Screenwriting!

Screenwriters for the Production Portfolio will need to navigate to the following address:

MIT Writing Course 

Senior Screenwriters:  Scripts are due Thursday, 2/26.
Junior Screenwriters:
Each week ALL STUDENTS will look at the playwriting exercises and follow this schedule

Week Of:
2/17     PE 1     One page.  Part 1 of MIT lesson.  2 characters, extreme needs.  3 Acts.
2/24     PE 1     One page.  Part 2 for Juniors.  SENIORS:  SCRIPT DUE 2/27.
3/10     PE 2     One page.  2 characters, 1 object.  DUE 3/12.
3/17     PE 3     Two pages.  Focus on the action of one character.  Due 3/21.


You should have a composition book or a three prong binder that will include all of your writing.  This will be checked periodically through notebook checks or in class presentations.

Watch me for fun! 


Structure:

THE HOLY GRAIL OF STORYTELLING TROPES:  Periodic Table of Tropes

THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE:  The Hero's Journey: Star Trek

THE STORY OF STORY:  How I learned to love structure]

DRAMATICA:  12 Essential Questions 
 

SAMPLE SCRIPTS (INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION--AKA DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT):

Click here for examples (Breen O's Site)

#1  Click on the site and look at the CHECKLIST section at the bottom of the page.

#2  Click on the site and look on the EXEMPLARS column.  Click on "HL Ind Study" & "Sample Script"

#3  Watch this video:  Filmmaking: How to Write a Documentary

Advice from Hunger Games Screenwriter

Advice from Alan Ball (FSU/Asolo): Creator of True Blood and American Beauty

Advice from MULTIPLE OSCAR WINNING screenwriters

For others links go to:  NOFILMSCHOOL.COM and type "screenwriter" in the search (screen right)

NARRATIVE SCREENWRITING (PORTFOLIO--AKA FILM PROJECT):

Here are some articles regarding SCREENWRITING that will give you some insight and tips to use when creating a script:  CLICK HERE FOR SCREENWRITING TIPS AND INFO!


WRITING PROGRAMS:

As we transition from the Oral Presentation to the Independent Study and the Portfolio, you will need to begin to start investigating screenwriting programs.  Here are a few that you will need to take a look at and explore before selecting one to use for the remaining two assessments.  Here are your options:

WRITER DUET:
As you will discover, WD is a web based screenwriting website that can provide real-time collaboration with co-writers, colleagues and/or teachers.  Other programs allow collaboration, but not in real-time.  That could be advantageous, especially when working on your Portfolio Assessment. 

Writer Duet
Writer Duet Article
Writer Duet Website: Free Program!


ADOBE STORY:
Adobe Story: Article
Adobe Story: Short Article w/video
Adobe Story: Website


CELTX:
Celtx: Everything You Need to Know...
Celtx Website


RAWSCRIPTS.COM
Rawscripts.com

Of course you could use paid programs to write your scripts.  There are a number of Apple and PC programs out there.  However, these three sites/programs have a great deal to offer for free.  Not to mention that the benefit of collaborative opportunities could push these options to the top of your list.

Oral Presentation: Weekly Progression

The following films have been selected for analysis:

The Night of the Hunter

Toy Story 2

A Separation

Now that they have been announced, you need to do the following (Suggested timeline.  Look at the previous posts regarding template and timeline--timeline/template) :


11/15-22/13:  VIEWINGS
Go to RUBRIC LINK and click on PRESENTATION SL (under Rubrics) and click on PRESENTATION (under checklists).  Save each of these downloads.  Copies of these two documents need to go into your student portfolio folder before 11/18/13.

Watch each of these films and select the one that will be the subject of your analysis.


11/23-24/13:  BEGIN PRIMARY RESEARCH
Research any publications/reviews about film.  These resources should be from reputable publications and critics, NOT from laymen writers or fanbois (think these:  List of critics  NOT  iluvmovies93845).

Look at IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes as a launching off point.  You can also go directly to major publications/websites (Variety, New York Times, or industry specific publications--even the film/filmmaker's site).

Also, look at any available DVD commentaries and/or documentaries on the film.  The DVD/Blu-ray disc is a good first source.  After that, look around for additional documentaries from the same production company/director from other sources (also look at YouTube, and other video streaming/broadcasting sources)


11/25-30/13:  BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT:  Genre & Audience/Historical/Sociocultural
Select specific FIVE minute clip from the film of your choosing.

Take notes on how the selected clip relates to the film as a whole (how does the clip's FORM articulate the entire films UNITY and COHESION).

