Ouch.  It makes my ears hurt.  I'll give credit to movie watchers.  They are smarter than they know when it comes to movies, but that's why screenplay writers have to be better.  The difference between a good script and a bad one is one can outwit the smart audience member while the other can't.

With that caveat, just because you know movies, and have seen every movie known to man, does not mean you know screenplays.  Since many movies work along the same structure(don't confuse the word structure with formula) some writers or wannabe writers tell me they just have to plug in the formula.

They say, "My movie is going to be like [insert Blockbuster], except it will be a different genre."  They say this like making the same plot, the same "formula" in a different setting will make it a unique piece of work.  Let me reiterate that there is no formula.

That being said, one can not write screenplays by only watching movies.  It does help and I do suggest watching movies, but the one thing screenwriters forget is "You must read screenplays!"  You need to get down to the studio and get a job as a spec script reader.  You will have to do this maybe even for free or dirt pay, but at least you are getting experience and you will start to see what screenplays are good and which ones suck.

It is the same as writing books.  If you go to writing conventions, in the panels you will constantly hear, "To be a writer you must read".  They will beat this in to you, and if you aren't living it then you need to choose another industy.  It is the same with being a screenwriter.

Some of you may not be in Hollywood to do such a thing, but don't worry.  You can still learn the art of the screenplay, and you can still get your hands on brilliant screenplays to study and learn from.  Especially since Hollywood is becoming decentralized with the wave of the internet, now is an exciting time to get in this industry and learn the craft.

By purchasing screenplays with us(sorry shameless plug), or finding screenplays online to read, you will discover many things you never picked up by watching the movie.  You will first find your work emulating the works you love, until finally the craft will become learned(although its never truly learned completely), and then you will break free of the mold and the emulation will become innovation.

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That's what it is all about right?  Well, what if you come into a movie theater and you do not know any pre or post notations about the environment.  In Terminator all the movies jump around in a time dimension plot that can play cleverly to however the screenwriters want it to.

But am I the only that went into this movie with expectations of a new Terminator.  i feel it has been Hollywood's strong point to change big franchise movies from hokey to thoughtful and kick butt with real story substance.  Look at Spider-man, Iron Man, and Batman.  All hokey comic book stories that work in print but not on the screen until the past 10 years changed the genre.

That's what I wanted with Terminator.  I never went and saw the previous Terminators as I couldn't ever take Arnie as a serious actor(he's fun in other movies like Kindergarten cop, but that's the thing Terminator's supposed to be serious kick trash sci-fi).  Mayber my expectations were too high, but I wanted a stand alone movie that transforms a franchise into something new and fresh.  I wanted to know how the Terminator Robots came about, about Sky-net, why it was so important to save Kyle Reese(other than he was John Connor's father).  I got none of that.

I went into the movie and was thrown into a torrent of man versus mech with no clear explanation of the whys or whats.  This lack of story that was replaced with special effects and action(which I did enjoy) left me despondent and distant from actually rooting for any of the characters(except for Marcus Wright, whose back story we did get, go figure).

So remember in your own screenwriting the importance of making every movie its own, even if it relies upon the back story of prequels, sequels, books or other reference material.

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