Turning a Story into a One Minute Screenplay

nevies(72)

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Town Square

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1189

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6 min

16h

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~8 min

Today I did some professional writing work. I had to turn this story into a one minute narrator voice over powered script:

He found a small door behind his couch that led to the entrance to a slide and when he took it it led him to an entire store hidden under his house the place seemed brand new but could only be accessed with the slide the store had iphones, computers, cars but then, he noticed it, a giant mascot standing there he took a few items and left, reselling them for money on the outside but when he came back he noticed the mascot had moved and every time he grabbed an item it would get closer and closer and closer to the slide when he came back but he didn’t care, so he kept taking things from the store and making money on the outside but one day, the mascot was standing right in front the slide, meaning if he took 1 more item, the mascot might block the exit meaning he would be stuck for ever so he decided to leave it and exit the slide one final time but as soon as he left, he realized something was left in his pocket he had accidentally kept an item with him meaning the mascot had most likely moved again for days he didn’t check on the slide but, the curiosity was killing him, so when he went to check he was shocked to see the mascot had disappeared meaning he could take as many items as he wanted! he stole hundreds of articles in a single day selling it for thousands of dollars but that same night, he woke up to a sound something was in his walls he stood up and looked around his house panicked but as he moved towards the secret door the creature grabbed him and captured him in his stomach after a couple hours, he managed to escape, and ran towards the exit but to his horror, the slide was gone months later, a new owner moved into the house and found the door again repeating the cycle once more.

And this was what I made:

HE FOUND A SECRET STORE BENEATH HIS HOUSE... BUT THERE WAS A CATCH
FADE IN:
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
NARRATOR (VOICE OVER): The man finds a tiny door beneath his couch. It reveals a dark slide, and he curiously slides down.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: Man moves couch, sees wooden patch that looks like a door, turns it and a hollow slide is revealed. He slides down curiously.
INT. SECRET UNDERGROUND STORE – CONTINUOUS
NARRATOR (V.O): The man pops out the slide into a spotless store filled with expensive fashion goods.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: Full 360-degree roll reveals designer clothes, jewelries and other accessories neatly arranged around the store. Plus a iron giant scary-faced mascot standing motionless in the distance.
NARRATOR (V.O.): The slide was the only way in or out.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: The man hurries along the four walls of the store, running his hands over them looking for an exit but finds none, ending back at the slide entrance.
NARRATOR (V.O): He steals.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: The man crawls into the slide with clothes and jewelry sticking out of his pockets. Cut to the mascot. It moves slightly towards the entrance, and the thud shows it is extremely heavy.
SHORT MONTAGE:
NARRATOR (V.O): The man sells the stolen goods.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: He smiles, holding the money close to his heart.
NARRATOR (V.O): Soon he finds the mascot moves every time he leaves with stuff. One more theft and its next move would block the exit. So he left empty handed.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: The man pops out and is about to crawl back in, but notices the mascot. He touches it and looks around suspiciously. Leaves. Pops out again and looks knowingly at the new positioning. This happens two more times. Finally, seeing the mascot one move from the entrance, he walks around crestfallen and leaves.
INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
NARRATOR (V.O): The man discovers he didn't leave empty handed. There was a new necklace in his pocket. Perhaps the entrance was closed now. He returned to check.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: Lying on his couch, the man feels his pocket and pulls out the necklace in panic. He paces, then moves the couch and slides in. He doesn't see the mascot and dances around as he makes away with a lot of stuff. Next he's back in his room, holding more money to his heart with a huge smile.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
NARRATOR (V.O): But that night the mascot appeared in his room and swallowed him.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: He wakes to heavy thuds. Terrified, he sights the mascot. It rushes to him in one move and swallows him.
INT. IRON ENCLOSURE: MASCOT'S BELLY
NARRATOR (V.O): He struggled long and hard and made it out of the mascot to find himself in the store. He made for the exit but the slide was gone. No way out.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: Inside the mascot's stomach, he hits the walls and scratches them with his gold watch. A small opening appears and he tears it wider with his hands and falls out. He runs for where the exit was but it was gone. No way out.
CUT TO BLACK.
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
NARRATOR (V.O.): Months later, a new owner found the door. And the cycle began again.
CONCURRENT VISUALS: A new owner moves into the house, moves the couch and discovers the tiny door. He opens it and slides in curiously.

CUT TO BLACK.
THE END

Turning straight prose like that into a screenplay can be very tricky. Especially when you have a time constraint to work with. It was definitely a lot of fun for me as a writer but I can see the different ways it is tasking.

Picking out the parts of it for the narrator to say and the visuals to follow takes a lot of thinking and breaking down. Plus scene planning.

As a creative you also have a lot of ideas screaming in your head to be unleashed on the work but you have to take it easy and pick your ideas very sparringly as you don't have all the time in the world.

I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation of that story's format, and appreciate the work that must've gone into it 🤝.

This script is a little watered down, though, not im the exact format of a professional script. And that is because I wasn't writing it to true industry professionals. A header like "concurrent visuals" is probably supposed to be non existent.

I'm available for hire for tasks like these, though!

The End

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