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The Digital Preproduction for Documentary Film & Corporate Video

1. Time of Day ellai ong TS ind of u Music Sound Effects ve Ki Location UUUU UUUU Video Audio Time of Cay IT Toke 0 ME Lighting ind 12k BEZ Music Sound Effects Gruppe lauft auf Kamera zu TITEL und Muff als Hund Alle Singend Im Fr htau zu Berge wir gehen fallera es gr nen die W lder die H hn fallera Total Running Time 00 00 coe core o Sond ier TT Comments Gres ere TT Sound Equipment EEE Comments Camera Eimer EN Sound Equipment Fs Comments a Comer Cuiper EEE Comments sel Gathering ideas Even in the film industry the price is determined by supply and demand In the 1980s television stations paid about 12 000 at the current rate for a5 minute magazine contribution The outlay was made up of good planning and preparation 1 2 days of filming and the same number of days of editing A small production firm with low costs of living and costly equipment gt 60 000 could stay afloat through two or three films a month Nowadays thanks to the digital revolution the costs of equipment are negligible and the automatic functions of the camcorder have led to a huge rise in the number of cameramen This has greatly lowered the fees for TV contributions and even industrial films Whoever has specialized in this field must come to terms with continually falling prices or specialize even further For instance in the 1980s some TV journalists
2. on safety as well as information about the spare wheel and its limitations For instance it is not advisable to drive with this wheel at a speed above 80 km h These blocks of information are accompanied by a female presenter and the tallying commentary pa is provided by a professional TV speaker As an eye catcher these blocks of information are interrupted by takes of the car from inside and outside These advertizing blocks take about 2 to 3 minutes each and are used to provide general information about the Volvo The style is suave and sophisticated As a location we propose the valley of the Mosul with its romantic vineyards The film is produced in HDV For the PoS a DVD with endless repeats is provided The giveaway DVDs are offered as printed DVDs in Amaray sleeves with 4c inlays and the DVDs themselves are printed in a 5c screenprint process This synopsis is handed by the production firm to the client The latter may lack enough technical expertise in the field of film to grasp fully what it implies but he does at least get an inkling of the themes to be covered and how much time a professional film maker believes should be devoted to these themes A client is not normally expected to pay for the work of a film producer up to and including the synopsis The treatment The next step towards the film is the treatment a short version of the script To write a treatment the film production has to invest a good dea
3. U S Unseen 0 S Off screen left or right Abbreviations related to sound Silent without sound Sync the sound is synchronized with the image S wl sound without any image v o voice over a commentary for a foreign version audible in the background Mic microphone LP music or sound effects from a record Tape music or sound effects from cassettes F X effects Atmos atmospheric or general sounds Further terms IS Insert Cut away An insert can be a shot of any kind like a close up or long shot If cut into the main scene it often highlights a special aspect of events Inserts are filmed as useful options While a woman is telling a tale for instance listeners may be filmed then the tale can be shortened onscreen by inserting some of the shots or the shots can be used to heighten the drama set the mood or increase variety 24 www mediaware us Time lapse and slow motion Films for television have 25 images per second and those for the cin ema 24 Viewed one after the other at these speeds the images give an impression of motion Changing the number of images per second either in filming a scene or playing it back affects the apparent speed Filming with fewer than the standard number and playing back with the standard number speeds the action up and is known as time lapse whereas filming with more than the standard number and playing back with the standard number slows the action down and is known as slow motio
4. even if maybe it will be shot several days later For this continuity with smaller productions the assistant director is responsible with larger ones the studio secretary aka the script girl This script report is an important document for the cutter but also during production various staff will rely on it to ensure the continuity from scene to scene Day Scene Set Inside outside Time Cast 1 6 Ship Outside Day Woman 9 Ship Outside Day Woman 2 before noon the team moves to the set castle Afternoon 1 Battlements Outside Day 2 Warden 3 Battlements Outside Day 2 Warden 3 8 Battlements Outside Day 1 Warden 7 Battlements and steps Outside Day 2 Warden 2 Street view from the Outside Day Horsemen battlements And Horse 4 Street view from the Outside Day Horsemen battlements And Horse 4 5 Street long shot castle Outside Day J 10 Dining hall Inside Evening 20 Soldiers Order of Shooting This shooting order considers that the ship is not located near the castle With this order the actor s schedule is economical as well the woman is hired for just one day of shooting and the team needs to climb the stairs to the roof terrace only once speeding up shooting by much 20 www mediaware us How to Describe Settings An exact description for each setting is a requirement for the shooting script Always describe each setting from the perspective ofthe camera which coincides with the perspective of the viewer For
5. script should be read by the client and the desired changes be worked into it NY Gp G www mediaware us Master Data Concept Script ES Sort Scenes Narration Has your script now been accepted Congratulations But you are still one step away from the production phase Your script must be worked up into a film script In the register Film Script Digital Director AV Pro offers specific tools to let each take on the computer be planned precisely eoo Digital Director AV Pro 1 07 Master Data Concept Script Eni Ele Sort Scenes Narration Film 1 Writer Andreas Rell Total Running Time 00 00 1 00 00 x g 1 g m Musik wie 1 Shooting Script O Finished Print Register Film Script 1 Take number 2 Location 3 Duration 4 Time of day Lighting 5 Size of take Kind of take 6 Camera equipment Sound equipment 7 Script field Video 8 Script field Audio 9 Import Audio File Commentary 10 Description Music Sounds 11 Import Audio file Music Sounds 12 Scene Image 13 Field for comments 14 Storyboard View ss The more precisely you treat your script the faster and more precisely the film can be realized On the set there can be no palaver about the next take and the best way to deal with it The fields Camer
6. word processing 15 www mediaware us Expos Treatment amp Shooting Script Whereas production in the sense of shooting and post production cutting and sound processing has become fully digitized pre production in the sense of planning has hardly changed save for the fact that typewriters have yielded to PCs for text processing But pre production from the expos to the treatment from the film script to the shooting script and from excerpts to the continuity script calls for a lot of writing and rewriting In this book it is shown how even the phase of planning can be drawn into the digital workflow of film production With the help of four practical examples a commissioned film a magazine contribution a documentation and a short film it is shown how a film can be effectively prepared with the help of specific software THE RAY OF THE SPHINX Themes Film Television Film script Readers Film authors Directors Cameramen Film students Hobby filmmakers ey i Lor Pro s5 www mediaware us
7. Created 0001 The Europena Dream 12 17 2014 0002 German Beer Makers 02 12 2015 12 02 2014 01 13 2015 The master data field of Digital Director Docu Titles of the separate projects Name of the client TV film production Name of the client TV institution The separate registers master data idea script shooting script sorting out of scenes spoken text BR WN All phases of work from the initial idea to the speaker s text are linked to the project and can be processed or even exported as rtf or doc files and mailed to the client www mediaware us Digital Director AV Pro professional scripting for corporate videographers Digital Director AV Pro was developed to meet the needs of the makers of industrial films Download Windows or the Mac version then you can use the program in the demo mode within certain limits for 30 days after creating your first project not after downloading and installing as with other programs After starting the program you land in the master data field already known to you Here you create new projects or work on existing ones Master Data Met Script Shooting Script SortScenes Narration All films are based on ideas You have no need to keep them on scraps of paper or notepads but can keep them all round the monitor on Digital Director AV Pro Then whenever you open the program you can see your ideas at a glance and soon or later it will occur to you how to use them an
8. add any corrections or amendments 42 www mediaware us Planning a Corporate Video The initial situation A car dealer wants to advertize a new model which is lavishly equipped through not only a prospectus but also a kind of multimedia presen tation This might kindle the interest of customers then make it easier for them to use the car The idea behind the film The dealer goes to a film company and asks to be offered an synopsis and also a calculation though this is not the theme of this book for a film with the following idea We want to have an informative film which presents and explains the comprehensive features of a new Volvo model This applies especially to the air conditioner cruiser and car radio with its various functions and there should also be tips about any servicing the owner could do for himself The aim is to show this film in our salesrooms but DVD copies should also be available for handing out freely to customers The synopsis The film producer develops the client s notion about the film further and puts the result into a brief synopsis In a film lasting 20 to 25 minutes the new Volvo is presented There are several blocks of information about servicing ranging from adjustment of the driver s seat to the air conditioning and changing of tyres and other small examples like checking the oil level and changing the bulbs of the front lamps One block is about changing tyres and gives tips
9. buyer is implemented And according to the commission and planned use the film is then made with one of many available systems The choice of system is less important as shown again and again by successful low budget productions But even before the planning there should be a basic idea or inspiration Certainly most movies are made without inspiration or planning are viewed only once or twice then shelved but these are purely amateur productions like vacation and family movies and we have no need to look at them here Instead we can turn to commercial films Professionals approach their films differently than the typical hobbyist Idea and planning take up the most space next to post production The actual filming is always only short and the better a movie has been planned and prepared for the shorter is the shooting and that with a visibly better result and less cost This book shows you how to plan a film using Digital Director AV Pro and Digital Director Docu prepare for filming and have a shooting script at your disposal on the set listing every vital piece of information for every single scene This book is not about the ideal format of a screen play for a movie since enough books have been written about that already The Writing of Screen Plays It makes a vast difference for which media the writing is done When writing for printed media the writing is targeted directly to the recipient All ideas facts persons
10. cover some 30 years Hence you may like to look at the Databank Filemaker available in versions for Mac Windows and Smartphones since this is easy to al program You will then be able to shape your own archive You may start by using a basic databank which you can then adapt to your own needs Changes or new fields for instance may be made within minutes le Index A assistant director 47 49 audience 7 author 39 C cameraman 41 45 commentary 45 commissioned film 41 47 continuity 18 contracted film 9 11 12 cutter 18 D databank 60 61 Digital Director AV Pro 6 37 41 47 55 Digital Director Docu 6 31 37 draft 54 DVD 9 E editor 49 editorial conference 52 email address 60 F Filemaker 60 filmmaker 53 film script 45 47 48 55 FrameForge 3D 48 H hand held camera 37 56 Hollywood format 55 Hollywood studio 55 industry film 9 51 interview 54 L laptop 49 50 M magazine contribution 59 MS Word 11 N news 9 notebook 41 0 OpenOffice 27 P PDF 48 Polaroid 50 post production 49 Pre Production 9 producer 55 R requisiteur 56 S scrap paper 50 screenplay 11 script girl 18 scriptment 11 45 scriptwriter 41 shooting script 47 49 sl smartphone 60 spreadsheet 15 storyboard software 48 studio secretary 18 synopsis 52 T television studio 37 treatment 10 11 TV journalist 59 TV station 52 53 WwW Wikipedia 11
11. of the guards keeps watching the horseman and the other guard runs of a staircase to sound the alarm www mediaware us Cut again to the woman on the ship Then cut to a room inside the castle full of drunken quards They hear the alarm jump up and storm out of the room In order to plan each take this plot will first be divided into scenes If you were to shoot in this order the chronological order of the movie this would mean that the movie team would have to arduously drag the equipment up and down stairs This would furthermore mean that all actors would have to be present for the complete duration of the shooting which would be costly and that all locations would have to be in the same region which is unlikely Therefore the screenplay is divided into a recording plan The Recording Plan The recording or production plan is put together by considering the following factors Number of Shooting Days Because you only have a certain number of days or weeks to realize the screenplay you have to attempt to adapt the plan to the calculated time Proximity of Locations To transport a movie team from one location to another requires time and a considerable amount of organization Therefore all shooting at location A is better completed before changing to location B without regards to the order in the screenplay Availability of Location If a location is available only at a certain time the remaining locations have
12. rode on the new wave Environmental Protection and many of them are now doing well as specialized journalists Their success is due in part to the wide specialist knowledge they have acquired over the years and of course to the contacts they have made with key environmentalists Whereas in the era before computers an archive was made up classically of extracts from newspapers carefully put into folders and archived this is now all done electronically Formerly newspaper articles could be scanned converted into text and saved separately as Word documents But the main thing about an archive is not that material is saved but rather that material is ready to hand especially with relevant links In the field of environmental protection where species are dying by the minute no minute is to be wasted Or say you claim in one of your films that a substance formerly deemed harmless is actually harming toddlers according to a scientific article you have found in the Internet The day after the film is broadcast you get a letter from the manufacturer s lawyer saying this will cost you a fortune You had better get your hands on that article fast to www mediaware us substantiate your claim scientifically or you too may soon be extinct In effect for every article you write you have to establish a link to the source and if need be also record the name and function of whoever makes a key claim Optimally this should include the person
13. round the steering wheel the radio and air conditioning The first block of information ends with the car crunching over the pebbles then there are further takes of it underway and takes from inside during the journey Jessica turns off to a petrol station which leads to the second block of information This is about servicing the car and the extent to which this can be done by the owner It begins with the car moving through the wash lane then emerging and going to a pump Oil is pumped in then the tyre pressure oil level windscreen water and safety are checked Finally Jessica shows which covering parts have to be removed to let the bulbs in the rear lamps be changed Further takes of driving through the valley of the Mosul lead to the third block to the changing of a wheel and the limitations of the spare wheel Jessica begins by showing how a wheel can be changed while heeding the safety regulations She fastens the spare wheel on and the speaker explains its limitations In this block the built in seat for a child is likewise presented as is the airbag system The 25 minute film ends with the car blending into the light of the setting sun While a telephoto shot of the car zooms in on the car moving on and on the end titles bearing the names of the team are superimposed and the film s sponsors are thanked This is the treatment of the Volvo film which lets the client know very clearly what the film is likely to lo
14. that the reader is to become familiar with are written in linear order and in this way guide the reader through the text The approach of an author though who writes for movies is entirely different whereby it does not matter whether a scenic or documentary production is planned What is to be considered when movie scripts are written Film is visual Nothing the author writes will ever be read by his target audience they will only see pictures and hear texts music and sounds Everything the author writes serves to convince the client of the movie s concept and to make it transparent to the team which will finally transpose his ideas into pictures sounds and the cut movie according to his idea Film come alive with motion Movies are not a sequence of frozen pictures held together by the text instead pictures must tell the story not the text It can only function supportively Film often shows the invisible Whether you are shooting a movie about faraway countries or with the microscope dive into a microcosm as a movie author you have to be able to intelligibly transport even difficult issues Film is subjective You control what the viewer will see and what he won t Perspective focal distance camera height with these tools you direct the view or eliminate information you do not wish to show Films are matched to an audience The movie maker has to constantly focus on his target group His visual conce
15. to be arranged accordingly 17 Scenes in chronological order 1 Castle roof terrace 2 horseman with dust cloud 3 castle roof terrace 4 horseman 5 castle view from the horseman s perspective 6 woman on ship 7 castle roof terrace Guard walks out 8 guard shoulders rifle 9 woman on ship 10 dining hall inside castle www mediaware us Scenes in order of story line No Scene content Inside outside Time 1 battlements Outside Day 2 Horseman viewed from castle Outside Day 3 battlements Outside Day 4 Horseman viewed from castle Outside Day 5 Castle viewed from horseman s per Outside Day spective 6 Woman on ship Outside Day 7 battlements Outside Day 8 battlements Outside Day 9 Woman on ship Outside Day 10 Dining hall inside castle Inside Day Availability of Actors When an actor is hired the production plan as the locations must be coordinated between the significance of the actor for the production and his other obligations Script Report During shooting changes always come up An actor receives a new text a planned location proves to be unsuitable and one or more scenes have to be filmed at a different location And finally in all movies that utilize actors attention must be paid to the transitions When in one scene an actor wears a blue shirt with a yellow tie he will have to wear those in the next scene
16. tripod would hardly count as such but short baby legs or a production compendium would The preliminary visit PV Even if you know a certain location intimately you should pay it a visit beforehand in the case of a commissioned film with actors to find sui table spots for the camera and to decide on suitable takes It is always a good idea to take a few snapshots straight away with your digital camera to put them as illustrations into your film script 48 www mediaware us NM Current Project t Volvo Writer Andreas Reil Total Running Time 00 00 No Aufblende Titeleinblendung Volve 850 Bei n herkommendem Wagen werden die Fahrger usche eingeblendet Ein Volvo f hrt in einer Kurve an der Kamera vorbei No Video Audio 2 Einstellung Auto zu Auto Titeleinblendung Die Multimedia Bedienungsanleitung MOS sicherheitshalber aber Ton mitnehmen No Video Audio Mos Video Audio The script mode of Digital Director AV Pro Storyboard program You may not always have a chance to visit a location beforehand to make still photos in the setting planned and to integrate these into the film script If you nonetheless want a client to know what takes you have in mind you must either make drawings on a storyboard or if this is not forte resort to storyboard software such as FrameForge 3D for the key scenes The Script breakdowns The preparations for shooting have been
17. ELTRERZNKTNER EHE 00 23 06 Der Volvo 850 die neue Klasse aus Schweden Seine exzellenten Fahreigenschaften sprichw rtliche Sicherheit und hochmodeme Technik zeichnen die neue Volvo Generation aus Das unverwechselbare Design wurde intemational positiv bewertet und im en Italien sogar mit einem Preis bedacht In den n chsten 25 Minuten werden wir Ihnen mit dieser Multimedia Bedienungsanleitung den Volvo 850 n her vorstellen Wir zeigen Ihnen die wichtigsten Bedienungs funktionen und hoffen da Sie sich vom ersten Augenblick an in Ihrem Volvo 850 wohlf hlen Dieses Video wurde mit einem Volvo 850 in der Kombiversion gedreht Auch wenn Sie sich f r die Limosine als Ihren Volvo 850 entschieden haben hilft Ihnen diese Bedienungsanleitung weiter Die Unterschiede liegen mehr in den Details Bitte beachten Sie au erdem das Volvo st ndig verschiedene Details in der Ausstattung ver ndert und verbessert Dies kann dazu f hren da diese Multimedia Bedienungsanleitung vielleicht nicht in allen Punkten mit der Ausstattung Ihres Modells bereinstimmt The spoken text in Word 26 www mediaware us images there is a need for information about the location the angle and size of the image the planned duration and whether the shot is indoors or outdoors day or night These alone call for at least seven columns Working with a text processor becomes awkward at the latest when excerpts from the script are nee
18. Pro supports you in planning and producing your industrial and commissioned films but can also be used as film script software for scenic productions al Digital Director Docu the planning of documentaries Though Digital Director AV Pro may be said to be film script software this is not actually true of Digital Director Docu since no film script in the narrower sense of the word can be written for adocumentary or news or magazine clip Even so such films should not be made without any planning Digital Director Docu takes a new path in planning for this genre The basic idea for this software is that adocumentary maker may be familiar with a planned location but have only a vague inkling of what is awaiting him there He may already know who is to hold interviews and what the questions are to be he may already have been to the location to view the scenery and the lighting and above all he may have already decided on how the filming is to be done Does he for instance wish to have a dynamic hand held camera an epic style with lengthy calm takes or rather a style unique but possibly mannered The result of a reportage or documentation or even a brief contribution to a magazine may depend very much on whether or not the various factors like the camera movements sound lighting and interview dovetail into a whole Moreover everyone working on the film has to have a clear notion of what the film s author would like to achieve The ti
19. The Ray of the Sphinx The Digital Preproduction for Documentary Film amp Corporate Video with Filmscripting Software _ Pi igs Software for Pro s www mediaware us www mediaware us The Ray of the Sphinx Kft V r smarty utca 67 H 1064 Budapest The Digital Film Preproduction for Documentary Films amp Corporate Video with Digital Director Docu and Digital Director AV Pro www mediaware us Table of Content PROTEC Eisses s aE e SE EN OEA E ENET 6 The Writing of Scree n Plays cccccsesssssecececeecessesssstsaeeeeeseseesees 7 The 3 Phases of Film ProdUCHONessirisusresniniisrisi erisia 9 How to Describe Settings ereneeennenneneneennnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnennennnnnnnnn 20 Terms to Describe Types of Settings c cccccccsssssssssssseeeeeeeeees 22 The Tools for Film Script Writing ccccccessccccecescessssssteeaeeeeees 25 Planning a Corporate Vid 0 ccccecssssseceeeeeceessesestesaeeeeeeeseesees 42 Planning a Documentary siena a 51 Planning Scenic Production ccccecsssssceceeeccessssesseaaeeeeeeeeeeeees 55 G theringideas nn ser eve a ot ehesten 59 6 www mediaware us Preface Betacam SP DigiBeta DV HDV or HDCam or even film which of these systems is the perfect movie to be filmed It s simple it hardly matters A movie develops in the phase of planning not filming During filming only planning which has already been assessed and approved by the
20. a equipment and Sound equipment are to be edited and filled in with the equipment available to you The editing can be done through the window menu Here you can also change all other fields with task values to adapt them to your needs Rookies in the film branch especially directors may find it hard during their first projects to imagine every take and its treatment But practice makes perfect or at least more confident about how long any particular take should last and from what point of view it would work best Video is visual and with Digital Director you have a good chance to school your ability in visualization The pre visualization function Digital director has a pre visualization function with whose help you can see the film from the first clapboard on to check its effect Record the text of the commentary with a USB microphone and import in into each take You can also import music and sounds Through the menu point pre visualization Script gt Pre visualization a video can be made of the stills and the recorded commentary music sounds and played back This lets you check whether or not the images and text go well together and more importantly you can sense gaps in the sense of takes without images If you find any such gaps you can try to think of images to go with the commentary Now in the pre production phase this costs you only a little time but if first noticed in the phase of cutting it costs more The
21. above the scene and looks down on it Lowview perspective from below The camera is located below the scene and looks up to it in the extreme case a worm s eye view 2 www mediaware us Terms to Describe Types of Settings The screenplay must contain directions for settings and setting sizes Every movie maker is familiar with the setting sizes total half total etc so I will only touch on a few terms in regards to types of settings plot and sound Camera Motion Horizontal camera pan shot The camera pans on the stand from right Vertical camera pan shot Track Parallel track z Z O to left or contrarily The camera pans on the stand from top to bottom Fixed to a dolly or trolley on rails the camera moves forwards or backwards towards or away from the motif The camera likewise tracks but this time sidewards Ajib mounted onthe dolly can be withdrawn or sent out and can also be swivellen Zooming in enlarges the details by framing a smaller area The focal length of the object lens changes but the camera stays put so the angle of vision is unchanged Zooming out shrinks the details by framing a bigger area Abbreviations related to action A B As before P A Preferably F G Foreground B G Background F W Forwards B W Backwards zl X S Axes C R Camera right from the camera s and viewer s point of view with the action onscreen C L Camera left O Sh Over the shoulder
22. aineers fallera CUT TO THE DALE THE PROTAGONISTS COME INTO FRAME FROM THE RIGHT The singing stops NORBERT Get an eyeful of that view GABY Fantastic right out of a movie CLOSE UP OF NORBERT AND HEINZ HEINZ Norbert look carefully You ll not have a second chance at least not alone with us NORBERT Don t keep on rubbing it in PEPITA TURNS ROUND TO NORBERT AND HEINZ PEPITA Heinz come on get the camera rolling GAZES DOWN PEPITA Sit down Muff This is what a classically formatted shooting script looks like 58 www mediaware us Master Data Concept Script Sort Scenes Narration Writer Andreas Reil Time of Cy 7 1 02 1 Lighting ing of 7 1 ET Audio Music Sound Effects Seene WandarernVerdichten auf Wandergruppe gro TITEL 3 und 3 macht neun Time of Dev Toke Des chins TT EU Music Sound Effects Musik wie zuvor wird in der Mitte der Szene in den Gesang der Gruppe bergeblendet Wandergruppe jetzt n her Alle Singend TITEL Ein Film von Andreas Reil Im Fr htau zu Berge wir gehen fallera es gr nen die W lder die H hn fallera J oao Lor TT Video Audio Kamera l uft neben der Wandergruppe Alle Singend her und nimmt jeweils einen der Im Fr htau zu Berge wir gehen Wanderer f r ca 5 Sekunden ins Bild fallera es gr nen die W lder die l sst ihn dann herauslaufen um den fallera n chsten ins Bild zu nehmen
