11/25-27/13 – Act 1

Monday+ Wednesday, 11/25-27/13

Aim: Understanding Act 1

Daily Spark – read through handout

Talk about Act 1: http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/act1.htm

Today, you will begin writing Act 1 of your Short Story on rawscripts.com

Please remember:

1. Review Script General principals: (pg 17)
   1. Written in present tense
   2. Follows the progression of the video, moment by moment
   3. Words on the page present each scene, action, image, character and series of events to a reader as they would appear to the viewer of the film
   4. Nothing in the script that will not bee seen or heard by the audience.
   5. Think in IMAGES and SOUND (much like the treatment)
   6. DRAMATIZE internal states
   7. Stay true to character.  Show their feelings through their words and actions

Review Script Formatting:

Scripts break into 6 formatting elements:

1. 1. Today you will be creating your screenplays.  You will use the Pages formatting, but you must also know what the formatting is
   1. Review Script General principals: (pg 17)
      1. Written in present tense
      2. Follows the progression of the video, moment by moment
      3. Words on the page present each scene, action, image, character and series of events to a reader as they would appear to the viewer of the film
      4. Nothing in the script that will not bee seen or heard by the audience.
      5. Think in IMAGES and SOUND (much like the treatment)
      6. DRAMATIZE internal states
      7. Stay true to character.  Show their feelings through their words and actions

   Review Script Formatting:

Scripts break into 6 formatting elements:

i. Title
ii. Scene Heading (1.5” from left edge of page)

1. Establishes location and time of day
2. Also called a slug line
3. All caps, EXT. or INT. , description of place (specific, not just “house” but “living room”) – time of day
   1. Location name (if returning) MUST remain consistent!
   2. Instead of time of day, can be continuous, same or later depending on the previous scene.

iii.      Stage Directions (1.5” from left edge of page)

1. Also called scene direction
2. Written in present tense
3. Describe the actions of the characters, the setting and any other images.
4. Write what the viewer sees and hears (other than dialogue)
5. Do not get too detailed about movement or settings etc. Important information only
6. At margin—between descriptions, double space.  No indents
7. Certain things must be in all capital letters:
   1. First time a character is introduced in the story
   2. Sound cues (ie-sirens, church bells, period bell)
   3. Readable text (text that the viewer will read on the screen)

iv.      Character Cues (4.25” from left edge of page—Name STARTS at center of page)

1. Indicates which character speaks the dialogue
2. In all caps
3. Name stays consistent
4. If more than one character w/ same name: use last name
5. Additional info written in parentheses
   1. (V.O) – Voice over
   2. (O.S) – Off Screen
   3. (TV) or (RADIO) – broadcast

v.      Dialogue (starts at 2.5” and ends at 6.5” from left edge of page)

1. Creative writing/stylistic choices come into play
2. Think about: grammar, speech tone/rhythm—how does this person speak?  How can character’s word choice reveal information about the character’s thoughts?

vi.      Personal Direction (starts at 3.75” and ends at 5.5” from left edge of page)

1. Always VERY brief
2. Placed in parentheses
3. No capital letters unless using a proper noun
4. Refer only to the person speaking the lines within which they appear
5. NOT to give emotional direction to actor
6. Used only for:
   1. Actions that must happen on a particular line
   2. Can tell the receiver of dialogue—if a group, but person is only speaking to one person for example

Share out at the end of Wednesday.

11/15/13 – 3 act structure using Modern Family

11/15/13

Aim: understanding 3 act structure using Modern Family

Daily Spark: What did you like/not line about The Harvest?

Read together:

http://www.flyingwrestler.com/2010/10/modern-family-4-stories-x-3-acts/

Watch episode Strangers on a Treadmill

 

Thursday, 11/16/13

HW: Begin to write act one for your screenplay at home, bring in at least the first 3 pages for Monday.

Aim: Understanding screenplay structure and beginning 1st acts

Daily Spark: What parts of a screenplay do you know?

