How to shoot a short film: Screenplay, Storyboard. Short film script: structure, writing rules

Friends and colleagues! Thank you for responding!
Actually, I'm not new to cinema ..... 75 acting jobs, 3 performances, and even an association of stuntmen.
There are also scripts. I'll be honest ..... there is a lot of "shit" in my head now, a lot of problems with searches and promotion
different material - I’ve been ready to shoot myself for a long time ..... 25 years of experience in cinema. You all know what it means to launch a project (to find money). There were a lot of conversations and there were and are hints of sponsors ..... but as always, we all put the same question, -
What did you film as a director? Show stuff! And they are right in their own way, although everyone once started with the first film.
and more successful work was. And the directors who shot 5-10
sometimes you won’t see anything decent pictures ..... and they work "according to the textbook" of the natural and the accumulated is not enough. I am working ass. according to the actors, he built scenes more than once and the directors were amazed.
So my colleagues recently convinced me ...... to shoot a story and show my directorial style and with this already continue to negotiate about my projects.
There was an idea to just remove the game piece from my projects,
but I decided to still look for a delicious plot,
to write myself ...? ... I have now. It's just a working stagnation, running around and head does not cook at all ..... Therefore, I decided to look
ready-made plot, I think there are quite a few of them ..... and the author will think
for the benefit of revitalizing what was written.
Timing - 25-30m. Genre...? Well, it's more important that the story
was bright. Actors 3-5 people .... heroes, the rest are episodes and extras. It is important for me that the actors have bright characters (explosions of emotions ... and subtle penetrating reasoning), so that several colorful episodes can be filmed (a bar by the sea, music,), several
scenes or fights, car chases ......
Therefore, any genre can be - action, melodrama,
detective, family drama, ...... In general, some kind of vivid case, history, but of course, according to the laws of development - a plot,
development, climax and denouement. Dialogues and more
I can change, add, clean up ..... it doesn't matter anymore.
I’ll clarify right away - I’ll naturally shoot in Yalta,
these are beautiful panoramas, beautiful roads (drives), beautiful cafes by the sea, where you can shoot dialogues with a beautiful panorama, and in general a lot of beautiful places, which will be very advantageous for the picture.
There will be no problems with the actors either (I have my own acting department, extras, stuntmen), so there are people charged with creativity. There are many acquaintances - some have their own cafe, some have a club, etc. In general, with my connections, I think I'll get out. It's about the plot. And if you like the material, then I think I’ll shoot more than one short film, an extra
material to showcase your work will not hurt.
Here I have tried to answer in detail all the pitfalls. Thanks again for the links and in advance to those who offer something else.

Hello everyone, my name is Alex, I'm the director of the short film "A Moment in a Horror Movie". Today we will talk about how to make your own film.

The first thing you need is a script.

The script is the foundation of the project. Your film probably won't famous actors, chic scenery and spectacular special effects.

The only thing that determines the success or failure of a film in such a situation is the story and how it is told. Until you have a clear understanding of what your story is about and why it can emotionally capture the audience, there is no point in moving on.

90% of the success of a feature film is the script. And it is important to devote most of the time to this.

Which scenario do you prefer?

First of all - use someone else's or write your own?

It will take you at least 3 weeks to write your script, if you have an idea and thoughts on how to form it into a finished script.

Someone else's is easier because you didn't write it, so you can objectively evaluate and redo it at your discretion. But you need to imagine already at the stage of reading the script, how you will shoot it, whether the places described in the story are suitable for you personally, or what and how everything can be replaced.

The simpler the story, its characters, the scenes of action, the cheaper and more convenient it will be for you to implement it.

The simplest is a story for two or four actors, taking place in the summer on the street during the daytime these days.

Few characters, no lighting or costumes needed, little make-up, no interior costs. But this is the perfect choice!

It is important, when starting a script, to try not to allow for large-scale scenes, complex night shooting, incredible stunts, unrealistic costumes and makeup, and special effects.

That is real heroes in real circumstances. If you want to put your characters in an unusual situation, then think right away how you yourself will get out of this.

Because there is nothing worse than a cheap hack on the screen with a claim to a great movie.

Unfortunately, now the number interesting scenarios on the Internet is not very big.

