what to do if you have a great idea for a movie

Movie Ideas – 56 Means to Brainstorm Great Film Ideas

Coming upwardly with a movie thought can be a daunting task when y'all're a person who has writer's cake or a person who is just not inspired to write your own story. For inspiration to strike, split your movie thought into parts so that you can also focus on subplots.

In this commodity, let's look into how yous can generate ideas and put them together to form your picture script.

How to brainstorm ideas for your movie script:

Here are some ways you can brainstorm for ideas for your movie script:

1. Make up one's mind on a genre: Movie genres help you come up with a flick plot, also helping you begin at the same fourth dimension for ideas. Genres are categories for films, and can also be a combination of two genres like Romantic- Comedy, Sci-fi, etc.Ex: If you lot want to make a Romantic One-act, you lot have to have a male and female person lead who exercise not appear to fall in love with each other (they probably have dissimilar ideas virtually life). Below is an example of a Biopic:

2. WRITE IT Downwards! An idea can strike anytime- when you're out with friends, at the park or at work; and then it is necessary to write them down. Ever carry a notebook or a piece of paper and a pen.
3. Write a journal: Writing a journal can as well boost your writing skills. Writing on something strange that happened during your day could be a showtime to a whole new idea for your script! Employ this every bit a foundation for your script and build on it.
4. Accept a walk: Walking allows you to see the earth, hear other people talk, go fresh air, and think nigh something other than your writing. It allows you to distract y'all from the act of writing so that you can get other parts of your brain thinking.
5. Research, research, research! Research on whatsoever topic that interests y'all. You can also make a listing of ideas and research them. See which ideas click and form ideas around them!

6. Start writing the catastrophe first: If you write the end first, it will allow y'all to brand your script cleaner and focus only on scenes and sequences that attain the desired ending.
7. Address social issues like gender equality and racism: An excellent way for your picture idea to sell is by making movies with strong female leads because a lot of Hollywood movies today practise non accost gender equality and racism related stories in their scripts, and most movies take women as supporting characters.The Bechdel test, also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, tests gender inequality by seeing if 2 named female characters talk about something other than a human. Some examples of movies that passed this test with flight colors are Avengers: Infinity State of war, Bend it like Beckham and the Frozen movies .
8. Spotter other movies: Watching other movies is also a corking manner to go your creative juices flowing! You can get ideas that inspire you lot to write your own story or you can mix ideas from the movies y'all sentinel as well! You tin also remake movies (A remake tells the same story of the original film- only with different bandage and target audition); provided y'all arroyo the writers for permission to utilize their content.
9. Get inspiration through other mediums of entertainment: You can get inspiration through other mediums of entertainment like books, theatre plays, animated movies, a painting or a sculpture you liked, music you listen to or a particular sporting upshot you attended. Many movies have been adjusted from theatre plays- a popular example is Annie (1982).
10. Take advantage of the medium of the picture: The best films and short films take advantage of the medium by using clever sound pattern, film grammar, editing techniques, and storytelling.

