Story-telling with pictures
In our morning lecture with Simon we learnt about the "180 degree rule" in film making. We learnt that where ever the camera is in a scene is where the audience has been positioned in that scene, this can be used to then position the audience against (or with) a character, it can also be used to disorientate them for the purposes of the story.
The 180 degree rule refers to the angle of axis (guideline) that means characters stay either on screen left or screen right, the line can be crossed though however it needs to show the characters moving instead of cutting to the next scene this avoids confusing the audience. The camera can be anywhere on the correct side of the axis and it will always make sense visually.
As well as this the characters within the scene need to be looking in the correct direction, Screen Left= looks towards screen right, and Screen Right= looks towards screen left.
Example: "Good Will Hunting"- Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck is always on the screen right and Matt Damon is always on the screen left.
Sometimes though breaking the rule can add to the story, by using cut scenes the audience is disorientated.
Example: The Shining
But cutting between the various scenes the audience becomes confused and this can help add to the impact of the plot/story. It can also be considered a stylistic device.
Another way characters can be on opposites screen sides is when a new scene is being filmed a new angle of axis can be established within it.
Afternoon with Steve Coombes (Beginnings, Middles and Ends)
A film/TV show is made up of a beginning, middle and an end, it has a plot (what happens) and a story (the significance of what's happened).
Steve gave us the metaphor of a story is like a ball, it needs a lot of air during the middle and it needs to be caught at the end. A film or a TV show can have multiple stories in it, they all still need air and all need to be caught at the end. As a writer you want the story you've written to put the audience on the edge of their seat.
Simple stories can be just as good as complicated ones, it all depends on how they are written.
We then watched a video of the "Southpark" creators talk to a group of students about writing.
In the video Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk about the "beats" of a story and if "and then" belongs in-between those beats your story has failed. It should either be filled with "therefore" or "but". Characters should have to make hard or bad choices because of those fillers between the beats ("but" and "therefore") For example a Doctor as a drug addict would be faced with bad/hard decisions to make.
Dramatic irony= irony that is understood by the audience but doesn't have to be understood but the characters in the scene.
In a story you have to choose where you want the audience to be, for example they can be ahead of the characters and know what's coming, or behind them and learn things about the character. As a writer you shouldn't write your entire script as just behind a character or just ahead a character, this will be boring for your audience to watch. You need to tease them and make the audience believe they know the character better then the character knows them-self and then shock them with something they didn't know/weren't expecting.
We then looked at beginnings, middles and ends in films and discussed them.
All good openings grab your attention and throw up 'but's', they throw up hard and risky choices that encourage character development.
"Rain man"= Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise (Reading the Will)
From this scene we learn that a father and his son don't get on, partly because of the car.
We learn that Tom Cruise's character is selfish, shallow and sarcastic after his father left him the car (that caused their fight) and the roses.
In "Rain man" we also learn at the same time as Tom Cruise's (TC) character that he has a brother, we also see what his relationship was like with his father when we learn that Raymond has been allowed to drive the car that TC's character always wanted to drive.
Raymond is shown to be very obviously Autistic, this is denoted through how he talks about cars (people with Autism can be obsessive over certain things). The film later revolves around how TC bullies his brother into giving him the money from the trust fund their father made Raymond the trustee of, however as the film progresses the two become friends.
"Tin Men" Opening
From this scene we learn that Richard Dreyfuss' character is into cars and works in a place where a car is a big status symbol. We also learn that Danny Devito's character has a wife who is a pain (denoted through his sore neck). Through the 'fight' between the two characters we learn that this is going to be a story between two 'beta males' they never have any intention on hitting each other, they use their words instead to be petty and childish to each other.
"Flea Bag" intro
From this opening we learn that Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character is self-conscious, crude and slightly shallow. It's an opening that grabs the attention of the audience straight away.
Middle's allow for character development and plot twists, this is where the story can be turned on it's head. For example "Psycho", the film starts as a heist then moves into a thriller. The shower scene in "Psycho" is where the film turns into a horror film with a serial killer with an unknown identity, the film moved out of one genre into another.
"Tin Men"
The middle of "Tin Men" is where the affair takes place. Dreyfuss' character picks up Devito's wife in a supermarket. Dreyfuss tells her he has lost his wife, the woman takes pity on him and invites him over for dinner made by her. He knows who she is how she is not aware of his identity. In a twist of events Devito is glad to have a reason to kick out his wife, the story has changed and the irony is getting more intense.
"Toy Story 1"- Car Fight Scene
This scene shows the two toys originally in competition with each other over will be Andy's favourite, this changes when they both have to work together to find their way home.
"Casablanca"
This is both a straight forward and complicated scene. It's straight forward in the sense a woman and her lover are trying to leave the country, however it's complicated by the fact that she is still in love with the man providing her ticket to escape.
"Toy Story 3"
This ending reveals what a complicated character Andy is. He is trying to leave his childhood (through his toys) so he can grow up, he's therefore decided to give away his toys however in his reluctance to give up Woody it shows his loyalty towards his toys and his childhood. He sees a little girl play with her toys like he used to and it strikes a nerve with him, this is where we see him decide to pass on the toys to her. However because Woody is one of the oldest toys he holds the most memories (this is where Andy's reluctance to give him up comes from), he overcomes this and almost comforts himself by explaining the importance of Woody to the little girl (he can reassure himself that Woody will be ok now she knows what he means to Andy).
"Lord Of The Rings"- Mount Doom Scene
This scene is full of dramatic irony, Frodo (the protagonist) goes bad, Gollum bites off his finger, Frodo (still bad) fights for the ring and eventually goes into the pits of Mount Doom, and Sam saves Frodo.
We spoke about moments in the afternoon session, some of us showed our favourite moments and explained why it was our favourite as well as speaking in general about moments in our writing.
When writing a story you should know the beginning and the end, this way it's easier to write. You should also count the "moments" in your story, what "moment" is big enough that the audience want to know more?
When writing a screen play you should count how many moments there will be, which parts of your film will the audience be talking about after the viewing. Get the moments first and then worry about how they will work on paper. Audience's love moments, they shouldn't notice the plot, story, character or the dialogue, if they do you're in trouble. The audience wants moments and that's what we as the writer need to give them.
Moments are the priority in writing, then structure and then character.
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