Monday 26 September 2016

Introduction to Story Telling First With Steve Coombes - Monday 26th September

Introduction to Story Telling First With Steve Coombes
Steve started off by saying that we only have a really limited amount of words to tell our story so we have to make sure we make the most of it. It's best not to use adjectives because we can be shown that and we don't have to listen to it. On the other hands its best to use as many verbs as possible to make it a good script.

Logline - Summary in a sentence what is in the script.

Bible - Overview of the character

Steve says you used to be able to make a good living off of screen writing but it is much harder now because of piracy meaning it's much harder to make money off the shows to pay the writers.

THE 5 RULES OF SCREEN WRITING.

1) The need to know: Only tell the audience what the really need to know, telling about other things may distract them from the main point which means the audience may not find the whole thing interesting.

2) SHOW DONT TELL: Instead off mass information being piled on you, it is better to let the audience see what is happening. For example using a news report mid film to give you loads of information is a pretty lazy way of telling the story.

3) Structure it as a joke: You set up the story, Include a distraction and then hit them with the punchline. It keeps the viewers interested and involved in what is happening.

4) Know your ending: You need to know the end before you can start, This is because you now have a point to aim to.

5) make sure you have moments: Moments are why people will watch your drama, having that moment you come out of the cinema talking about. It's what most people will recognise your film for.


The most likely reason that a show you are watching is bad is that it has bad structure.

People find it hard to understand screenplay.

- People don't understand the screen direction

- Hard to picture the stage directions

- The find it hard to understand the different accents in place in the screenplay.

Your screenplay can't survive a bad actor. Make sure that your actors bring the magic to the show (Gladiator)


Flashbacks mean that it is only a footnote . Flashbacks will never have you on the edge of your seat. The only exception is if you are waiting for what is coming next or why it was of relevance.

Billy Wilder - The audience is a genius. " An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark - that is critical genius."



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