Script Reference
Using the reference images above, I have created my own script for my story.
Script
Fade in:
EXT. Boys House Day
Amongst the luscious countryside landscape stands a house where a
young boy is currently arranging scrolls that are awaiting to be
sent.
INT. Inside the House Day
The camera pans from the outside of the house in through the window.
Here, we then see they boy currently rolling up another scroll ready
to be delivered. The camera zooms in from a full shot to a medium
shot of him at the desk.
The camera cuts to a close up of a poster situated above the desk.
On the poster displays a colourful bird holding a scroll and the
words Delivery Service are printed on it. The bird is a crimson
red with white on his belly and wearing a pastel blue hat and bright
green satchel.
Hearing a sudden noise from outside, the boy sharply turns and we
see a close up of his face.
A medium shot of a bird, identical to the poster, is seen flying
through the clear blue sky and dives gracefully through the window
of the house onto the desk.
The boy grasps the scroll attached to the bird and reads the note in
haste. Cutting from a full shot to a close up, the tension is built
as the boy slams the scroll on the desk in panic and rapidly runs
out the room. Startled, the bird flaps its wings as the boy grabs
his bag and leaves the house. The camera trucks out as the boy
sprints down the path into the distance. The scene ends with the
isolated scroll on the desk that displays a message.
EXT. Castle Day transition to night
As the boy travels across the plains, the sky drifts from day to
night to portray the amount of time that has passed. Coming to a
halt, we see an establishing shot of a mysterious castle. The camera
pans upwards to highlight its gloomy aura.
A towering door is approached by the boy and a close up of his
expression depicts the fright that he displays.
With courage, the boy opens the door and continues inside. What he
finds is an elaborately decorated room, displaying a finely
patterned floor and weathered stone walls leading to the large room
beyond. The boy ventures on following the path laid out before him.
An establishing shot then conveys how large the next room is in
comparison to the boy. The boy feels intimidated yet intrigued to
discover the mysteries of the castle, despite his Fathers warning.
Walking up to a
boy looks up at
up of the panel
out and the boy
towering wall on the opposite side of the room, the
its stone panels and hesitantly presses one. A close
that he pressed then shows an arrow begin to shoot
dodges out the way in reflex.
Out of breathe, the boy leans against the wall yet his hand catches
a hidden switch. A close up of the switch is seen being activated.
Alerted, the boy turns his attention to the middle of the room where
he witnesses a podium begin to rise from the ground.
A low angled shot pans upwards to reveal a sapphire blue mask
glittering against the light.
Excitedly, the boy picks up the mask, analysiss its features and
places it onto his face. Realising the mask displays the correct
panel to press, the boy touches it and the wall begins to rise. The
boy looks on in wonderment at the shadows that lie beyond.
EXT. Father in the room Night
A low angled shot begins the scene as the boy enters the room and
notices a shadowy figure sitting on the steps in the distance.
The camera pans
notice the same
contrast to the
luminous orange
begins to stand
in on the unknown persons face and immediately
intricately detailed patterns on their mask. In
boys mask, their mask is a vibrant blood red, with
flames that glow in the shadows. The figure then
and positions themselves into a fighting stance.
Cutting back to the boy, he panics and hastily takes off his mask in
hope that they will back down. A medium shot then shows the figure
begin to regain their natural stance as it seems something has
dawned on them, and the boy looks on apprehensively. The boy then
gasps in shock as he discovers the true identity of the person
behind the mask.
THE END
Narrative Structure
Typical narrative structure is often broken down in this way:
1. Opening: establishes setting and introduces character
2. Build up: Relationships established. Development of characters and their world
3. Problem: a dilemma or series of complications. Characters are faced with an obstacle to overcome a
mystery to solve, or often more than one
4. Events: a series of events/action as characters try to overcome obstacle, solve problem, discover
truth and so on. Further complications may arise in the process
5. Resolution: the protagonists are victorious, problems are solved, truth revealed
6. Ending: characters reflect on events, reinstate relationships and look forward.
The narrative structure of a film trailer could be simply shortened to this:
Opening
Build Up
Problem
Events
Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds has been used in compositional art since the Renaissance. Painters realised that
the human eye doesnt rest at the center of a photograph or shot onscreen but instead scans the
edges. The Rule of Thirds for film aims to put the subject of the image off center to create a sense of
balance and draw the viewers eye.
The basic idea is to break down the frame/image into vertical and horizontal thirds. Simularly to the
Renaissance painters, studies have found that the human eye naturally sees one of the four
intersecting points first before anything else. Naturally it makes sense to put the object at one of the
four points.
Colour Wheel
The above images are colour schemes that are based off my character designs. I picked the main
colours and then saw how this would correspond with the different colour rules. I found this
particularly helpful as I could relate this back to the colours I was using for my locations and other
designs.
Storyboard and Animatic Reference
When creating my storyboards, the first thing I did was research different types of storyboards that
had been produced for films. I found different types of ones, ones that contained more detail than
others, and then ones that contained information about shots numbers, camera movements etc As
well as doing this, I also found that using the storyboard cheat sheet (above) was really helpful when
coming up with angles for each shot in my story. If a particular shot wasnt working I would refer
back to this to improve it. Also, this template was useful for getting the correct aspect ratio for each
shot. Overall, I have create a rough and final storyboard.
The following images are references that I used when looking up animatics. Moving on from the
storyboards, I needed to know what movement needed to be included in the animatic so I looked at
other peoples work. With reference to the images above, each shot depicts what is happening next
in more detail compared to the storyboard and contains some of the inbetween movement. In my
animatic and final animatic, I looked at these examples in order to get the timing right and to see
how the movement is shown. Also, I included music in my animatic in order to convey the
mood/tone of the story.
Examples of Animatics I looked at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1uRncKY8DU The Gorillas music animatic for Dirty Harry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiZRuOxiCGw Iron Man 3 animatic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHrguUH1qz4 Despicable Me 2 animatic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X56n9WjSV2I Avatar animatic
Other Research
Storyboards that look at the camera movement and positioning of objects in shots. This particular
example was from the last scene of The Lord Of The Rings.