On the Internet, scripts can be viewed on the sites http://ficbook.net/, http://www.proza.ru/avtor/qwert10, http://www.proza.ru/avtor/studart, https://www. facebook.com/pages/%D0%A1%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B8-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1% 80%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%BD%D1%8B% D1%85-%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2/650033165040042 ,

(Or check out the Facebook Community: "Short Film Scripts.")

http://morfing.livejournal.com/120318.html , http://morfing.livejournal.com/tag/shorts

You can look at comics, there are both interesting plots and illustrations. Taking a comic book as the basis of your work, do not make the mistake of Hollywood producers, you don’t need to copy everything exactly from a comic book, take an idea, a story, and implement it, since it is you who see the film.

STORYBOARD

Everywhere, without exception, they write about the need to make a storyboard. I tried and nothing good came of it. Because for this you need to be able to draw well, and this is not given to everyone.

If you don't know how to draw, like me, it doesn't matter, there is a way out.

Read each episode of the script several times, play the scene mentally, imagining the actors and the camera position. Outline your location.

Here are some literary scripts for short films. They follow the basic principles of cinematography:

1. The presence of characters in the main characters.

2.Syuzhetnaya secret, which should keep the attention of the viewer.

3.Laconism of dialogues.

4. Reckoning on the complicity of the viewer, on his guesses and active search the meaning of history.

5.Accurate needed details, details.

6. Availability of implementation, the predominance of interiors, a minimum of the simplest decorations.

7. Description of the action in the present tense.

8. The share of irony as a guarantee of the longevity of a film work.

The script for the short feature film "Shi"

INT. Diner. Day.

In a self-service diner, a nine-year-old Negro child stands near a stand with fruit jelly cakes. At that moment, when he was already preparing to grab a treat and run away, an old woman's voice is heard.

OLD WOMAN

Boy...

He turns around in fear. Not far away, a gray-haired woman sits at a table in front of a dinner tray, holding a blister of pills in her hand.

OLD WOMAN

Boy, bring a glass of water out of there, please.

The Negro goes to the boiler, takes a plastic cup, pressing the lever, pours water, carries it to the old woman.

NEGRO BABY (warning)

The water is very cold.

The old woman is taking medicine.

OLD WOMAN

Thank you dear... Sit down... Would you like fruitcake?

The boy looks at the lunch tray in front of the old woman: salad, soup, compote.

NEGRO BABY

I love cabbage soup.

The woman rummages in her purse, pulls out two coins.

OLD WOMAN

What is your name?

NEGRO BABY

OLD WOMAN

Here you are, Sasha, twenty rubles. Go buy it...

The old woman starts her dinner, and the Negro goes to the distribution, receives a bowl of soup, takes a slice of bread and a spoon ...

OLD WOMAN

Come, come here.

The boy sits down at her table and begins to eat.

NEGRO BABY

Are you rich?

OLD WOMAN

I am a pensioner.

He nods in understanding and then speaks after a pause.

NEGRO BABY

My brother is also retired.

OLD WOMAN (surprised)

Is he that much older than you?

NEGRO BABY

His head is shaking.

OLD WOMAN (sympathetically)

That's how! ... And he is the same as you, dark and curly?

NEGRO BABY

Yes... And he... Our mother is white.

OLD WOMAN

NEGRO BABY

Dad is in France... Mom goes to see him.

OLD WOMAN

Why isn't he with you?

NEGRO BABY

He says it's cold here.

OLD WOMAN

NEGRO BABY

I'm not cold... I'm Russian.

The Negro finishes eating cabbage soup and gets up.

NEGRO BABY

Thank you... Well, shall I go?

OLD WOMAN

What class are you in?

NEGRO BABY

In the second.

OLD WOMAN

And who do you want to become?

NEGRO BABY

OLD WOMAN (surprised once again)

A poet? And do you write poetry?

NEGRO BABY

OLD WOMAN

Well, read it.

The Negro takes a solemn pose, collects his thoughts, remembers.

NEGRO BABY (begins to recite)

Winter ... The peasant, triumphant, renews the path on the wood. His horse, smelling the snow, trots somehow...

The script for the short feature film "Europe Plus"

Spacious bright courtyard of a brand new 16-storey building. Playground with colorful designs. Flowerbed with freshly planted flowers. Young stickies hold on to strong stakes. A neat concrete fence surrounds the waste area, on which four brand new multi-colored containers are arranged in order. Each container has an enamel plate. On green - "Food Waste", on yellow - "Paper", on blue - "Metals", on red - "Glass", on black - "Plastic". Separately attached to the fence is a small container labeled "Duracell".

An old woman and a boy are moving along this parade. Everyone has a big bag of garbage in their hands. They carefully read the inscriptions on the tablets and diligently lay out in containers what is supposed to be put there. And they leave...