11. "What if…"? This method is most useful- but type something that comes to your listen on your keyboard and add together a "what if" before that. A lot of ideas can crop up. What if aliens took over planet Earth? Or What if a pandemic wiped out the population? Consider using unpredictable events in an ironic fashion to make people retrieve the picture show.
12. Option a famous person/ celebrity: Biopics are also catching on nowadays as a pop genre for pic-watchers. Option a famous person or a public effigy, do all-encompassing research on their lives and/or dramatize information technology. You tin can as well characterize the story from the perspective of a person who was closely known to the famous person. An case of such a biopic is Amadeus (1984), where the story is based on the famous music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart narrated by his rival Antonio Salieri.
13. Write the Arc Start: Consider writing the arc of the story start: the tragedy is when the hero is in a state of happiness and then suddenly loses everything. A classic comedy reverses this dynamic.By knowing where the story has to become, you lot can remove parts of the story that can increase your budget.
14. Detox from your usual day: Take a break from your usual day- get out, interact with people, exercise activities which yous don't do during a regular work week like surfing or generally an activity yous haven't washed before. These activities help the heed wander, and boot starts your listen to get ideas for your moving-picture show script.
15. Work with friends/ your shut circle: Working with your friends and people in your close circle will really help you go ideas for your script. You lot can besides brainstorm and show your idea, and they can give yous a whole new dimension or improvise on your thought too!
16. Mind to the Conversations Around You: Listening to the conversation effectually you lot can aid you catch perfect trivial bits of dialogue. From here, you can generate character descriptions that assist build short picture ideas.
17. Use world events (read the paper): A lot of important events take place at least every day. Have an outcome which you find most trending or interesting- your source of information could be a history volume, the newspaper or the cyberspace. You tin have news from the by (like world wars) and fictionalize it or base your story on existent events.For example, the trending news right now is about Coronavirus and how it has affected people's way of life. Many documentaries have been made on this and hither's an example: Coronavirus: Explained, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
18. Trending news: Run across what's making news, pick an interesting story that inspires y'all to write a script. You can expect at social media sites for inspiration too. In a world where everything is communicated on social media, information technology is always a good idea to expect at that place. You never know when you would find something interesting!
19. History behind Holidays: Practise research into different Holidays such as Christmas or St. Patrick's day and acquire near the story backside why we celebrate them. Think about if at that place is an interesting story in that location or if in that location could be interesting characters to exist placed within that timeline.
20. Freewriting to discover new ideas: Sometimes it helps to just write "stream of consciousness" way pages that requite you lot unpredictable results. It is a way of capturing ideas that y'all didn't fifty-fifty know y'all had.Author Julia Cameron recommends writing 3 pages every morning time called "Morning Pages" just to go far the habit of writing. The key is consistency – the more often you write, the ameliorate the ideas will become.
21. Consider going overboard with your ideas: Have a irksome character and imagine the nigh farthermost situation to be placed in. For instance, Daniel in Mrs. Doubtfire wears a nanny'southward outfit so he can spend time with his children:

22. Enquiry deserted places: This idea volition work if y'all want to write a story that falls in the Horror or Suspense/Thriller genres. Wait for places around the world that take been abased for years; or you tin can besides wait for places near where yous live. You lot can build a story with some paranormal elements in information technology, which will build suspense. An instance of a movie where you can depict inspiration from is Ghost Ship (2002).
23. Consider only using 1 location: What would happen if your characters were trapped in one place? This format tin be low budget and high concept with examples such equally: Saw, Reservoir Dogs, The Breakfast Society, Buried, etc.

24. Write a story based on your personal experiences: Think about what has happened in your life- it tin can be a birth, death, a wedding or even a vacation you went on that is worth converting into a pic idea. You tin can write a story based on an event in your life that moved yous too! An instance of a film worth considering is Eat, Pray, Beloved, starring Julia Roberts.
25. Specific locations where you can shoot: As a filmmaker, you are express past the locations, actors, and set pieces that you actually have access to. Consider writing a movie that fits within your means past starting with the budget first – also known as opposite budgeting. For example, Your Sister's Sister was written considering the filmmaker had a motel and fourth dimension to fill up.

26. Commencement with Props: When you kickoff by creating a listing of props, stunts, and characters, you make your script much more predictable. Typically it is one of the last steps of writing a curt film, but when brainstorming, it could help y'all think of new ideas.
27. Put yourself in a situation you do not bargain with everyday: Another way to begin for ideas is past putting yourself in a situation that you lot least expect and seeing how you would react to it. Imagine you were 10 years old having superhuman force. What would you practise to aid save the world?
28. Put your parents in an unfamiliar situation: Some other interesting manner to brainstorm for ideas is by taking people in your shut circle and putting them in scenarios that they accept not dealt with. What if your parents discovered that they accept magical powers and take to go to wizarding school to hone their skills?
29. Take a film character/ superhero and build a story: Take a film grapheme you similar and change the setting and scenario- this is too a great way to brainstorm. For instance, what if Spider-man's web-ammo gets exhausted? What volition he do adjacent? Can he larn a new super-power?
30. Consider visualizing your ideas with a storyboard: Keeping track of film sequences could be challenging, so you should consider using a storyboard template to organize your thoughts
31. Create a Mood board" A mood board is a collection of visual references for projects that communicate the "expect and feel". Doing this can assistance y'all recollect of new ideas that are in line with the mood lath yous developed.
32. Recollect nigh information technology from the 1st Advertizing's shoes: Similar to using physical places equally inspiration to brainstorm picture show ideas, consider how much drama yous tin get from people trying to escape a small infinite, etc.
33. Take the fish out of the water: Accept a person out of their normal environment (fish in h2o) and put them in an incredibly different environment (fish out of water). In this new environment, their interactions volition create interesting opportunities for a story. Elf is a classic example of this kind of story:

