Story-Telling Unit: Screenwriting

MOMENTS, BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES AND ENDINGS
(Monday 10th October)

• Plot - What happens
• Story - The significance of what happens

Within a screenplay, twists and turns are needed within the plot in order to make a story interesting and engaging. In this clip, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Barker explain their writing process, and how the simple words ‘therefore’ and ‘but’ can be important storytelling tools.

Stories should not be = EVENT – THEN – EVENT – AND THEN

Stories should be = EVENT – THEREFORE – EVENT – BUT - EVENT

A story also needs significant and memorable moments to make an effective screenplay. These need to be memorable points that YOU believe in.

CROSSING THE LINE

The 180˚ Rule is a technique used by filmmakers when positioning their audience within a scene. A hypothetical line is drawn across the action, allowing the camera to be positioned in an invisible arc on one side of this line, not crossing it. By using this rule, for example in conversation with two characters, the characters stay on their retrospective sides of the screen – avoiding confusion and disorientation for an audience.

For example:

However, this rule can be broken through moving shots, such as tracking and panning. Some directors choose to intentionally break this rule in order to convey a feeling of disorientation, or a change of perspective. For example, in The Shinning (1980), Stanley Kubrick crosses the line while Johnny is hallucinating in order to disorientate and confuse the viewer – emphasising the character’s decent into madness: