Film – Week 8 – Screenwriting

• “FOUND IN CAFE: Screenplay, slightly used” by lonelysandwich is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

“You can’t fix a bad script after you start shooting. The problems on the page only get bigger as they move to the big screen.” – Howard Hawks

SUMMARY

• Weekly summary: My post was turned in late – but this will hopefully be the last time that happens. I AM EXHAUSTED.

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

• Set a timer
• Spend up to 30 minutes in this ‘room’
• Watch The Basics Tutorials
  • Welcome to Celtx
  • Account Creation and Verification
  • Starting a New Project
  • Episodic Projects
  • About Your Free Trial
• Create an account at Celtx.com
• Watch the Script Tutorials
  • Multi-Column AV Script Editor
  • Offline Mode
  • The Film & TV Script Editor
  • Two-Column AV Format
  • Import a Script
  • Title Page
• Though I sincerely tried, it was difficult to get through each of the tutorials – they were short but also slightly draining. However, I understood them, and am grateful that I have them to refer to.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

• Complete the Sneak on the Basic Filmmaking activity
  • Login to https://sneakonthelot.com/
  • Go to sneakonthelot.com/courses/basic-filmmaking
• This activity easily took over 60 minutes, and was relatively draining. It was not as enjoyable as the previous sneakonthelot activity, and though I learned good information, I didn’t feel completely engaged.

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

• Things that act as sources of tension in my life:
• Timers
• Lack of time
• Time
• Familial conflict
• Covid-19
• Current politics
• My pets
• Soccer games
• The need to do daily tasks

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

• One-sentence scenarios for a 3-5 minute short film:

• I frantically search for my dogs as they run away (and taunt me).
• Timers haunt me as I fail to finish assignments and homework
• The opposing soccer team prevents my team from scoring.
• Covid-19 numbers in Thurston county rise and restrict my soccer team’s performance abilities.
• I attempt to force my eyes to function as they slowly shrivel up due to excess screen time.
• Tensions between stuffed animals rise to all time highs and I have to severely moderate them.
• I patiently wait for time to pass so that I can be an old lady.
• I imagine my friends’ demise while they refuse to respond to my electronic communications.

STUDIO (FILMING)

• How do we build a great story structure?

• Watch Every Story is the Same and find out!

• I liked the video. I will certainly refer back to the video when making films later, and I now have a better understanding of the usual and audience-capturing structure of a story.

• Investigate more of Mr. Le Duc’s Story Circle Resources
  • 
• DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

• I finished this blog post in the course of a week and a half (overdue) – and I believe I have now learned a few different ways to effectively finish my blog posts.
• I need to start my weekly film assignments by doing a quick scan or overview – looking at each of the things I need to do (for the specific blog post), writing a list, and then prioritizing them.
• I’m going to try to aim for one hour of film each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This should allow me to completely finish my film assignments in a timely manner, and should help dissolve some of my lingering stress.
• I have learned that Youtube is an incredibly distracting black hole that I can easily trip and fall into. I need to stay away from its evil clutches (unless I am watching something educational or uplifting).