Special Effects

How has the movie industry changed over the years? It’s more spectacle-driven and pre-awareness driven.

In her book “Sleepless in Hollywood” author Lynda Obst makes two interesting points that every screenwriter should know. First, most Hollywood movies make 80% of their revenue from the overseas market. Because of that, Hollywood doesn’t care as much about making movies for American audiences as they are in making movies for the rest of the world.

Second, overseas markets often don’t understand movies centered too closely around American culture. In countries like India, they make comedies and dramas strictly for the local Indian market. Rarely do American dramas and comedies translate as well in overseas markets. As a result, local studios can easily fill the need for local content.

What overseas markets want is what they can’t do on their own, which is produce the computer-laden effect spectaculars that only Hollywood has the technological expertise to create such as “Transformers,” “Pacific Rim,” or “The Avengers.” That’s why Hollywood gravitates towards big spectaculars that have plenty of visual effects that overseas markets can’t hope to match.

Third, Hollywood is risk aversive, so they prefer making movies based on anything that has pre-awareness such as a video game, a comic book, a novel, a TV show, or a remake of an older movie. Such pre-awareness makes it easy for a movie to attract a crowd.

What this means is that you need a movie that can either appeal to the international market, or you need a low-budget film that can be made inexpensively to cater to the local market. Comedies and horror movies are always inexpensive to make since they require few special effects. Any movie that requires massive special effects won’t likely get made into a movie until it’s first turned into something else.

“Oblivion” was originally a graphic novel that wasn’t even published, but it still got turned into a movie anyway. “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter” is an example of a big budget spectacle that studios want to see. If you’re interested in breaking into screenwriting, either start with low budget films (comedies and horror) or turn your story into something else first to get a built-in audience for a movie deal.

Unless you’re already a star who can get things done like Tom Cruise did with “Oblivion” or James Cameron did with “Avatar,” don’t try to market a screenplay that requires massive special effects unless it could appeal to an overseas market. Remember, movies are part of show business where the emphasis is turning more and more on the business end.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Related Posts

Creating the Big Finale

The most important part of your story is the ending. Think of a fireworks show where the big finale occurs at the end and leaves...
Read More

Using Internal Conflict to Create Stronger External Conflict

The best stories have two kinds of conflict: internal and external. Internal conflict occurs between your hero’s opposing beliefs or values. In “Die Hard”, the...
Read More

Outline an Entire Story Using Opposites

Creating a story out of thin air is never easy. That’s why so many stories wind up feeling incomplete or half-polished. The solution is simple....
Read More

Force Your Hero Into Making Tough Choices

If you want to create a memorable character, start with the choices they make. The toughest choices for any character to face are: In “Finding...
Read More
Scroll to Top