“Tell Me A Story” Media Lit - CBA Gorman Harrison Prep

Planning a Video So..what do you want to make? –There are two basic types of film, fictional and documentary. Fictional films - A fictional film is one in which all or the majority of the story has been invented by the author. Documentary films - Documentary film tells a story set in reality, using the events to express a point of view.

How Are Fictional Films Structured? The three act theory: 1.establish your characters (who) 2. create a conflict (what) 3. resolve everything! (why should we care?)

Documentaries Documentary films follow 3 basic formulas: Observational documentary - Like nature programs, the film crew do not interact at all with the subject. Standard documentary - Interviews, voice-overs, (even confrontation can come together in this format) Drama documentary - Uses reconstructions to tell the "truth", common in disaster or history documentaries.

How will I tell my story? When film was invented, there was no such thing as editing, the story of a journey covered the whole event from start to end. Your story does not need to be told in a linear order like this, you should use a structure which emphasizes the most important aspects.

How will I tell my story? Here we will look at some different ways of doing it: Basic story structuring - You should be able to relate your story in such a way that the most important bit is highlighted, usually placing it in the middle. Flashback - This is a common technique used to give perspective and interest to the structure of stories. Parallel action - This is where separate events are shown at the same time and will generally come together.

Putting your ideas on paper Text - Just like a novel, you can write your story down as short or as long as you need. Scripting - The most well known way of putting down ideas. Storyboarding - Ideal for describing framing and angles very specifically. You don’t need to be brilliant at drawing. Shot lists - Each shot is described in detail, like a description of the storyboard.

Details Matter!!! Schedule for everything, this applies to people’s time, the resources, money and equipment you need. Make sure it is available when you need it.

Legal Issues People in public - with some exceptions, you are not allowed to film in a public place without permission - simply ask! Filming actors and interviews - Anyone considered important in your film will need to give you their written consent. Filming children - Children are a sensitive subject and you will need parental consent for under 18. Location permissions - Non public access areas will require owners permission for filming. Causing a nuisance or obstruction - The police may move you on if you cause a nuisance, this includes tripods blocking pathways!

Screenplay Format Font - 12 point Courier is almost always used. Spacing - Scripts are generally printed one-sided, with double spacing between lines and with fairly good-sized borders around the edges. This means your script will be easy to read with plenty of room to make notes. Timing - If you lay your script out in this way, you will be able to estimate that one page will equal one minute of screen time, so you can easily keep track of the overall length. Slug Lines - These are lines which begin a scene, always marked by using capital letters, including INT or EXT (Interior/Indoors - Exterior/Outdoors). They also include the location (e.g. CITY STREET) followed by either DAY or NIGHT. Scene Direction - After the opening, briefly describe the scene, writing in the present tense. Tell what characters do in chronological order. Don’t say it show it! Dialogue - Dialogue appears in a column down the centre of the page, indented from the scene direction. Character Names - When the character first appears their name should be in CAPTIALS. After that their name is in lower case. Sound - You can put important sounds in CAPITALS, so that lions ROAR, mirrors SHATTER and bombs EXPLODE, if you choose to do so. Camera Direction - You can add directions for the camera to the script if you like. There are several abbreviations you can use, such as CU for close-up, LS for long shot.