How to Write a Found Footage Script: Part Three
Welcome back to our How to Write a Found Footage Script series! In part two, we discussed character development (don’t skip that part!), and in part three, we’re diving into a 3-act structure formula specifically for found footage films.
Let's start by acknowledging that not all found footage screenwriters actually write full scripts. Yep, some (maybe even most?) just wing it with a tight outline and let the chaos unfold from there, and honestly, that works just fine!
Whether you're crafting an outline or a full script, using a solid formula can help ensure your story holds the audience's attention from start to finish. Especially if you're just starting out, a structured approach keeps viewers glued to the screen—because the last thing you want is for them to scroll through their phone while your monster waits in the shadows.
NOTE: A formula is not set in stone. It's just meant to help guide you in your storytelling. If something doesn't fit or feel right, then move on! Don't feel like you have to stick to this exactly. Also, this formula assumes you're going to have a 90-minute film, once produced. The number of pages is flexible for the length of your film.
If you need an example of this formula being used in another film, scroll down and you'll see how The Poughkeepsie Tapes fits into this structure.
How to Write a Found Footage Script Using a Proven Formula
Act 1
Opening Setup (pages 0-10): Write an opening scene where we come to understand why the characters are filming. Introduce the main characters and the setting. Set a normal atmosphere with subtle hints of something unusual.
Introduction to the Format: Establish why the footage is being filmed (documentary project, vlog, security camera, etc.).
Character Introduction: Meet the main characters and understand their motivations for filming.
Initial Setting: Set the location and atmosphere. Provide a sense of normalcy.
Inciting Incident (pages 10-15): Describe a moment where the characters discover something odd or eerie that sparks their curiosity. Ensure this moment is intriguing enough to justify continued filming.
First Unsettling Discovery: The characters encounter something odd or eerie that sparks their curiosity or concern. This moment must be intriguing enough to justify the continuation of filming.
Rising Curiosity (pages 15-25): Write scenes where the characters begin to investigate the initial discovery. Show them gathering more footage and clues, interviewing witnesses, or exploring suspicious locations. Include subtle hints of danger or supernatural elements to build suspense. How do the characters react to these discoveries, and how does their curiosity drive them forward?
Exploration: Characters begin to investigate the initial discovery, gathering more footage and clues.
Foreshadowing: Subtle hints of danger or supernatural elements start to appear, increasing the sense of unease.
Commitment to Filming (pages 25-30): Describe a pivotal moment where the characters make a conscious decision to keep filming despite the growing oddities and potential dangers. Highlight their motivations—is it curiosity? Ambition? Necessity? Show the internal debate and how they justify their choice to continue, even as the risks become more apparent.
Decision Point: Characters make a conscious decision to keep filming despite growing oddities. This decision often stems from curiosity, ambition, or necessity (e.g., proving a point, completing a project).
Act 2
Escalation of Events (pages 30-45): Create scenes where the characters experience increased anomalies and strange occurrences. Build tension through frequent disturbing footage and interactions among the characters.
Increased Anomalies: Strange occurrences become more frequent and intense. Characters capture more disturbing footage.
Tension Among Characters: Stress and fear begin to cause friction among the group, highlighting personal conflicts.
Midpoint Revelation (pages 45-55): Write a significant discovery or shocking event that changes the characters' understanding of the situation. This revelation should heighten the stakes and intensify the danger.
Major Discovery: A significant piece of information or a shocking event that changes the characters' understanding of the situation.
Heightened Stakes: The threat becomes more imminent and personal, increasing the urgency.
Descent into Chaos (pages 55-70): Create scenes where the situation deteriorates rapidly, plunging the characters into chaos. Include direct confrontations with the threat, whether it’s supernatural, human, or environmental. Show the characters' attempts to capture these events on film while dealing with their fear and confusion. How do the characters' relationships and trust evolve under this intense pressure?
Unraveling: The situation deteriorates rapidly. The characters face direct confrontations with the threat.
Survival Instincts: Characters switch from investigation to survival mode, documenting their attempts to escape or overcome the danger.
Moment of Desperation (pages 70-75): Write a critical scene where the characters face a major setback or loss that seems to doom their efforts. This could be the loss of vital equipment, a betrayal, or a character’s death. Highlight their feelings of hopelessness and desperation. What final, desperate actions do they take to try to resolve the situation?
Critical Setback: A major failure or loss that seems to doom the characters. This could be the loss of vital equipment, a betrayal, or a character's death.
Last Stand: The remaining characters make a final, desperate attempt to resolve the situation.
Act 3
Climactic Confrontation (pages 75-85): Develop the final confrontation between the characters and the primary threat. Ensure this sequence is intense and chaotic, capturing the climactic moment on film.
Final Confrontation: The characters face the primary threat head-on. This sequence should be intense, chaotic, and filled with uncertainty.
Resolution or Escape: The characters either find a way to neutralize the threat or escape from it, capturing the climax on film.
Aftermath Footage (pages 85-89): Describe the immediate aftermath of the climax. Show the characters' reactions and the state of the environment. Leave some ambiguity to maintain the eerie atmosphere.