Musical lyric break.

A brand new elegant garbage truck silently drives into the spacious clean yard. With a dexterous metal paw, he picks up all the containers one by one and pours all their contents into his spacious shiny body ... And just as silently leaves ...

Only an accidentally forgotten small container with the inscription "Duracell" remains on the fence ...

Film addict? If you want to connect with the camera and start filming, you will need to tell outstanding history. The ability to turn on your creativity and write scripts should not be difficult. Learn to find good story and develop it into a compelling script that will probably make for a great short film.

Steps

History search

Start with a word, image, or object. All history requires is a seed that you will watch until it grows. Will it become a great short film? Maybe yes, maybe no. Initially, all you have to focus on first is developing the idea and seeing where it leads. Here are some powerful ways to brainstorm to get the story started:

• Good way start a story? Just start writing. Get out paper and pencil, or sit down at the computer and force yourself to write for a set amount of time. Let's say 10 or 15 minutes. Don't worry about whether or not what you're writing is like a "story" and whether it will make for a good movie. You are just looking for an idea. You can write 99% of the garbage, but there may be one small fragment that could turn into a story. Think it over.

1. Try using word exercises. All you need to get a story idea is a little spark. Make a list of more or less random images, the first words that come to mind: kindergarten, Auckland, ashtray, Oil paint. Colossal list. Come up with at least 20 words, then try to connect them logically. What does this list make you think about? extracurricular lesson drawing full of kids in East Bay? A burning cigarette in an artist's studio? Start with the image, and let everything be as it will be. Look for the story around the images.

   Start thinking about some good ideas. A good way to start working on a screenplay is to start thinking about weird, wonderful, or absurd scenarios that could make a good story. What if all food was in pill form? What if you discovered that your father is a spy? What if your dog was suddenly able to talk? Good plots and characters can come from thinking.

   Look for short stories to act out. One way to come up with an idea for a short film is to re-enact a story someone else has already written. Check out recently published collections short stories, consisting of stories with captivating plots, and choose one that will be interesting to shoot.

   • Normally, it would be difficult to dramatize a novel into a short film. Try to focus on short stories. Watch Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Joyce Carol Oates as a perfect example of a very small story with a unique and compelling storyline.

2. Try filming real life. Who said short films have to be science fiction? If you want to shoot a short film, consider filming the world around you or a documentary. Find a local music Festival in your area and ask if you can film interviews with groups, or try to film your friend by arranging his sporting interest training regimen. Find a good story going on around you and get permission to write it down.

   Keep a dream diary. Dreams can provide good inspiration for a short film, especially if you like mystery. If you want to come up with an idea for a dream, set your alarm for midnight to wake up in the middle of one night and quickly sketch out the plot. Dreams can be a place to create images, strange events and dialogue for short films.

   • What scares you? A good creepy dream can be the perfect excuse to start filming. short film horror. When you write the script and shoot your short film, try to capture that atmosphere of your sinister dreams. Check out David Lynch's short series "Rabbits" for inspiration.

3. Refer to history. History is full of amazing, often unbelievable stories. Other areas of knowledge can also help: psychology (especially when working on the personality of the characters), geography, and so on.

   Borrow an idea from a feature film. Nobody forbids you to take a separate idea from a feature film and process it into an independent short film. You may be inspired by a particular scene, theme, or character.

   Shorten the story. Can you write a short sentence of 15 words or less that reveals the main idea and plot of your idea? Then you are on the right track. Once you have a starting idea, try to master the "short presentation". Describe your film as briefly and quickly as possible to give yourself the opportunity to write the best possible script and describe the story to others so that you can enlist the support of actors and other supporters. Avoid blur or abstraction and focus on the script and plot.

   • good examples summary stories might look like this:
     • The boy finds a small stranger in the field and brings him home.
     • Children start drawing strange images after school.
   • Bad examples of short story content might look like this:
     • Man struggles with depression.
     • A series of mysterious events befalls the inhabitants of St. Petersburg.

4. Think practical. Think about what you have available and how you can use what you have. Before you get started, make a list of each prop, film set and every actor available locally and think about how they can create a good story. Maybe your thrice-a-week friend can inspire you with a boxing story.

   • Make sure your story is suitable for film adaptation. Equipment and a set of film sets are at a premium when you shoot a film yourself and work without studio support and a lot of money. Again, it's going to be hard to shoot a space sci-fi movie in your mom's basement. Try to make sure you can take the necessary shots to make the movie you want. Can you take a picture of New York from a crane, from a height of flight, if you live in Moscow and you have neither money nor a camera? Probably not. Find another solution.

