LECTURE NOTES

Course: Video 1 Course Code: COMM2303 Program Code: BP203 Semester: Semester 1, 2012 Lecturer: Dr Shaun Wilson

THE TREATMENT AND SYNOPSIS

OVERVIEW Preproduction is the planning stages of a video or film production that outlines six criterias: the story, the budget, the schedules, the money, the legals, and the people. But it all starts off with a good idea, then a synopsis and then a treatment. To start, understand what makes a good story by watching as many films as possible and read about what other people say, especially script writing books. Overall, a commercial film plot looks like this (below). The film starts off with developing the story, the second half takes this development into a scenario and the last part of the film resolves both the development and the dilemma. While it may be placing the concepts of story and narrative into a formula it does however hold the three basic principles of a story: a start, middle, and an end.

Development Start of film

Dilemma Middle of film

Resolution end of film

If your film is a commercially based production then you need to think about how you are going to make an audience understand the storyline and not leave them confused or unsure of what is happening on screen. To hold a viewers attention for the duration of your film, whether it be a short, short feature or feature length film, consider the graph above in terms of developing a story, placing a dilemma for your characters to solve, then adding resolution of the dilemma to close the story. While this is a stock standard formula that does not always make the most interesting of films it is a classic structure which ensures an audience is more than likely to follow your story without having to refer to other sources. Use this approach when first starting out and then after practice your skills will fine-tune and eventually help writes the kind 1

of film which bests suits you. This is an important factor when considering script writing; you are telling your story and you are the driver. STORY OUTLINE A good idea needs now to be translated into an outline that evidently feeds into your synopsis and treatment. Keep this close when writing both and also when it comes time to writing the script. I use an A4 loose leaf note book comprised of squiggles, graphs, lines, and rough notes that eventually get worked into a story outline map. You dont have to use a map; alternative outlines are written sentences or blocks of text, but considering we are all visual people I like to use a drawing to explain to me (and eventually the audience) the skeleton or backbone of the story. To construct a map, draw a series of connecting lines around the page and add text at different points to indicate what happens where and to whom, this builds your plot to then place your characters into. At this point its good to understand the difference between plot and story there are many interpretations of both but a clear and simple method is to consider the plot a series of events that your characters will experience and move through whereas the story contains the emotional values which react with and are generated from the characters when placed into the event(s) developed through the plot. Some scriptwriters will argue that plot comes before story and others will argue that story comes before plot. Both of these debates hold good measure but at the end of the day it is your film that matters so decide which method best suits your story and then proceed from there; golden rule of film making is to take note of what others may think but unless you take charge of the films destiny then no one else will (unless a big Hollywood studio copies your bright idea and makes millions of dollars that should have gone to you!). Remember that all events in the great idea intersect with characters, story and plot and back again. Each have their own devices but must be sensibly linked together in order to make a well round film. CHARACTERS STORY PLOT Once the outline, in what ever form it takes, is completed then its time to have a good think about how plot and story come together. Once the two sit together then write the hardest sentence of all the one line synopsis. EVENT FILM

THE SYNOPSIS Any good script will always use a synopsis to outline to the reader what the story of the film is about without having to read the entire script front to back. This is what I often call the back of the DVD cover description. There are different types and formats you can use but it is always best to find out the recognized and preferred method of formatting a script or synopsis according to which country you are sending it to. Above all else, the expectations of content attached inside the specified formula will be the same tell the story. Three common versions of synopsis are: The one sentence synopsis This type of synopsis states what is going to happen, a brief overview and also the predicament of the story. A young man runs away from his home planet of Naboo to join the Rebel Alliance and fight the evil Empire across the galaxy (and dont do it this way) This Jedi dude like runs away from Naboo with this like hot chick called Padmae, real babe and stuff, to fight those evil Empire robot guys and then like totally, blows shit up and stuff which is like, so not cool so Im like, shut up The one paragraph synopsis This type of synopsis states what happens, who are the main drivers of the story and a hint at the emotional situations of the characters. Luke Skywalker dreams of finding a better life amongst the stars and when he meets Jedi master Ben Kanobi, his world changes forever. Leaving his guest planet of Tantooine, Luke travels across the galaxy in an action packed adventure to finally confront his darkest fears embodied in the face of evil his father, Darth Vader. The one page synopsis This type of synopsis expands the story , the characters emotions, the situations and dilemmas, and the resolutions of the dilemma. It outlines all the main characters, their roles and personalities, their relationship to the story and to each other, and the narrative and emotional outcomes of the resolution.

The key factor in placing characters into this kind of summary is the factor or event that leads them all together giving the reader an understanding of the story, the situation and the surroundings. What you need to add into this mix is also the reasons why characters make decisions, their motivations in doing so, and the impact of such. This of course is a lot to deal with in on page but will come together with time and practice. THE TREATMENT A treatment is like a condensed version of your script in novel form. It is a way of telling your story in a summary form while still getting all of the major points and elements needed to make a constructed film. A good treatment will give the reader a well balanced overview of the characters as if they have met them once before; we know the characters strengths and weaknesses, their history and mannerisms, be able to predict their behavior when placed into situations and events, and feel they are real people we have known. A bad treatment leaves the reader with a sense of questioning but what about? When an audience can form an emotional attachment to the characters through an intimate and meaningful way (havent we all found a film where we can do that?) the scriptwriter has obviously done their job correctly. While there are many genres of film which do not set out to entertain, the genres that do take great care in revealing characters in films that play out some kind of importance to our lives, someone who reminds us of someone else or gives us a feeling that reminds us of something someone else once did etc. You get the idea. This is the sign of a good treatment. A treatment can tell the story of your film in a way that doesnt let to much away in terms of revealing every single detail which will occur. A skilled writer will know what should and what should not be listed in a treatment but a handy hint is to not over do the dramaticisation of the plot and story. For example, the biggest mistake of treatments is when the writer presumes what the audience will feel during a particular part of a film. There are several versions of treatments that serve different purposes: The one page treatment is the pitch which provides an overall feel to your story The seven page treatment provides an extended overview of your story in more detail The 15-30 page treatment is the full version of your story Character treatment is a detailed breakdown of each character in the film, like a character profile used to then write the longer treatment.

Once a treatment and synopsis is completed its time to write the script.

DEVELOPMENT AND PREPRODUCTION PROCESS IDEA!

Synopsis

Treatment

1st Script Draft

Budget

Find the $$

2nd Script Draft

Production Schedule/Design

Casting

3rd Script Draft

Story Boards

Hire Crew

Production Script

Shooting Schedule Props and Sets Shooting Script

GO TO PRODUCTION