Screenplay Treatments

By Author: Timothy Gonzalez
Total Articles: 40
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Screenplay treatments are sales tools that can firmly establish you as a writer in the entertainment business. Figure out how you can best get across to the readers through 15 to 20 pages of recounting of your story which you would like to see come alive on the silver screen. Treatments are basically the art of getting a large script to fit into a small package that tells and sells. Screenplay treatments are text trailer of the idea you have for a movie, TV show, or play at the theater. A screenwriter with eyes turned towards the entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood, should be able to write screenplay treatments.
If Lady Luck is by your side, you will simply be able to sell the basic trajectory of your idea in the form of a treatment for several thousand dollars, never having to spend your hard work over writing out the actual screenplay. Composing treatments is like putting your best foot forwards and piecing together a detailed outline of your idea. To be written in prose form and in present tense the grind of penning screenplay treatments is the start of a long journey which hopefully will culminate in a script ...
... to be used for a real movie. Had it not been for treatments, the scenes that the writers thought were his pets suddenly become impossible to incorporate into the screenplay.
Composing treatments gives you and the prospective client a fair idea whether your brain child of a story is workable or not. If the latter is the case, why sweat it out thumping away at the keyboard to transform it into a full-fledged screenplay? Screenplay treatments are a synthesis of the entire work. It also contains the basic building blocks for the writer when he sets out on his journey composing the screenplay in its entirety. Often the treatment is used to sell the idea, irrespective of the fact whether the author writes the entire script or not. For all practical purposes, treatments are a means to an end while helping you to save your resources - time, efforts and energy.
Screenplay treatments contain the bare minimum of details, just enough to depict the whole story, plot, characterization and give greater clarity to the reader. The film making crew utilizes a treatment to understand what the story is all about and also to plan their individual tasks. For example, the sets, costumes, and music are thought out in accordance with the treatment. The power of a treatment is atomic. The right selection of words can amply reflect the plot and emotional transition of each character in the drama, grabbing the attention of the agent, producer, director, or executive who holds a prominent position in the business.

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