Gleneagle Film

1. Storyboard

Work together to visualize your story in advance. Work quickly with simple stick figures to show the sequence clearly. Please remember that you could always stray from the guide and shoot additional shots later on, but that these are just the shots that are absolutely necessary to tell the story.

2. Complete Shot List

Fill out a shot list, putting it in the logical shooting sequence. This will be your road map when shooting, so take care of it!

3. Prepare Actors

Pair up with another group who will be working as your actors. Explain the idea, walk read through the script, and show them the storyboard shot-by-shot so they have a good grasp of what will be happening when you shoot. Switch and look through the other script. Have time? Practice reading through the lines and say them aloud!

1. Partner Pitch

Pitch your concept to your partner. A classic pitch is usually a summary of the story idea in twenty five words or less that conveys the exposition (who, where, and when), the inciting incident (what has happened) and hopefully hooks your audience. You want the excite them on your idea, getting them to exclaim “Now THAT is a movie I need to see!” After you’ve verbally pitched the idea, take a few minutes to read over each script, discuss the merits of each, considering qualitative traits (“your idea is so funny!”) and technical traits (“my idea is on the moon with two robots, which might be too difficult for this project”) to decide on which of the two scripts you want to produce.

2. Revise Script

Edit, edit, and edit some more! Work together to rework the dialogue to sound natural and consider the script from every angle. Time it out to see if it is too long or too short to see if you need to bulk it up or edit it down. Complete the final draft and print four copies of. Save it as a printable PDF with the name “[lastinitial][firstname]_Dialogue.PDF.” Whichever script you need printed, save it as “[lastinitial][firstname]_Print.PDF” and submit it through Teams and Mr. Gilbar will print five copies for you.

1. What Makes a Good “Feedback Sandwich?”

Just like a real sandwich, this can be done well or incredibly poorly.

A bad sandwich has…

1. insignificant top bread that is discounted by a ‘but’
2. meat that is negatively phrased, personal, and not constructive
3. bottom bread that struggles to compensate

Example: Dinner was great, but you made it too salty. Thanks though.

A good sandwich has…

1. meaningful top bread that highlights successes
2. criticism that is positive and constructive
3. bottom bread that is encouraging and acknowledging the effort

Suggested Successful Comment Format:

I like the use of __________, it makes the ____________.

Suggested Improvement Comment Format:

I found that _____________, it could be _________ if it __________.

Suggested Acknowledgement Comment Format:

[Say anything positive that affirms their effort!]

Example: Dinner was great, I really liked what you did with the rosemary and lemon on the roast. I think it could have been even better if there was salt on the side as it was a bit salty for my taste. Let me know when you cook it next, I’d love to see how you did it!

2. Peer Critique

Sit back and relax! We will be watching the “Shoot the Shots” films for the the first part of class and will come up with some general guidelines for ourselves afterwards on how we can improve as a class.

3. Conflict Through Dialogue

We will be producing a 60-120 second film that shows a conflict between two people that is resolved through dialogue AND NOT action. We will be working in pairs to produce this film that follows the plot chart we’ve studied this week, including…

1. exposition: establishes the location and characters before the story begins
2. inciting incident: the conflict that deviates from normal events.
3. rising action: as the stakes increase, the conflict intensifies.
4. climax: a solution is found! the viewer is given some catharsis.
5. falling action: where intensity declines, leading finally to the…
6. resolution: that ties up the story nicely and helps clarify the themes, morals, or lessons learned

The three primary areas of focus for this project are:

• storytelling (follows plot structure, captures audience interest)
• writing (believable dialogue, clear)
• audio (capturing good, clean audio)

The three secondary areas of focus for this project are:

• acting (timing, delivery, authenticity)
• cinematography (camera placement, movement, building tension)
• music (source audio that matches the tone/mood)

Here are five great samples from past students:

1. Plausible Deniability
2. Stuck
3. Practice
4. Buds
5. Pen Pals

4. Dialogue Composition

Today, we will come up with a short story based on our personal experiences that follows the plot structure. Fill out the provided form and identify the essential elements of your story. Complete a second draft if necessary. When you are done, you can begin working on your screenplay. I recommend using WriterDuet, a free, web-based and collaborative screenwriting program. Alternately, you can use Google Docs (with the Screenplay Formatter add-on) or Microsoft Word or another cloud-based composition program that you and your partner can access. You will not be marked on proper formatting, but if you are interested in learning, there are lots of helpful videos and even books on the subject (we have copies if you are interested!).

5. Filming Sequence

We will have roughly 30 minutes today and thirty minutes on Monday to work on this first draft of the script. The general plan for next week is…

Today: Brainstorm/write rough draft independently.

Monday: Finish rough draft. Pitch to partner, debate merits, and choose a script you want to produce. Develop that script together.

Tuesday: Complete and print the final draft. Draw your storyboard. Complete a shotlist. Test out and practice using audio equipment. Meet with and prepare actors.

Wednesday: Group 1 shoots, group 2 acts.

Thursday: Group 2 shoots, group 1 acts.

Friday onwards: Reshoots as needed. Begin edit of rough cut.

1. Storytelling 101

We are going to do a crash course on story structure by looking at a handful of Pixar short films.

1. exposition: establishes the location and characters before the story begins
2. inciting incident: the conflict that deviates from normal events.
3. rising action: as the stakes increase, the conflict intensifies.
4. climax: a solution is found! the viewer is given some catharsis.
5. falling action: where intensity declines, leading finally to the…
6. resolution: that ties up the story nicely and helps clarify the themes, morals, or lessons learned

1. Find Composite Layers

Start collecting your “plate shot” or other assets! Get a photo or video of the background you had in mind (i.e. a spooky forest), any foreground elements (i.e. a bush in front of you), and/or pre-made special effects (i.e. a lightning strike). You can even start assembling them together in Premiere!

2. Shoot Your Clip

Students will be brought down a few at a time to film their clips. Mr. Gilbar or one of the film 12s will help. Once everyone has filmed their clips, they will be uploaded to the Class Resources folder in Teams. Please just take your own clip.

3. Exercise Screenings

Once everyone has filmed their clip, we are going to watch and analyze a handful of the initial exercises.