Chapter 7 From Page to Screen 279Project: The Visual Storyteller
Now it is time to take your screenplay and tell its story using moving images.
You will work in collaborative groups to produce this project. For the projects
of Chapter 7 and Chapter 8, you should work with collaborators to produce
the scripts you have written.
If you wrote a script that only has one to three speaking roles and contains
one or two locations, you will produce it now for “Th e Visual Storyteller.”
Th ose who wrote screenplays that involve more than three speaking actors
and three or more locations will work as crew or actors for the directors of
this current project. Later, those who are directing for the current project will
function as part of the creative teams that will be assembled for the Chapter 8
project. For that fi nal exercise, you will create and use production schedules,
art direction, and cinematography plans.
A. Pre-production – One useful pre-production technique of a director
is to line the script. Th is task is done to prepare coverage of the
script shot by shot. From the shot list for the motion picture, lines
are drawn along the length of the script to see the section of the
script that each shot will cover. Th is is done because shots overlap
in shooting, and part of the job for the director is to make sure that
there is appropriate footage to enter the editing stage. Th is is called
“having enough coverage of the scene.”- Shot List – Prepare a shot list for the movie, imagining how
the scenes in the script will be photographed. - Line the Script – On a copy of the script, you write the
designation of the shot (1A, 1B, and so forth) at the point
where the camera begins to shoot. Draw a line downwards
from that point and extend it down the page for as long as
that shot should be held. At the end of the shot, mark its close
by a small horizontal line. If another shot is fi lming the same
dialogue or action, begin it to the right of the fi rst line, using
the width of the page to be able to include multiple shots that
are covering the same dialogue or action. Do this for each
shot from your shot list to see how the script will be covered
by your shots. - Casting – Select the actors for your project and arrange a
production schedule. Make sure that actors are available at
the times during which it will be necessary to shoot. You need
to fi nish before any deadlines! - Scheduling and Logistics – Establish a set of deadlines for
your project:
a. Casting and rehearsal
b. Secure locations
c. Schedule exact dates and times of shoot – confi rm with
collaborators
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