moviemaking a to z
TRANSCRIPT
Moviemaking A to Z Lakeway Men’s Club
April 21, 2010
Five Steps in Moviemaking
! Write the script
! Sell the script
! Fund the movie
! Make the movie
! Distribute the movie
CASABLANCA Warner Brothers, 1942
Casablanca Producers: Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner Director: Michael Curtiz Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch Based on the play: “Everybody Goes to Rick’s” Play: Murray Burnett and Joan Alison Starring: Humphrey Bogart (Rick)
Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) Paul Henreid (Victor) Claude Rains (Renault) Peter Lorre (Ugarte)
Write the script
Screenplays have a three act structure like a story or a book. Screenplays are usually written alone, but it’s for a collaborative medium. A script is a recipe, a blueprint for making a movie. It has a specific industry-standard format. It’s about the journey of the characters, stories about people. It must be based on a fresh, compelling concept that is easily explained to producers.
Act I
Act II
Act III
Mid-point
Hook Structure
Act I
Act II
Act III
Mid-point
Hook Ugarte gives Rick Letters of Transit Rick “I stick my neck out for no man”
Ilsa walks into the bar
Ilsa tries to get Letters of Transit from Rick
Affair in Paris revealed
Rick helps Ilsa and Victor escape
Round-up of Usual Suspects
Casablanca
Casablanca Script Format FADE IN: INSERT: A revolving globe that stops on a map of Europe. Superimposed on the map are scenes of fleeing refugees. INT. POLICE STATION – DAY A POLICE OFFICER takes a piece of paper from the typewriter and reads into a microphone.
POLICE OFFICER Round up suspicious characters and search them for stolen documents.
EXT. OLD MOORISH SECTION OF CITY – DAY ANOTHER OFFICER blows his whistle several times….
CHARACTER ARC: CASABLANCA
JOURNEY FROM WHAT A CHARACTER WANTS : RICK WANTS TO STICK HIS NECK OUT FOR NO MAN.
TO WHAT A CHARACTER NEEDS/LEARNS: SOME PEOPLE ‘S ACTIONS MAKE THEM MORE IMPORTANT THAN RICK’S OWN LIFE
Character Flaw Character Transformation
Sell the script
• Produce the movie yourself – no need to sell the script. (The Independents)
• Works for hire – solicited usually by a producer who then owns it.
(May produce the movie as an independent; may produce with a major studio; may shelve it.)
• Script option – producer has first rights to the script for a period of time, but does not own the script (unless decides to buy).
Three things you need to sell a script
1. A really good, registered script. 2. An agent or a manager 3. Credibility
• Past movie successes • Good connections • Finalist in a major script competition like the Austin Film
Festival. In 2009, received 3,958 submissions. From these, 22 finalists and six winners were selected. From these, AFF estimates that 10-20 producers will ask to read one or more finalist scripts.
Fund the movie • Pitch In the days leading up to WWII, a disillusioned, American ex-patriot hiding from his past in the bar he owns in Casablanca must decide whether he will save from death the former lover who hurt him bitterly and her freedom-fighter husband. • Prospectus Just like a business plan – description or treatment, target audience, schedule, budget, comparables, return on investment, also good to have photos, artwork or a movie poster
Make the Movie Crew: Executive Producer = financier Producer = project manager Line producer = accountant Director = creative head, manages talent First Assistant Director = manager on set Production Designer = designs visual look Director of Photography = camera operator Gaffer = engineer Grip/Best Boy = electricians Sound Mixer - capture of sound Script Supervisor = quality control Editor = construction of the film Sound Designer = construction of film sound
Things go wrong
! Boom or mic in shot
! Cars, buses and ambulances on the street
! The air conditioner is on
! Clouds change the lighting
! A light stand is in the shot
! Focus is off
! The actor messes up or forgets the line
Distribute the Movie
At Sundance 2009, 3,661 feature length hopefuls were submitted for competition. Of those 118 feature length films were selected for screening. In the year that past since Sundance 2008, twenty Sundance films landed distribution. So, why don’t more films make it? • Obviously, volume is a big factor; • the difficulty in finding funds; • quality of the product; • but most of all people trip themselves up.
Moviemaking in Austin
ü It’s a small community.
ü There are many skilled, professional and talented people here.
ü Most productions are low budget or ultra low budget.
ü Independent producers expect locals to work for free, deferred compensation or low rate.
ü Major Hollywood productions bring their own cast and crew.
ü Texas is a non-union state.
Why do people make movies? Community
Drunkenly mesmerizing Awe Inspiring
