Script Writing for Animation (ANI-1105) PDF

ANI - 1105 SCRIPT Writing for Animation Session - # 2 ▪ What Makes Good Story? There is ‘ALWAYS’, “something”, “someone” Wants. Something that must be acquired…. No matter what's the risk is. It can be Tangible or Intangible It can be Per...

ANI - 1105 SCRIPT Writing for Animation Session - # 2 ▪ What Makes Good Story? There is ‘ALWAYS’, “something”, “someone” Wants. Something that must be acquired…. No matter what's the risk is. It can be Tangible or Intangible It can be Personal or Good for all But ! ! it should be powerful and should grow more stronger and stronger within..... ▪ What Makes Good Story? * A Problem / Conflict * Wrong Situation It can be Tangible or Intangible It can be Personal or Good for all "Scriptwriting is the toughest part of the whole racket……… It’s vaguely Understood and the least Noticed." The Legendry Film Maker – Frank Capra THE PREMISE  What is A PREMISE? ▪ The premise is your story in brief. ▪ It’s basically your whole story, condensed in a single sentence. ▪ Kernel of a Concept or an Idea, that needs Development. ▪ A Premise actually, is what your story is about? SCRIPT for ANIMATION  THE PREMISE ▪It's the most basic mix of characters and plot, usually involving an Event that triggers the conflict, introduces the main character, and gives a sense of the story’s outcome. SCRIPT for ANIMATION  THE PREMISE Some Examples… –A small Boy sees Dead people. –Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th. –The Egyptian Prince discovers that he is Hebrew, He leads his people out of Slavery. –A small town is terrorized by a shark. SCRIPT for ANIMATION  THE PREMISE ▪ The premise should be the Driving Force behind every event in your Story. A good premise is derived from emotions – Love, Hate, Fear, Jealousy, Desire, etc… and it revolves around a character, facing conflict and towards the conclusion. SCRIPT for ANIMATION  THE PREMISE Few concepts… ▪ Everything has a purpose - Premise. ▪ Every second of our life has its own Premise. whether or not we are conscious of it at that time. ▪ The premise may be as simple as breathing or as complex as a vital emotional decision, but it is always there… ▪ No idea, and no situation, was ever strong enough to carry you through, to its logical conclusion without a clear-cut premise. SCRIPT for ANIMATION  THE PREMISE Concepts with Examples… ▪ LOVE conquers DEATH, Physically and Spiritually. – Nothing on Earth could come between THEM. ▪ “Courage destroys Evil” – An F.B.I. cadet seeks the aid of a manipulative cannibal killer in prison to help capture a serial killer who skins his victims.. ▪ “Good against Evil” – A boy discovers he has Magical Powers and attends a school of magicians.  Class Work - Assignment ▪ Write the Premises… - Premise your favorite Movies / Novels. ( 5-10 ) Write the same movie / novel premise full filling your expectations etc.,  STORY - Settings ▪ A Story's Settings is 4 Dimensional. ▪ PERIOD - Story’s Place in Time. ▪ DURATION - Story’s Length through Time. ▪ LOCATION - Story’s Place in Space. ▪ LEVEL OF CONFLICT - Story’s Position in Subjects’ Struggle. SCRIPT for ANIMATION  What is A Structure? ▪ A GUIDELINE of how to write a STORY. ▪ It’s FRAMEWORK of how the STORY UNFOLDS. ▪ How the EVENTS / PLOTS are ORGANIZED. ▪ BUILD / PUT-TOGETHER SCRIPT for ANIMATION STRUCTURE – The Paradigm… 3 Acts / 5 Acts Act I INTRODUCTION Act I Act II Act II CONFRONTATION Act III Act IV Act III RESOLUTION Act V STRUCTURE – The Paradigm… ▪ The 3 Act Structure is Model / Formula, used in the Narrative. ▪ Story in Structure… Duration. [Time and Space] ▪ Technique – Plot Stories… ▪ To Inter-connect Collective Events. ▪ Event – to a Narrative… ▪ Attention, Interest, Engage, Visual Experience… 3 Acts Structure Act I INTRODUCTION Exposition – Inciting Incident [Set-up / Beginning] – Plot Point 1... Act II CONFRONTATION Rising Action – Midpoint – [Conflict / Middle] Plot Point 2... Act III RESOLUTION Pre-Climax [Falling Action] – [Conclusion / End] Climax – Conclusion...  Act 1 : The Setup (1/4 of the film) ▪ The first 30 minutes is the setup, it must lay the groundwork for the movie and answer these questions. * What / Who is the film about? -Who is the lead character? What kind of person are they? -Usually, we are introduced to the characters and see what they get up to day to day. -We are made to identify with the characters and like them.  