Saturday, May 02, 2009

Help with questions for a 48 hour script

Matt has been enlisted to help supervise a group of enthusiastic teens with the 48 hour film competition. This is his school's first year entering the comp so I imagine the adult input and advice may be quite considerable. One thing Matt and I wanted to do before hand was make a list of questions that the writers team should go through between writing the first and second draft of the script. Any suggestions for additions or adjustments to the questions would be appreciated! (They're pretty rough at the moment). Questions for writers about their script: 1. What is the film about? (50 or fewer words) 2. What is the film really about? (15 or fewer words) 3. What is it really about? (5 or fewer words) * 4. Have all the ingredients been used? (I know it seems obvious but still, it's important) 5.What is the main character like? 6. How should the audience react to this character? 7. How do you show what this character is like to the audience? 8. What does the main character want? 9. What obstacles or difficulties do they face? 10. What has the character learnt at the end of the film? (Nothing is fine as an answer) 11. What should they have learnt? 12. What is the most important relationship in the film? 13. In what way(s) is this a ___________ genre film? 14. How does your audience know what kind of film they should expect from the opening? 15.What's the hook or entry point into the story of the film? 16. What reaction do you want from your audience with this film? 17. This film should be shot in the style of .... 18. What's the climax of the film? 19. Whose Point of View are we following? 20. Can your script be simpler? Shorter? Clearer? Make it so! * I thought this should be three or fewer but Matt insisted on 5. These few questions are a common English teacher technique to get students from a plot synopsis to a theme when studying a text but I think they work well for analysis of your own script as well.

4 Comments:

Blogger Matt said...

Awesome questions! Pretty comprehensive too.

If the script is a comedy:

* Do you have verbal and visual and running gags?
* Are there at least 10 gags in the first minute?
* Which is the one gag the audience will remember and tell people about after the heats?
* How many of the gags require people to have seen a particular film? (this was a minor problem with our 48 entry from 2007, as we thought To Sir With Love, Breakfast Club and Dangerous Minds were all very, very well known. Turns out not everyone's heard of them, let alone seen them)

8:11 PM  
Anonymous Jon said...

Is it wrong that I find the "What is the film about (50 words)" harder than the "what is it really about" question? I mean, thinking on a project I'm working on myself, I find it easy to describe it in a few words, but more difficult to be more elaborate.

7:39 PM  
Blogger Jenni said...

straight from Steve, but I'd add "where's the conflict" :)

And...are there characters/moments/montages that don't add anything to the story and can therefore be cut?

8:46 PM  
Blogger debbie said...

Thanks for your comment guys :-)

Jon: Hmm, I suppose with some concepts that could be the case. What I like about the plot outline in 50 words is that if you can't describe the basics of your plot in under 50 words, it's too complex for a seven minute film.

Jenni: Cool. Will add those.

10:25 PM  

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