This morning, while in the lab (until 8:00), please read the following articles and links. Take notes and answer the appropriate questions in your research:
1.
The History of Television (particularly important to those of you planning on studying communications, media journalism, and/or broadcasting) is quite interesting. How much do you really know about that flat screen you have hanging on your wall?
Read the article (stop at the 1960's), take note of important information from the link.
2. Just before, during, and after WWII, war films were very popular. Lightening the mood was the 1949 film
I Was a Male War Bride with screwball comedy legend Cary Grant.
Elia Kazan (director of
Streetcar Named Desire - 1951) helped to form
The Actor's Studio in New York City that trained method actors
Marlon Brando,
Paul Newman, and
James Dean (all using the 'method' under direction of
Lee Strasberg). The method was meant to help actors create more realistic portrayals in their roles, an updated version of Russian director Stanislavski's method.
A very young Obi-Wan (
Alec Guinness) played the Jewish thief in
Oliver Twist (1948). Movies based on books continued. Film adaptation of the Bestseller
Night of the Hunter (with Lilian Gish, 1955),
Moby Dick (1956), and
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
Cecil B. DeMille continued his Biblical epics with
Sampson & Delilah (1949), and a remake (this time with Charleton Heston) of
The Ten Commandments (1956).
Finally, because of the baby boom, films began to market to teenagers. We'll see more of this in the infamous "B" films of 1950's sci-fi & atomic monster films like
Godzilla (1954).
3. Create a 1-3 page film treatment (due Tuesday, May 16) for your film project. You may work alone or with one partner. Both partners should contribute writing and ideas to the project.
What is a Film Treatment?
A
pitch is used to convince a film company to produce your film. The
pitch is usually a one page summary of the main action, characters, and setting of the film. Essentially it deals with the idea or premise of the film.
The film
treatment is usually a 1-3 page document that tells the whole story of a film script focusing on the highlights or key scenes. Actually, the professional ones are likely to be 30 pages or more, but we'll shorten that for you.
A film treatment is more detailed than a
pitch. It can include a scene by scene breakdown of a script. It is used
BEFORE writing the real script so the author can plan his/her project. Yes, you read that right: plan. It is important to know the flow of your story, before you begin writing.
How To Write a Treatment
The treatment should read like a short story and be written in the present tense.
It should present the entire story including the ending, and use some key scenes and dialogue from the screenplay it is based on. For a sample of what this looks like, check out the treatment examples: Example for a
short treatment #1, example for a longer treatment #2:
Planet of the Apes Revisited, and
Treatment sample #3
What Should Be in the Treatment?
1. A Working title
2. The writer's name
3. Introduction to key characters
4. Who, what, when, why and where. Describe each setting. Describe each MAJOR or important character. Describe the "what" of each scene: what's going on, etc. and think about the WHY: why does the character do this, live here, work there, want this or that?, etc.
5. Act 1 in one to three paragraphs. Set the scene, dramatize the main conflicts. Break your treatment into BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END. Your beginning will deal with exposition, the inciting incident, and maybe a couple of conflicts presented in the rising action. It is typical to end the first act with a turning point for the protagonist.
6. Act 2 in two to six paragraphs. Should dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act 1 lead to a crisis or dark moment.
7. Act 3 in one to three paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict and resolution. The third act typically includes the climax of the story and its denouement or resolution. For help in plotting, read the next section carefully.
The Three Act Structure
Basic screenplay structure for a full-length film usually has three acts.
In
The Poetics, Aristotle suggested that all stories should have a beginning, middle, and an end. Well, duh. You know that. But really. You need to remember this advice.
Breaking the plot of a story into three parts gives us a 3-part or act structure. The word "act" means "the action of carrying something out. For our purposes think act one (beginning), act two (middle), and act three (end) of your short film.
Act 1, called the Set-up, The situation and characters and conflict are introduced. This classically is 30 minutes long. For a short film it can be only a few minutes or 1 minute.
Act 2, called The Conflict, often an hour long, is where the conflict begins and expands until it reaches a crisis.
Act 3, called The Resolution, the conflict rises to one more crisis (the last one called the climax) and then is resolved.
MORE ADVICE: The best stories, say some critics, involve this structure:
- A who that must do (Action or Cause) something so that (some Effect) something won't happen.
or in other words:
- A character (usually your protagonist) who must do X in order that N won't happen.
- A character is often driven by his/her desire to a specific goal. The story, then, is what gets in the way.
Writing a short film can be tricky, as you need to consider the length and consolidate your action. Here are a few good examples. Note how these films condense story plot and character effectively:
Other Film Advice: Writing Better Screenplays
Entering a Scene
How to Write a Script
Script Format
Script Format video (part one)
Script Format video (part two)
How to Format a Movie Script
Writers: Story Telling Tips
In the classroom: (8:00)
We will watch the first part of Nicholas Ray's 1955 film
Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Sal Mineo, & Natalie Wood. See handout for more information.
HOMEWORK: Please read the articles on the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) & The Emergence of Television. Answer the following questions:
- How did HUAC affect Hollywood and film makers of the time period?
- How did the invention of Television threaten Hollywood and filmmakers in the 1940's and 1950's?
Also: Complete any links you did not view during class. If you've been absent, take a look at previous posts to catch up!
