The document presents a talk on screen grammar and visual language basics by Frank Guttler on October 30, 2011. It discusses concepts like shots, scenes, storyboarding and compares the visual language of film to printed words. It provides examples from films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Lord of the Rings to illustrate techniques. The document ends with a comparison of the animated short Luxo Jr. and an IKEA commercial to show analog vs digital filmmaking mastery.

1. Sunday, October 30, 2011

2. presents
Screen Grammar &
Visual Language Basics
Frank Guttler
frankguttler@gmail.com
Sunday, October 30, 2011

3. "Children turn things into stories, and
when they try to make sense of their life
they use the storied version of their
experience as the basis for further
reflection.
Even well into adulthood, we find it easier
to process information in narrative form
than in more abstract forms like equations
and graphs. Most effective of all are
narratives that we construct ourselves."
- Jerome Bruner, cognitive learning theory pioneer
The Narrative Construction of Reality, 1991
Sunday, October 30, 2011

4. “We need to treat the language
and grammar of the screen
exactly the way we learn writing
music or painting”
- George Lucas
Sunday, October 30, 2011

5. Screen Ed Process Mirrors Reading & Writing Processes
Sunday, October 30, 2011

6. What’s the difference between
a SHOT and a SCENE?
Sunday, October 30, 2011

7. SHOT
The part of a film between two cuts
SCENE
A series of shots combined to form a continuous block of
storytelling. The end of a scene is typically marked by a
change in location, style, or time.
Sunday, October 30, 2011

8. Comparing Visual Language to
the Printed Word
Sentence Paragraph Chapter Novel
Shot Scene Sequence Movie
Sunday, October 30, 2011

9. Shots: The Vocabulary of Screen Language
Sunday, October 30, 2011

10. DVD Special Features and Commentaries
A Master-Class in film sitting on your bookshelf!
Watch & Learn
Sunday, October 30, 2011

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark
• 1981
• 115 minutes
• PG
• Written by Lawrence
Kasdan
• Directed by Steven
Spielberg
• Starring Harrison Ford
• Paramount Home Video
Sunday, October 30, 2011

12. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• 1986
• 103 minutes
• PG-13
• Written & Directed by John
Hughes
• Starring Matthew Broderick
• Paramount Home Video
Sunday, October 30, 2011

13. Sunday, October 30, 2011

14. Sunday, October 30, 2011

15. A storyboard is a visual sketch of how
Storyboard: a shot is to be seen through the
camera lens.
Sunday, October 30, 2011

16. Snow White And The
Seven Dwarfs
• 1937
• 83 minutes
• G rating
• Directed by David Hand
• Based on the story by Jacob
& Wilhelm Grimm
• Walt Disney Home Video
Sunday, October 30, 2011

17. Reverse Storyboarding
Monsters, Inc.
• 2001
• 92 minutes
• G rating
• Directed by Peter Docter
& David Silverman
• Screenplay by Andrew
Stanton & David Gerson
• Walt Disney Home Video
Sunday, October 30, 2011

18. The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King
• 2003
• Directed by Peter Jackson
• Written by JRR Tolken
& Frank Walsh
• Starring Ian McKellen,Viggo
Mortenson, Sean Astin
• 200 min
• PG-13
• New Line Home Video
Sunday, October 30, 2011

19. Shot Composition
The Rule Of Thirds
Sunday, October 30, 2011

20. A Tale of Two Lamps
Digital Magic vs. Analog Mastery
Sunday, October 30, 2011

21. Luxo, Jr.
• 1986
• Directed by John
Lasseter
• Pixar Animation Studios
• 2 minutes
• www.youtube.com/
watch?v=PvCWPZfK8pI
Sunday, October 30, 2011

22. IKEA Lamp
• 2002
• Directed by Spike Jonze
• Advertisement
• 60 sec.
• www.youtube.com/watch?
v=I07xDdFMdgw
Sunday, October 30, 2011