20 Dynamic Ways to Come up with Amazing Movie Ideas
20
Dynamic Ways to Come up with Amazing Movie Ideas
Coming up
with movie ideas is not easy. Whether you're battling writer's block or just need to start a
new screenplay, the journey to inspiration is treacherous. So we came up with
twenty ways to get your mind moving!
The process of breaking into
screenwriting in Hollywood involves constantly generating new ideas. You and
your reps will want to be sending out a new screenplay every few months until
one hits. That means you need to constantly be thinking
of new loglines and stories so you know what you're writing
next.
But where do these ideas come
from? Should you just sit around and wait for inspiration to strike or is there
a more active way?
I've always been a fan of John
August's Writer Emergency cards. That's totally an
unpaid plug. I love them. But I also love doing something when I can't figure
out a movie idea.
Today, we're going to go over 20
ways to inspire new movie ideas and to break you out of the funk.
Let's get inspired.
1. Take a walk
I have a dog. I go on walks seven
times a day, so I kind of am the authority on walking inspiration. Walks allow
you to see the world, get fresh air, hear other people talk, and concentrate on
anything besides your writing. Many of the things on this list will be items
that are meant to distract or trick the latent parts of your brain to get
working. Walking is the best one because, if you're like me and sit on your ass
ten hours a day, you need the exercise.
2. Read the Newspaper
Current events are great jumping
off points for characters. We want our ideas to be relevant in the world.
What's more relevant than what's happening right now. Also, you can get
inspired to tell a true story about something ripped from the headlines as
well. It's not all about the front page either. Maybe the ads or comics can
help you develop a character or write a
situation. Then go from there.
3. Watch a movie and kill
the protagonist off right away
I like to scroll through Netflix
or Amazon, pick a random movie, and watch it. Then, about 20 minutes in, I
think about what would happen if the protagonist just died. What happens in
Raiders if Indy is squished by the rock? What if Elle Woods drowns in that pool
instead of getting into Harvard? Who would take up their mantle? What's the
story that would follow? Use that to come up with a new logline and write that
story.
4. What's going on in your life?
Writing is catharsis. I talked a
lot about how my career changed when I
wrote about my own happiness. What's going on in your life that you
need to work out? A breakup? A death? A new romance? Take your problems and put
them on the page. Work them out with characters and suddenly you'll have a new
screenplay.
5. Steal from the
classics
One of my favorite exercises is
to think about all the books I had to read in school and decide how to adapt
them in another era. What does Treasure Island look like if it
was set in Manhattan? Can Tom Sawyer do his thing on the moon?
Or what does Pride and Prejudice look like at Fraternities and
Sororities in the south now? The point is, most of the classics are fair to
use, so set your Shakespeare inspiration underwater and see what happens.
Video is
no longer available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrj8EZm9ca8
6. Mine the public
domain
It's not just about the classics,
the public domain is a great place to get inspired. I mean, Disney is out here
doing every fairy tale and legend. There's a whole Bible full of stories ready
to adapt. Waste no time, dig deep and find that precious intellectual property
you want to adapt.
7. Start at the end of one of
your old screenplays
What happens after you type Fade
Out? Can you get a new story about the aftermath? When I wrote Shovel
Buddies, I seriously considered following it up with a road movie
about characters trying to sneak back into their homes after an insane party. I
wound up writing a treatment and not chasing
it, but it was a good way to look for the next story. What would happen to a
different set of people if they had just gone through what happened in your
last movie?
8. What happens in one
location?
Here's a classic way to come up
with an idea. From Reservoir Dogs to Buried to The
Wall, what can you say about characters trapped in one place? Or what story
can you tell that's both low budget and high concept? I am always a fan
of taking your big ideas and making them small. So shrink it down and see what
this movie idea can do for you.
9. What can you shoot?
Here's the real question: if you
want to be an indie filmmaker, what can you make? What do you have access to?
What locations or actors or set pieces can you actually accommodate? Write the
movie that fits into that mode. One of my favorite movies of all time, Your
Sister's Sister, was made because the filmmaker had a cabin and some
time on her hands.
10. Tap into history
History is in the public domain.
It's full of events people talk about all the time. You don't even need to use
real people. You can just set up real events and work around them. What parts
of history make you excited? What parts reflect today? Try to capture those and
use them to craft your screenplay.
11. Tell me about your
favorite holiday
Every holiday comes from
something. From Christmas to Flag Day, there's a story behind why we have these
days off or celebrate them. Got a St. Patrick biopic in you? Look at the calendar,
do your research, and see if there's a story there.
12. Spoof it
We always have massive franchises
ruling the big screen. Can you steal from them and make fun of them at the same
time? Spoof movies are always fun. You can also try to subvert the typical
expectations and make the "anti" version of those projects. Think
about how Game of Thrones shook up everything we knew or had
preconceived notions about in fantasy. What can you add to the
conversation?
13. Explore a local legend
Maybe this occurs when you're on
a walk or reading the paper, but let what's around you inspire your work. Was
there a witch that lived in the village? Does your town have a monster or
serial killer? Alien sighting abound? What can you glean from the day to day
that can inspire more work for you?
14. See what's trending
One of the best ways to
procrastinate is on social media. In fact, it took me an hour longer than usual
to write this post because my Instagram was blowing up. (I lied. It wasn't.) In
an era where everyone is posting and conversing online, maybe it's good to look
at random posts and photos. You never know when a shared article or pic will
inspire something to click.
15. Pick a public
figure
This directly aligns with the
public domain and holiday. Biopics are in, and people in the public spotlight
are fair game. The 2018 Black List featured screenplays about Matt Drudge and
Evan Spiegel among others. Every day, a person makes the news. Can you
dramatize their story? I mean, there are TWO Steve Jobs movies.
16. Put your parents into a
logline
What would your parents do? I
like movies like Date Night and Game Night. My
favorite part of brainstorming is taking average people and putting them into
an above average situation. So what would your parents do if they were trapped
inside Independence Day? Or forced to take part in The
Hunger Games? This can be a fun way to shake up an idea or overused
tropes.
17. What if you were 10 years
old?
Think about your audience. What
would you go see if you were ten years old? What's the movie that would get
your butt in those seats? Then write it. Try making a huge list of things and
whittling it down from there. Or combine them into a much more zany affair.
Think about what Robert Rodriquez did with Shark Boy and Lava Girl and Spy
Kids. He used his childrens' ideas and made some huge sales giving an
audience the movie they wanted.
18. Tell the story behind
a joke
What's your favorite joke? Maybe
it's the Aristocrats or it's about people who walk into a bar. Is there the
start to a movie there? What happens after the chicken crosses the road? Write
the story of the joke or the story leading up to the punchline. Like, what if
white men CAN jump?
Video is
no longer available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgJ2CaTfaxU
19. Take the villain's point of view
Here's a popular take in recent
years. With success stories like Despicable Me, Megamind,
and Maleficent, tell me what the story looks like from the
villain's point of view. Maybe that's the way to breathe life into your
noodling. We are so used to following the hero, but let's follow the baddies
or anti-villains a little more.
20. Genre switch on page 50
One of the greatest screenplays
ever, Alien, takes us from a space trucker drama to confined
thriller right in the middle of the movie. It's an epic switch that pulls the
rug out from under you and keeps the pages turning. What's a fun genre switch
you can pull? Think about a logline that can convey that idea as well. What can
you do to throw us off the accepted norms and present a story that's exciting
and new?
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