Exam on "The Script", an article written up by Marilyn Milogram.

1. Exam

2.  Why are some directors driven to write their
own scripts?
 Frustration at the time taken having to wait
for other opportunities.

3.  You shouldn’t make an intense character
study if you are scared of what?
 Actors.

4.  What should you be careful of if you only
have 5k to make your film?
 High action/drama (e.g. car chases).

5.  If a feature film might be described as a
novella, how might a short be described?
 A Hiatus.

6.  What are the length boundaries different film
festivals stipulate in their short sections?
 They stipulate between 10-20 minutes.

7.  If the function of your short is to make your
audience laugh, how long should it be?
 Between 2-3 minutes.

8.  What are the three basic elements any kind of
dramatic story requires?
 A World
 A Character
 A Problem

9.  Why can it be useful to set your film around a
familiar event/ritual?
 The audience may already have basic
knowledge involving the event.
 The issues/themes felt by the audience can
be put forward towards the short.
 Dramatic tension and story events are
created.

10.  Why can a literal journey be a good setting
for a short film?
 The story takes the character on an emotional
journey.
 The setting works well.

11.  What are the 5 most important questions to
ask when you begin to develop your story?
 Who is your main character?
 What is their problem?
 How will the audience recognise the problem?
 Are the stakes high enough?
 Am I telling the story from the best point of
view?

12.  One of three things must drive your character
through the story. What are they?
 A want
 A need
 An obligation

13.  What crucially must accompany this element?
 Barriers towards the character reaching it.
 External obstacles are in the way.
 If there is no problem, there is no film.

14.  Why are a lot of short films about children
and teenagers?
 The lack of experience associated with
children and teenagers is recognised to all
audiences.

15.  What is one of the most important ways that
you can demonstrate your skill as a
filmmaker and not just a storyteller?
 The direction of what the characters are
doing.
 Characters into problem.

16.  What does ensuring that something is at
stake in the story mean the audience can do?
 Make them think “what can we loose”.
 Understanding why the journey really
matters.

17.  How can a different POV change a story?
 The audience sees the story from a different
perspective.
 How the problem is displayed is different.
 This can either strengthen or weaken the
story.

18.  Why do many short film scripts fall down?
 Establishing a character is a difficult task.
 Script writers often move on to another
character without establishing another.

19.  Why does an awareness of the meaning
inherent in your story matter?
 There is only time for one clear message to
be made.
 It helps the script writer make the choices he
wants to make.

20.  What is tone intimately connected to and
what are the implications of this?
 Tone is intimately connected to the genre.
 It is important to think about what kind of
film you are writing in broad terms.
 Genre is less of an issue in shorts than in
features.

21.  How does tone emerge in a film?
 Through the underlying elements, which work
together.
 Examples of elements include lighting,

22.  What is a common flaw of most short scripts
submitted for funding?
 They have not had enough drafting, so it is
not yet worthy of funding.

23.  What is the ten point plan to test the spine of your
story?
 Title
 Genre/tone
 Setting
 Main Character
 A want, a need and an obligation
 Opposition
 Catalyst for change
 Climax
 Resolution
 Theme

24.  What point does Marilyn Milgrom make about
unity?
 Each scene should help develop the story.

25.  How can we make sure that what happens in
the end could not have happened earlier?
 Each scene must move the story on.

26.  What is the step outline and what does it
ensure?
 One sentence summarising what happens.
 What is revealed that is significant to the plot.
 What is revealed that is significant to the
audience’s understanding.
 Check you have no slack in your film.

27.  Every scene of significant action should
deliver something on at least two out of three
possible fronts. What are these fronts?
 A plot
 A character
 A theme

28.  What is signified by the “order” in which to
tell the story?
 A beginning
 A middle
 An end

29.  What do audiences instinctively know?
 Whether something is pretentious or
dishonest.

30.  As a writer what is the crucial thing you are
looking to ensure?
 Keeping the audience engaged with a story
that has meaning.

31.  How do we establish the world and the
character?
 Through maximum speed, and minimal
dialogue.

32.  What advice is given for making the film cinematic once you have
a good story?
 Establish a world and character.
 Use visuals and sound; sound is able to suggest a world outside
the frame you can’t afford to shoot and enhance the impact of
your story.
 Establish a consistent tone.
 Keep an active main character (make choices, do things that
allows us to understand them).
 Show character changes, via relationships, props, etc., instead of
through dialogue.
 Use cinematic devices, which can build tension and moves the
story forward with maximum economy)
 Revise your step outline to check that all significant things
created manifest to your audience in the most visual way
possible.

33.  What final advice is given for ensuring that a
short is more cinematic, less televisual in
feel?
 Leave writing the dialogue until last, and keep
it minimal.

34.  Who is the first audience of your film?
 A reader of the script.

35.  How can you help the reader see the film you are
intending and not get irritated?
 Follow screenwriting conventions
(http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/ )
 Familiarise yourself with scripts
(www.scriptpimp.com, www.script-o-rama.com )
 Avoid writing camera directions
 Avoid writing things the audience cannot see
◦ (What you see is what you get)
◦ (What you hear is what you get)

36.  Why is simple a useful descriptor for your
short?
 It can make a big impression if told with
cinematic flair.

37.  Name some of Daniel Mulloy’s shorts and the
awards they have won?
 He has won a BAFTA Cymru Award for his first
film, Dance Floor, for best newcomer.
 His second film, Sister (2005), was awarded the
ARTE Grand Prix in Hamburg and another BAFTA.
 Antonio’s Breakfast won the Short Film BAFTA in
2006.
 Dad (2006), premiered in the Edinburgh Film
Festival.

38.  Compare/contrast Antonio’s Breakfast with
Dad.
 Antonio’s Breakfast is shot in one location, as
Mulloy knew money was non-existent.
 Dad was also shot in one location, but as the
antidote to Antonio’s Breakfast; the
characters were almost in reverse.
 The main protagonist was a middle aged man
in Dad, which contrasts with the young man
focused on in Antonio’s Breakfast.

39.  Explain what Mulloy is “aware” of and has a
“strong sense” of when developing his
scripts.
 He is aware that only minimal funds are
available.
 He does not depend on the producer to pick
up scripts.
 He has a strong sense of what needs to be
communicated.

40.  What does Neil Hunter suggest is the best
way to tackle a short which covers a lot of
ground?
 Covering ground has to be part of the point
and part of its style.

41.  What idea did the short film The Sickie
develop from?
 A character overhears the voiceover of the
film he’s in.
 The script keeps things simple, direct, funny,
short and with a point.