Take notes on:  Genre and audience; historical and institutional factors; socio-cultural context; critical and commercial success (list of critics); begin analysis (narrative aspects and structure of the film).

By 12/2/13 every student should have their BACKGROUND and CONTEXT outline completed.


12/2-6/13:  FOCUSED ANALYSIS:  Narrative and Film Language/Representation
By December 4/5th you should have your entire outline completed.  Everyone will be participating in peer editing on the 4-6th.  Familiarization with the rubric and having a printed out, completed, easy to assess analysis will be required for completion (graded) this week.


12/9-13/13:  Practice, practice, practice...
The next week will be devoted to practicing your oral presentation, creating five note cards, devoting amounts of time to each section, and fine tuning.  By the end of the week I will be checking how much time you are devoting to each of your sections as well as your note cards.

ADDITION (12/8/13):  Practice Week!!!

Go to Presentation Template Page and print out the PRESENTATION MARKSHEET and FEATURES OF CLOSE FILM ANALYSIS.

Also, if you want an alternate template check out this version:  ALTERNATE TEMPLATE

You will use this for your PEER ORAL PRESENTATION on TUES/WED and THURS/FRI classes.

Again:  YOU WILL BE PRESENTING YOUR ORALS THIS WEEK!  BE PREPARED.


12/16-20/13:  Oral Presentations
We will create a list of who is presenting when.  Your assessments will be audio-recorded.

IB Oral Exam: Prescribed Films for Assessment 2014

Removed for Frau Hatchner's sake...

IB ASSESSMENTS: Oral Examination, Independent Study, Portfolio

Overview of IB Assessments (includes examples):

Support materials: Assessments, examples, rubrics

THE BEST COMPREHENSIVE SITE REGARDING RUBRICS AND EXEMPLARS




Planning of IB Film Orals (Textual Analysis):

Oral Presentation Template

Oral Presentation Outline and Checklist




Examples of IB Film Oral Presentations:

Exemplars: Sound File Links

Assignment: Due This Week

In order to consolidate your assignments, this entry will be devoted to what you will need to turn in every week:


Due Date:                              Points:           Assignment:                                                

11/19-20/13                                               Toy Story 2 Screening

11/15-18/13                         100                Narrative Screening Questions:  Hoodwinked!

11/13-14/13                         100                 Screening Questions:  Little Freak
                                                                                                     Spy vs Guy
                                                                   Select IB Oral film

11/6-12/13                            100                Unit 2:  Questions (on "Looking at Movies" site)
                                             100                Director:  Bergman
                                             130                Unit 2:  Quiz

10/28/13                               100                Director:  Welles
                                             100                Preview/Review:  Sixth Sense
                                             0                Red Balloon: Unit One Screening Questions
                                             0                Tempo: Unit Three Screening Questions

10/22-23/13                          100                Director: Ford
                                                                   EQ: Sixth Sense
                                                                   Concept of the Week
                                                                   Films to Compare

10/17-18/13                                               "Cloverfield" Preview/Review

10/14-15/13                                               Director: Renoir

10/9-10/13                              x                   "Metropolis" "Vincent" "One Winter's Night" viewing/analysis

10/7-8/13                                x                   "Once Upon a Time in the West" viewing/analysis
                             
                                              100               Director: Lang
                                               
                                              100               EQ: Experimental Film

ASSIGNMENT: The Directors

The Directors:

What:               You will explore and research the backgrounds and influences of this diverse group of filmmakers.  After doing so, you will type/print the following:

                        Name; time of life; one paragraph on his personal background; one paragraph on education/training; one paragraph on how he influenced later films/filmmakers; listing of significant films (5+) and date made.  Finally, bibliographical listing of sources (3+) using MLA format.

Where:             You will have each Director Bio located within your portfolio/journal.  Each will be dated and titled in order (Starting with Chaplin and ending with Spielberg)

When/Who:      Below is a listing of directors that you will research and the date of the assignment.

Due:                Assigned on the WEEK OF date.  Due the first day of the following week.
Italics indicates director assignments that have been turned in.
Bold Face indicates director of the week.

