Story-telling | Beginning, Middles, and Endings + Moments (10th October 2016)

The primary focus of today's lecture with Steve Coombes was 'moments', the memorable parts of a moving picture which stand out, and can act as a turning point in the plot which should keep the audience captivated.  I'll start this post with my one of my favourite moments from my favourite TV show, Game of Thrones, in which one of the central characters, Jon Snow, comes face to face with a White Walker - mysterious icy creatures from north of 'The Wall':

First off, the cinematography in this is fantastic - the sequence where Jon is running to the hut, then Wun Wun the Giant bursting through it all in the same shot is very satisfying to watch.  We also have the big reveal that Valyrian Steel works against White Walkers, unlike conventional weapons, which is going to play a key part later on in the series.

Back to the lecture, we went through the three main parts of a moving picture: beginnings, middles, and endings.  Here is what I took away from the session:

• Do not bridge between acts with "and then", but rather "therefore", and "but", or else the story is boring and linear.
• Dramatic ironies come from "buts" - dramatic irony s when the audience knows more about the characters than the characters do.
• The minimum number of moments in a story should come in the form of the beginning, middle, and ending.
• The opening should be on a 'need-to-know' basis to entice intrigue toward the rest of the story.
• This can be to setup a conflict, or show a character's subconscious.
• The middle should materially change the story, so the story your audience thinks they are watching gains a new significance as they see it in a different light - a turning point.
• The ending is your punchline, and should have a satisfying payoff.
• Count your moments.
• Avoid a 'double bump on the head', which is where the main cause for conflict can be switched on or off without any real effort.
• Moments are the most important part of your script; if your audience starts to pay attention to the full plot, they may start to dislike it, but moments can save you from this.

Later on, we also had a quick look at the 180° rule with Simon.  This is where the characters must stick to their side of the screen in a scene, or else the camerawork seems disjointed.  Where you position the camera is where you position the audience, so it is important that each character in a scene sticks to the side of the screen they were in during the previous shot.

You can get away with breaking this rule if we see the camera moving, or we see the character moving to the other side of the screen in one shot.  Breaking the rule can also work if you wish to create a disoriented feel to the scene which can cause the audience to question their expectation of what is going to happen in the film.