Writing a Short Film

MENU
DOWNLOADS / RESOURCES

FREE Production Documents

Advanced Shot List Template
Crowdfunding Strategy Template

FREE Fake Brands forKathryn

FIlm / TVBurnett
Fake Search Engine for Film / TV

New Zealand based

PREMIUM DownloadsKathryn
(70+) Burnett is an
TUTORIALS

award-winning

Horror Poster Tutorial

screenwriter,
Comedy Poster Tutorial
playwright, script
Indie Poster Tutorial development
consultant
and
Electronic Press Kit (EPK)
Tutorial

workshop facilitator

Press Release for Film Tutorial

It should be stated right now a short

lm
ARTICLES

who has worked in

lm and television for

Filmaking Health & Safety series

isnt a condensed feature lm and writers
20 years. She has
Writing the 48-Hour Script

(and directors) who are reluctant to accept

this invariably fail.

signicant television,

Writing a Short Film Script

short and feature
The Best Gifts for Filmmakers
lm credits and
Hollywood Half your age
wrote
+7
the multi-

award-winning short
How To Fail at Creativity

The key to writing a short lm is to keep it simple. Its just

TAKE A TEST

not possible to squeeze a feature lm idea or a

lm Shelved. In

2011,
sheIndustry?
created a
Whats Your Place in the
Film

particularly complex idea into a short format What

and do
it
series of ideation
Will Happen to Your Screenplay?
justice. Its a bit like trying to squeeze a novel into a short

training workshops
and has been helping

justice. Its a bit like trying to squeeze a novel into a short

story theyre dierent animals.

What Movie Are You?and has been helping

organisations and

Whats Your Level of Creative Flow?

Focus on One Core Idea

It is duly noted that there
are numerous successful
short lms that are
experimental or

JUST FOR FUN

individuals be their
creative best ever

Romantic Comedy Plot Generator

since.

14 Characteristics of a Standard Action Hero

Surviving the 48-HourWanna
Film Contest
re up your

Diary of an Indie Gamemaker

next project? Sign up
CURATED DIRECTORIES
for Kathryn's

Top 10 Filmmaking Tutorials

excellent Creative

metaphorical or anti-

Action
Plan on her
Top 10 Cinematography
Tutorials

structure. These lms

website.
Film Schools Directory

dont follow a

Top Filmmaking Cheat Sheets

conventional narrative or

Top 10 Funding & Distribution Articles

MEMBERS
structure. And that is absolutely cool. But whether
you
Screenwriting

70+ Downloads Preview

are exploring a heady concept or telling a conventional

story your screenplay needs to consist of one core idea

Sign-up
Login

Advanced

and everything needs to serve that idea every action,

CONTACT

15 - 30 min

image and line of dialogue. Theres no time to develop an

elaborate plot, a raft of characters or lengthy set ups.
Multi-layered stories arent going to work and neither are
stories, which rely heavily on the main characters backstory. You simply will not have time to explore backstory. Its also best to avoid subplots, numerous
characters, multi-protagonists, expensive set pieces, and
stories set in two or more dierent time periods.

Scope Your Story

Once you have a basic story idea, there are some
questions to be asked and a number of decisions to be
made:
What is the core idea? What is my story about? (Premise)
Who is it about? (Protagonist)
What is the genre and style of my screenplay?
Who or what is giving the Protagonist grief? (Antagonist)

Shortlm Writing
Checklist:
Focus on One Core
Idea
Scope Your Story
Who is the
Protagonist?
Dene Your Genre
Dene the Tone and
Style
Know Your
Antagonist
Decide on the Point
of View
Focus on the Central
Question
Weaving the Plot

What is the question of my story?

Whose POV is the story told from?
What happens in my story? (Plot)
How does it happen? (Structure)
What is my screenplay about thematically?
How can I convey my plot, action and theme in images?

Try to write your story idea down in a single

sentence as in:
This story is about a ________ who ________
and ________ but then ________ .

Weaving the Plot

Reconstructing the
Plot
Identifying the
Theme

Re-writing a Short
Film:
Find More Ecient
Ways to Convey
Information
Make Every Word of
Dialogue Count
Take a Break Then
Re-evaluate Your
First Draft

Know Your Protagonist

Ask yourself is who is
the story happening to,
i.e. who is my Protagonist?
The Protagonist in any
story is the central
character, the character
that the story is about and
whose life is being made
dicult or who simply wants something to change. They

Screenplay Checklist

might not even necessarily be human, but they are the

There are 8 common

character the audience will be following.

mistakes that can send a

Know Your Antagonist

So once you know your
protagonist and have an
idea about genre ask
yourself what does my
protagonist want; and

script on the reject pile

even if the idea is good.
Give your screenplay a
ghting chance with this
checklist. Read the article
or sign up free to
download the checklist
(and heaps of other free

protagonist want; and

who or what is stopping
him/her? Or more simply
who or what is my
Antagonist?
An antagonist can take many forms, anything from
another character or monster to a force of nature or a
council with a new bylaw. It or they is whatever is making
the Protagonists life dicult.

Dene Your Genre

Ask yourself what type of lm will this be made into?
And what will the audience expect from a lm in this
genre? This is not about crushing experimentation or
creativity but more as a reminder to self as you proceed,
that your original goal was to write a short screenplay
that scared / moved / amused / shocked the audience.
When you get stuck, you can go back to this intention to
remind yourself of your original goal.