Act 1 : The Setup (1/4 of the film) * Where is the film taking place? - What's the story's location? - What kind of world do the characters live in? * What’s going to happen? - Something is going to happen that is going to challenge the lead character and change their life. That's 30 minutes to establish the Characters, the World and the Premise, and it better keep us interested! Plot Point One ▪ At the end of Act One comes the first plot point. ▪ A plot point is a hook in the action that spins it around and creates direction. ▪ Something happens that sets the course for the rest of the movie - e.g.. the aliens invade or a body is found. ▪ Now the characters know their purpose; to fight back against the aliens or discover who the murderer is. ▪ And that's what they'll spend Act Two doing. Act 2 : The Confrontation (1/2 of the film) Your character has a Dramatic Need; ▪ to find the Treasure, ▪ to defeat an Evil Empire or ▪ to kill the Shark. But it wouldn‘t make that a great film, if they could complete their task in the next ten minutes. Conflict is the essence of drama. The character has to overcome a series of obstacles that you drop in their path. Plot Point Two ▪ At the end of Act Two comes the second plot point. ▪ Now the character has been moving towards their goal for the last 60 minutes and it's usually by now that the solution is in sight. ▪ It may not be easy to achieve, but they know what they must do. ▪ Usually, its just before plot point 2 that all the really bad things happen. Act 3 : The Resolution (1/4 of the film) The Resolution: All the plot threads and characterization that has been building up in Acts One and Two can be entwined for dramatic effect and released and resolved in Act Three. The STORY Elements Elements of a STORY ▪ EVENT ~ is an ACTION, CHANGE, a SITUATION…. ~ An EVENT creates meaningful change in the life situation of a character. ~ It’s an experience, which is expressed in terms of VALUE. Elements of a STORY ▪ BEAT ~ is an exchange of BEHAVIOR in action / reaction. ~ is a Moment that Propels the story forward… Elements of a STORY ▪ PLOT PLOT is a complete EVENT / EVENTS. PLOT – Internal Consistent, Inter-related pattern of events that move through time and space and designs the STORY. PLOT – its writer’s choice of events and their design in time. Elements of a STORY ▪ SCENE A Scene – is a compilation of SHOTS. A Scene is an action within the plot or Conflict…. In more or less continuous time and space that turns the event into a seamless motion. Ideally, every scene is an event in a Story. Elements of a STORY ▪ SEQUENCE SEQUENCE is compilation of SCENES. Generally TWO to FIVE +, that crafts greater impact. Basically defines interweaved Plot. Elements of a STORY ▪ ACT An ACT is a series of Sequences that proceeds the story from INTRODUCTION to RESOLUTION. Act blends the TIME and SPACE in process of telling a STORY. Elements of a STORY ▪ STRUCTURE Structure is a FORMULA / FORMAT. Structure is a selection of events from the character’s life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life. CONFLICTS Class Activity…  SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY ▪ What Exactly Is a Script? A script is a document that outlines every ▪ AURAL – Engaging your EARs ▪ VISUAL – Engaging your EYEs ▪ BEHAVIORAL and ▪ LINGUAL elements...... Required to tell a STORY. ❑ Scriptwriting is a challenging art… with practice, it can be MASTERED.. ❑ Simply, it’s an art of expressing visual ideas through words on paper. ❑ The writer must CREATE and ENGAGE characters (Audience) in an air-tight STRUCTURE. There is little room for ERROR. SCRIPT for ANIMATION ▪ The Premise ▪ Plot ▪ Character ▪ Screenplay Structure and ▪ Visual Storytelling PLOT Story or Narrative, The PLOT is the sequence of EVENTS. Each event affects the following event and the next one through the principle of CAUSE-and-EFFECTs. PLOT – Story Summery / Story Synopsis... ▪ A PLOT is nothing but Events - Action [Drama, Comedy, Suspense, Horror etc.,] that, moves the story forward or towards its conclusion. ▪ A story can have one or more plots. ▪ A Plot forms the basic skeleton of the story. ▪ Writer CRAFTS the Story using Plots. (Arranging the Order of events…)  Elements of a PLOT CLIMAX FA N TIO LL IN AC GA NG PLOT CT PLOT is the SI IO Sequence of Events RI N that makes up the Story. EXPOSITION DENOUEMENT Elements of a PLOT ▪ Exposition - The Introduction of the Characters, Settings etc., ▪ Rising action – Stepping into the Conflict (structure), where the character learns his / her main goal/(s). ▪ Climax – the turning point in the Story. Twist… ▪ Falling Action – Events leading to character’s action resolving problems… failures, downfalls., ▪ Denouement – The character finally achieve their goals. The conflict Ends.  CHARACTER – A study ▪ Characters / Actors (Characterization, Costume etc.,) A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, and character makes the story a success. The more a character is developed, the more the viewer is familiar with them., this creates a Sense of Realism.  CHARACTER – A study Four Major Qualities that makes a Good Character : - Syd Field ▪ DRAMATIC NEED — what does the Main Character want to gain, get or achieve? ▪ STRONG POINT OF VIEW — The way the Main Character views the world. ▪ ATTITUDE — The Main Character's manner or opinion. ▪ CHANGE — Does your Main Character change during the course of the story?  