   Scenario development

   1. Find the main character and his antagonist. Each scenario has main character and his opponent, which creates conflict and provides tension. If you're not sure who is who, it's important to give serious thought to developing your script so that you have a clear idea of ​​who we should be concerned about and why.

      • The protagonist is a character we root for, empathize with, and feel a kind of emotional attachment to.
      • An antagonist is a character, situation, or setting that works against the protagonist, creating drama. The antagonist does not have to be a villain with a twirl mustache, but can be difficult situation or some other abstraction.

   2. Find the right props and costumes. In a short film, this will partly be a practical consideration and a script consideration. Good sets provide tension and drama on their own, but you might not be able to fly to Bermuda to film a beach scene. Find a place to put your story that complements the story you want to tell, yet is accessible at the same time.

      • Try to work with what you have. It will be difficult to shoot a sci-fi epic in the backyard or in the basement if you know you have to shoot at your parents' house. Instead, think of a household story that would work locally. Think about the stories that take place in the houses, in the city where you may live. Scripts that work with scenery work better.

   3. Look for conflict. The script needs conflict to make us feel. What will make the viewer invest in your story and your short film? What does your main character want? What separates your hero from the desired one? The answers to these questions create a source of conflict. Once you've come up with an original idea for a filming location, start focusing on what creates conflict in the story and how to expand it as much as possible.

      • A conflict doesn't have to involve a fight or shootout to be considered high drama. It should include a real confrontation between the characters and an emotional upsurge. If a boy brings home an alien, what problem is he likely to face? What is the danger in it for the boy? What interests us in viewing children's drawings?
      • Find the inner and outer narrative. What we see in the external narrative is that the character travels the world and events happen. The internal narrative makes it compelling. How does this change affect the character? What does this mean for the character? A good short film or any script will have both of these elements happening at the same time.

   4. Don't complicate it. Limit the scope of the scenario as much as possible. The short film is the backbone artistic description, short story and not a novel. This doesn't mean it can't be ambitious and unconventional, but short films need to work with a limited number of elements, characters, and settings to shoot properly.

      • Also, it can be fun to force yourself to make a very long and complicated story as short as possible. What would War and Peace look like in a ten-minute video? What if all six parts star wars would you be able to do it in ten minutes with the help of the equipment at hand? How would you deal with it?

   5. Avoid common short film clichés. Like any art form, the short film is not without long-used ideas and cliché scripts. If you've never filmed before, you'll be one step ahead of the game by skipping this crap. Avoid the following short film clichés:

      • The character is alone, talking while looking into a mirror, then commits suicide.
      • Anything related to the killer.
      • Two characters are arguing about something until we realize it's actually one character with a split personality.
      • The film begins with the buzzing of the alarm clock, and the hero gets out of bed.

   6. The goal is to maintain interest in a ten-minute film. Making a film of any length is very difficult. Try to keep your film as short as possible, especially if you are filming for the first time. Shooting a really good, tense, dramatic and exciting three minute film is a big achievement. Try to do it successfully before you decide to jump into a 45-minute gangster masterpiece with a slow-motion gunfight.

   7. Watch some short films. If you are going to make a movie, watch a few films. Just like you shouldn't try to write a novel without learning the structure of a novel; It's important to get an idea of ​​how short films work and what it takes to make a good short film before making it yourself. This is not only a shortened version of the feature film: the short film is a unique environment with various tricks and techniques. Watch some movies before filming yours.

      • YouTube and Vimeo are huge resources for short films, both good and bad. Check it out and see if your city has a short film festival common in some metro areas to see some of the performances in person.
      • Music videos are also a great kind of short film that you're probably already familiar with. Watch carefully how your loved ones music videos combined and study them carefully. Browse Jones Spike, Hype Williams and Michel Gondry as masters of the modern form

   Script writing

   1. Outline your scenario. The movie libretto should not be formal or include any Roman numerals (although they can occur if you wish). A storyboard is usually used to help you figure out what shots you'll need to shoot later on in the shoot, and to get a visual comic book for the movie as you write. Briefly outline what will happen in the script and the main dialogues.

      • Film is a visual medium for storytelling, so don't rely solely on dialogue to tell a story. In good scripts, the outline should be explicit about the outer story, while the inner story should be implied.
      • Francis Ford Coppola was filming a sequel to The Outcasts called Rumble Fish without having a script written until the day the picture was supposed to be shot. None of the actors had any idea what was going to happen next, which gave the film a touch of spontaneity and experimentation.

