10 screenwriting "hmm" moments
Max’s Dictionary of Screenwriting Hmm Moments: “Hmmm” = A moment reading a script when a reader stops on a dime and says, WTF?
A Few of Those Moments —
1. The pilot of a passenger jet liner rolls down the cockpit window. [For double credit, while flying. For triple? It’s not a passenger jet. It’s a submarine.]
2. Someone whips out a cell phone. In WWII Germany.
3. Someone’s picking strawberries. From a tree. In a pine forest.
4. INT. DESK — DAY [For double credit, recreate at random using INT. TABLE — DAY || INT. WOOD BLOCK — DAY. And your protagonists are not termites.]
5. Someone’s doing a Google search. In 1950. On an iPhone.
6. Doctors in an emergency room whip out defibrillator paddles. To treat a concussion. [For double credit, it’s a broken leg. For triple? She’s having a baby!]
7. Intravenously shooting up marijuana leaves….
8. Human beings without helmets or suits jump about. In an outer space vacuum.
9. People struggle with the safety. On a Glock.
10. People collect chicken eggs. On a farm. In a stable.
[I guarantee you the big fight here will be on chickens laying eggs in stables. Shhh. I will tell you why later.]
10 Responses to 10 screenwriting “hmm” moments
The Glock thing would have tripped me up except for the fact that when I put one in a script, I researched it. I learned long ago that only people with expertise in a story element get to skip the research part about that story element (and maybe not even then). Responsible Internet use is a great writer’s resource. Irresponsible Internet use is a fantastic procrastination rationalization.
Yup… I want to hear more about # 10.
You will have to ask a question if you want an answer to a question.
Okay… So why can’t chickens be in a stable? Not that I’m that concerned about it — but I read (someone’s opinion that chickens would be fine in a stable with horses…) Not begging for a fight — just curious why it’s a problem in a script.
Chickens “can be” in a stable. Chickens “can be” in the kitchen or in a pickup truck or in a tree — basically anywhere you let them roam about. If, however, you plan to regularly collect eggs from chickens, you generally establish a chicken coop and nests you can easily locate each time you go looking for eggs. And anyone writing about farm life should probably know that. So it’s a context thing. Why is a fifth generation farmer hunting for chicken eggs in a horse stall?
You don’t really care about that answer, you’re just asking to be contrary, right?
I sincerely wanted to know the answer. Thank you. (wasn’t trying to be contrary — just wanted to know so I can avoid similar mistakes.)
Well, it is going to be farm specific. There are different types of farms. They operate different ways. The key word is research.
When I was a kid we had a farm with rebel chickens. They oft times laid their eggs away from the coop. Of course, we chased them around a lot so they were probably traumatized. :)
{{{rebel chickens}}}