WEEK 4 WORK
MES153 0902 (Tuesdays): 2/26-3/2 | MES153 1000 (Thursdays):
Week 4 Readings
DEVELOPING THE DOC PROJECT DELIVERABLES
Be sure to read the full guideline which can be found via the main menu under PROJECTs >> DOC PROJECT.
MORE ABOUT BEATS AND HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR STORY WITH THEM
What Is a Beat?
A beat in a movie script is a key moment that moves the story forward and makes the viewer sit up and take notice as to what might happen next. Every scene usually has several different beats. Story beats can be subtle or obvious.
Using Beats to Structure Your Script
In structuring a film script, a script writer will be finding the best way to build drama through moment to moment action. Each moment will be comprised of a number of different beats “where one emotion shifts to another, and the dramatic action shifts in response.” To use beats, it’s important to understand what kind of beats we use in screenwriting.
4 Types of Story Beats
Beats can refer to several different kinds of emotional moments or plot points. Examples of beats you might find in a screenplay include:
- Events. From graduation parties and proms, to battles and boxing matches, large social gatherings and events offer many opportunities for characters to express their views or desires, interact with secondary characters, and advance plot development both within the main story and outside of it.
- Realizations. Realizations are often small, subtle, and quiet moments that occur after some buildup. Perhaps a character witnesses a gesture or glance that reveals their best friend’s betrayal, or discovers that there’s a reason she keeps getting passed up for promotions. Realization beats help characters make decisions based on the information they have.
- Resolutions. Resolution beats tend to come early in the story, and stem from a character’s desire to change the status quo or conduct an experiment. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a clear example of how a simple resolution made early on in the film impacts the entire plot: for her advice column, protagonist Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) resolves to drive a man away within 10 days.
- Interactions. Throughout the course of his or her journey, a character meets allies and antagonists, characters who provide additional conflict and dimension to the story. Notable interactions (for instance a hero facing off with the villain in the final battle) are important beats that shape the plot. Conversations fall under this category as well: even seemingly minor dialogue, like a teenager and her father arguing over curfew, can shape the outcome of the rest of the story.
- Read more on beats at this “Beat Sheet” primer on Master Class
More on Story Beats
When we use the term “step outline” or “beat sheet” in screenwriting, the terms “step” and “beat” actually simply refer to an “event” in the progression of the story.
While we always want to be aware of the importance of scenes in our screenplay, in our beat sheets, we can lose the scene names and think in terms of larger events that might span more than one scene.
The events should be clear in terms of how they move the story forward and pose new problems for the protagonist.
Your events in other words should serve a function in the narrative, and by focusing on these main events you focus on the important narrative action rather than little tiny actions along the way.
ACT I EVENTS
Setting up the essential elements of the story – setting, protagonist, want, problem/conflict
Establish story world
Introduce protagonist and protagonist’s want
Introduce the status quo of story world
Introduce the inciting incident/catalyst that throws the protagonist’s world out of kilter and sets her or him on the journey of the story
Introduce the conflict that will begin to rise more and more in the second act
ACT II EVENTS
Rising Action – problems get more difficult and severe over time
Identify the obstacles that get in the way of the protagonist getting what she or he wants – in a short documentary, find the challenges that the protagonist face and try to build from the least difficult to the most
Develop the conflict and the antagonist
Act 2 turn – A full solution is proposed and is ready to be executed
ACT III EVENTS
The crisis, attempted solution, resolution and conclusion
Climax – the conflict that the protagonist encounters reaches its apex, and the protagonist’s solution for it succeeds or fails. Success and failure both work as conclusions to the narrative; however, what must be shown regardless of outcome, the protagonist has grown through the journey of the story.
Denouement/resolution – the effect of the climax on the protagonist is seen and a new status quo arrives
WHAT IS A SCRIPT OUTLINE
The outline is a tool used by a screenwriter to map out a movie story, typically as a precursor to writing the full screenplay. There are several types of outlines used, but all tend away from paragraphs of prose and more toward bulleted lists.