Post-Climax: Show the immediate aftermath of the climax. This could include characters' reactions, the state of the environment, or the final moments of the footage.
Unanswered Questions: Leave some ambiguity or unresolved elements to maintain the eerie atmosphere.
Final Image (page 90): Describe the closing scene that encapsulates the film's tension and themes. This could be the discovery of the footage, a final twist, or a haunting revelation. Ensure this moment leaves a lasting impression on the audience, maintaining the eerie atmosphere and hinting at unresolved elements or the continuation of the threat.
Closing Scene: End with a powerful image or moment that encapsulates the film's tension and themes. This could be the discovery of the footage, a final twist, or a haunting revelation.
End Credits: Often styled to fit the found footage format, such as text explaining the discovery of the footage or dedications to the characters.
EXAMPLE The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
Act 1
Opening Setup
Introduction to the Format: The film starts with a documentary-style introduction, explaining that a series of VHS tapes were discovered in a house in Poughkeepsie, New York. The tapes document the crimes of a serial killer. Specifically the abduction of Cheryl.
Character Introduction: The main characters are introduced through interviews: law enforcement officers, FBI agents, and experts discussing the case, as well as family members of the various victims.
Initial Setting: The initial setting is the crime scenes and the locations where the tapes were found, establishing a grim and foreboding atmosphere.
Inciting Incident
First Unsettling Discovery: The first video shows the killer's disturbing debut. FBI agents are left grappling with the "why." Was he spiraling after losing his job? Did a breakup push him over the edge? Or maybe he just needed to find a vulnerable target. The footage rolls: a young girl playing alone in her front yard. She hesitates as he approaches, knowing she's not supposed to talk to strangers. He kidnaps her. His first victim.
Rising Curiosity
Exploration: The documentary explores the content of the tapes, showing snippets of the disturbing footage. The law enforcement and experts discuss the nature of the crimes and the psychology of the killer. The audience gets glimpses of the killer's methods and the horror he inflicted on more of his victims.
Foreshadowing: The interviews and footage hint at the killer's meticulous planning and the sheer scale of his crimes, suggesting that the worst is yet to be revealed.
Commitment to Filming
Decision Point: Despite the horrific nature of the tapes, the documentary crew and law enforcement continue analyzing the footage, driven by the need to understand the killer.
Act 2
Escalation of Events
Increased Anomalies: A focus on Cheryl. The tapes reveal how he stalked her leading up to her kidnapping. Graphic and disturbing content shows the escalation of the killer's methods. The law enforcement officers and experts react with horror and disbelief as they uncover more details about the crime of Cheryl’s kidnapping and her boyfriend’s death.
Tension Among Characters: The tension rises among the law enforcement officers, experts, and family members as they search for Cheryl.
Midpoint Revelation
Major Discovery: The documentary reveals a significant clue about the killer's identity after he visits Cheryl’s home and speaks to her mother.
Heightened Stakes: As they continue to search for Cheryl, the stakes are heightened as the investigators realize that the killer has changed his behaviour. The sense of urgency to capture him increases as they worry about prostitutes being targeted.
Descent into Chaos
Unraveling: The documentary delves deeper into the most horrifying tapes, showing the extent of the killer's sadism. The footage includes the psychological torment of the victims, their desperate attempts to escape, and their ultimate fate. The investigators struggle to maintain their composure as they uncover the full horror of the killer's actions.
Survival Instincts: The focus shifts to the investigators' efforts to piece together the clues and track down the killer. They find fingerprints that match to their colleague, Foley, at the crime scenes. He’s arrested and brought to court where he uses plea bargains to get himself out of hot water. He’s found guilty and executed.
Moment of Desperation
Critical Setback: The investigators face a major setback when they realize that Foley was innocent just after being executed. The killer's ability to evade capture and manipulate the investigation becomes clear, causing frustration and despair among the investigators.
Last Stand: A detective receives a map in his mailbox. They believe it was left by the killer. A map to the killer’s house. The investigators make a final, desperate effort to capture the killer.
Act 3
Climactic Confrontation
Final Confrontation: The climax occurs as the investigators close in on the killer. The SWAT team gets involved, raid his house. He wasn’t there. Not a single fingerprint in his entire house. Found boxes of videos tapes labelled sequentially.
Resolution or Escape: The team discovers Cheryl clinging to life, trapped inside a coffin in one of the house’s rooms. They urgently call for medics, who rush her to the hospital, where she faces a long road to recovery from her brutal injuries.
Aftermath Footage
Post-Climax: an interview with Cheryl, who is distraught and unable to cope in the real world. They tell us she died of suicide two weeks later.
Unanswered Questions: The film ends with ambiguity about the killer's fate, leaving the audience with a sense of dread and the possibility that the killer could still be out there.
Final Image
Closing Scene: The final image is a video of a young Cheryl, symbolizing the unresolved mystery and grief left behind.
That's it for this post on following a formula to write your found footage script. The next post will cover another example to show this formula in action.
