Unit 8 – Focus on Fiction

WEEK 8 WORK

MES153 0902 (Tuesdays): 3/24-3/30 | MES153 1000 (Thursdays): 3/26-4/15

Note: If you have not yet joined Celtx, you must do so now.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Short Scripts to Read before next class

• “Bye-Child” (16 pages) | a short script by Bernard Maclaverty
• “The Door” (5 pages) | a short script by Juanita Wilson
• “A Work in Progress” (7 pages) | a short script by Wes Ball

WRITING THE LOGLINE

One thing to remember is that while there is not a single correct way to write a logline — a number of loglines can work for a given script or movie — there are definitely many wrong ways to write one. Clearly, you don’t want to write the logline wrong.

So how to get it right? Include in the sentence all the dramatic elements that must be present in one. Remember that a story is not simply a series of events. It is a narrative that conveys meaning through a specific main character who wants and goes after something but has a lot of difficulty achieving or attaining it. That is what a story is at its core, and those are the key elements that must be identified in a logline. In addition, the writer must lay these out in an engaging way so as to pique the reader’s interest in the film-to-be.

The logline must identify the following elements:

• protagonist
• protagonist want/goal
• antagonist
• conflict
• action the protagonist takes to overcome main obstacle
• setting
• stakes

Take a deeper dive into loglines here, where you can read 20 examples (at the bottom of the page).

WRITING THE STEP OUTLINE

The step outline is essentially a list of (most of) the scenes along with the key event that must happen in that scene to propel the story forward of the script-to-be. Note that the description of the key events is just a single sentence or phrase. And the key event is not a mundane activity. The character cannot just be cleaning up or cooking or going for a run. Instead, something BIG or IMPORTANT to the story must occur in each and every scene. The step outline forces the writer to find the main beat of a scene and describe it in a sentence.

The formatting of a step outline is specific as well. It uses a scene header, which is an important part of a screenplay that identifies every scene in all caps and indicates three things about each scene — whether it takes place inside or outside, the precise location, and whether it takes place during the day sometime or during the night. Here’s the beginning of a step outline written by Dan Gurskis:

Read the rest of the step outline to see how clearly it lays out the major beats of the story here.

WRITING THE TREATMENT

The treatment is a detailed, blow-by-blow, moment-to-moment summary of everything the viewer of the film-to-be will see and hear. It should identify the main character and setting right away and SHOW who the main character through ACTION that she or he takes. Treatments do NOT contain direct dialog, and for this short script, the less the characters talk, the better.

Remember that stories hang on turns, twists, reversals, unexpected outcomes that present challenges and win some victories for the protagonist — it’s these trials and tribulations the protagonist goes through that keeps the reader (and ultimately the viewer) engaged.

1. Act One in approximately one to two paragraphs. Set the scene, introduce the main character, his/her want, the inciting incident that sets the story in motion, 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. Visualize and dramatize the action. Do not tell what happens. SHOW what happens.When your main character is physically introduced to the script, format the name properly in ALL CAPS with an age or age range. Also include a telling characteristic about her or him. Keep this to a sentence or two, at most three sentences. You want the information to give the audience a bit of insight into the character.Pay special attention to the opening image. Why that image to open on? How does it help set up the world? … set up the main character? … set up the main character’s want? … set up the conflict?
   Act I must include an inciting incident that throws the protagonist’s world out of kilter and upsets the normal balance of their world. That event should force the character to take a course of action.
   At the end of Act I, there should be a turning point that launches the character onto the journey of the story.
2. Act Two in approximately two to three paragraphs. Dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act I lead to a crisis. Remember to raise the stakes, make things increasingly difficult for the protagonist.This cannot be stressed enough — your character, in going after what they want, should meet up with such major resistance, it looks more and more unlikely that they will ever conquer the difficulty.
   But this part of the story is so important — not only in that the conflict is the only thing that will keep the reader/audience engaged, but also that it is what will lead to the character’s change.
3. Act Three in approximately one to two paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict — the biggest complication and direct “battle” with the antagonist — and resolution. The climax is the high point of the drama, which resolves the story. And then there’s an aftermath.The resolution can be the protagonist’s attainment of the goal or not. Most important in good stories, the protagonist ends up with something beyond the stated goal itself: a greater lesson about the world in which he or she is operating.This is the meaning of the story – why it’s worth telling and re-telling.

Read more on treatments here and here.

READ THE 1ST THREE PAGES OF AT LEAST ONE OF THESE TREATMENT

• James Cameron – The Terminator
• james Cameron – Alien II (Aliens)
• John August – Alaska (Treatment/Outline)
• Marilyn Horowitz – Lilly 
• Stanley Kubrick – The Shining

VIEWING ASSIGNMENTS

 

WATCH this short video on Chuck Jones and visual storytelling below

 

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WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Complete and Turn In Assignment FP3