Goals:

Think about what goes into a good story.

Learn the structure of the Hollywood-style screenplay.

Start planning your sci-fi movies!

Storytelling

What do you think makes for a good story?

When you pick out a book or movie what do you look for?

Storytelling...the basics

Something is done to or by someone somewhere for a some reason.

So, what are the pieces here that we have to define as storytellers?

Character(s)...who is present?

Action...what are they doing?

Setting...where is the action happening?

Purpose...why is this action happening?

An example:

Screenwriting

What is a screenplay and why are they important?

All writing has an audience...who do you think is the audience for a screenplay?

Parts of a screenplay

First, we need to know what your movie is about. Start with a paragraph explaining the movie (or scene) in a little detail. Be sure to include all 4 parts of the story:

Character

Action

Setting

Purpose

Next, we need to consider the format of a screenplay (almost every screenplay is set up this way).

Title

Setting: Int. or Ext. + Location + Time of Day

Action

Camera Directions

Dialogue (or voice over)

How would we recreate the captain America screenplay?

Visualizing the Screenplay

In order to shoot your scenes, you'll need to think about the "look" of the movie. Consider:

Actors

Costumes

Effects

Settings (light and background)

Camera Position*

Storyboard

Storyboarding helps you think about where to put your camera. Why is this important?

Camera Position in Our Example