MART II

LANGUAGE OF CINEMA: IDEATION

 IDEATION
• Let’s look at a technique/game/process
called Closat.

• Closat is a task, invaluable in narrative,

character and idea development.

• This technique follows the sound module.

 CLOSAT

• Closat is an instant story making game

 CLOSAT
• C – character (s) – who could be used
• L – location
• O – curious or evocative object
• S – a loaded or revealing situation
• A – an unusual or revealing act
• T – theme
 CLOSAT
• Character
– Appearance
– Mannerisms
– Occupation or activities

Which suggest potential for a character in a story

 CLOSAT
• Location  or/and place

• that suggests a setting for something to

happen
 CLOSAT
• Objects –

anything that is worth recording because it is

eloquent of place, time, situation, or owners
 CLOSAT
• Situation –

A conjunction of circumstances or a
predicament that puts its characters under
some special pressure
 CLOSAT
• Act –

Any human deed or action that seems loaded

with meaning or potential
 CLOSAT
• Theme –

The central or dominating idea, seldom stated

directly, that underlies the story and
comments on it
 CLOSAT
• The theory is that every story must contain
the above 6 points to create a good narrative
structure.

• Working in a group and bouncing ideas off of

each other a more beneficial process.
 CLOSAT
• This can be applied to a whole story, or certain
components.

• For example, if the story is not working at a

certain point, break it down into the 6 points
and see which is missing or weak.
 CLOSAT: TASK
• Each member of the group takes one bullet
point

• Write a short paragraph describing your

chosen element

• Read through all of these as a group

 CLOSAT:TASK
• Write a brief synopsis for film using this,
ensuring you use narrative from previous
exercise

• Reduce to a 2 sentence logline

 CLOSAT: idea 1
• C – chain-smoking OAP who ambles around in a
mobility scooter
• L – an empty train platform early hours of morning
• O – a bright shiny red Vespa
• S –  a recent injury which makes it difficult to do
everyday things
• A – something makes the character do something
they wouldn’t normally do
• T – a downward spiral
 CLOSAT: idea 2
• C – man in late 20s who cannot express
emotion
• L – a works Xmas party at a metal works
• O – a macabre skeleton
• S – man runs over dog by accident
• A – cutting through a bike lock
• T – social stereotyping
 CLOSAT: Story
• A man reversing out of his drive in his mobility
scooter (leg in cast) is transfixed by his
neighbours new red Vespa, as he reverses out
of the drive, he accidentally runs over his
neighbours dog. His panic leads him to take
the dead dog to the train station in the early
morning to throw it on the tracks to hide his
complicity in the death of the dog.
 CLOSAT:Story
• The man in his struggle to get the dead dog
onto the track falls onto the tracks himself and
gets run over by the train. The dog wakes up
and shakes itself down and walks off – it was
only knocked out, not dead.
• Man ends up in a full body cast, and the dog
visits in the hospital.
CLOSAT