23. and the Volvo 850 This is the start of the commentary for the planned film Once you have handed the commentary over to the client maybe for the sake of editing you can begin on the film script The film script Writing a film script calls for amarked visual sensibility You ought to be able to visualize the takes and be familiar with the effects of establishing shots close ups and wide angles If unable to do this you may do well to rely more on the cameraman and to limit your work to planning a rough match between text and imagery www mediaware us For writing a film script Digital Director AV Pro offers the input mode in which only the image and text columns are shown Master Data Concept Shooting Script Sort Scenes Narration All other kinds of input especially important for a shooting script are not shown If you wait till you are on the set before deciding what takes to use for the various scenes you will need a lot of time to cope Since this is a chic advertizing film it calls for a fairly big team a director with an assistant a cameraman with an assistant a sound technician a makeup artist and last but not least an actress Even if the costs are calculated very finely they are likely to come to at least 2000S a day A precise film script may shorten the filming by a couple of days and lead to a better result since transitions between scenes will be apt No establishing shot will then lead to anothe
24. as to be kept For an experienced movie maker it is not usually a big problem to determine the length of each take while writing the shooting script Yet it is much more difficult to calculate the total duration of all specified scenes am not aware of any calculator that will automatically add times minutes seconds and show the sum correctly formatted 0 35 0 55 1 30 and not 0 90 This can probably be solved by utilizing MS Excel but in any case is an arduous undertaking where one would constantly go back and forth between the spreadsheet and the word processing Screenplay break downs The screenplay lists all takes in the order in which they will show in the film therefore the chronology of the screenplay is in regards to the finished film not the shooting But a movie is not shot in the order of the plot This means that there is no continuous development from scene 1 on the first day to scene 50 on the tenth day or whenever the shooting is finished A film is not shot in chronological order Imagine for example a feature film with the following plot Plot It is day Two guards stand on the roof terrace of a castle You see a horseman riding towards them in a cloud of dust One of the guards reaches for his rifle All of a sudden the rider stops the horse and looks up to the castle We see the castle from the rider s perspective Cut to the recording of a woman aboard a ship Back to the roof terrace where one
25. ch are seldom or never needed for commissioned films documentaries and magazine contributions zs www mediaware us B U ation z 100 joga B 14 Ke Deeg EET Bene 3 5 oa WALKER TEXAS RANGER EPISODE TITLE TEASER FADE IN INT TRUCK DAY Action it typed in mixed case with single spacing ANGLE ON WALKER shot PERSPECTIVES are typed in parentheses with directions in all caps Action it typed in mixed case with single spacing INT RESTAURANT NIGHT Action it typed in mixed case with single spacing WALKER Enter dialogue here FADE OUT After selecting transition to put in FADE OUT hit 7 to select end of act Then type END OF ACT and simply hit Enter which will take you to a new page and the start of a new act Type ACT TWO and hit the Enter key and type FADE IN Then hit Ctrj 1 and you re at the start of a new slug line END OF TEASER A page of a film script created in Final Draft Digital Director AV Pro amp Docu solutions for documentary films and commissioned films industrial films Beside these established programs for scenic productions the Digital Director s programs are now widely used for industrial commissioned films Both of its programs are outlined below These program focus on creating scripts which may be developed into shooting scripts You may also print excerpts out for your own z shooting They not o
26. d from the beginning of the film project nor in just one single script and is also not identical for every sort of film The following chapters deal with what information is necessary in each phase sl The 3 Phases of Film Production The path from the idea to the finished film comprises three main phases planning shooting and the final stage The technical terms for these are pre production production and post production and finally also the Konfektionierung the making of copies or DVDs as the last phase In this book mostly deal with the planning stage of movies and first of all show the individual stages of planning From the Idea to the Script the Pre Production The Idea Each film starts with an underlying idea but only a few ideas actually turn into films The idea for a film can be very simple Hey let s take the camera today in this way amateur films are made and these films are usually produced meaning shot and edited equally spontaneously But for this genre an approach with little or no planning is entirely okay The conception for contracted and industry films develop mostly at the clients who for an upcoming trade show or a new product aim to support the printed advertising with a film Contracted films are realized either in house or via external film production With news mostly current events conference state visit or even a disaster form the basis for a film or else it is the ne
27. d who with Current Project Concept Finished Export E If you click on the register Idea a text entry data field opens Once the idea has been saved and rounded off you can mark the field as ended then at the same time the status is shown in the master data field by a green tick You can export the data In the field Takes you have various text export and paper formats to choose from Master Data Concept WEIT Shooting Script Sort Scenes Narration The film script itself is typed into the register Script Here you find the two column layout common for industrial films master vi gq vrenoucn Szenen surueren _ aprecneriexi j aven wee eye Aktuelles Projekt How tp fly model helicopters Writer Andreas Reil Total Running Time 00 00 On the left you note what is to be seen in the film and on the right what is to be heard or the commentary as the case may be You can spring with the tab key from one field to the next With a tab in the field Audio a new take is automatically attached Writing the first version of a film script is a creative and often wearying task The best thing is to rely on brainstorming For the first version there s no need to bother about spelling or punctuation or being perfect in other ways The script can be polished later perhaps not till having to be shown to a client Before you move on to developing the script into a film script the
28. ded Certainly all scenes to be shot in a single set may be found manually by fingering through a 50 page script but experience suggests there are always some changes just before shooting and the excerpts have to be printed again at the last moment Then a scene or two may easily be overlooked An alternative is to print out a whole script for everyone working on the film and to use markers to colour the scenes using the same set everything on the battlements red on the ship green and in the dining hall blue You can see for yourself that working with a text processor is no elegant workflow like the other digital workflows of a film production but is rather a throwback to earlier days This is how things were done in the 70s Spreadsheet It is less suitable to use text processing than spreadsheet since this involves columns anyway Seven or more columns are soon chosen Shifting single features each of which counts as a line is easier with drag and drop than in text processing Only script excerpts still have to be found by hand and printed But all in all it has to be said that tables likewise offer no neat solution Film script software What about special software for film scripts Just as there are various programs for the various tasks solvable with a computer various providers offer special software for creating film al Image Text Music Comments Fade in The sound of Music is faded in A walkie talkie The Volvo dr
29. ditor www mediaware us The Continuity Script In working with actors it is important to keep an eye on continuity If for instance at the end of the first block of information Jessica puts her sunglasses on before leaving they should still be on when she is first seen again In the case of bigger productions the person keeping an eye on continuity is the script girl but in the case of smaller productions this person is the assistant director In pre computer days the assistant director had a typed film script with lots of room on the right of the page for noting all changes to the script as well as all points relevant to continuity In the case of tricky takes such as those with many actors the assistant director took a photo with a Polaroid camera of the end of each take then clipped the image into the film script Thirty years on the whole process of film production from pre production to post production is fully digitized The assistant director types notes about continuity into the relevant field and instead of using a Polaroid takes a photo with her digital camera Finally through USB she links the camera to a laptop and puts the photo into the script at the right place Facit From the idea through the shooting script to the script excerpts a lot of writing and coordination is needed Modern software not only supports your work but also helps you to recognize problems like consecutive takes of the same kind earlier They m