   2. Seek constructive criticism. Once you have the script together, show it to your friends or some people who share your love of cinema and can offer constructive criticism. Listen to them and try to modify your script as much as possible. Some directors spend years working on scripts that are then in production for years. It is not for nothing that filmmaking is a lengthy process.

      • Try also to show your script to potential companions. Actors, producers, potential directors. Show the script to people who can help.
      • Be patient. Come up with good ideas not easy. Just try again!
      • Animated short films are the lowest paid. Blender is 100% free animation software.
      • When you're trying to find actors, get your friends involved or put up ads like auditions.
      • Have fun! Make your friends your actors and sit on the loudspeaker chair while yelling at them! Funny!
      • The main character should not change.

Short Film - Techniques of Creation March 16th, 2011

How to write a script
every housewife knows about a full-length film nowadays. At least all sorts of manuals and guides on this topic,
With light hand Sidov Fieldov - more than
enough.

It would seem to create
the script for a short film is even simpler. However, alas!

Short film
differs from the full as significantly as the story differs from the novel. And the matter is aggravated by the fact that books on
the dramaturgy of short films does not seem to exist at all.
Let's try ours
force to fill this unfortunate gap.

I do not know how things are in the West, but we have
short films are essentially non-commercial products. They are not
they are shown in cinemas, they are not taken on television, and they are not even released on disks. Exceptions to
There are rules, but they, as always, only emphasize these rules.

The main consumers of KM scenarios (shorts)
remain students of the director's departments of cinematographic universities. With everyone
the ensuing consequences - in the form of a big thank you instead of a fee.

It is probably for this reason that books dealing with structure
KM scenarios are also not in high demand.

However, KM films are shot, they participate in various festivals,
and even American Film academy in one
of the nominations awards "Oscars" for best work in this genre.

This means that the ability to write scripts for them is unlikely to be
superfluous for any screenwriter.

But than a short film, in terms of structure
script, different from the feature?

Many screenwriters believe that almost nothing. That the same three-act circuit with a through
conflict.

It so happened that for 10 years in a row I have been watching the competition
short film program international film festival"Message to
man." And, according to my observations, only a smaller part of the films shown there

can be attributed to the classic three-act construction a la Seed Field.

And this is not surprising. After all, the shorter the film, the more difficult
shove in it the "string", "climax" and "denouement". And for the duration
calculated in minutes, this whole dramatic construction begins to bulge out of
the bodies of the painting are like bones from a prisoner of a fascist concentration camp.

But let's ask ourselves why we need a three-act circuit
with end-to-end conflict? Obviously for
in order to keep the viewer's attention. For these purposes, conflict is the most
versatile and reliable. The most reliable, but not the only one.

There are many more ways to interest a person. Their
often called "hooks". Riddle, changeling,
joke, surprise, vivid aphorism, reprise, gag, operator sophistication, trope,
erotica. All this to one degree or another
arouses interest in watching a movie.

Of course, two hours of these tricks to keep the viewer's attention
difficult, but a few minutes is not a problem.

However, let us turn to examples and illustrate the most
common techniques on which the CM scenario is built.

1. Classic three-act structure with
   cross-cutting conflict. At the very beginning of the film,
   the conflict, which intensifies, reaches its maximum, and in the end finds that
   or other permission.

"Spider" 9.28 min.

"For my name" 27 min.

This also includes Gaidai's short films: "Dog Borbos and an unusual cross", "Operation Y", which consists of three KMs.

2. Changeling. We are shown some kind of story or situation, and then it turns out that it is not the same as us.
it seemed. In fact, everything is different.

"LOVEFIELD" 5 min.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4meeZifCVro

"Without any such sauce"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylpAxRJGBVY&feature=player_embedded# !

3. Trope.

The film can be made on metaphor, allegory, or any
another path.

"Eurosoul" Peter Greenaway 5.42 min

4. Joke. Gag.

An example is every second episode of the series "6
personnel".

5. Riddle.

Appears before our eyes
some sort of mystery. Most often in the form of the ending of the story. At the end of the film, we find a clue. Let's find out how it all happened.

True, there is an opinion that a real film can
take place only in the presence of a three-act structure with conflict. Other
techniques, they say, allow you to get anything - a video experiment, a clip - but not a film. But I'm afraid that's all
only disputes about tastes. If these video experiments win prizes of prestigious
film festivals and like the audience, why are they worse than the classic short men?