Week Of:            Director:

9/1                         Charlie Chaplin

9/9                         Carl Dreyer

9/16                       Sergei Eisenstein

9/23                       Robert Wiene

9/30                       Fritz Lang

10/7                       Jean Renoir

10/14                     John Ford

10/21                     Orson Welles

10/28                     Ingmar Bergman

11/4                       Federico Fellini

11/18                     Alfred Hitchcock

11/25                     Jean-Luc Godard

12/2                       Francois Truffaut

Break:  Due to Oral Presentation preparation, we will take a break from the director assignments

                             Akira Kurosawa

                             Sergio Leone

                             Stanley Kubrick

                             Martin Scorsese

                             Francis Ford Coppola

                             Woody Allen

                             Steven Spielberg

(Director Name): (time of life)   (Assign. Date)

Personal Background:              TEXT………………(all indented)

Education/Training:                   TEXT………………(all indented)

Influence on Industry:              TEXT……………..(all indented)

Significant Films:          1              (Date)

                                       2              (Date)

                                       3              (Date)

                                       4              (Date)

                                       5              (Date)

Bibliography:                 1

               

                                        2

               

                                        3

ASSIGNMENT: Vocabulary List

Vocabulary Cheat Sheet

Below is a listing of vocabulary that IB expects all IB Film students to understand and master.

My expectations are that you know all of these terms and their meanings by 10/31/13. 

Blocking:                     The planning and mapping of movement of the objects that will be shot by the camera as well as the camera itself.

Deep Focus Composition:    Composition that involves itself with the placement of objects or characters along the Z-axis when framing a scene.  Locations on this axis can depict power, importance, or simply narrative elements.

Film Theory:               Various frameworks developed over time in order to understand better the way films are made and received.  It borrows from disciplines such as philosophy, social science, psychology, art theory, etc.       

Kinesis:                       Movement.  Movement in film can be manifested in two distinct ways:  movement of objects within the frame OR movement of the frame itself.

Kuleshov Effect:        Kuleshov believed that the content of shots is not important but the combination of images.  The implication is that viewers brought their own emotional reactions to this sequence of images.  Kuleshov believed this, along with montage, had to be the basis of cinema as an independent art form

Montage:                    Is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information.

On/Offscreen Space:  Onscreen:  The unoccupied area of space located within the frame.

                                     Offscreen:  The space outside of the frame.  This can be used for surprise/suspense

Open/Closed Framing:  Open:   Objects can enter/leave the frame freely.

                                       Closed: Objects cannot enter/leave the frame.

Rule of Thirds:           The idea of splitting the frame into three equal sections horizontally and three equal sections vertically.  The end result is having nine equal sections within the frame.  However, the Rule of Thirds also involves the Z-axis.  As a result, filmmakers also need to concern themselves with objects in the foreground extending to the background (deep focus composition).  This “rule” helps filmmakers with composition.

Parallel Editing:         An editing technique that shows events happening at the same time, but not necessarily in the same place with the same characters.  While continuity editing is concerned with what happens next (and then…), parallel editing focuses on what is happening at the same time (meanwhile…).

Shot Type:                  The amount of visual information in the image depends of the distance of the camera from the subject and on the focal length of the lens (Long shot, medium shot, close-up, reverse shot, POV…)

180 Rule:                    The rule that the camera should only be placed on one side of the subject(s) when shooting as to not disorient the audience when watching the end result.  Of course this can be broken for various purposes (disorient the viewer) such as in Potemkin and Joan of Arc.