30. e approximate duration for each setting The more information the shooting script entails the more efficient and precise the shooting will be www mediaware us What a simple shooting script may look like you can see below Bild Text Drive by The Volvo 850 the new class from Sweden Mosel shore Car Ist excellent driving approaches the camera features Vehicle to vehicle view car passes camera car on the right Proverbial safety and ultra modern engineering Interior view low take Jessica puts car into fifth gear Distinguish the new Volvo generation Cut motor boat on the Mosel In a Mosel town wide angle drive by close to the camera low take Castle Mosel total Jessica comes out of the house From the roof top J walks around the Volvo and opens the vehicle door Cut interior J opens the vehicle door sits down Driver side door open J sits and adjusts the driver seat forwards and backwards The Volvo s driver seat is adjustable to your personal size and seating positions in many settings To move the seat horizontally lift the handle in front of the seat and then move the seat forwards or backwards This is what a shooting script may look like created with a word processing program sl Timing the Screenplay Only very rarely does the length of the finished movie not matter for the most part a set and agreed upon duration h
31. efore always be written so that it can be printed out later as a shooting script with screenplay excerpts Ascreenplay consists in its most simply form of 2 adjacent columns In one column is listed what is being seen in the picture and the other column shows the text usually the speaker or narrator text A screenplay for a contracted film for example could look like this Video Audio Recordings in various The Volvo 850 the new setting sizes on the Mosel class from Sweden Its shore and in wine towns excellent driving features along the Mosel proverbial safety and super modern engineering characterize the new Volvo generation Its distinctive design was positively evaluated internationally and even received an award and the design fastidious Teas the same In the coming 25 minutes we will with this multi media manual more closely introduce the Volvo 850 We will show you the main features and hope that you will feel comfortable from the first moment on in your Volvo 850 Two takes from a screen play for a contract film al This short excerpt describes the first two sequences of the movie and gives a good impression of what the movie will look like shots with various settings show the new Volvo in a scenic area and in romantic wine locations with narrow streets and picturesque houses This is what the client had in mind A screenplay does not yet contain exact instructions as to how to car
32. example The Volvo comes into view from the right and drives away towards the left Following are the most important abbreviations and descriptions for settings Top of the frame Frame left Frame right Bottom of the frame Entrances and exits Comings and goings As stated above these should always be noted from the camera s i e the viewer s point of view al WA Wide Angle Shot XLS Extra Long Shot LS Long Shot MLS Medium Long Shot 3 Shot or Triple Setting 2 Shot or Dual Setting HNDS Half Near Dual Setting CUDS Close Up Dual Setting TDS Total Dual Setting HN Half Near CU Close Up ECU X s sub H V L V A shot offering a wide view or overview of a scene or situation A shot less wide than deep A shot of a figure from head to foot A shot of a figure from head to knees A shot of three main figures A shot of one figure over another s shoulder A shot of two figures from head to waist A shot of two figures from head to shoulders A shot of two figures one in the foreground and one in the background A shot from head to hips with the normal angle of vision A shot from head to shoulders Extreme Close Up the face fills the entire screen Substituted Shot Camera setting from the perspective of a person X The camera takes the position of X and shows his perspective of the scene High view perspective from above The camera is located
33. f events on location Such brief contributions are made mostly by cameramen and editors employed full time by the station Often they hear only the day beforehand about the films due to be shot or cut so prior discussions between a filmmaker and his team are hardly possible The filmmaker can fill them in only on their way to the location or he can mail them a script on the day or evening before shooting What kind of information ought to be in a shooting script for a magazine contribution The filmmaker looks at all locations in preparation and there notes feasible camera positions and kinds of takes but he then writes no shooting script listing the separate takes since this would be superfluous and impossible The protagonists or rather the persons interviewed are no actors who can be told what to do and say During the shooting of a documentary they are merely observed and recorded All a reporter can do is direct the film s content through his questions and discretely place the protagonists and guide their movements in such a way as to let the camera take relevant shots In a shooting script you should give each location one take in your tallying program Instead of typing out the take s size and kind you should type into the field Directive camera merely a description of how you would like the take to be done Here is an example for the start of the film The film begins with a montage Early morning traffic in the city for insta
34. he Europen Dream Scene No Director Not Available Total running time 00 00 Instuctions for Camera Instructions for Sound Instructions for Lighting Biger von der morgensicnen Rushnour Teh brauche Hupen bremsende 00 30 Viele Detai und Grotaufnahmen z B Fahrzeuge Ampeln die auf Rot umspringer a eremacnde Fahrzeuge Innenstadt 7 _ Autos die vor Ampain stenen Auch acne tie sche Einahungen von Au enaufnahmi t isven Ste Kamera 5 6 zer i g Instuctions for Camera Instructions for Sound Instructions for Lighting Questions for Interview Interview mi Frank Meier 7 Funkstrecke damit er sich Alt fr Interview im Wagen Warum glauben Sie dass cie 02 00 Autamobiverein Ich m chte das fient in den Kabel verneddert Da meine Amnpeiscnatungen zum Nachteil dor scat Interview Beginnen wie er seinen Fragen nicht in das Inarview Aatofarereingor Wagen besteigt und das Geb ude 9esehniten werden brauche ich f r Im Auto vereet Interview dann im Auto Men ken Miro bel den Entstehen den Autotahrem durch diese Kameramann sist auf dem Beifahrersitz Anpeischatung Zum Unerschneiden Ges interviews Wire dadurch such die Unwet Innen 7 brauche icn einige Einstalungen aus Was ist mi der gr nen Wohe werden d Fahrzeug heraus nient sle Verkenrateinehmer Interview wird von der Senuler gedreht der its Instructions for Sound Instructions for Lighting Questions for Interview Tages
35. ic lights chosen to induce car drivers to rely on public transport as well as to make the publicly owned billboards by traffic lights more tempting to advertisers The synopsis is made up of two parts In the first I explore the hypothesis that traffic lights are timed in favour of public transport This is backed by the claims of a leading member of an automobile club and by a statement from Prof K the emeritus director of the Institute of Transportation at our city s university In the second part I endeavour to prove that through the mistiming of traffic lights the city even manages to cut costs through needing fewer trams while boosting its income from advertising since drivers are forced to linger in front of billboards and advertisers can then be induced to pay more Interviews with members of the city s Transport Office round off the picture of the transport dilemma and the mistiming of traffic lights Length of emission about 10 Minuten ss Time for production 1 day s shooting 1 day s editing The shooting script Since the filmmaker works regularly for this local TV station the head of the station in the sense of the chief editor needs only the synopsis to decide whether or not to commission the filming A treatment is not usually needed for such a small commission and would hardly be possible anyway since the answers of persons interviewed cannot be accurately guessed beforehand and the same is true o
36. ight otherwise linger unnoticed up to the first phase of editing But even in the case of continuity these programs free you from notes on scrap paper and also from illegible scribble in a film script s margin sil Planning a Documentary Industrial films are planned one take after another like feature films Each line in the film script tallies precisely with a take Smaller changes during shooting can either be typed in on location or the editor can find out where a non documented take should be cut into the film with the help of the scene numbers and contents Documentaries and reportages are quite different In this case there are no preplanned shots which the cameraman takes one after the other but only locations and ideas about what could be filmed there Often the director has a notion of what kinds of sequences he would like without being very familiar with a location or what is likely to happen there The beginning of a documentary a reportage or a magazine contribution always consists of intensive research Facts are gathered appointments for interviews made and so on as is done in all branches of journalism This gives rise to a concept not offered or imposed on the filmmaker but one he may try to sell in most cases to a television station In this chapter would like to show you the course of events using reportage as an example Reportage Contributions to magazines Reportages are often filmed as contributi
37. ives past a Volvo passing to let the driver know The title is faded in when to drive off Volvo 850 The Volvo drives over The iconic design the Mosul Bridge is esteemed internationally The camera closes in and in Italy the land of design on the Volvo has been awarded a prize A film script in OpenOffice scripts Among the best known are Final Draft Movie Magic Screen writer or as open source Celtix There are also various plug ins for Word like Moving Plot but all these programs have been designed for scripts for scenic productions short feature and television films Like Word plug ins they do not work with several columns Basically they are limited to centring a text aligning it on the left or putting it into capitals as is called for by the various film script standards for scenic productions None of the above mentioned programs can print out a script as a shooting script or in the form of script excerpts nor can it insert directions about shooting in terms of close ups wide angles and so on These programs are meant only for formatting film scripts for scenic productions Scripts thus formatted can then be sent off to television stations film companies or film sponsors As to which of these programs really delivers a Hollywood format this is something for you to find out for yourself The strengths of these programs lie above all in dealing with characters and in their formatting functions whi