 

Formatting elements of Author’s Draft: (read together and find out what each is)

• Title
• Scene Headings/Slug lines
• Stage Direction/Action
• Character Cues/Character
• Dialogue
• Personal Direction/Parenthetical

 

Title page – Title centered – Name and Draft number Bottom left corner

Scene headings/Slug lines

INT/EXT – LOCATION – TIME  – all in caps

• Must start with EXT or INT – What is this and when do we use?
  • EXT is OUTSIDE (like, no ceiling or walls) not outside of a room
  • Used for location scout and organizing filming
• Location of scene – specifically – not inside a house – what room etc
• Time – Day, night, continuous…

Action/Stage direction

What the audience SEES or HEARS (but not dialogue). Present tense

Character Cues

All upper case – indicates who is speaking

Dialogue

What the character is saying

Parenthetical/Personal direction

Personal action for the character – how something is said or something they are doing while speaking. Can be done in action line too, depending on what you want to do.

Remember:

Words on the page present each scene, action, image, character and series of events to the reader as they would appear to the viewer of the film
NOTHING in the script that would not be seen or heard by the film audience.

Go to http://www.rawscripts.com/ and login with your google account

You will write here and you will share with me as your collaborator

 

Talk about Act 1: http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/pruter/film/act1.htm

-If time, begin to write the short story act 1

11/6-8/13 – Writing a synopsis and understanding screenplay language

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

Aim: Understanding how to write a synopsis

HW 2.1: (due Tuesday) Create a film treatment for your story concept

Daily Spark: Write the logline for your short story

1. Understand logline – jog your memory:

Loglines generally contain three elements:

• A protagonist (who the story is about)
• An antagonist force/main conflict (what stands in his way)
• A goal (what he strives for)

It’s also helpful to put a summarizing adjective in front of your characters to give a sense of their personalities. For example, the logline of Star Trek might be:

A headstrong orphan and his Vulcan nemesis must save the Federation (and themselves) from a revenge-seeking Romulan from the future.

2. Learn “Treatment”

A treatment is like a first sketch of a film. Treatments are generally two to five page summaries that break the story into three acts. Here are the three main elements of a treatment:

1. Title of the Film
2. Logline
3. Synopsis (see below for details)

Primarily a marketing document, treatments give executives an idea of whether the story is worth their money. However, like the logline, it also serves as a helpful tool for the writer, a kind of first sketch of the story.

Treatments may include snippets of dialogue and description, but the main focus is on synopsizing the story.

It should read like a short story and be written in the present tense. It should present the entire story including the ending, and use some key scenes and dialogue from the screenplay it is based on.

What Should Be in the Treatment?

• A Working title
• The writer’s name and contact information
• A short logline
• Introduction to key characters
• Who, what, when, why and where.
• Act 1 in one to three paragraphs. Set the scene, dramatize the main conflicts.
• Act 2 in two to six paragraphs. Should dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act 1 lead to a crisis.
• Act 3 in one to three paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict and resolution.

Treatment for I Am Legend: http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/IAmLegendIInTreatmentn.pdf

Treatment for TV show: http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/alaska_writeup.pdf

-Convert your short story into a film treatment

What is present tense language? AM not WAS. Action is happening as it is written, just like it’s being seen presently.

For homework (due next monday) create your film treatment for your idea at home

Friday, November 8,2013

Aim: Understanding the language and construction of screenplays

Daily Spark: What are the two most important things to remember about screenplay writing?

 

Get a text book and open to page 16 and read “Author’s Draft” and “Shooting Script.”  What is the difference between these two versions of a script?

Formatting elements of Author’s Draft:  (read together and find out what each is)

1. Title
2. Scene Headings
3. Stage Direction
4. Dialogue
5. Personal Direction
6. Character Cues

Remember:

• Words on the page present each scene, action, image, character and series of events to the reader as they would appear to the viewer of the film
• NOTHING in the script that would not be seen or heard by the film audience.

–Look at the three statements in Blue (p 17, 2 on pg 18)

–Try to make these statements in screenplay language instead

–Look at screenplay and discuss how the author chose to display the information

Script for Thelma and Louise:

Draft: http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Thelma_and_Louise.pdf

Final Shooting Script: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Thelma-&-Louise.html

 

Looking at Celtx – go to celtx.com

Make a sign-in (I’m working on a basic account)

go to workspace

we will walk through your options and what each is. Those who got the lesson Wednesday can ignore me and begin.

Today- finish Short Story treatment. When finished, begin screenplay