The “bullets” spell out the ACTIONS the character takes usually per scene or sequence.
HOW TO WRITE A DOCUMENTARY OUTLINE – PART 1
When approaching your outline, first consider your three acts and use your logline which has (or should by now have) the key story elements you will need to build the narrative.
Specifically, think about what must be accomplished in each act. Let’s start with Act I.
Act I – Introduction
For a 10-minute film the first act should be between one and two minutes in length. In other words, it must be short. You must use sounds — first and foremost what the voices in the documentary say — and images to help support that story.
- Identify your main character
- Identify what your main character is about before their world is turned upside down from a major event (the inciting incident)
- Identiry the inciting incident
- Identify the main character’s goal or want (following the inciting incident)
- Find a beat that truly launches the character on his/her journey to attain his/her goal/want.
Act II – Confrontation (or Complication)
This is the longest part of your script. For a 10-minute film, think in the neighborhood of 5-6 minutes. Here’s what you need to accomplish in this act
- Your character actively goes after his/her goal
- While trying to achieve or attain that goal, s/he meets up with resistance, setbacks, twists, turns
- These setbacks should be arranged from least to most difficult to deal with (rising action)
Act III – Resolution
Another short act – this should contain the climax of the action (the largest moment of conflict) and what happens as a result. It should answer the question of whether your protagonist gets or does not get what s/he set out to get at the start.
- Your character goes up against his/her biggest hurdle
- Your character wins/loses
- Tie up any loose ends
HOW TO WRITE A DOCUMENTARY OUTLINE – PART 2
That’s the big picture. As you think about how to accomplish what is laid out above, you need to drill down into the nitty-gritty. In fictional scriptwriting, that means thinking in terms of beats and how they fit into individual scenes. In documentary script writing, you should think in terms of beats and how you can arrange them primarily through your interview subjects (direct quotes of people in the story) and sometimes by important events that have an impact on your main character.
Act I – Introduction
Look at your quotes – and how do you arrange them to accomplish everyhing that needs to be done in Act I? (Look at the list above.)
After arranging the quotes, pair them up with what visuals you can use. B-roll that you and your videographer shot? B-roll that already exists from an event or a news report? Signs? Exterior shots as well as interior shots BUT of what places? Photographs? Family photos? School photos? Work photos? News photos? What other types of images? Maps if there’s an important place to show. at your quotes – and how do you arrange them to accomplish everyhing that needs to be done in Act I? (Look at the list above.)
Act II – Confrontation (or Complication)
Do the same with Act 2. Look at everything that must be accomplished and find the quotes that help tell that story of struggle and setback, struggle and achievement, struggle and setback.
In your short film, you should have ideally three setbacks, less ideally two. Should not have just one.
Act III – Resolution
Here, find the quotes from whoever describes the most difficult challenge your character faces. How did it play out? What is the outcome?
HOW TO WRITE AN ISSUE-BASED DOCUMENTARY OUTLINE
This process is a little different from the three-act narrative structure.
ESTABLISH THE DEBATE
To start on this type of documentary, establish the main issue. Find a voice (or voices) for one side of the issue who spells out what their point of view is, then find a voice (or voices) for the opposing side who can describe their POV.
For example, in the PBS documentary about what to do with Bears Ears National Park, one side wanted to protect the park as a national monument, which would restrict many activities in the park in order to retain its historic, cultural importance to native peoples whose home the area has been for centuries, long before the U.S. was colonized by Europeans. On the other side are people who also have a tie to the land and don’t want such restrictions on what they can do in that area.
ESTABLISH REASONS FOR EACH SIDE OF THE DEBATE
Find the quotes that are for something, and try to arrange them in such a way that you build a persuasive argument for that side.
Do the same for the opposing view, and try to arrange them in such a way that is persuasive.
Now, find your opening. What quote from each side makes for an opening that grabs the viewer and want to learn more about the issue at hand and the competing sides of it?
Maybe there’s an image that could set this up? Often the image will be in service to how a voide describes the debate but sometimes a visual can set the scene before the two sides are introduced.
