Screenplay Basics - Scripped A Scripped Compendium by Johnathan Carr Traditional storytelling recounts past events, whereas screenwriting is locked in the present - thus you may not deviate from PRESENT TENSE. You may also be tempted to describe every inch of the world you're creating - don't! At the beginning of a feature film script, often but not always, the first line will be: FADE IN. While you can write a longer ACTION paragraph, think about keeping it under five lines at a time. In the ACTION line, be sure to capitalize SOUND EFFECTS, CAMERA DIRECTION and the first appearance of a speaking CHARACTER. Use a PARENTHETICAL to note an action the speaker is performing while speaking or if you want to indicate whom the speaker is addressing such as addressing a new character in mid-DIALOGUE. Off camera (O.C.) and off screen (O.S.) are identical, which one you use is really a personal preference. Describe specific SHOTS only when necessary, not every little bit of CAMERA DIRECTION need be mentioned. Think subtext.
Reverse Key Lighting @ Evan E. Richards I used to work with a cinematographer named Rob Draper (Halloween 5, The Spitfire Grill). He was having me practice one day by shooting a product shot for a whisky bottle. I had set the bottle up in front of a seamless backdrop and put a light in front of the bottle at about a 45 degree angle. Rob came in to see how I was doing. His first comment was “What made you put the light in front of the bottle rather than behind the bottle?” I hadn’t really thought much about it. Reverse Key Lighting is also called “short lighting” or “narrow lighting”. Reverse Key Lighting can be used in closeups And in wider shots Outdoors Indoors It can be used in animation In a two shot With a lot of fill light Or very little fill light One of the strengths of reverse key lighting is the way the shadows falloff across the face. When you place the key light on the other side though, the light rakes across the face and you can see the light falling off into shadow on the side of the face closest to the camera.
Unique Plots 25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters As storyteller, you are god. And to be frank, you’re not a particularly nice god — at least, not if you want your story to resonate with readers. A good storyteller is a crass and callous deity who treats the characters under his watchful eye like a series of troubled butt-puppets. From this essential conflict — storyteller versus character — a story is born. Put differently, as a storyteller it’s your job to be a dick. It’s your job to fuck endlessly with the characters twisting beneath your thumb. And here’s 25 ways for you to do just that. 1. Gods have avatars, mortal or semi-mortal beings that exist on earth to embody the deity’s agenda. 2. The audience and the character must know the stakes on the table — “If you don’t win this poker game, your grandmother will lose her beloved pet orangutan, Orange Julius.” 3. Impossible odds are a powerful way to fuck with a character. 4. Drop the character smack dab between two diametrically opposed choices. 5. 6. This one? 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Glossary of Motion Picture Terms (A-G) 1D LUT: A 1-dimensional lookup table is a static color translation table that converts one input value to one output value. There is a 1-to-1 correspondence in the input and output values in a 1D LUT. 16 mm: The frame is one-fourth the size of a 35 mm frame and has a 1.33:1 television aspect ratio. The film can have perforations on both sides or on just one side. 2K: A digital image 2048 pixels wide. 3:2 Pull-down: The telecine transfer relationship of film frames to video fields. 3D LUT: A 3-dimensional lookup table is a static color translation table that converts a set of three input color values to another set of three output color values. 35 mm: The standard gauge for professional filmmakers, and the standard mainstream film format used for theatrical releases. 4K: A digital image 4096 pixels wide. 65 mm: The camera film format (size) for wide-screen formats such as IMAX. 70 mm: The release print format (size) for wide-screen formats such as IMAX. D-Max: See Maximum Density. Next
Technical Articles | How To Make A Video | Indie Filmmaking You’ve probably seen a dark horror film, a well-lit romantic comedy, and a grim and gritty war movie. Digital effects are sometimes used to colorize the film during post-production, but what gives each of these types of films its unique look and feel is the knowledge of how to light a scene and the type of lighting used on location. There are a couple of simple techniques you can employ that will get your lighting just right for your video. The first of these is basic three-point lighting, which you can experiment with below. Three-Point Lighting Play around with the interactive lighting scheme below. Key Light This is the most focused, directional light used in the three-point setup. The key light creates the largest amount of light of any of the three and is usually set the furthest away from the subject, being directed in a slightly narrower beam than the others if possible. Fill Light The fill is used to offset the harshness and the sharp shadows that can be caused by the key light.
How to Build Subplots From Multiple Viewpoints Multiple viewpoints provide diversion from, and contrast to, the protagonist’s perspective. They can deepen conflict, enlarge a story’s scope and add to a novel the rich texture of real life. Subplots carry those effects even further. In our workaday world, we do not live in isolation. Subplots and multiple points of view are often linked by their very natures. Of course, subplots and multiple points of view make novels longer and more work, but rewards for that effort are there for writer and reader alike—that is, if they are successful. —By Donald Maass, author of The Breakout Novelist Choosing a subplot begins with choosing characters with which to work. If none are to be found, it might be worthwhile to grow some of your secondary characters, depending on the nature of your novel. Subplots will not have the desired magnification effect unless there are connections between them. A second requirement of subplots is that they each affect the outcome of the main plotline.
1001 Secrets of Successful Writers Sound Design of Star Wars compiled by Sven E Carlsson Sounddesigner Ben Burtt's responsibility on Star Wars was to create specifically unusual sounds - weapons, vehicles, character and key backgrounds. Ben Burtt was a film sound buff as a child (he recorded and replayed the sound tracks of his favorite movies) Burtt enrolled at the university of Southern California's film school with the intention of becoming a director. He received a student job cataloguing the Columbia sound library, which had been donated to the University. A call by Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz to U.S.C. led to a successful interview for Burtt. He was given carte blanche to work out of his apartment near the U.S.C. campus in order to collect at a leisure pace those sounds that might be useful. He spent a year recording anything that could be turned upside down and backwards to make Lucas world come alive.
Hayao Miyazaki Japanese animator and manga artist (born 1941) Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿 or 宮﨑 駿, Miyazaki Hayao, Japanese: [mijaꜜzaki hajao]; born January 5, 1941) is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation. Miyazaki's works are characterized by the recurrence of themes such as humanity's relationship with nature and technology, the wholesomeness of natural and traditional patterns of living, the importance of art and craftsmanship, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic in a violent world. Early life[edit] Hayao Miyazaki was born on January 5, 1941, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan, the second of four sons. After graduating from Ōmiya Junior High, Miyazaki attended Toyotama High School. Career[edit] Early career[edit] Breakthrough films[edit] Views[edit]