34. Transcribe audio from a picture show you have never seen: Writing something is better than zippo. Try finding a film that you haven't seen yet on Netflix or Youtube with limited dialogue. Look away from the Television set and write down what you hear. Hither is a sample clip to endeavor:

35. Family stories: A movie thought that volition appeal to all historic period-groups is family movies. You tin wait at your own family for inspiration, and/or write about a special bond y'all share with a person in your family unit. Or you can pick an event where you and your family got together and build a story where y'all can probably write about something funny that happened.
36. Call back from a child'southward perspective: Consider from your audience perspective – what would you go see if you were a 10 year one-time child? Effort making a large listing of ideas and so select the most promising ones. Robert Rodriquez created Spy Kids and Lavagirl and Sharkboy by using childrens' ideas and giving the audition what they were looking for.
37. College-based stories: Movies based on happenings on higher campuses also are popular among all age groups. Equally an added plus, lots of college campuses congenital in the mid-20th century take brutalist designs which help with finding interesting backgrounds. Y'all can watch other college-based movies to get ideas or also base of operations your ideas on happenings on your college campus. A skillful case is the Pitch Perfect series- these movies are based on two rival acapella groups in the same college.
38. Start with Grapheme Flaws: Kickoff with character flaws with your protagonist and consider the situations that expose these flaws. Ex: for characters who don't believe in themselves, think nearly Rocky Balboa or Luke Skywalker. You lot can as well consider developing ability-hungry characters like Walter White from Breaking Bad.
39. Write a story from the villain's POV: Movies being narrated from the adversary's perspective are besides quite pop among movie-watchers. Well-nigh times, stories follow the adept guys' perspective. You tin follow the villain's POV also to attract a popular audition! An example of this type of picture is Suicide Squad (2016) and Maleficent (2014).
40. Flip the story: Take an iconic story and flip the characters around. For example, instead of a beautiful princess that kisses the frog, brand it the handsome prince.
41. Write your story based on a joke y'all liked: Think of a joke yous really liked. It could even be a dizzy joke also! Or, you can besides construct your own joke. What happens after the joke is conveyed? Build your story from in that location.
42. Write a story based on the terminate of an old screenplay: Consider writing a new story at the end of your screenplay or another screenplay. What would be the adjacent scenario that your characters confront? Alternatively, what would happen to a different set of people if they had gone through the same scenarios that the characters just faced?
43. Happenings in the workplace: People generally spend a lot of fourth dimension in their lives in their workplaces or offices. Take inspiration from an office twenty-four hour period- and base your story in such a way that your primary character has to deal with the highs and lows of a regular work day. A adept case of this type of motion picture is The Devil wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
44. Analyze a picture show character: Try thinking most Pixar's storytelling formula which focuses on building compelling characters versus complicated scenarios.
45. Survivor stories: Here's some other interesting way to brainstorm for ideas: create a character or two, put them in a situation where they cannot escape and run across what happens. These kinds of movies are very pop among movie watchers also! Cast Away (2000), starring Tom Hanks is an excellent instance.
46. Genre switching: Nigh movies made today shift betwixt 2 or iii different genres in their story and rarely stick to one genre. You can start with a genre similar suspense and switch midway into a crime drama, as long equally it works for your story. An fantabulous instance of a movie with this type of genre shift is Psycho (1960). The story is: the protagonist steals a wad of cash from her boss, runs abroad to a motel and is murdered there by the motel possessor without a trace of testify. How they unravel where, how and why she was killed forms the residuum of the story, which satisfies the traditional elements of both genres.
47. Press random article on Wikipedia: Pressing "Random Article" on Wikipedia might help you find interesting or inspiring content that y'all didn't consider previously.
48. Kill the protagonist of a movie y'all recently watched see what happens: Another quick manner to brainstorm ideas for your movie is by thinking of a movie you recently watched- kill the protagonist and meet how your story pans out. What would happen if James Bail was killed by the bad guys?
49. Part Pranks: Consider making a brusk moving picture based on function pranks that you lot have seen or been a part of in the past.
50. Scan the public domain: Look through already made films. There are many movies that are being adapted from fairy tales and legends. Disney and Warner Brothers have made movies besides! Y'all can also dig through the classics. A good example is Aladdin (2019), adapted from the flick of the aforementioned name made in 1992.
51. Start connecting with freelancers: Finding production freelancers and listen to what they similar to shoot, light, color correct, and audio mix. Attracting high quality talent is done by working on a project that the talent wants to piece of work on. As the list of things to comprise increases, your screenplay will develop.
52. Look into your community's history: Talk to people who live or lived in the area you live in, and gather as much information as you tin can get on the history of the place. Maybe at that place was a serial killer who lived in the area, or at that place was a UFO sighting at some point… yous never know!
53. Think about real historical events: Because real historical events such as Abraham Lincoln and embedding fictional, or possibly real characters, is a archetype way to create a screenplay. Think about what parts of history were exciting or are all the same relevant today and craft them into your screenplay.
54. Spoofs! Mocking public figures or people in the entertainment manufacture is as well another way to brainstorm for ideas. Spoof movies are a lot of fun, all the same tricky at the same time to make- you should be able to accept content from another fabricated motion-picture show and make fun of information technology at the same fourth dimension. When it comes to famous personalities, brand sure you lot exercise non write content to defame them, considering that can get yous into a lot of legal trouble, so play carefully if this is your commencement movie!

