2. Scriptwriting
• A good film always has a strong main character , this quote tells me this. “The movies
you loved most featured characters that swept you up, who captivated your emotions,
got you involved. The audience viewing a movie not only wants to be interested in and
care about the people they see on the screen, they want to be PASSIONATE about them,
whether they like them or not.” I got this quote from
http://www.screenwriting.info/01.php. This tells me when you are writing a script that
you need to make a character that maintains the audiences attention and makes them
interested in the film because they want to see what happens to the character.
• Another point is that there could be something at stake or something that the main
character has to overcome to achieve their goal or to restore order in their life.
“Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way of them
achieving the goal”. I found this quote at http://www.screenwriting.info/01.php. This
tells me about Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, which is where at first there is no
problem in the persons life, then something happens which changes the persons life
and then the person usually finds a way to restore the balance to their life. Which is the
beginning, middle and end.
3. Scriptwriting
• The beginning and end are very important to a short film, I know this by finding this
quote, “The impact of page one is crucial. Are we emotionally engaged? What is the
vision and world of the film? Is it original? Do we inhabit the characters? Do the world
and story of the film have integrity and authenticity? The last moment is also crucial –
it's easy to come away feeling very little about a short, so work towards a meaningful,
satisfying ending.” I found this quote at http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/. The
quote tells me that you have to have an interesting beginning to a short film to engage
the audiences attention, and have to also have a good ending so that the audience
comes away from the film still thinking about it and it has to leave a good impression on
the viewer.
• Another point in making a short film is that you don't have a big budget or the ability to
create great special effects. “Think about the practicalities of writing your script so that
it can be shot with a low or limited budget – there's never enough money around to
spend on making shorts.”, “But remember also that a low budget short doesn't need to
look cheap - unless, of course, you want it to.”Both these quotes are from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/. Both these quotes tell me that when you are
doing a short film that it cant be extravagant and has to be more simple to get the best
quality out of it.
4. Scriptwriting
• Making something original is better than doing some thing that has already been done, “Write what you know and
feel passionately about rather than something second-hand and culled from watching other films”, this is where if
found this quote http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/. This tells me that you should make your film unique and
different or it will be like other peoples therefore not standing out from the others. Also choose to make a film
about something your passionate about so that you will put 100% into it.
Here is a list of what to do and what not to do:
“ It's worth thinking about
• The simplicity, clarity and economy of the storytelling
• The vision of the piece, and its visual images
• Making every element pertinent
• Making your story coherent.
•
It's worth being careful of
• Conflicting and incoherent worlds
• Ideas that are too concept-driven
• A lack of narrative engine and story
• A lack of engaging characters
• A lack of focus and concision
• Action and repetition without meaning
• Descriptive dialogue
• Extended jokes with (usually unsatisfying) punch-lines.”
This information was found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/.
5. Scriptwriting
• A point when you are
screenwriting is not to try
different things that you
don't know how to do and
keep it more simple so that
you then can get the best
quality out of it, this quote
tells me this, "The simple
answer to this question is
to apply what we already
know and see if it works”.
This is from the book The
Art & Science of
Screenwriting by Philip
Parker. This tells me not to
try and be too clever when
you are writing a
screenplay because you will
come unstuck when you
don't know how you pull it
off and stick to things that
you know well to achieve
the best quality you can
out of your short film.
6. Scriptwriting
When righting a script it is a good point
to think about you're audiences,
settings of your film and the culture of
which it is set. I know this from this
quote, “If you want to tell the untold
stories, if you want to give voice to the
voiceless, you've got to find a language.
Which goes for film as well as prose, for
documentary as well as autobiography,
Use the wrong language, and you're
dumb and blind.” The quote was from
Film Studies: The Essential Resource by
Peter Bennett, Andrew Hickman and
Peter Wall. This quote tells me that you
should use the language of the people
you are setting the film, e.g. If it was set
in Manchester you would use a
Manchester accent, and make people
feel like it is actually about a mancunian
person therefore making it feel more
realistic so people can identify with it.
7. Commissioning
• To be able to summit a script through The BBC you
have to submit it through the online e-
Commissioning for the BBC network “All proposals
for TV and online content ideas must be submitted
online through e-Commissioning for BBC network
content”. I found this information at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/pitching-ideas/e-commissioning.shtml
