Instant Ebooks Textbook Producing and Directing The Short Film and Video Fourth Edition Peter W. Rea Download All Chapters

Full download ebook at ebookgate.
com
Producing and Directing the Short Film and

Video Fourth Edition Peter W. Rea
https://ebookgate.com/product/producing-and-
directing-the-short-film-and-video-fourth-edition-
peter-w-rea/
Download more ebook from https://ebookgate.com

More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
Writing Directing and Producing Documentary Films and

Videos 3rd Edition Alan Rosenthal
https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-directing-and-producing-
documentary-films-and-videos-3rd-edition-alan-rosenthal/
Directing and Producing for Television Third Edition A

Format Approach Ivan Cury
https://ebookgate.com/product/directing-and-producing-for-
television-third-edition-a-format-approach-ivan-cury/
Directing Film Techniques and Aesthetics 3rd Edition

Michael Rabiger
https://ebookgate.com/product/directing-film-techniques-and-
aesthetics-3rd-edition-michael-rabiger/
Creative Motion Graphic Titling for Film Video and the

Web Yael Braha
https://ebookgate.com/product/creative-motion-graphic-titling-
for-film-video-and-the-web-yael-braha/
Directing Scenes and Senses The Thinking of Regie 1st
Edition Peter M. Boenisch
https://ebookgate.com/product/directing-scenes-and-senses-the-
thinking-of-regie-1st-edition-peter-m-boenisch/
The Technique of Film and Video Editing Fifth Edition

History Theory and Practice Ken Dancyger
https://ebookgate.com/product/the-technique-of-film-and-video-
editing-fifth-edition-history-theory-and-practice-ken-dancyger/
Videomaker Guide to Video Production Fourth Edition

Videomaker
https://ebookgate.com/product/videomaker-guide-to-video-
production-fourth-edition-videomaker/
Grindhouse Nostalgia Memory Home Video and Exploitation

Film Fandom 1st Edition David Church
https://ebookgate.com/product/grindhouse-nostalgia-memory-home-
video-and-exploitation-film-fandom-1st-edition-david-church/
The Encyclopedia of British Film Fourth Edition Brian

Mcfarlane
https://ebookgate.com/product/the-encyclopedia-of-british-film-
fourth-edition-brian-mcfarlane/
Producing and Directing the
Short Film and Video
This page intentionally left blank
Producing and Directing the
Short Film and Video
Fourth Edition
Peter W. Rea
David K. Irving
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD

PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, UK
# 2010 ELSEVIER Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the
Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance
Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the
Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our
understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become
necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using
any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods
they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a
professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any
liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or
otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the
material herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Irving, David K.
Producing and directing the short film and video / David K. Irving, Peter W. Rea. – 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-240-81174-1 (alk. paper)
1. Short films–Production and direction. 2. Video recordings–Production and direction. I. Rea, Peter W.
II. Title.
PN1995.9.P7I75 2010
791.43020 32–dc22
2009046285
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-240-81174-1
For information on all Focal Press publications

visit our website at www.elsevierdirect.com
10 11 12 13 14 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America

Contents
Web Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Student Fundraising Strategies . . 33