Ambient sound	Natural background noise on television, film or radio. In the same manner, ambient light refers to natural, available light that is not enhanced in any way.
Audience	All those who receive or interact with any media product. A target audience is the group of people to whom a product is particularly aimed. This may be identified as either “mass” (or mainstream) if it is targeted at a very large number of people, or “niche” if it is targeted at a smaller, more specific group of people.
Camera angle	The position of the camera in relation to the main subject. It could be a high angle, low angle, worm’s-eye view or aerial view.
Cinematographer	The person responsible for camera and lighting. Often referred to as the “director of photography”.
Continuity editing	Sometimes referred to as “invisible” or “academic” editing, this is the unobtrusive style of editing developed by Hollywood that is still the basis of most commercial productions. The basis of continuity editing is to cut on action so that the whole sequence looks natural.
Diegetic/non-diegetic sound	Diegetic sound is that which appears to come from a recognizable source within the narrative world of a film, radio or television text. Non-diegetic sound is that which appears to come from a source unconnected to the narrative world of a text. An example of non-diegetic sound would be a film musical score. Diegetic sound would be the sound of crashing waves on cliffs or birdsong, even though these may be added in post production.
Digital	The conversion of sound and visual to transmit information in a code using the numbers zero and one.
Dubbing	A process whereby sound is added to film. This may take the form of adding music or additional sound to dialogue, or it may refer to the addition of an entire soundtrack, including dialogue.
Editing	The selection of material to make a coherent whole. In film and television an editor uses a variety of methods to move from one sequence to another. This is referred to as a “transition”.
Form	The structure, or skeleton, of a text and the narrative framework around which it is based. For example, a feature film commonly has a three-act structure. Some structures are determined by a genre and its corresponding codes and conventions.
Frame	As a noun, this refers to the single area on a strip of film that holds a single image (or a single still image on video). As a verb, it means to adjust the position of the camera or to adjust the camera lens to compose the required image. An image can be framed to construct a close-up shot, long shot or medium shot.
Genre	The classification of any media text into a category or type, for example: news, horror, documentary, soap opera and so on. Genres tend to have identifiable codes and conventions that have developed over time and for which audiences may have developed particular expectations. Media texts that are a mixture of more than one genre are called “generic hybrids”.
Mise-en-scène	Literally, everything that is “put in the scene”, or put in the frame to be photographed (appropriate to the time and era portrayed). This usually includes production design, set, location, actors, costumes, make-up, gesture, proxemics and blocking, extras, props, use of colour, contrast and filter. Lighting is often included within mise-en-scène. Camera shot composition, framing, angle and movement are also sometimes referred to as mise-en-shot.
Montage	The term is taken from the French “to assemble”. It has several meanings in the context of film and is not exclusively used to refer to “Soviet Montage”. (1) It is used as a synonym for editing. (2) In Hollywood cinema it means to edit a concentrated sequence using a series of brief transitions creating the effect of the passage of time or movement over large distances or for expressionistic moods. (3) Thematic or “Soviet” montage was developed by Sergei Eisenstein by arranging striking juxtapositions of individual shots to suggest an idea that goes beyond meanings within an individual shot. He called this “collision montage”. (4) Any sequence that creates a particularly significant effect mainly through its editing. The shower scene in Psycho would be such an example.
Narrative	The way in which a plot or story is told, by whom and in what order. Flashbacks, flash forwards and ellipsis may be used as narrative devices. Tsvetan Todorov, Bordwell and Thompson and Robert McKee have all presented interesting ideas about narrative development.
Post-production	The period and the processes that come between the completion of principal photography and the completed film or programme. This includes the editing of a film or programme, along with titles, graphics, special effects and so on.
Pre-production	The entire range of preparations that takes place before a film or television programme can begin shooting.
Primary research	Research information or data that you collect yourself. Sources for this may include interviews, questionnaires, analysis of films or television programmes that you undertake yourself. (See also secondary research.)
Production	Either the product itself or the actual process of filming.
Qualitative research	Research undertaken through observation, analysing texts and documents, interviews, open-ended questionnaires and case studies. It is reasoned argument that is not based upon simple statistical information. Overall, qualitative research enables researchers to study psychological, cultural and social phenomena. (See also quantitative research.)
Quantitative research	Primarily, this is statistical data most frequently obtained from closed questions in questionnaires or structured interviews. Quantitative research may calculate how many males in the 15 to 25 years age range watch a particular television soap opera, for example, but qualitative research is necessary to determine why they watch it.
Realism	The dominant mode of representation in television, mainstream films and print. The term usually implies that the media text attempts to represent an external reality: a film or television programme is “realistic” because it gives the impression that it accurately reproduces that part of the real world to which it is referring. However, the concept is much more complex than this brief definition. One suggestion is to think of “realisms” rather than realism.
Representation	The process of making meaning in still or moving images and in words and sounds. In its simplest form, it means to present or show someone or something. However, as a concept for debate, it is used to describe the process by which an image can be used to represent or stand in for someone or something, for example, a person, place or idea. Inherent in this second definition is the notion that there may be a responsibility on the part of the producer of any representation, with regard to accuracy, “truth” and the viewpoints and opinions that such a representation may perpetuate. Representation is used to describe the manner in which segments or individuals in society (for example, women, the elderly, ethnic minorities) are portrayed in the media.
Secondary research	Research information taken from sources other than your own work, such as academic studies, reviews or essays, whether in printed format or from other film texts such as documentaries or interviews.
Stereotype	An oversimplified representation of people, places or issues, giving a narrow and/or exaggerated set of attributes. Stereotypes are frequently thought to be entirely negative but this is not necessarily the case.
Style	The “look” of a media text; its surface appearance. It can be recognized by the use of colour, mise-en-scène, lighting, music, camera angle, movement, framing, dialogue, editing and so on.
Synchronous/asynchronous sound	Synchronous sound is where the sound matches the action or speech in film or television. Asynchronous sound is when there is a mismatch—the most obvious example occurs when lip-synch is out, that is, when the words spoken and the lip movement of the actor on screen do not match.
Teaser trailers	Short film or television trailers shown before a full-length trailer.
Tone	The overall impression that is given by a media text—serious, comic, romantic, sensationalist and so on.