38. l more work so a treatment is seldom offered free of charge and more often has to paid for by the client This fee flows into the production costs if the film is then commissioned In this example the production firm has to consider which blocks of information should be filmed how many they should be and what takes are needed to separate the blocks The treatment for the Volvo promotion film might look like this Fade in a slow pan to the right the Mosul is to be made out in the background a Volvo drives past the camera with the sound of the motor blending into music There follow further takes of the Volvo including a pan from another car and a wide angle view of the car with romantic timbered houses of a village on the Mosul while the car drives closely past the camera The title runs over this montage www mediaware us of images The Volvo 850 a multimedia servicing presentation After the title the speaker gives details about the Volvo its design prizes and its unique appearance The music is faded out the Volvo stands in front of a mansion above the Mosul on a drive of marble pebbles and Jessica whom the commentary has introduced comes out of the house strolls round the car opens the driver s door and slips in to sit behind the wheel This leads to the first block of information Jessica begins by explaining the possible ways to adjust the driver s seat then the inner and outer mirrors the switches
39. lichtlapne da das B ro gro e Fensterfl chen hat Duration Location Shooting Condition Date E Second Unit E Interview E Notes Shooting Script Finished 1 The planned duration of the takes on any one set 2 The name of the location 3 The place of the take indoors outdoors studio and so on 4 Marking fields for the interview second unit and comments 5 Text field for directives for the cameraman 6 Text field for directives for the sound man 7 Text field for directives for the lighting man 8 The field for interview questions As the author you can plan your film and each single location give your notions of implementation to your team and then on location have your questions ready to hand instead of having to talk things over with the team on the verge of shooting 40 www mediaware us Master Data Concept Synopsis Treatment Script METS e129 Narration In the register Logistic Dispo you can make the dispos for your team agree on places for meetings and so on everything unavoidable for the success of your film project Master Data Concept Synopsis Treatment Script Logistics Call Sheet And finally in the register Spoken text you write down the commentary for your film al Examples from experience The commissioned film In this chapter I shall show you with the help of some examples how various film projects may be realized with the help of y
40. mes are long since past in which the team metthe author on a ramp in front of television studios to be given a briefing on what the film was about on the way to the location If the team was lucky it would take about half an hour to get there but if it took only a few minutes the team would start filming with hardly a clue The result would then be a potpourri not a thrilling documentation But even filmmakers working wholly alone from the first idea to the final editing benefit from using Digital Director Docu Behind these three registers you find text fields with export possibilities where you can record your film idea synopsis or treatment to the extent required by the client www mediaware us e090 E Digital Director Docu 1 14 Master Data Concept Treatment Script Logistics Call Sheet Narration Current Project The Europen Dream Director Andreas Reil Concept Synopsis O Finished Export OFinished Export In the windows Synopsis and Treatment you see in each case two win dows next to each other letting you work on and extend the earlier text But the real heart of the software is the register Script Master Daten Idee Expos Treatment Logistik Dispo Sprechertext But the real heart of the software is the register Script Master Data Concept Synopsis _ Treatment Logistics Call Sheet Narration Current Project T
41. n If for instance a car travelling at 50 km hr is filmed with 12 images per second and the film is played back with 24 the apparent speed is doubled whereas if it is filmed with 48 images per second and played back with 24 the apparent speed is halved The same cannot be done with a soundtrack since changing the speed changes the frequency so the soundtrack has to be made separately In the case of video recordings the car is filmed normally then the speed of the clip is doubled by being set at 200 sl The Tools for Film Script Writing As you have seen getting a film ready from the idea to script excerpts calls for a lot of writing and you may wonder how best to use a com puter for this purpose Let s have a look at the programs available on the market with an eye to developing a script Text processing At first it may seem to be a good idea to use text processing for every thing from the synopsis to a script report and then for additions and changes This may indeed be practical for the synopsis treatment and even the scripting since these are made up of continuous text but most users of PCs falter when it comes to creating several columns of text in Word and finally trying to shift single takes This is hardly possible except with copy amp paste For a script it is enough to have two columns image text but for a shooting script there is plainly a need for more Besides the text and EHGHEEIHERIHERTNEHTN
42. n either the film script has to be changed or the missing takes have to be filmed though the time allotted for filming has passed SM 74 amp 36 www mediaware us Master Data Concept Script Shooting Script MEET Narration In the register Sort scenes you can see all your film takes one under oo Digital Director AV Pro 1 07 Master Data Concept Seript 1 Shooting Script ESPEN Narration Film 1 Writer Andreas Reil Ne Zeit Drehort Tageszeit Art der Aufnahme Art der Einstellung Video Audio 1 0 00 van L R Atende Tsenblerdung Voko 8 Bai nherkommencem Wagen werd 2 00 00 Day Outdoor MLS Medium Long Shot fl Low angle shot Enstslung Auto zu AutoTitleinblen MOS sicherheitshalber aber Ton mt 00 00 Day F Indoor ELS Exeme Long Shot MM Low angle shor Einstellung Wagen zu Wagen MOS 4 0 00 Day Outdoor cu Ciose up Low angle shot ImenaufahmevomBafahrestzaus MOS 5 00 00 6 00 00 In the register Sort scenes you can see at a glance all the takes listed Each take size is marked by a different hue letting you recognize visual problems easily In the case of 1 for instance 3 successive takes should be filmed from a frog s point of view and this is something for you as a director to check once more Master Data Concept Script Shooting Script Sort Scenes And finally in the last register there is a text field for the text of your commentary Facit Digital Director AV
43. nce with red lights and traffic jams Zooms and pans may www mediaware us N be used as may a hand held camera These are important directives for the cameraman You leave the choice of images to him and the choice will depend of course on the circumstances as well as on the fact that only one day is available for planning In the field Interview you enter the questions you wish to ask the relevant persons Ensure that not only the outline but also the shooting script lands in the editing room then the editor can get ready This draft will give him an inkling of your ideas and the sequence you had in mind or you may have given directives for the editing in the field Notes ss Planning Scenic Production Scenic productions such as short feature and television films call for their respective shooting script format or so a non documented rule says Hence the location characters and dialogue are formatted according to certain rules On the whole the format we use is based on the Hollywood format but gives a much more detailed shooting script format and presentation than does a form merely defining the format of dialogue Such formatting conventions are important for anyone wishing to hand a shooting script over to a film agency or sponsoring institute to be passed on to a producer even in Hollywood This is because heeding unwritten rules shows you already have an inkling of film making But does it make sense to fo
44. nly support an author in developing an idea but also accompany a film project from the first idea to the final shooting This is the key difference to the above named script programs for scenic productions Though meant to meet the requirements of commissioned films and documentaries they are also ideal tools if scripts for scenic productions are to be used in practice And if you are not aiming to hand your script over to a US studio to be made into a feature you can write it all straight into one of these two programs This will save you a lot of time when you are later in need of a shooting script and excerpts There is more about this in the chapter scenic productions The notion behind Digital Director software Both programs are based on the same notion both are available for Win amp Mac and differences lie mainly in details this being due to the areas they are meant to be used in industrial commissioned films or documentary films What they have in common is that they offer the classical form of a script have more than only two columns and also have other bonuses For instance further information such as a direc tives from a director can flow into the script from the start All projects at a glance Whoever has to see to various projects at the same time must keep an eye on many separate documents the idea synopsis script and dispo so may easily lose the overview With Digital Director you can keep an eye on many
