Writing

Writing the Storyline

Who’s story is it? What’s the problem? What does she want to do? Is she aware of what she wants? What will she do? How does she react to problems? What’s really her problem? What are the changes? What’s the story really about?

The Sentence Outline

- The sentence outline is a numbered list of scenes in a story.

- Where narrative threads are found and realized.

The Writing Structure

Meaning greatly relies on structure.

Sequence Treatment

Sequence treatment is the detailed summary of the events that happen in every scene.

Three-act and Alternative structure

Three-act structure- The film is divided into 3 acts; each act has an element that needs to be present and problems should be resolved at the end of the film.

Flat structure - similar to real life; there are no acts; events can come at random

Episodic- character driven rather than plot; the story is held together by a place or an event

Plot points- the use of units instead of acts; each plot point indicates a problem that’s being faced or that will have to be faced by the main character.

The Scene

Scenes not Shots- Scene is for the writer; shot is for the director

A scene has emotional content and point; it contains the characters and characterization, action and activity, goal and conflict, milieu, genre, approach to reality, dialogue, sound, lighting, and etc.

Basic content of a scene:• Physical event• Point

3 Classes of a Scene based on its function:

• Establishing scene – introduces a character or establishes the story

• Anticipation scene – happens in order to wait for the next scene

• Confrontation scene – the scene where the opposing forces meet

How scenes should be:

• Scenes exist for the next scenes• Should have a forward movement• Should not be fixed on what’s present• Should have a point• Characters in a scene should always have an objective or need

• Should have a dominating emotional content• The sequence should have a logical, dramatic, emotional or visual flow

• Should have connection or disconnection• Should give hints or information; or should hide hints or information (revelation and recognition)

How to structure a scene

• Make use of story units and emotional units or dramatic beats.

• Make use of buttons

Conventional directions of a scene:• Polarity – the situation may be made into 2 scenes; the effectiveness of contrasting situations

• Revelation – information unfolds as the story runs

• Process – shows how characters learn or become what they are

• Chase – shows the goal of the character and how she opts to get it and if she’s able to achieve it