Script development

[Jon Dill]

Hi, i am a high-school filmmaker from california and i have what i think is a nice idea for a script. However i am an inexperienced script writer, so i ask for the help of the more experienced and wise minds on these forums.
My idea is a 'bicycle western'. That is, a film that takes place in a high school setting but stylized like a western (specifically the sergio leone collection). Anyway the world is a high school with an oppressive group of rowdy seniors led by a sinister leader. One day, the 'kid with no grade' shows up seeking the 'iron horse' - a legendary bicycle at the school kept under watch by the senior leader. While this no-grade kid battles the seniors he can't help but to also help the freshmen, who he has some degree of sympathy for. Additionally he is extremely skilled with the sling shot. A third party is possible, and that is a comically mysterious asian who watches over the events that take place (with occasional smash zooms to his wide eyes). The final scene will be the three main parties standing around the iron horse in the three-way standoff very reminiscent of 'the good, the bad, and the ugly'.
As you can see all i have is a hope that this movie can be made. I just need the help of all of you kind folk to assist me in making an interesting story to take place within an unfortunately short 7 minutes. Thank you all for at least reading this far.

-Jon

 

[ralck]

That sounds like a lot for seven minutes! A good challenge!

Any way, my suggestion would be to download the program Celtx. It is scriptwriting software and is pretty good (freeware, so even better!). Mess around in that (one page of script formatting is about 1 minute). Then when you've got something you like, feel free to post it here for feedback.

 

[maestro]

i've been writing for about three or four years now and i've never used a script writing software. if it's freeware though, you might as well go ahead and get it! it sounds like an awesome idea.

 

[esp4ever]

I had no prior experience to writing screenplays a few months ago and some guy suggested that I read a book called, "Screenplay" by Syd Field. It's a really good book and just doesn't talk about the screenplay format but how to develope your story, characters, action, and dialog. It goes into a lot of detail and has examples of several screenplays, especially "Chinatown" n stuff.