Dene the Tone and Style

You may also like to clarify for yourself what tone and
style you have in mind, as this will inuence the way you
write your action and your dialogue. In the end the tone
will be dictated by the director and the performances
he/she elicits from actors, but the screenplay still
establishes the foundations of the lms ultimate tone by
choices made by the writer in their characters, plot,
direction (or big print), symbolism and dialogue.

Decide on the Point of View

Whose Point Of View (POV) are we seeing this story

(and heaps of other free

resources) from
Filmsourcing members
area.

through? Is it the protagonist or is someone else

narrating the story? There are numerous examples of
this type of narration two that spring to mind are Ray
(d. & w. Tony Mahony) and Zinky Boys Go Underground
(d.Paul Tickell, w.Adsid Tantimedh).

Focus on the Central Question

What is the question that
drives the action of the
story? Simple examples of
such questions are Will

the boy win the girl? or

Will the boy ever meet
his hero? The question of
the lm should be
answered in some way by the conclusion of the lm
even if the answer is ambiguous. The question of a short
lm can be tiny and very simple.
For a great example of a simple, universal story with a
simple question, watch the Oscar nominated Two Cars,
One Night (Taika Waititi).

Weaving the Plot

Brainstorm for possible events in the story without
censoring yourself. Ask what could possibly happen to
my character given his/her situation? What could he/she
possibly do? And then what might happen as a result
of his/her actions? Many elements will inuence what
happens in your story, including genre, pace and what
youre hoping to elicit from your audience. If youre
writing a comedy and you want the audience to laugh,
then some funny stu should be happening in your plot.

Reconstructing the Plot

When youre re-drafting, you may realize that certain plot
points or actions just dont work in the genre youve
chosen or they dont illustrate the theme well or distract
from the story you want to tell. At this point, youll
change the plot points to nd a more satisfying series of
events and actions and hopefully a more satisfying
story.

Identifying the Theme

Its simple enough to state
what the story is about
e.g. A man goes to

extreme lengths in order

to keep his dog. The
underlying meaning of the
story known as the Theme
is more dicult to
identify. It infuses the characters, emotional core, and
plot. The theme can even be revealed in images,
symbolism, and setting.
In an idea about the man trying to keep his dog the
theme might be loneliness or the desire to be loved. It
could even be about the ridiculous nature of
bureaucracy. And once you have identied what your
story is about on a deeper level it can help you to
improve the piece and give it unity by asking do my
images, symbols, music, motifs, scenarios and locations
reect my theme?

Re-writing a Short Film

Re-writing a Short Film

Find More Ecient Ways to Convey Information
Because you are short on
time, any unnecessary
business that doesnt
propel the story forward
or isnt necessary to the
story should be avoided.
For example, people
driving or walking from
one place to another if the audience doesnt need to
see it, cut it out. The writer is constantly being
challenged to nd quicker or shorter ways to convey
information. Consider the following cinematic
techniques:
Images/Symbolism
Sound/Music
Montage
Recurring Motif
Choice of Location
Eective / Visual Characterization

Make Every Word of Dialogue Count

Ask yourself how can I convey this same meaning in
fewer words? When you are editing consider the
following:
Is the same thing being said twice?
Can lines be replaced with an action that conveys the same
meaning?
Is the dialogue telling us something we can see?
Is verbal conict moving the story forward or revealing
information about the character? If not why is it there?
Is the exposition natural or clumsy?

Is the exposition natural or clumsy?

Is the dialogue true to this type of character?

If your characters dialogue isnt moving the story

forward, revealing information about them or someone
else then it probably needs editing or re-writing.

Tip: Read your dialogue out loud. Youll very

rapidly discover what sounds clunky and
long-winded.

Take a Break Then Re-evaluate Your First Draft

An overwritten rst draft
is very common and
writers are invariably and
understandably resistant
to signicant editing
because they have an
emotional connection to
the work. So how do you
overcome this problem?
Firstly step back from the work (often having a break
from it is a good idea) and before you start any rewriting, take an hour to ask yourself (and write down the
answers to) the following questions:
I. What is the core idea of this script?
II. What genre am I in?
III. What emotions do I want to create in the audience?

Examine the main character, main and plot points do

they contribute to the core idea of your script? Is there
too much back-story? Is all the interesting stu
happening in the past? If so, re-think your core story.
What is the story or story element that excites you?

What is the story or story element that excites you?

Examine Each Scene

Ask yourself:
I. What is the purpose of this scene?*
II. Does this scene contribute to the core idea?
III. Does this scene end on a question that will lead the
reader/viewer into the rest of the story?
IV. If a scene isnt working can I brainstorm another idea
for the scene?
V. Have I given too much screen time to unimportant or
minor characters?
VI. What is the question posed by the beginning of your
story? Does my script answer it? (If your script revolves
around a bank robbery, your climax cant be about the
robbers marriage break up.

*If you cant answer the question thats a good indicator

that the scene might be redundant.
Kathryn Burnett 2015

Filmmaking Tools and Tips

We share your passion for
lmmaking. From
Filmsourcing you can nd
useful, original lm industry
related content from
lmmaking tutorials to web's
best lmmaking templates.
FILMMAKING TEMPLATES

Quick Links
Prod Docs
Creativity
Storyboard

EPK Tutorial
Crowdfunding Plan
Indie Poster

Comedy Poster
Film Cheat Sheets
Shot List

Popular on Filmsourcing

Fake Brands
Press Release

FREE Production
Documents
70+ downloads for
lmmakers
1-on-1 Support
Electronic Press Kit Tutorial
FREE Fake Brands for Film

 2016 by Filmsourcing