55. Break the movie idea into parts: Many people who want to write an original story for their flick get stuck because they want to come upwards with the unabridged story at a go, without realizing that it is essential to empathize the parts of a moving-picture show thought before you do so:
    • The Scenario : Where and in what fourth dimension period the movie is set up- for instance: whether the film takes place in a small hamlet or a urban center during the 1980's or 2000's.
    • Characters : Does your story have a protagonist (Main graphic symbol) and/or an adversary (villain)? You do non have to come upwardly with a complete character sketch, just you just need an outline of the character. For example: Is the character a student? Or a superhero?
    • The Conflict: Does your character face a number of hurdles to get to where south/he wants? The hurdles could be in the form of antagonists/people or external forces like atmospheric condition.
56. Write a logline: Come up up with a logline for your movie subsequently dividing your idea into parts. A logline is zilch just a summary of your movie in one or two lines. A skilful logline will always have these four elements (not necessarily in the same guild as given below):[protagonist] + [inciting incident] + [protagonist's goal] + [cardinal conflict]

    Here's an case of a logline from the pic Silence of the Lambs , starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster: "A young F.B.I. buck must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his assistance on catching another serial killer who skins his victims."

    💡 Pro-Tip: Study other people's loglines for inspiration to strike, and to understand how to write one!

    💡 Pro-Tip: To give your movie idea a complete look, information technology is important to build a backstory. A backstory is a method to fill up gaps in the story and give characters in your movie depth.

    Here's an example of a backstory: Lord Voldemort is a character from the Harry Potter franchise. He is one of the darkest wizards in the wizarding world- even wizards and witches did not dare speak his name. By piecing together flashbacks and memories, we understood the reason backside why Lord Voldemort was after Harry Potter.

Here are a few movie ideas that became ultra-famous:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, starring Johnny Depp is an activeness-gamble pic that was fabricated entirely based on a theme park ride. A great ensemble made this movie a success.
2. The Lego Motion picture was a movie made based on building blocks which children played with and how much this 60-year-old brand means to a lot of children for generations together.Fun fact: Mail service the release of this movie in Feb 2014, Lego saw sales achieve as high equally $four.4bn.

Think that there are no new ideas- many stories have the aforementioned base and get repeated. What would make your story stand out is how you lot narrate information technology. The fundamental is to be confident and tell everyone your story!

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Source: https://www.nfi.edu/movie-ideas/

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