Film Project Screenwriting (Read and summarize article in 80-100 words.) Note from Frericks: Thanks for taking on one of the more difficult jobs. You are responsible for the tone and appropriateness of this film. Having a well-thought out screenplay before the read-through means a better film because then the group can find ways to fine tune the story. It is important to remember that the read through is an opportunity for the othersin the group to make changes, so don t be offended. Make sure you have speaking parts for each person signed up to be an actor, unless the individual doesn t want to speak. Make sure the story starts with a clear problem, make sure the problem is solved at the end and that the story builds to a climax and has a resolution. Clarify the theme (i.e. revenge doesn t pay or true love can happen) and keep your focus on that theme. Make sure you have a clear antagonist. What will your characters do and say to make them seem real? How will you develop these characters? For example, in Chaplin, we get a sense of who Chaplin is as a young performer when he stutters trying to tell Hetty she forgot her lipstick. In Casablanca Rick rarely smiles. Make sure your script is typed, in correct format (see attached) and 10 copies are available for the read through day Oct 20. Five Facts About Fiction Fact #1: Fiction is all about character. The best stories are built around rich, complex, extremely interesting characters. Fact #2: Fiction is all about what your character wants. Your character wants one thing more than anything else in the world, and that one thing drives everything your character does. Fact #3: Fiction is all about how your character gets or does not get what he or she wants. Some characters get what they want, others fail. This is how you develop the plot of your story. Fact #4: Fiction is all about how your character changes. After everything that happens, your character is forever changed. This is what makes your story meaningful. Fact #5: Fiction is all about a world that you create. You choose the people, places, things, and ideas in your story. Your choices influence the meaning of the story and your readers level of interest. (Taken from www.ttms.org) Writing Tips Writing a script improves the work on the set for both creative and practical reasons. From a creative standpoint, the writing process forces you to clarify your ideas, mostly by streamlining. Writing forces you to be specific and to work out problems that are probably a bit fuzzy in your head. The result of writing is a much clearer and simpler story. From a practical standpoint, the screenplay is important because it allows you and your production team to prepare thoroughly for the shoot. Once on
location, the script helps everyone on set, literally, to be on the same page. It will save you lots of time to hand out scripts rather than explaining to every person on the set what you want in a particular shot. Make sure that when it comes time to be on the set that the producer (you) has lots of extra copies in a box in a prominent place. Screenplay Format The screenplay format is practical because it lays things out in a wide-open, readable format that separates the information for visuals (stage direction) from dialog. The proper format also has a nifty feature: each page of screenplay roughly equals one minute of screen time. Ergo: five minutes=five pages. We recommend that you concern yourself with only three things: slug lines, stage directions, and dialogue. Stage Directions You ll see that most of the words in a screenplay are in the blocks of stage directions. There s a reason for this. Film is a visual medium and these are the portions of the script that describe what the viewer sees. It is important here for the screenwriter to think in pictures, and to transcribe those pictures clearly. While significant conversations may be how we experience high points in our own lives, long conversations don t make for a good film. Try to tell the whole story through behavior action and what people do as though it were a silent film. This forces you to tell the story creatively because your characters have to do things instead of say them. Start with a step outline: a paragraph describing each sequence. Make sure that you include those essential details that give the image its distinctive qualities, write what you see. Keep your descriptions short and clear. Use simple sentences. Slug Lines They are titles that introduce scenes or sequences. They carry simple information about location and time of day. They serve as little dividers between scenes of series of shots. These dividers will be useful when you are setting up you shooting schedule. INT stands for interior (inside) and EXT. Stands for exterior (outside). The location is then named. Putting in a slug line is a little like starting a new paragraph in an essay. If there is a significant shift in location or scene, throw in a slug line.
