film concepts - planning lesson 1
TRANSCRIPT
ScreenwritingConcepts & synopsising
What were we looking at last week?
Today
In todays workshop you will be;
• applying your knowledge of concepting to create and develop 3 ideas for screenplays.
• Pitching one of these ideas to your peers.
By the end of today, you
MUST use idea generation strategies to create 3 story concepts
SHOULD be able to present a creative idea for a film in an elevator pitch
COULD communicate idea clearly and effectively.
Syd Field
Famous American screenwriter Syd Field came up with a way to describe a films
concept in its simplest form.
Describe each
Story Concepts
A person
A geeky high school loser
Story Concepts
In a place
New York City
Story Concepts
Doing his or her thing
Fighting crime as a masked vigilante
Syd Fields rule of story concepting
A person in a place
doing his or her thing
For example
A recently widowed OAP
In America
Flying his house off on the adventure of a lifetime
Up
A wealthy industrialist
In America
Using his super armour to fight terrorism
A young farm hand
On Tattoine
Trying to rescue a princess from an evil empire
An orphaned billionaire
In Gotham City
Becoming a vigilante crime fighter
Idea generation techniques
What techniques can we use to help us come up with ideas for our story concepts?
Idea generation techniques
What techniques can we use to help us come up with ideas for our story concepts?
- Research- Brainstorms - Team work
If you’re struggling to come up with ideas where can you look for inspiration?
Secondary research
• Internet• Magazines
• Graphic novels• History books / novels
• Photos• Films
For example… nothing is more dramatic than real life
If you find some useful research what should you do?
Research
for one of your assignments for this unit you have to conduct reliable & useful research
into your idea.
So print anything you find off, and annotate notes on it which explain how useful &
reliable it is!
Task 1
You will develop 3 story concepts.
You have 30 minutes to come up with 3 strong concepts. If you are stuck for ideas
what can you do?
If you finish your 3 concepts you can begin to research them
What makes a good pitch?
What makes a good pitch?
• Clearly communicate your idea• Engage your audience• show confidence • Be passionate • Know your subject
Task 2
Using the feedback you’ve received begin to develop your idea, conducting secondary research.
Task 2if you finish you should think about the moral of your story. What’s it really about? What should your audience take away from the experience?
Plenary
Next week you will learn about narrative planning. You will need to bring a rough outline of your story.
For homework this week develop your story. Make sure you know your concept inside out and have come up with a beginning, a middle and an end.