45. of cost meaning the author creates this synopsis at his own risk As far as the extent is concerned the synopsis should be short according to its genre it will hardly be longer than one page the style is continuous text without special rules for formatting The Treatment The next step to the film is the treatment a short version of the com ing screenplay While the treatment already contains all information necessary for the comprehension of the movie for scenic productions including most characters it is hardly ever final but will be adapted by the author to the client s conceptions To create a treatment the film production clearly has to invest more work therefore this step is usually not done for free instead the client has to cover the cost al The extent of the treatment begins with one page and can with scenic productions of multiple plots and different characters reach ten or twen ty pages The treatment is also submitted without special formatting Scriptment An intermediate stage to the screenplay can be the scriptment which is mostly written with scenic productions The scriptment a word compo sition of script and treatment can already contain dialog and directing instructions and is therefore formatted in screenplay style Those that write screenplays in MS Word will work mostly with centering text indenting and caps but there are no special rules for the formatting of the scriptment Since the scrip
46. ok like what themes are to be dealt with and even what kind of imagery is to be used pa Scriptment This commissioned film is no camera film where images dominate but a film where images support the text so you have to begin with the commentary which is the basis of the scripting phase Unless the client has further wishes or wants to change the commentary this is the final text version The Volvo 850 the new class from Sweden Its excellent driving characteristics exemplary safety and highly modern technology are typical of the new Volvo generation The unmistakable design is internationally acclaimed and has even been awarded a prize in Italy the land of design In the next 25 minutes we are going to give you a multimedia introduction to servicing the Volvo 850 We are going to show you the most important service functions and hope you will feel fine in your Volvo 850 right from the start This video was made with a Volvo 850 in its version as a station wagon Even if you have opted for the limousine as your Volvo 850 these service instructions remain relevant The differences are mainly in the details Please note that Volvo continually changes and improves the equipment This may cause this multimedia introduction to diverge in some points from what applies to your own car The last word is to be found in the service manual supplied with the car Keeping this in mind please have a nice time with Jessica
47. ons to magazines and last for no more than 15 minutes and sometimes for as few as 5 Nonetheless they are definitely longer than news items which focus on just a few facts A contribution to a magazine is able to round the contents off though the amount of information conveyed is limited by the time for transmission The information comes through images a commentary and often through interviews with specialists and folk affected The aim of the interviews is mostly to support the filmmaker s views It is now usual to let interviews take up most of the time and to use images only to introduce the theme and to back the commentary 52 www mediaware us A City Sees Red The idea It occurs to the filmmaker that traffic in big cities is slow and that cars can move only from red light to red light whereas public transport seems to ride on a green wave Oddly the biggest billboards of the city s advertizing moguls are often found at the lights too He is drawn to conclude that the lights tempo is chosen deliberately to hinder cars and make drivers switch to public transport and also to make the advertizing more effective Synopsis Inspired by this idea the filmmaker writes an synopsis which he then takes to the next editorial conference of the local TV station In the synopsis A City sees Red I endeavour to prove that the sluggish motion of traffic through mega cities is due to the wilfully false or unfavourable timing of traff
48. our film script software Once you have got to know the tools needed for film planning I want to show you the pre production workflow for a commissioned film Commissioned films can be quite a challenge for a scriptwriter or director depending on the theme Often you have to familiarize yourself with themes which you otherwise know little or nothing about You have to take care not only to show things from a suitable point of view but also to use the special terminology The cameraman is seldom at hand for prior discussions unless he is a one man show or production company but has to know which details in particular are to be heeded In some productions the same is true of the sound man who may have to heed certain sounds or avoid others at all cost These key data are seldom given neatly to the scriptwriter or director all in one go They mostly come to light gradually in the course of a series of meetings for making plans As a conscientious filmmaker he will begin by jotting them down into his notebook and then transfer them later to his computer But will they be available to the cameraman and other team members while they are filming It would be more feasible to put these data straight into the script so Digital Director AV Pro offers you the field Comments Since you may well have to show your script to the client before production this gives him a chance to check once more whether or not the data are correct and complete and to
49. projects and their stages of development at the same time In both programs you can use the master data field though they differ slightly in the two programs DD AV Pro and DD Doc since these are meant to meet different needs 30 www mediaware us The master data field of Digital Director AV Pro Concept Script Shooting Script Sort Scenes Narration fly madel helicopters Agency Director Andreas Reil Date Created Client Writer Andreas Reil 720p 24p Production Company Producer Rotor LLC OREA D Tite Director Client Date Created 0001 LED Lighting Andreas Reil High Light LLC 10 30 2014 0002 Snow tires Andreas Reil Intergrip 12 17 2014 0003 Pig Cleaning of gas pipelines Andreas Reil Inter Oil 03 25 2015 The master data field of Digital Director AV Pro Titles of the separate projects Name of the client commissioner Stages of development of the separate projects The separate registers master data idea script shooting script sorting out of scenes spoken text A WN al The master data field of Digital Director Docu AEST Concept Synopsis Treatment Script Logistics Call Sheet Narration Project Data Project Title German Zeitgeist Production Company WFO Date Created 12 02 2014 AlternateTitle Client gt Format 720p 24p 2 ID Title r Date
50. pts and his text always must be geared to this target group a professional movie will work with different www mediaware us pictures than a movie about the same topic to be shown ina news program Film exactly replicates reality Documentary makers live with the reality that can not be manipulated Objects that exist in reality will also be shown when filmed in this direction When conceptualizing the movie this must be considered by the movie maker At times different camera placement helps bring reality into accord with the planned movie subject sometimes a film must be changed completely when objects absolutely cannot be eliminated from the frame Motion sound and color have to harmonize A film must be balanced in all its components It consists of various sequences and each sequence again of multiple shots which have to merge into a harmonic collective of motion sound and consistent color harmony Film produces emotions A movie can create entirely different reactions in the viewers use these possibilities to transport your message You see the film script must contain more than merely the bare infor mation of what the movie is about Foremost is the objective to first convince a client of a project and later it has to deliver to the technical team camera man sound technician cutter the information neces sary to put your intentions for the movie into pictures The complete information is neither neede
51. r or one close up to another al The Shooting Script On the basis of the film script the director alone or together with the cameraman and or the assistant director produces a shooting script A shooting script serves as the basis for filming All the director s ideas which have been talked over with the client in reviewing the film script are written into the shooting script the sizes and kinds of takes the duration the time of day and of course the locations where each scene is to be filmed By working out the length of the script in terms of time worked out in the case of Digital Director AV Pro by noting the durations in the field time you are able to check whether or not the film would tally in length with the length desired the lengths of all takes taken together is always shown at the top on the left If you have classified each take in the field Kind of take you can check in the register Sort scenes whether or not the shooting script heeds the basic rules of imagery according to which no two takes of the same kind should follow each other directly Two following takes should be at least two sizes apart These are rules which every experienced director heeds without giving them a second thought In the case of lavish productions the director may pass the shooting script on to the cameraman and the sound technician to let them consider whether or not any takes need special equipment not commonly at hand A
