At 2Bridges, we are different than other point-and-click videographers because first focus on the business of storytelling. Then we focus on how the cinematography fits into that story or brand promotion. So here are the ways to start crafting that next great film idea of yours.
When the hook ideas are already determined and
the premise of the film is already set, the next thing you would need to do is
to create a beautiful and interesting story.
The very first step that you can take would be to complete the process
called idea testing. To complete this
process, you only have to state the title of the story and its genre. After this, you may also have to provide a
description of the hero and the events that occur to him which leads to
challenges that he would face. From
there, you may also develop some side-stories. But always make sure that such side-stories do not in any way overshadow
the main theme. Instead, these should
support the main theme or premise of the story.
Start Developing That Film Idea Into Paper
The most common mistake that new writers
frequently make is that they just write on without having any outline to guide
them. A free-flowing verse that does not
require any outline may be possible for short essays that focus on just a single
theme. However, a movie certainly is
much longer and more complicated.
Writing without any outline has its many disadvantages. It is actually like constructing a building
without any blueprint. The natural
tendency would be for you to be lost along the way, putting emphasis on the
side-stories and forgetting about the original premise instead.
It is important for the scriptwriter to always
think about the plot and how it should be delivered to the audience. A novelist can have the luxury of magnifying
the side-stories or narrating the background of the characters. But this is not the same for the
scriptwriter. The screenplays are
supposed to be written in a manner that would make the movie interesting always
for the audience. Aside from this, there
are also considerations on the manner that the scenes will be developed. With an outline, you can have something to
look at every time you feel that you have run out of ideas.
Making the Screenplay Title
If you think that making the screenplay titles
are the easiest part then you are absolutely wrong. The screenplay title can be difficult to
develop. As long as the film is still in
the works, there should be no trouble in changing the title along the way. By the time that the film goes into
post-production, a better title would have been achieved already. Of course, the title for the entire film
would be much different from the screenplay title.
The Outline of the Script
The screenplay outline would help a lot in
developing further the story. From the
outline, you can then build the treatments.
Instead of a narrative form, the screenplay outline is actually a set of
sentences that would serve as guides in the development of every sequence of
event. A treatment should be made for
every screenplay outline. The treatment is definitely much longer than the
outline sentence. It is actually made up
of a paragraph. Since these are work
documents, ones that do not need to be read by the actors and the crew, these
may be for your eyes only. The director,
however, may be allowed to read these if necessary.
It would be good if you can learn how to write a
three-act story common to stage plays.
Once you are well acquainted with this style, it would no longer be
difficult for you to develop a screenplay outline for an entire film. The first act would be that part where you
can introduce the characters of the movie.
It is also here where you can provide a comprehensive description of the
setting of the story. Therefore, you may
not yet describe the conflicts taking place among the characters. However, at this point, you may also provide
a description of how the characters would relate to one another.
The second act is where the conflict among the
characters are developed and described.
It is also here where you can fully describe the reactions of each
character to the conflicts that they are experiencing. Aside from the
conflicts, the goals and objectives of the characters may also be defined in
the second act. It is in the third act
that the characters will finally come into open confrontation. This is the prelude to the end of the movie,
wherein the conflicts are finally resolved, where the hero comes out as the
victor and the anti-hero is meted with punishment.
If you do not want to lose your way as you try to
develop the story, you may write the ending first before the middle part. Most scriptwriters admit that the middle part
is often the hardest to develop. Once
you have the first and third acts made up though, completing the second act
would be less difficult.
Developing the Screenplay Premise
The premise is one very important part of the
screenplay and the movie itself. This is
also the part wherein you can connect with the actual human condition and
provide the viewers with the lessons of points of view that could prompt them
to action. In order for the connection
to be made though, it is necessary that the premise is relevant to the times.
The Characters in the Screenplay
Apart from the screenplay document, you may also
write about each of the characters and put it into one document that supports
the script. To do this, you may have to
write a biography of each character.
Some physical description may be necessary but what is most important is
that you also make sure that you describe the conflicts that each character is
confronted with. To make your
screenplay even more interesting, it may be appropriate to develop the
characters of the subplots too. Just
make sure though that these would not be too detailed as to grab the audience’s
attention instead from the more important characters.
Screenplay Development is Continuous
A screenplay is never actually done until the
movie itself reaches the stage of post-production. This is because better ideas may just arise
while the movie is being shot. If there
are brilliant ideas that come out during the shoot, you should be flexible
enough to make the needed changes in order to accommodate the new concepts. Of course, you should not make the changes
too massive as to change the essence of the screenplay itself.
If you think some subplots should be included in
order to make the movie more interesting then do so. Such changes may be done while the movie is
still being shot. Of course, once the
movie is already in the post-production stage, such changes would be difficult
to introduce.
Tell People about Your Film Idea
You may never know how nice or how bad your
screenplay is unless you can see people’s reaction on it. Try to tell your friends the gist of the
story and check out their reactions. You
should not feel slighted by any criticism.
Instead, you should be able to adapt and make the needed adjustments.
So that's the cliff notes on how to craft a film idea. These steps will not only help you make short films, but also help you as a video production company with corporate clients. At the end of the day, the very best videographers understand the power of storytelling.
