106 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media
person is placed in an interior margin 1 inch inside the left full margin and
1½ inches inside the right full margin.
It is important to note that there are many screenwriting tools available
today, including a number of computer programs that automatically set up
script format. Later in the textbook, you will explore further writing techniques
and screenplay format details.
From Blueprint to Collaboration
You have investigated some of the basic principles and logistics of writing
for narrative fi lms. Remember that it is generally preferable to develop
the characters, setting, and structure of your story before working on the
dialogue of a script. Most writers and educators recommend this approach.
Naturally, it is possible to begin work on the dialogue of a screenplay before
the characters and story are fully worked out, but it is oft en most practical to
complete signifi cant work on the structure of the story before moving ahead
with the characters’ lines.
When preparing to design a new structure, an architect creates a blueprint
for the building. A script can be seen as a blueprint for the fi nished motion
picture. As you may imagine, fi lmmakers have devised many approaches to the
creation of the “blueprints” to their future motion pictures. Th ese blueprints
can take on a variety of forms, although the most customary and accepted
approach in the United States is seen through the use of the screenplay’s
standard format. Th roughout the units of this text, a variety of approaches
to writing and fi lmmaking will be explored, and you will complete a more
in-depth study of writing for motion pictures in Chapter 7.
Persuading the Viewer
One type of motion picture that plays a major role in contemporary life is
the advertisement. For your primary exercise project in this unit, you will
collaborate to produce a promotional segment. To fulfi ll this assignment,
you will apply the components of fi lmmaking you have been studying in
these opening chapters: visual communication, editing techniques, and use
of sound.
Th e generation of concept and writing of script are typically the initial steps in
a motion picture project. For a commercial, the initiator of the project is the client,
and fi lmmakers must devise conceptualizations, then scripts and storyboards,
to sell the product or brand in question. Th ey then present their concepts to the
clients who decide which, if any, of the proposals are compelling to them.
As you have probably noticed from watching television and other media
where advertising is seen, there are many types of commercials, from ones
that show characters interacting in a scene to some that display a series of
shots of the product (like many car commercials) to others that present a
concept expressed through a sequence of associated images accompanied by
the voice of an actor delivering the message of the advertiser. Although there
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