Beginning, Middles and Ends

Beginning. (10%) When a short film begins, the audience wants to know immediately who it is following and what the story is about. They're waiting hot with anticipation. They want to figure it all out. 
Generally, the beginning needs to include most, if not all, of the following to get the story going:

• The setup
• a hook (what is different about your story? Has it been done before?)
• a fast opening
• an inciting incident - what starts the story moving?
• introduce the protagonist. what does he or she want?
• introduce a problem, dilemma or predicament
• introduce the antagonist - what do they want?
• introduce the story's world - its location setting and time
• what kind of story is it? it stone, style genre
• raise a central question - is there a premise for a theme?
• indicate what's a stake for the protagonist
• introduce a key conflict to get the action moving.

Tips!

This may seem like a lot but much can be done simultaneously. A strong opening image can tell us much about the story's world.

The inciting incident should occur as close to the start as possible. Begin with it if you can.

Quickly introduce the character's problem. what they want and what's at stake. 

Introduce the antagonist early on as well. 

Middle (80%)

• Pace, don't let your story sag
• Raise the stakes for both sides of the conflict
• Don't get sidetracked into a subplot or secondary issue
• Keep the antagonist strong for the final battle
• Use surprise setbacks and reversals, add difficulty

Tips
The greatest setback or obstacle for the protagonist should occur somewhere towards the end of the middle section.
In a short film, there will probably only one or two obstacles due to the time constraints of the form.
It should be intense, full of rising tension and suspense and promise a dramatic end.
False resolutions can be used to add interest.

End (10%)

New! Short films to study and be influenced by :)

I am aware that The Swimmer and The Grandmother might not have been choices of films that you may have made. Therefore, I am encouraging you to watch your own selection from the list below. Please ensure that you have 80mins+ of running time under your belt.

I would imagine that most of you will leave in:

• Pitch Black Heist (Maclean, UK, 2012) 13’ 
• Curfew (Christensen, US, 2012) 19' 
• The Gunfighter (Kissack, US, 2014) 09'. 

=35 mins. 45 mins remaining!

Choosing the shorts 
It is important to select films that may have an impact or influence over the choices in the production options.  It may be sensible to group selections of films from the menu of short films, perhaps categorising them by style, or theme, or structure. It may be worth looking at these groups to research based on the genre you wish to work in. 

Here is one such set of groupings based on genre. (Note, you may need to study two groups in order to meet the 80 mins requirement)

Surreal or alternative in structure
Meshes in the Afternoon (Deren, US, 1946) 14’
La Jetée (Marker, France, 1962) 28’
La Ricotta (Pasolini, Italy, 1963) 34’

Stylised or documentary style
A Girl’s Own Story (Campion, Australia, 1987) 26’
Elephant (Clarke, UK, 1989) 39’
About a Girl (Percival, UK, 2001) 09'

Animation
The Grandmother (Lynch, US, 1970) 34’
The Wrong Trousers (Park, UK, 1993) 30'
When the Day Breaks (Forbis/Tilby, Canada, 1999) 09'

Social realist (ish)
Wasp (Arnold, UK, 2003) 24'
Connect (Abrahams, UK, 2010) 05'

Films with a ‘twist’
High Maintenance (Van, Germany, 2006) 09'
Pitch Black Heist (Maclean, UK, 2012) 13’
Curfew (Christensen, US, 2012) 19'
The Gunfighter (Kissack, US, 2014) 09'.

Interesting/experimental narrative structure
Night Fishing (Park, South Korea, 2011) 33’
Swimmer (Ramsay, UK, 2012) 18’
Stutterer (Cleary, UK, 2015) 12'.

It should be noted that there is no ‘correct’ way of grouping the films, but rather it is about finding a method that could inform the production and be easy to reference in the Evaluative Analysis.  It may be useful to group them around the four concept briefs from the Specification. 

Next become familiar with the films.  Look at them for the way their narrative structure works.  Look at them for particular stylistic features.  Look at them for particular instances of use of micro features.  Most importantly look at them for elements that can inform and influence a production.  Note these down for use in the film or screenplay production and for later use in the Evaluative Analysis.

You are encouraged to use this research to create a film or screenplay where the identified elements are to the fore (remember the purpose of creating this is to meet the assessment criteria).  They can be referenced directly (an ‘homage’, use of similar narrative structure, similar use of micro features, etc.), or more obliquely – they will be identified and unpicked in the Evaluative Analysis.

More short story ideas

As room 41 is closed on Tuesday, I will set the task of writing new ideas for your screenplay. You should spend at least 3 hours of your time (2 x homework, 1 hr classtime) coming up with ideas and changing up elements to get them as interesting and original as possible. 

Please ensure that your story corresponds to one of the following briefs:
a narrative twist
a narrative which begins with an enigma
a narrative which establishes and develops a single character
a narrative which portrays a conflict between two central characters.

Please ensure you come to lesson with evidence of three hours of working out and writing.

Five finger pitch

Create a detailed five finger pitch from one of your ideas so far...

There is a link to the process here

Narrative Techniques - Independent study

Worksheet HERE

On the worksheet, you will find reference to many of the most widely recognised and used narrative techniques from literature and scriptwriting. Some may be more familiar than others and similarly some may be best not being used in our own script. However, this resource asks you to consider each as a possibility by finding examples of as many as possible. This will allow you to then explore how useful or interesting each one is.

To complete the table, read the definition of each technique and then try to find as many examples as possible by writing the example in the empty column. You will need to conduct your own research to find examples of each, but some are much more common than others! 

Find original answers. Do not have the same ones as your friends.

Deadline: Tuesday 15th Jan 2019