Ok so i think i am in a rut....

In a visual sense, coming up with ideas for a film is no problem whatsoever for me. i am constantly coming up with ideas for representing things through film when i am reading a book, am told a story, am given a script, etc, etc.

My problem, however, comes when i try to think of complete script ideas. I can come up with very basic/general ideas for films, yet when it comes down to it, nothing really holds water to make a sensible, enjoyable, complete film. My knack has always been for the visual aspects I guess, not the ideas.

So i spose what i am asking for is any help for coming up with script ideas. (I have tried things like writing down everything and anything i see, observing real experiences, etc yet still cannot seem to write anything decent) Any advice that can be offered from more crazy ways to think of ideas to hearing my ideas and turning them into a complete script would be greatly appreciated

Also, feel free to e-mail or im me if you are willing to accept the challenge of helping me

Most of my best ideas come to me when I'm lying in my bed before I fall asleep. Watching Seinfeld definetly helps too, it gets my comedic juices flowing. Listening to music is big also. I sometimes spend hours at a computer just going through my entire library or downloading new songs that I can put images to in my head. Start small, maybe with a single scene, event, object or character, and build around that.

write your way into a different world, one that may not be so different than this one.

You're exactly like me. My scripts don't come from concepts, characters, or plots, they come from one specific shot with the angles, lighting and set up seemingly brilliant and set in stone in my mind.

Once I get this initial visualization, it spawns more, similar ones. How I add them all together and make them work is simple... I get a LOT of help from people who know a LOT more than me. Knowing your stregnths and weaknesses will help you dramatically.

EDIT: So considering this post is, in fact, you asking for help, my contribution was, well... it was my two cents. I like my two cents, and I like giving them to people...

just take your camera out with friends and start filming. Look over your footage, make a script from ideas that you filmed, dialogue ect.

I have EXACTLY the same problem!

So, i cannot help you.

I know what you mean, and often I too will imagine an perfect, complete image, but I'll have difficulty writing a story from scratch. What you need to do is ask yourself "what's going on in this picture? what is happening, and how did we get to this point?"

Reverse engineer your own imagination

Your telling that we need to work arround the image, first you have the image and then you have the story. (i do think most screenwriters will disargree and will do it the other way arround, first the story and than the image)

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I get a LOT of help from people who know a LOT more than me

That's why i'm asking you people

I guess a lot of these suggestions (which are all very good) I already know in my head, its just a little easier said than done for me. (The fact I really kinda hate writing doesn't seem to help matters either.)

Maybe I should stop thinking so much about the fully developed ideas and start with just trying to film whatever I can think of? Even if nothing turns into a completed film I will at least get some more experience.

i dont like writing scripts, i think they are the ugliest form of writing. when it comes to film such things shouldnt be so planned and laid out like that...so now i just write pages and pages of dialogue and situations to put the characters in. I had 5 pages of dialogue and i got 2 hours of great footage from it. Give the actors room to improvise and just start filming them doing ****. As for your pretty scenic photography, well throw that in too but dont forget the film isnt about being pretty its about the characters and whats happening to them.

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As for your pretty scenic photography, well throw that in too but dont forget the film isnt about being pretty its about the characters and whats happening to them.

I never claimed my stuff is pretty lol

I know what you mean though--I would say about 85% of the stuff I have done has been mostly improvised and that is usually where the brilliant moments come from. However, I also only have friends to rely on as actors so things don't get taken too seriously.

I'm trying to come up with some scripts for future use when I have better equipment/actors/etc. I'd like to have something to show people what I am envisioning before I start shooting.

right, friends can be difficult actors. I had a great filming experience with them months ago, but just last week we filmed and those energies were gone and nothing was accomplished. Mostly im at fault cause i didnt think to have my friends CARE about the ideas i wanted to film. Its key to discuss with them what it is you'd like to achieve together to make it a fun experience. Sit down with em and discuss what you'd like to do and ask for their ideas. New insight will come up and before you know it you'll find that idea you were looking for.

Well i'm scheduled to shoot on sunday with a bunch of people (some close friends, some not so much) and it is working out pretty sweet for me---it is a project for school for a class i am not in which means they are writing the script, planning the props, and worrying about everything i basically don't want to deal with. I just get to do the shooting and editing which is more my style. I'm hoping something good comes out of it cause let's face it-right now i obviously can't think of my own ideas (thus this reason for this thread's existence) and i just wanna get out there and film something gosh darnit!

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The fact I really kinda hate writing doesn't seem to help matters either.

So you can't come up with complete ideas and you hate writing? Hate to say it, but perhaps screenwriting just isn't for you. You obviously love the visual aspects so, yes, maybe an editor or D.O.P is more what you should be looking at doing. If you want to direct though I personally believe you have to be able to have stories you want to tell.
Maybe try teaming up with some screenwriters who are having the opposite problem (ie. great ideas but can't bring them to life) and collaborate on something.

I don't think of ideas. It just doesn't work for me. I let ideas come to me naturally, and when they do, I write them down immediately and THEN I start brainstorming and whatnot. The original idea is the hardest part... but once you get it and you start thinking it through, you begin to expand upon it and it just gets better and better.

That's what works for me.