CINEMATIC CONVENTIONS ▪ Story Telling ▪ Cinematography – Cinematic Techniques [Visual Expression] ▪ Mise-en-Scene ▪ Continuity STORY TELLING Story Telling – Narrative ▪ PLOT - Plot is the order of events in a story or narrative. ▪ NARRATIVE – ‘it’s just telling the story’. More precisely, it is a cinematic structure in which the filmmakers have selected and arranged story events in a CAUSE-and- EFFECT sequence occurring over time, that engages the Audience.  PLOT: Classic Design ▪ Every PLOT, has a story built around an active Protagonist who struggles against primarily external forces of Antagonism to pursue his or her desire, through continuous time and space, within a consistent and causally connected fictional reality, to a closed ending of absolute irreversible change.  Classic Design Arch-plot Causality Closed Ending Linear Time External Conflict Single Protagonist Consistent Reality Active Protagonist PLOT Open Ending Internal Conflict Coincidence Multi-Protagonist Nonlinear Time Passive Protagonist Inconsistent Realities Mini-plot Anti-plot NARRATIVE  NARATIVE – The Story NARRATION – Act of telling The Story NARRATOR – Who / What tells the Story Elements of Narrative ▪ Dramatic Structure ▪ Story and Plot ▪ Order ▪ Events ▪ Duration ▪ Suspense and Surprises  Dramatic Structure ▪ Exposition – Providing the background information on the characters, setting, and basic conflict, and ends with an inciting moment that sets the action going. ▪ Rising Action - the principal conflict develops and may be complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts. ▪ Climax - is not the end of the action but rather the turning point, where, for example, the protagonist may begin to overpower the antagonist, or the opposite.  Dramatic Structure ▪ Falling Action - the principal conflict moves toward resolution, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. ▪ Denouement - The final part, there should be no question about the resolution unless, of course, ambiguity is intended. We usually say that in a story which is considered a comedy, the protagonist is better off now than he or she was at the beginning of the story; if the story is considered a tragedy, the situation is the opposite.  STORY and PLOT ▪ Story and Plot: The word Story and Plot are interchangeable. But, they mean different things when we write and speak, About movies. ▪ Story: ▪ a.all the narrative events that are explicitly presented on the screen. ▪ b. all the events that are implicit or that we infer to have happened but are not explicitly presented. Story and Plot ▪ Plot: is a structure for presenting everything that we see and hear in a film. ▪ a. The Diegetic events arranged in a certain order. ▪ b. Non-diegetic material. Story and plot overlap because each includes the narrative events that we explicitly see and hear onscreen DIEGESIS  DIEGESIS – Visual: Plot, Graphics etc., Diegetic Visual: Plot or Visual that shown the world of the film, either from the narrative or from the setting, is called Diegetic Visual. Non - Diegetic Visual: Visuals or Graphics that appears, but does not originates from within the world of the film, either from the characters or from the setting, is called Non-Diegetic Visual.  DIEGESIS - Aural Diegetic Sound: Sound that originates from within the world of the film, either from the characters or from the setting, is called diegetic sound. Non - Diegetic Sound: Sound that’s heard but does not originates from within the world of the film, either from the characters or from the setting, is called non-diegetic sound. SOUND: The VOICE – DIALOGUE DIEGESIS Diegetic Element Non - Diegetic Element On Screen Off Screen Dialogue Dialogue The VOICE – DIALOGUE The VOICE – DIALOGUE The VOICE – VOICE OVER The VOICE – VOICE OVER Elements of Narrative ▪ Order: is to be implied on plots and events. Its one of the most fundamental decisions that filmmakers make about relaying story information through the plot. Unlike story order, which necessarily flows chronologically, plot order can be manipulated so that events are presented in non-chronological sequences that emphasize importance or meaning or that establish desired expectations in audiences. [Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Memento, Usual Suspects, Inception etc.,]  Elements of Narrative ▪ Events: Events in a plot should be in logical order, until or unless some events are important, that might refer relative significance through the director’s selection and arrangement of details of action, character, or setting.. ▪ Duration: Events, in life and in the movies, take time to occur. Duration is this length of time. When talking about narrative movies specifically, we can identify three specific kinds of duration: Story Duration: is the amount of time that the implied story takes to occur. Plot Duration: is the elapsed time of those events within the story that the film explicitly presents. And, Screen Duration: is the movie’s running time onscreen.  