Dialogue Some might say that film is a visual medium and, therefore, the storytelling should happen mostly through what the audience sees (stage direction) and not through what the characters say (dialogue). This value of picture over words is reflected in the format. This doesn t necessarily mean that your characters should only speak in Schwatzeneggerian grunt and monosyllables, but when they do speak, they should speak distinctively with his or her unique voice. There is no time to talk about what happened before, (also known as exposition, it s deadly in a short) and there is no time to talk about what the audience has already seen. Keep dialogue to the absolute minimum and make the dialogue style unique to each character Start Late You want to start your script as late into the story as possible. A late start is key. This serves to compress your movie and make it more interesting. Looking at your treatment, what is the last second in the story where you could begin without hopelessly confusing the audience? If your audience has to work a little bit to catch up with what is going on, then they are likely to become engaged in the film. Frequent causes of audience boredom are stock characters or situations. Stock means stereotypical, familiar or overused. Nowhere do you find more overused and stereotypical characters than in movies about teens. You know what we re talking about, so we won t even mention them here (that would make me a nerd, or maybe a jock, or a cheerleader, or a goth) avoid these like open manhole covers. To keep the audience from getting bored, it s very important to stay ahead of them. If your audience anticipates where your story is headed, they turn off quicker than your mom s reading light at 11. Don t be predictable, either with character, or with a plot. Zag when they expect you to play monopoly. Don t go in the direction your audience anticipates. We call these moments, when you dodge audience expectation, reversals. A reversal is simply the moment when you shift the story in a way the audience didn t see coming. A reversal can come from plot or character. EXERCISE: Look at your treatment and identify the reversals. Where are the moments in your story that you give the audience the slip, give them something different from what they might expect? There should be at least one. If you have very few or none, can you devise a way to add an element of surprise, the unique, the unexpected?
Characters Every truly dramatic character, like every person in real life, has an agenda that he or she is trying to fulfill. Before starting, decide what each character is trying to get or do, remembering the audience can only tell how a character feels by what he or she does. There s got to be action and reaction. Here are some examples: Does your character feel alone at the beginning and then realize people do care? Does your character think revenge is the answer and then realize that it isn t? Do your characters bite off more than they can chew? Does a character change an idea about something or someone after getting new information? Does the character find inner strength he or she didn t know was there? (Taken from: Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts by Troy Lanier and Clay Nichols and Some Do s and Don ts of Fiction Filmmaking by Michael Rabiger) Choose from one of the following themes: Maturing, inevitability of change, or loss of innocence To Kill a Mockingbird Forces beyond human control--twister Loyalty in conflict with a personal moral code A Few Good Men Isolation, alienation--psycho Effect of lying to yourself and others Pain of unrequited love The Great Gatsby Destruction from guilt Quest for knowledge or important information Perception versus reality Fight Club Being true to one s feelings Finding or searching for love The Notebook Patriotism or losing one s country or citizenship Triumph of goodness or love--casablanca Consequences of greed This Side of Paradise Facing deception or misunderstanding Julius Caesar Importance of respect: getting it, losing it, giving it Effects of fear, guilt or secrets Fighting against injustice or demanding justice Accountability for actions Value of perseverance Shawshank Redemption Conflict between passion or duty and family The Jazz Singer Ironies of life or overlooking the obvious Civilization versus barbarity Alive & Lord of the Flies Power of the human will Cool Hand Luke Influence of superstition Jim in Huck Finn Regeneration through sacrifice Saving Private Ryan
Sacrifices for love--casablanca Testing one s honesty Survival of the fittest or struggle for survival--alive Bond of common experience Breakfast Club Attainment of goals Shawshank Redemption Effects of torture 24--or abuse A Child Called It Power of the human will Forrest Gump Power of observation or Finding beauty in common things American Beauty Unexpected results of crime Westbank Story Inherited sins, hidden flaws Conflict between generations Romeo & Juliet Seizing opportunities Westbank Story Power of the supernatural Persecution or exploitation of the innocent or powerless Schindler s List Intolerance or revenge--rambo Destructive power of dreams Of Mice and Men Before starting to write, fill in the planning sheet on the next page.
The Story Name: per. Group s chosen theme from list: Setting: (Time Period) (Location(s)) Characters: Protagonist Antagonist Other Name age Personality Trait Motivation Defining Props Establishing Shot: Way in which you will develop your characters: Inciting moment (Begins initial conflict): (i.e. failed test, accident, character sees someone and falls in love, etc.) Tension builders or complications: Climax: Resolution: (Happy ending or thought provoking visual message) See sample for script formatting on next page.
SAMPLE SCREENPLAY THE ROUND TABLE ACT ONE EXT.---DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS---DAY Skyscraper has floor to ceiling glass windows. INT.---LUXURIOUS CORNER OFFICE---DAY SUSAN BARRETT, wearing a navy blue Chanel suit, speaks into the phone. Her ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT stands waiting in the door for direction. Behind her is the lobby where in gold raised letters on the wall we see Susan Barrett Literary Agency. SUSAN Books only fly off the shelves with national exposure. You were on the local news for fifteen seconds. She half listens while pointing at papers for the Administrative Assistant to take away. Assistant exits. SUSAN No, I really can t make any more calls.. Let me put you through to one of my associates, and she can help with marketing ideas. She transfers the call and hangs up. Administrative Assistant comes over the speakerphone into Susan s office. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (V.O.) Farkel is in the lobby. I told him you re still on leave. I don t think he believes me.