DEFINING FILM NARRATIVE LECTURE OBJECTIVE: TEACH A STUDENT HOW TO CREATE AND IDENTIFY A STORY STRUCTURE BY SYNTHESIZING AND ANALYZING ITS PARTS AND DEVICES. 5 ELEMENTS OF A NARRATIVE SETTING CHARACTER PLOT CONFLICT THEME Setting: The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons, weather, or time of day to provide a strong sense of setting. Character: A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a short story or other literary work. Plot: A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict. Conflict: The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict. On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important character, against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside himself or herself (feelings, emotions, illness). Theme: The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story. NARRATIVE MODE: VIEWPOINT FIRST-PERSON VIEW The narrator is a character featured in the story, using ‘I’ or ‘we’ to tell the story from his or her viewpoint. SECOND-PERSON VIEW The narrator refers to one of the characters as ‘you’ to incorporate the audience into the narrative. THIRD-PERSON VIEW The narrator tells the story without being directly involved with the story itself. In film, the narrator can be a person or simply the viewpoint of the the camera. Viewpoint refers to the position from which something is viewed, and point-of-view in film refers to the view captured by the cameraʼs optics. first person view: In a first-person narrative the story is relayed by a narrator who is also a character within the story, so that the narrator reveals the plot by referring to this viewpoint character as "I" (or, when plural, "we"). second person view:Probably the rarest mode in literature (though quite common in song lyrics) is the second-person narrative mode, in which the narrator refers to one of the characters as "you", therefore making the audience member feel as if he or she is a character within the story. third person view: Third-person narration provides the greatest flexibility to the author and thus is the most commonly used narrative mode in literature. In the third-person narrative mode, each and every character is referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they", but never as "I" or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-person). Watch Pixar short film Boundin’ to discuss elements of a story and narrator point of view. http://www.metatube.com/en/videos/38424/Boundin-Pixar-HD-Short-Film-Walt-Disney/ RI SI N G AC TI ON THE CONFRONTATION THE SETUP FA LL IN G AC TI ON RESOLUTION THREE-ACT STRUCTURE The Three-Act Structure is a model used in writing and evaluating modern storytelling which divides a screenplay into a three parts called the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution. Watch Pixar short ʻFor the Birdsʼ and discuss the 3 act structure along with the narrative elements and POV discussed earlier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHUgdwyxTF0 Watch Pixar short ‘Lifted’ to discuss all of the elements reviewed thus far. http://fliiby.com/file/690608/zzi6yv0sxn.html LITERARY & FILM TECHNIQUES BACK STORY Past events or background that add meaning to current circumstances. CLIFFHANGER Narrative ends unresolved to draw the audience back to a future episode for resolution. FLASHBACK A scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. FLASHFORWARD A scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time. IRONY Describes a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results in a certain situation. PARADOX A juxtaposition of incongruous ideas for the sake of striking exposition or unexpected insight. PARODY An imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialize an original work. PERSONIFICATION When human-like characteristics are applied to animals or objects. PLOT TWIST Unexpected change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot. POINT OF VIEW SHOT A scene shows what a character is looking at (represented through the camera). SATIRE Use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices. SYMBOLISM Applied use of symbols: iconic representations that carry particular conventional meanings. TONE Overall attitude an author appears to hold toward key elements of the work. VOICE OVER A technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used to progress the story. STAGES OF FILMMAKING PRE-PRODUCTION PRODUCTION POST-PRODUCTION The 3 stages of filmmaking are PRE-PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION, AND POST PRODUCTION. Today we will discuss what happens in the PRE-PRODUCTION process. Next week we are going to move into the PRODUCTION phase and shoot some video in class. FROM IDEA TO PRE-PRODUCTION 1.CREATE STORY: IDENTIFY THEME, CHARACTERS, CONFLICT, PLOT, AND SETTING 2.WRITE A TREATMENT OR PITCH: A SHORT SYNOPSIS OR SUMMARY OF THE NARRATIVE 3.DEVELOP A SCRIPT: DESCRIBE THE SETTING, WRITE CHARACTER DIALOG, GIVE STAGE DIRECTION 4.CREATE A STORYBOARD: IDENTIFY SHOTS, COMPOSITIONS, AND VISUAL ELEMENTS 5.IDENTIFY SHOOTING LOCATION AND CAST AND CREW, BEGIN PRODUCTION PLANNING SCRIPT The script has a specific format that you see here. You always use 12pt Courier font and single line spacing. What you see is a science that filmmakers use. In Hollywood one page equals about one minute of finished film. STORYBOARD Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic orinteractive media sequence. Here’s a storyboard from ‘For the Birds’ storyboards come in all shapes and sizes here’s a simple one made by a school child for an elementary school filmmaking class. ASSIGNMENT Write a story using the following scenario: Two people are drinking tea. While Person A isn’t looking, Person B drinks all of Person A’s tea. How is it resolved? Create the rest of the story. Define the setting, characters, conflict, plot, theme. Use the Three Act Structure: the Setup, the Confrontation, the Resolution. Use other elements from this lecture to help you fill in the blanks. Come up with 2 ideas and write a 1 paragraph summary of each. Write a one page script (double spaced) for your film. Create storyboards for your narrative. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NO MISSING CLASS. FACEBOOK PAGE. Watch short film ‘chicken vs. penguin’ to review all material from lecture. This piece is a simple (somewhat silly) example of what a high school filmmaker made using all of the elements that we discussed and hopefully it provides you with a good idea of what all are capable of accomplishing with your first stories. Watch it here http://vimeo.com/13779056