Let’s Recapitulate: ▪ Story ▪ Elements of PLOT ▪ Event / [s] ▪ Major Qualities of a Character ▪ Paradigm – The Structure ▪ Cinematic Conventions ▪ The 3 Acts Structure ▪ Story telling ▪ De-constructing Film ▪ Narrative ▪ The Premise ▪ Elements of Narrative ▪ The Plot ▪ Dramatic Structure  Story and Plot Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Elements ▪ The events, characters, objects, settings, and sounds that form the world in which the story occurs—is called its ‘Diegesis’. The elements that make up the diegesis are called ‘Diegetic elements.’ ▪ The things that we see and hear on the screen but that come from outside the world of the story are called non-diegetic elements - background music, titles and credits, or voice-over comments from an omniscient narrator. ADDITIONAL & OPTIONAL TOPICS CINEMATIC TECHNIC (CINEMATOGRAPHY)  CINEMATIC TECHNIC Cinematic Techniques are methods used by the Film Maker, The Director to communicate his / her thought to evoke emotional responses in viewers / audience.  Cinematic Techniques ▪ CINEMATOGRAPHY – Art of capturing Moving Pictures… – Techniques of using the camera to acquire the choice of shot with or without motion… – Greatly emphasizes the meaning of the shot in a scene or sequence… – Composition, Lighting and Camera Tech….  SHOTS AND ANGLES (The building blocks of the cinematic language.)  STORY TELLING - through - CINEMATIC TECHNIC ▪ CAMERA – Shots – Defines the Frame (Space in a box) – Angle – Defines the FOV, distances between the subject and the camera (Proximus = Space in a box) – Movements – Defines Action. CAMERA ANGLE ▪ The camera angle determines both the audiences viewpoint, or how they see the story, and the physical amount of area covered in a shot.  CAMERA ANGLE A. What is the viewpoint, or the story demands, for recording this portion of the event? B. How much area should be included in the shot, in order to communicate the story? Both questions deal with the audiences perspective on what the story is. The Building Blocks of a Film ▪ Frame ▪ Shot ▪ Scene ▪ Sequence FRAME ▪ The smallest piece of information in film. ▪ A single still image in a series of images. ▪ NTSC - 29.97 fps (Frames Per Second) ▪ PAL - 25 fps ▪ Film - 24 fps SHOT ▪ A shot defines a continuous camera take with out disruption. ▪ May be referred to as a panel in pre-production storyboards. ▪ May be referred to as a take, during production. ▪ May be referred to as a clip in post-production, editing. SCENE ▪ A scene defines the place or setting where the action is being filmed. ▪ Each new place (setting) maybe a new scene. ▪ Borrowed from theater. Where acts were broken down with different scenery or settings. SEQUENCE ▪ A sequence is a series of scenes, or shots that complete a subject or idea. ▪ A sequence may occur in a single setting (place), or in several settings (places). ▪ A sequence ends when the subject matter changes. CAMERA ANGLES ▪ Objective ▪ Subjective ▪ Point of View ▪ High Angle ▪ Low Angle ▪ Dutch Angle ▪ Low angle – Worm’s eye view - looking up at a character. Gives the audience a feeling that this person is powerful. Used to show the large scale of a character or object. ▪ High angle - Birds eye view – from above the character used to make the character feel Inferior. Used to show the small scale of a character or object. ▪ Dutch angle – when the cinematographer skews the vertical axis to give an exciting or an uneasy feeling, this will help to show character in an altered state of reality from being tired, loony or uppity or narcissistic and high strung.  OBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLE ▪ When the audience views what is happening as an unseen observer. ▪ The audience feels as though they are eaves dropping on the characters in the scene. ▪ Objective camera angles are impersonal. ▪ The players in a scene are unaware of the camera and never make eye contact. When filming an objective camera angle if any person in the scene looks into the camera the shot is ruined and will need a re-take.  SUBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLE ▪ Involves the audience directly with the characters in the scene. ▪ Players may look directly into the camera. ▪ Camera acts as the players eyes.  POINT OF VIEW ▪ A point of view shot is when the camera angle records the scene from a particular point player’s point of view. ▪ A point of view shot is as close as an objective shot can be with out being a subjective shot. ▪ In a point of view shot the camera is positioned “cheek to cheek” with a character. P.O.V.’s are often followed by O.T.S over the shoulder shots during dialog exchange.