My friend Rawson points out his most-hated movie cliché, one that’s [due for a moratorium](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/air-vents-are-for-air):
Jack continues mouth-to-mouth, but Lara shows no sign of coming around.
JACK
(desperate)
Breathe, damnit!
A beat, then Lara suddenly COUGHS back to life, spitting up a palm-full of water.
She looks around, disoriented. Then sees Jack looking down at her. Smiles.
Double negative points for saying something quippy after being revived.
This terrific compilation clip by [FourFour](http://fourfour.typepad.com)’s Rich Juzwiak demonstrates what a hoary cliché it has become to explain why movie characters aren’t using their cell phones.
I plead guilty, having used the “signal goes away” variation as a major element in Part Three of The Nines. (I feel both disappointment and relief to have not made the cut.)
Unlike the [air duct cliché](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/air-vents-are-for-air), the cell phone problem can’t be solved by a simple vow of chastity. Cell phones are real things people use every day, so ignoring them is rarely an option for a movie set present day.
Don’t write movies in which characters would call for help. That’s probably the best advice I can offer.
From what I gather, it seems to be almost “bad form” to include a list of characters with your screenplay or at the beginning of it. At least it’s something. However, in dense scripts, wouldn’t such a list be helpful?
Seeing a movie on screen has the advantage of visual recognition in a sea of faces ( “Oh, that’s the Joe Pesci character,” “There’s the guy with the red hat again”, etc.), which obviously the written word can’t always convey, except if you go into background or descriptions every time the character shows up.
So is it okay to include a brief list of characters for a particularly complex and character-rich script?
— Liam
Paris, France
No. Never do this.
The Godfather screenplay doesn’t include a list of characters. Ditto for Lord of the Rings.
If your script is so convoluted that readers won’t be able to remember which characters are which, you need to fundamentally rethink it. A list of character names won’t help.
Yes, in some screenplays it can be tough to recall who’s who. Be nice to your readers. If you have a character who hasn’t shown up for fifty pages, it’s okay to throw a line in the scene description to remind us who he is:
The elevator doors open to reveal Marcel -- Tiff’s obnoxious boyfriend from the race track -- lighting two cigarettes. He hands one to the blonde gamine beside him, who we’ll call FAKE EDIE SEDGWICK.
When I’m reading a script that I’ll need to discuss later, one trick I’ve learned is to write down the major character names on the title page as I’m reading it, like this:
Todd – stockbroker
Brett – meth addict brother
Wallengate – Todd’s boss, narcoleptic
It’s a cheat sheet for myself, based on my reading, and helps me remember the geography of the plot when I meet with the writer. A prebaked character list wouldn’t help the same way.
I handed in a script today, and thought it might be helpful to talk through my best practices when finishing up a draft. I don’t always do all of these — but I get nervous if I’ve skipped one.
1. Print it out.
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There are mistakes you’re only going to catch on paper. So print it. I like to do two-up (side-by-side) printing to save paper, but your eyes might prefer full size.
Circle mistakes with a colored pen so you’ll see them. In addition to typos, look for any bit of redundant description or needless fluff. You can almost always squeeze a page out of a 120-page script.
2. Make changes all at once.
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It’s tempting to fix mistakes as you catch them, but you’re likely to miss things if you’re constantly switching between error detection and error correction. Sit at the computer and go through page by page, fixing each problem you’ve found. As you go, you may spot ways to improve page breaks and other formatting niceties.
3. Fix the title page.
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This is the step I often forget, resulting in mis-dated drafts and re-exported .pdfs. If I’m doing multiple versions of a draft — for example, one with starred changes, one without, I’ll make sure the title page indicates this.
4. Save this draft and email it to yourself.
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Yes, you should have multiple backup strategies. But the self-addressed email will always work, and can be accessed from wherever you find yourself.
5. Export a .pdf — then check it.
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These days, you almost always “hand in” a draft as a .pdf by email. But make sure it actually looks right, complete with title page. If you’re friendly with the assistant on the other end, ask her to check if there’s anything you’re at all worried might print strangely, such as a title page font ((Yes, you can use a font other than Courier for the title page. But I rarely do anymore.)) or starred changes in the right margins.