52. rmat a shooting script according to these rules if you are seeking neither a sponsor nor a Hollywood studio but would rather do the filming yourself Intheory one would have to do the work twice firstly the film script would have to be prepared in text processing or in one of the above mentioned film script programs then secondly the shooting script would have to be prepared with Digital Director AV Pro The plot Let s look at a simple example the plot for a 15 minute short film A skittles club made up of 3 married couples and a bachelor Norbert organizes a joint walk out in the country once a year This year it is to be very special Norbert is due to get married the next day and his friends want him to be happy for the very last time at least as a bachelor Secretly they have arranged a champagne reception along the hiking path But the actual fun begins with the use of hallucinatory drugs which Herbert tips secretly into Norbert s glass www mediaware us Under the influence of the drugs he no longer recognizes the women he has been bowling with since they have dressed up as witches and he takes the joke seriously Pepita has predicted that his bride Sylvia will drop dead on the way to the altar unless he kills one of his friends before 9 this evening His efforts to do so with rowan berries and an air pistol are easily thwarted but when he gets into a car and tries to run over a witch they become ala
53. rmed As they down their final drinks they are looking gloomy Pepita nonetheless leaves them to go on with the joke in her own way She is followed by Norbert who is still bewitched and Muff Pepita s dog whom no one has noticed Norbert catches up with Pepita dressed as a witch once more on the edge of a GLIFE Muff who has been looking for her in vain is happy to have found her and jumps at her Pepita loses her balance and falls to her death The shooting script With a classical format the script for this plot would look as shown on the following page There are not many possible ways to leave direc tives information for the requisiteur or even the camera team unless they are added by hand Opposite you can see part of the same script in Digital Director AV Pro The director alone or together with the cameraman may include directives for the shooting with a hand held camera or for the editing blending of music into the song During the actual shooting the script girl can add all notes for the continuity to the shooting script sl ANUSHKA S PROPHECY written by Andreas A Reil amp Peter Pfortner FADE IN AHR DALE IN WEINBERGEN MORNING PAN OVER A DALE TO A GROUP OF HIKERS ALL SINGING Dew gleams in the mountain breeze fallera While buds are popping on trees fallera THE TITLE IS FADED IN 3x 3 make 9 So having no care in the world We sing as ferns are unfurled You good old mount
54. rounded off so you now print the script excerpts straight out of the program Digital Director AV Pro produces PDFs of the film scripts and excerpts which you can then mail to the team and actors Working papers for the editor Even with the best preparations there are always some changes on the set Sometimes the camera cannot be placed as planned owing to a pa Digital Director AV Pro 1 11 Current Project Volvo Master Data Concept Script METER son Scenes Narration Writer Andreas Reil tags ber innen x vorhandenes Licht x ag zu We Titeleinblendung Rollttel uk Einstellung Wa Idee Realisation amp Prodi ion Reil vos Musik wie 1 Ne D Dauer MRS tags ber au en gt Aufn Deraits BEATE El kanen avsrisuno PAT Aufnahmeart Szene Sound E Total Running Time 00 00 The shooting script of the first 4 scenes with images inserted from the PV building site or a blocked street or because an actor keeps on fluffing his lines These changes are best made to the shooting script while still on the set This can be done most effectively if the assistant director has the whole film script on a laptop and can change all the relevant parts of the text and imagery at once This updated film script is an important basis for post production and a key guide for the e
55. ry out a scene for how long each shot will last and from what perspective Shooting Script If you would take this screenplay to the shooting though you would quickly realize that the implementation is very time intensive and the production therefore very cost intensive Although it is known what settings will be used settings in various sizes at the shore of the Mosel river and in wine locations along the Mosel yet neither the exact location the setting nor the duration are spelled out The individual locations would have to be determined during the shooting dragging the whole production team around and camera man and director together would have to develop a style for the movie long calm take or many short dynamic ones hand held camera or static classic or mannered takes etc It is therefore necessary to exactly describe the individual takes so there is no need to discuss on the set with the larger team whether next comes a big half close or a total take Additionally it is of course important to know how many individual takes are even necessary For this reason before the production the shooting a shooting script must be created The shooting script is an elaborate screenplay containing all information needed for the realization of the screenplay This includes location setting sizes total half total up close etc the kind of setting normal perspective high or low angle etc and if possible th
56. s whole address and telephone number in case you are later questioned about the article And before you make a debatable allegation in any film you should get the explicit backing of the author if possible onscreen But this is about the use of content in a film which is not what this book is about The creation of an archive databank Ideas for films are not fished out of the air but result from continual work This includes your research whose results you wish to save ina databank Such databanks have no standard form but have to be made to measure Certainly you can look for someone willing to do the pro gramming but you may find it worth your while to think of programming an archive for yourself This may sound like a bad joke to journalists who already have problems with Word but is actually easier than it sounds Filemaker as a universal solution have been using databanks for nearly 30 years Some addresses from 1987 are still there but have extended the databank to such an extent that the first and the latest version have little in common Who in 1987 could have dreamed that a postal address should be augmented by not only a fax number the very latest innovation but also the number of a portable phone an email address and a website address Whoever sets up an archive should consider that information may have to pile up He may need it not for a month or even a year but till his retirement In the case of a novice this could
57. tment is clearly more detailed than the treatment it will be considerably larger The Screenplay Most movie creators associate screenplay with feature films which are scenic productions But every other film is also based on a screenplay Wikipedia states A screenplay is the textual foundation for a movie which contains exact instruction for each scene Almost no films are created without a screenplay This means that even for contracted films including for short reports the idea and how it is to be carried out should be put in writing To have a feature film screenplay filmed in Hollywood it has to be submitted to a US production company But screenplays will only be read there if they have been formatted a certain way What this format looks like you can find in the technical literature for example Das Drehbuch im Hollywood Format ISBN 978 3 89864 530 0 Edition Mediabook For all other usage like screenplays to be submitted to German film productions TV stations or screenplay foundations there are no set rules for formatting but here too there are certain formats for feature film screenplays that have become common that are essentially founded on this Hollywood format For this group of 12 www mediaware us movie authors it is of use to explore this Hollywood format For all other usage mostly a screenplay is written to be used as instruction for shooting and later for cutting A screenplay should ther
58. wswire from a press agency landing by mail on the desk of the editor Documentaries and reports often have a socio political occasion forming the idea for a movie for example the 75 anniversary of the founding of Israel will presumably form the basic concepts for various documentaries but even personal experiences or encounters can create the idea for a report for example an unemployment initiative that the film maker passes daily on his way to the station 10 www mediaware us And finally there are the scenic productions feature and TV films founded on very different ideas Next to literary interpretations that are most often the foundation for a movie feature films also have socio political inducement for example The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum or more contemporarily The Tunnel or Dresden It sounds a little bit as if it was entirely coincidence to find a topic for a movie which of course it is not at least not in the professional field but often with hobby movie makers The idea that can be described in one or two sentences though forms the basis for further works that finally through various other stages lead to the finished film The Synopsis The first textual draft for a movie is called the synopsis a term adopted from literature A synopsis gives a short overview of the planned film and helps the client to assess the planned realization Usually a synopsis for the potential client is still free

The Digital Preproduction for Documentary Film & Corporate Video

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The Digital Preproduction for Documentary Film &amp; Corporate Video

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The Digital Preproduction for Documentary Film & Corporate Video