Drama and Documentary. What is a Synopsis Outline Treatment?

Transcription

1 Drama and Documentary What is a Synopsis Outline Treatment?

2 WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February 2004

3 AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT? DRAMA AND DOCUMENTARY What is a synopsis? A synopsis for a project regardless of genre or length can be one line, a paragraph, or up to a page in length. The purpose of a synopsis is to detail the basic plot and motivations of the characters and the situations in an accurate and succinct manner to engage the reader. It could incorporate the following: a sense of whose story it is the major characters and how they interact the setting and era of the story the inciting incident that initiates the story a sense of the story unfolding and its major developments a sense of escalating tension or conflict the climax and resolution. As a synopsis is sometimes the first material read by a reader, assessor, producer, distributor or sales agent, it should be written in a way which is as dynamic and enticing as possible. Along with a good script this document is a strong selling tool for your project. What is an outline? An outline can be three to 10 pages in length. It is primarily written like a short story, is an extension of the synopsis and should include all the elements listed above. It includes all action in the story without dialogue and should be written in an engaging way to entice the reader. It can sometimes incorporate pitch elements which would include information that would give the reader a better understanding of the dynamic elements of the story, subject, characters or style intended. WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February

4 What is a scene breakdown? A scene breakdown is a blueprint for a first draft screenplay or a useful tool for restructuring and rewriting. It should include all of the planned scenes for the film. Each scene is usually a paragraph with a scene header and contains a description of the principal action with little or no dialogue. Importantly, a scene breakdown should convey a sense of narrative momentum rather than dwell on minor details. Examples of two scene breakdown scenes follow: INT. NIGHTCLUB. NIGHT CLUBBERS dance to a heavy dance beat. MARK and SHARON enter the club and head for the dancefloor, looking fantastic with their new make-overs. JOANNE intercepts and tells them to come over to the bar to meet her new BOYFRIEND. INT. BAR. NIGHT At the bar MARK and SHARON are impressed. JAKE is their favourite DJ. JOANNE is proud and tells SHARON they are going away to London for the opening of JAKE S new club. 2 WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February 2004

5 What is a treatment (drama)? A treatment for a project, regardless of genre or length of film, plots the narrative as it will appear on the screen. It is written in a straightforward prose style, normally in the present tense, and with little or no dialogue. While treatments usually concentrate on the plot, they can also incorporate ideas or feelings that inform the situations or characters. This can help the reader understand the motivations of the writer(s) and their intentions for the development of the project. The layout of a treatment should be written in short paragraphs. Each paragraph is a separate scene or sequence of events that advances the action of the story and characters. Following is a basic example of two paragraphs of treatment action: TOMMY DYSON (25), rough though handsome, drives his truck along the highway listening to country and western music. He looks down at his pretty girlfriend SUE (22) who is asleep next to him. Up ahead a roadblock comes into view with police cars and ambulances. TOMMY slows the truck. The brakes skid, SUE wakes up. As they wait for the road to clear TOMMY uses the opportunity to ask SUE to move in with him. It is six months later. TOMMY and SUE chat about SUE S new job at the newspaper office as they eat dinner in their kitchen. TOMMY tells SUE he thinks it is great that she has found something she loves doing. SUE watches him in admiration as he speaks. She wishes that he had a job he was happy with as well. She realises her love for him is growing stronger. These scenes would then be extended into the first draft of the script which advances the narrative through the use of dialogue and situations. All thoughts and feelings would be removed and incorporated through action and dialogue. The length of a treatment varies. For a short feature it could be pages, for a feature film pages, or more depending on the subject and writing style. What is a treatment (documentary)? A documentary treatment should tell the story of the program as it happens, making it clear what the audience is watching and hearing. It should not be a history, nor should it contain excessive background information about the subject or characters. This information should be included as separate material. Often, the most interesting and successful treatments for documentaries infer the style which is intended. This gives the reader a clear idea of the filmmaker s approach to material. As documentaries are realised in many visual and aural forms and incorporate other elements which differ from most drama, eg archival film, photographs, interviews, artwork, graphics etc, these should be included in the explanatory paragraphs. WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February

6 Following is a basic example of two paragraphs for a documentary treatment: RUTH RIDLEY is the strong and feisty daughter of the Preacher John Ridley. She sits in the studio before a beautiful, stylised naturescape of a sea at sunset. She explains the influence her father had on Arthur Stace who was later to become known as Mr Eternity. A photo of John Ridley appears. It was John Ridley s sermon Echoes of Eternity which supposedly converted Stace to Christianity in the 1930s. It was after this sermon that Stace took a piece of chalk from his pocket and wrote in beautiful copperplate script the one word Eternity on the sidewalks of Sydney that would influence many for the next four decades. The image of Arthur Stace appears, recreated, as he walks away from the Sydney Harbour Bridge wearing a dark coat and Depression-era hat. Nineteen twenties archival footage of two male swimmers seen from overhead lying on a cliff face. The turbulent sea hits the cliff as the sea runs over their bodies. John Ridley s poetic sermon booms loudly as the sea returns to hit the cliff face as the swimmers hold on tightly. The length of a documentary treatment varies from project to project. A treatment of 5 15 pages should provide a clear understanding of the content or subject(s), including a strong sense of how the story is to unfold and any other elements at the discretion of the filmmaker. A detailed treatment of pages would include a stronger sense of the documentary structure, possible sample interviewee dialogue and a more detailed exploration of the intended style. This is a well-researched document and for an experienced filmmaker could be used as the core document to proceed into production. A documentary script of pages for a 50-minute documentary would include detailed scenes including sample dialogue sequences and a strong sense of stylistic approach. All archival elements would be well researched and any re-enactments would be fully scripted. The best documentary scripts are written in a similar layout style to drama scripts. This provides for a clear understanding of the majority of elements to be incorporated in the film. This would be the core document for proceeding into production. Exhaustive lists of archival materials or additional dialogue should be kept as a separate accompanying document as sometimes this unnecessarily lengthens the script and makes for a less than interesting read. Some documentaries follow events as they unfold so it is impossible to write a treatment that will accurately foretell what will happen in the film. In this case the usual thing is to write about the intentions of the filmmaker. What are the issues that you want to address in the film? How will they be illustrated by following these characters or events? What do you hope you will be able to film? How will the style of the film help to illustrate and expand on the issues? What is essentially engaging about the characters? What is essentially compelling about the issues and events? How do you propose to construct a satisfying narrative structure? 4 WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February 2004

7 AFC contact addresses Enquiries can be forwarded to: PO Box 3984 SYDNEY NSW 2001 PO Box 404 SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3205 PO Box 835 FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006 or delivered to: Level William St WOOLLOOMOOLOO NSW 2011 Ph: (02) Fax: (02) Level Clarendon St SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3205 Ph: (03) Fax: (03) Level 3, Judith Wright Centre 420 Brunswick St FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006 Ph: (07) Fax: (07) Toll Free (available nationally): for all three offices: fd@afc.gov.au The AFC is happy to respond to enquiries on questions of AFC funding but please do not forward applications by . AFC application forms, guidelines and handouts may be accessed via the AFC website at WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS OUTLINE TREATMENT / Drama and Documentary / February