Wiki University Film School - Story

Hello and welcome back to my blog on Film making!

From this day on YOU will have the opportunity to participate in making a film (all be it a short one) like myself through a FREE workshop at Wiki University, see http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/WikiFilmSchool_N1P1

In the next couple of blog entries I will keep you up to date about my progression through this course of film making.

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STEP ONE

Lets start with what is called "THE STORY"

The short film is titled "Seduced by the Dark Side" (courtesy Robert Elliott of WikiUniversity) and goes as follows:

An very old and wise person and a young person (about 12 years old) are outside a movie theater. They have just seen the movie, Star Wars and are going home. They now stand in front of the theater, looking at the poster of the movie on the wall outside the theater.

The younger person says, "That was a great movie... but I don't understand one thing." The older person says, "Hum, what's that?". The younger person says, "I don't understand how anyone can be 'seduced by the dark side'".

The elderly person thinks for a while and then answers, "What computer do you use at home?"
The young person immediately responds eagerly, "A Macintosh."

Then the elderly person slowly says, "But what computer does your father use at work?"
The young person thinks for a while and then smiles in amazement, exclaiming loudly, "Seduced by the Dark Side!!!"

The old person smiles knowingly at the young person. The young person is very happy knowing he has just learned a very important lesson. Now the two have formed a bond that will last a lifetime.

They begin walking slowly home together.

The End.

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STEP TWO

Next, we will FORMAT THE SCRIPT so a film can be made from it.

Here is the information you will need to type the script:

• The location


• The time of day (Day, Night)


• The names of the characters


• The dialog


• The action


• The parenthetical descriptions for the dialog


• The transitions

ad LOCATION

Scene Introduction (INTERIOR vs. EXTERIOR)?
Since we are outisde we use exterior which is abreviatted EXT.

The Location?
Just say Movie Theater for the location.

NOTE: The Movie Theater will later in editing be 'painted' onto the screen, rather than shot in real; using a technique called 'matte painting'. With a matte painting, you must build a partial movie set. This partial movie set must be as big as the movement of the actors so the actors never walk out of the partial movie set. Then the rest of the movie set is a painting... created with paint, with a 3D model, or with special effects.

ad TIME OF DAY

The Time?
The time will be Night since the most movies end at night. However, we will probably film at dusk so we have better lighting.

In sum, our script reads:

EXT. MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT

ad NAME OF CHARACTERS

There are only two speaking roles in our movie. Extra people such as people in the background are never listed in a movie script.

The old and wise person will be simply called OLD PERSON. The young person will be called YOUNG PERSON.

We don't want to limit our choice to one gender.

ad DIALOG

We need to write down just the words that are spoken. This is the meat of the script.

YOUNG PERSON
That was a great movie... but I don't understand one thing.

OLD PERSON
Hum, what's that?

YOUNG PERSON
I don't understand how anyone can be seduced by the dark side.

OLD PERSON
What computer do you use at home?

YOUNG PERSON
(eagerly)
A Macintosh.

OLD PERSON
And what computer does your father use at work?

YOUNG PERSON
(loudly)
Seduced by the Dark Side!!!

NOTE: The text between parenthesis is called parenthetical descriptions for the dialog.

ad ACTIONS

The actions is what goes on in the story which is not dialog. For a movie script, this must be very short. NOTE: A book takes sometimes 2 days to be read, whereas a film of that book lasts only an hour.

At the beginning of the scene, all you need to write is

An old and wise person and a young person stand in front of a movie poster.

At the end of the scene, all you need to write is

They begin to walk away.

ad TRANSITIONS

At the beginning of the script all you need to write is

FADE IN

At the end, all you need to write is:

FADE OUT

And here is my script: Seduced by the Dark Side.pdf

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In next blog we will cover how to STORYBOARD this short film.