Now look at how you can pair these arguments in such a way that you build to the biggest point of departure or conflict between the two sides.
Find a way to end it that is satisfactory even if the debate is not fully over on the topic.
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Week 4 Videos to Watch
“The Trails Before Us” (12:48) | Directed by Fritz Bitsoie, 2022
Questions to consider in this documentary short:
- Why did the director choose this title? What is its significance?
- Where are the three acts here? Where does Act I end and Act II begin? What about Act III?
- What is the conflict in the story? How is it represented?
“Ball People” (13:31) | Directed by Scott Lazer, 2023
Questions to consider in this documentary short:
- How do the opening visuals and audio introduce the subject matter of the short?
- What is the conflict in this documentary short?
- How is the conflict visualized?
- Are there three acts here?
- What are the major beats?
“The Diver” (8:37) | Directed by Anderson Wright
Questions to consider in this short:
- How does the opening beat work? (How is it set up like a good joke?)
- What are some of the other major beats in this short?
- What are the three acts? Is there a clear beginning, middle and ending?
- What types of b-roll were used here?
Week 4 Writing Assignment
Assignment DP4:
Instructions
This homework has three parts. Some of it is revision work — which requires incorporating changes that fix issues detailed in the feedback received on the assignments — and some is new writing. 1) Revise your Doc Elements List, 2) Write/rewrite your step outline 3) Write a treatment.
Based on the feedback for your previous assignments, complete the following items:
1. REVISE YOUR DOC ASSETS LISTS (AS NEEDED)
The Doc Assets spreadsheet is a way to collect in one place all the potential audio and video you are considering to work into your documentary script. The document is an essential tool for writing the script, and you should add to it as necessary as you consider what audio and visuals would bring the story to life.
Add to your Doc Project Assets as needed and resubmit both the LINK to it and a PDF of each tab in it.
2. WRITE A FULL OUTLINE FOR THE SHORT SCRIPT
READ AND REVIEW ALL FEEDBACK ON YOUR PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENT, AND WRITE YOUR STEP OUTLINE ACCORDINGLY.
Read above for how to develop your outline. Once you put it together, be sure that:
- This should be a list of paraphrased quotes and matching visuals – do not number them, just a bulleted list that accomplishes what musst be accomplished in your three acts
- First and foremost you are telling a story built around SPECIFIC THINGS PEOPLE SAY.
- You conceive of an opening that pulls the viewer in, wanting to know more.
- Write short: A single sentence for each beat or scene.
- The gist of the audio featured in each scene should be paraphrased so that the details of what the person is saying along with the point of it is crystal clear
- Have the visuals ELABORATE on the audio and describe what the viewer will see — do not attach any photos. But be descriptive enough that the reader has a good idea of what would be on screen as they hear a given character tell part of the story.
Keep in mind that in writing toward the documentary script, you are not just imagining a collage of images. Instead, you are focusing on a story told by the people in it. And it’s around those voices you the scriptwriter figure out what images can help bring that story to visual life. But you must start with what the people in your story say, then build the images around that.
3 – WRITE A TREATMENT PACKAGE
Read and incorporate ** all ** of the feedback from the previous assignment, then put the following into a PDF:
- A working title of the short screenplay
- The latest draft of the logline
- Introduction to key characters (character name plus age plus key character trait — example: Phillippe Petit (20s, 60s), tightrope walker who walked between NYC’s twin towers)
- A treatment which shd be roughly 800 words, no longer:
- Act I in one to two paragraphs. Set the scene, introduce the main character, his/her want, the action the protagonist takes to obtain what s/he wants, the antagonist, obstacles. Be sure to DRAMATIZE the main conflicts. (SHOW — DON’T TELL.)
- Act II in two to three paragraphs. Dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act One lead to a crisis. (Remember to raise the stakes, make things increasingly difficult for the protagonist.)
- Act III in one to two paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict and resolution.Read more on treatments here and here.
Submit work to Brightspace:
