Your Guide to Film Making

If I was to write about filmmaking, and I am (wink), I guess I would have to start with the script, story, or concept.  Screenwriting is usually split into three different styles. They are: narrative (linear), non-linear, and documentary.  Narrative stories follow a timeline taking the story from beginning and moving chronologically to the end.

Non-linear is the opposite of chronological. An example of a non-linear is the movie “Momento” or “Pulp Fiction”. These directors chopped up time and used time sequencing to throw the viewer off balance. While non-linear has gained popularity, it seems that the narrative film is the more enduring style.   It is much more difficult for folks to figure out what is going on in the non-linear format, that may be one of the reasons it is used.

The third format would simply be, documentary. This is a real-time reality presentation letting the facts present themselves with little or no direction or editing. Documentary is different from Narrative in that the director works to keep from manipulating the production as little as possible. Narrative film is all about the director manipulating a scene to illicit certain reactions from the viewer, therein lies the difference between the two.

Depending on the story you are telling, you will choose the best format to use. While the narrative and linear may have traditional scripting, you may have to refer to an interview script in the documentary format. This may simply be a list of questions to be asked, usually by an off camera interviewer, allowing the subject/talent to drive the dialog.  

Many times there is no real dialog to script except for the questions an interviewer will ask. Much of documentary film is done by showing up and filming things as they are happening with some narration to explain to the viewer what they are watching.

There was a type of documentary films referred to Cinema Veritέ. This means “cinema truth” in French and of course was made popular by the French in the 1950’s.  This was done as an effort to remove artifice from film to allow a more truthful depiction of a story.

In comedy, you know immediately if you’ve got winning dialog just by whether you get the laugh or not. Not everyone can achieve this so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a laugh. That is what your group can help you figure out afterward, this is where the brainstorming comes in. Comedy is difficult to write. You have to have a good sense of timing.  It seems with comedy, you either have a gift for it or you don’t.

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