like gardening; beds of manicured flowers, topiary, and shrubs on one side, and a controlled chaos of wildflowers, groundcovers, and botanical wonders on the other. Both are gardens, both are pleasing, and both are valid.

So you write your first slug by whatever prep method you prefer, and establish in your mind the first things the viewing audience will see.

EXT. BOTANICAL GARDEN – DAY

Whether this will be the first scene that actually illuminates the screen or not isn’t the writer’s concern. Story is all that matters, so just focus on why the story should open in a botanical garden, and if the point comes across strong enough, others on down the line will see its importance as well.

As chapters progress, the importance of this first slug, and how it is written, will be explained.

Not all films open with visuals, and will employ black screen, sound, scrolling text, etc., before going to fade in and that first visual slug. All depends on the effects a writer wants to convey when the lights go down.

BLACK SCREEN

A cell phone rings.

FADE IN:

EXT. BOTANICAL GARDEN – DAY

Here we are, enjoying a display of natural beauty and a darn cell phone rings. Or, here we are relaxing amongst floral opulence, when someone calls with fantastic news. How you want the botanical garden to reinforce what actions are happening depends on the story. It can be a metaphor for beauty, or a juxtaposition for irritating technology.

Before you write that first slug, however, hopefully you have established your theme, premise, and genre. I like to delve in, but even that needs to have some kind of direction, and that initial direction comes from your theme, premise, and genre.