STEPS TO FILM SUCCESS

THINK OF AN IDEA TO EXPLOREIt could be:

An element of characterisation or a relationship between characters

One (or more) of the themes from your play

Make sure that your idea is fresh and original.

Research the theme using secondary sources to gain a deeper and more complex understanding.

DECIDE ON A GENRE Documentary Mockumentary Thriller Romantic Comedy Horror Drama Science Fiction

Make sure that you do some research into your genre.

Find out the common features in relation to: narrative style, plot, characters, themes etc.

SCRIPT WRITING: STEP 1 Come up with a basic storyline/plot for

what will happen in your film Think about how it relates back to the

text studied in class Make sure that you aren’t simply

retelling the story- What original or new idea are you exploring?

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE SCRIPT WRITING: Who are your characters going to be? What are they going to say? How are they going to say it? E.g.

formal, colloquial, accent How can you explore your chosen ideas

through dialogue? Sometimes a character can be a

mouthpiece for a particular idea e.g. the voice of reason

SCRIPT WRITING SOFTWARE Celtex is a free downloadable program

that can help you to write scripts: https://www.celtx.com/desktop.html

Think about character and plot development as you create your script

You can access famous scripts here, for guidance: http://www.imsdb.com/

DEVELOPING A STORYBOARD:SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What is going to happen in each scene? What is going to be in the frame? What kind of camera shots and angles

will you use? What kind of lighting will you use? What will your characters wear/look

like? What kind of props will you use?

An example of a storyboard

CREATING A STORYBOARD You could draw, take photos or use clip-

art to create a storyboard Taking photographs is a good, quick way

to get your images, and encourages a focus on framing.

Looking at comics and graphic novels are really useful for storyboarding.

The storyboard should include:shot type indication of dialogue shot description.

FILMING Who are your actors? Are they capable

and reliable? When are they available? Where will you film? More than one

location? What props and/or costumes will you

use? What equipment will you need?

Lighting? Camera? Tripod?

EDITING You will need a program to edit your film

into a smoothly flowing sequence Many students find that ‘imovie’ is easy

to use Adobe premier elements is another

good program. It is available on most of the computers at Gungahlin College. There is a ‘how to guide’ available online too: http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-premiere-elements-11/

EDITING You may want to add in:

Music and sound fxTextual inserts e.g. credits, opening titlesEditing techniques- transitions, dissolves,

fades etc.

THIS SITE IS AWESOME! http://gungahlincollegemedia.com/uncat

egorized/making-a-short-film/

WHAT WILL YOU BE MARKED ON? Your use of film and camera techniques

(in the same way that you would be marked on literary techniques in a story)

e.g. If you wanted to make someone seem powerful and used a low angle The quality of the ideas explored in your

film- are they: Original? Relevant? Complex?

Your understanding of the chosen genre- if it’s supposed to be a horror movie and I’m laughing then it’s not a good thing

YOUR RATIONALE IS VITAL Your class teacher will go through

rationale writing with you in class

My tips Be concise- don’t waffle Don’t talk about what you haven’t done Use evidence from the text Use ‘metalanguage’ Make sure you link your film back to

your text