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Pitching the Project . . . . . . . . 34
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii The Elevator Challenge . . . . . . 34
Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Steps to a Successful Pitch . . . . 34
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 1: Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Creative Producer . . . . . . . 1
Developing the Script . . . . . . . 1 Part I
Do Your Homework . . . . . . . . 2 Preproduction
What Is a Script? . . . . . . . . . . 3
What Does a Script Look Like? . . 3 Chapter 3: Breakdowns . . . . . . . . . 45
Where Do Scripts Come From? . . 4
How Are Scripts Developed? . . . 6 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Breaking Down the Script . . . . 45
Legalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Production Book . . . . . . . . . 45
Basic Guidelines for the Short Proper Script Format . . . . . . . 46
Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Breaking Down the Script . . . . 46
Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
What Do You Do Now? . . . . . 17 Storyboards and Floor Plans . . . 51
True Stories and Events . . . . . . 17 Developing a Shooting Plan . . . 52
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Final Word . . . . . . . . . . 60
Supervising or Performing Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rewrites . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Working with the Writer . . . . . 18 Chapter 4: Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Director as Storyteller . . . . . . 18
Producer (as Production
Story Questions . . . . . . . . . . 19
Manager) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Scene Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 19
Building a Stripboard . . . . . . . 63
The Shooting Script . . . . . . . . 19
General Guidelines . . . . . . . . 63
How Do Scripts Affect Budgets? . 20
Beginning the Schedule . . . . . 68
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Creating the Schedule . . . . . . 69
Documentaries . . . . . . . . . . 20
The First Day . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Developing a Web Presence . . . 21
Making the Day . . . . . . . . . . 69
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Shooting During Preproduction . 71
Locking the Schedule . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 2: Finance . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Call Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Scheduling Documentaries . . . . 74
Raising the Capital . . . . . . . . 23 Student Scheduling Tips . . . . . 74
Basic Fundraising Problems . . . 23 Web Presence for the Project . . 75
Funding Options . . . . . . . . . 24 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Do Your Research . . . . . . . . 26 Determining the Visual Plan . . . 75
The Prospectus . . . . . . . . . . 27 Coverage ¼ Time ¼ Schedule ¼
Spending the Money Responsibly . 32 Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Digital Prospectus . . . . . . 32 Contingency Plans for Overages . 76
General Fundraising Suggestions 32 Things Change . . . . . . . . . . 76
Sources for Students . . . . . . . 33 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
v
vi Contents
Chapter 5: Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Wardrobe . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Creating a Budget . . . . . . . . . 77 Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Production Value . . . . . . . . . 77 Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Script and Budget . . . . . . . . . 78 The Producer’s Role . . . . . . 134
Who Creates the Budget? . . . . 78 Web Presence . . . . . . . . . . 134
Budgeting Software . . . . . . . . 78 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Budget Form . . . . . . . . . 78 Creating a Look . . . . . . . . . 135
Beginning the Budget . . . . . . . 91 Architect of Illusion . . . . . . . 135
Learn by Doing . . . . . . . . . . 92 How to Define the “Look” . . . 136
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Breakdowns: Listen to the Script . 137
Shooting for the Moon . . . . . . 93 Defining the Space with Visual
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Camera Tests . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter 6: Crewing . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Hiring the Crew . . . . . . . . . . 95 Chapter 9: Location . . . . . . . . . . 139
Who Hires the Crew? . . . . . . 95
When Do You Need a Crew? . . 95 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
How Big a Crew Do You Need? . 95 Securing Locations . . . . . . . 139
Selecting the Crew . . . . . . . . 96 Where to Look for Locations . . 139
Key Crew Members . . . . . . . . 98 Scouting the Locations . . . . . 140
Developing the Right Chemistry 107 Securing the Location . . . . . 142
Web Presence . . . . . . . . . . 108 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Scouting Locations . . . . . . . 144
Hiring the Crew . . . . . . . . . 108 Aesthetic Concerns versus
Director’s Disease . . . . . . . 109 Practical Limitations . . . . . 144
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Be Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . 144
The Power of Illusion . . . . . . 145
Chapter 7: Casting . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Identifying the Location . . . . 146
Walk-throughs . . . . . . . . . 148
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Casting Director . . . . . . 111
The Basic Casting Steps . . . . 112
Chapter 10: Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . 149
Added Benefits of Casting . . . 115 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Web Presence . . . . . . . . . . 115 Working on Scenes . . . . . . . 149
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Before Rehearsals . . . . . . . . 149
Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Developing Mutual Trust . . . . 150
Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Researching the Character . . . 150
Audition Guidelines . . . . . . 117 Back Story . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Casting the Documentary . . . 120 Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Shape the Scene . . . . . . . . 152
Communicating on the Set . . . 153
Chapter 8: Art Direction . . . . . . . 123 Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Rehearsal Schedule . . . . . . . 155
Assembling the Team . . . . . . 123
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Production Design . . . . . . . 123
The Art Department . . . . . . 124
Images Can Tell a Story . . . . 124
Chapter 11: Camera . . . . . . . . . . 157
Responsibilities of the Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Department . . . . . . . . . . 125 Collaborate . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Communication with the DP . . 126 Keeping Up with Technology . 157
Set Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Contents vii
Listen to the Material . . . . . . 158 Chapter 13: Art on Set . . . . . . . . . 219

Documentary . . . . . . . . . . 158
Do Your Homework . . . . . . 158 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Consult with the Director of Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Photography . . . . . . . . . 159 Final Walk-through . . . . . . . 219
Camera Team . . . . . . . . . . 161 Set Procedures . . . . . . . . . 219
Basic Decisions . . . . . . . . . 161 Set Dressing . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Film Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Digital Video Format . . . . . . 163 Wardrobe . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
The Camera as Storyteller . . . 164 Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
The Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Additional Crew . . . . . . . . 223
Size of Shot . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Camera Movement . . . . . . . 173 Keeping Track . . . . . . . . . . 223
Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Cover Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . 224
Second Unit . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Greenscreen . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . 182 Part II
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Production
Video Formats . . . . . . . . . 192
Other Equipment . . . . . . . . 198 Chapter 14: Set Procedures . . . . . . 229
Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Integrating Animation . . . . . 200 Inspires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Organized Chaos . . . . . . . . 229
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Set Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Technical Considerations . . . . 201 A Typical Day . . . . . . . . . 230
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Camera Moves . . . . . . . . . 234
Video Tap . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Digital Assistant . . . . . . . . . 235
Chapter 12: Sound . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Slates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Calling the Shot . . . . . . . . . 237
Recording Clean Tracks . . . . 203 Script Supervision . . . . . . . . 238
Why Getting Good Sound Is So Dailies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Important . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Sound Team . . . . . . . . 204 Coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Equipment . . . . . . . . . 206 Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Responsibilities of the Sound Proper Wrap Out . . . . . . . . 241
Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Approaches to Recording
Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Variables for Placing
Chapter 15: The Actor . . . . . . . . . 243
Microphones . . . . . . . . . 212 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Recording Concerns . . . . . . 213 Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Video Sound . . . . . . . . . . 214 The Process . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Documentary . . . . . . . . . . 215 Technical Requirements for
Web Site Information . . . . . . 215 the Actor . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 The Director’s Tools . . . . . . 246
Controlling the Environment . . 215 Types of Characters . . . . . . . 246
Equipment Needs for the Shoot 216 Directing Actors . . . . . . . . 249
How Big of a Sound Package Interviewing for Documentaries 250
and Crew Do You Need? . . 216 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Accommodating . . . . . . . . 251
viii Contents
Socializing . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Music Tracks . . . . . . . . . . 296

Contracts and Deal Memos . . 251 The Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Different Formats . . . . . . . . 300
Music Tips for Students and
Part III Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Postproduction Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Supervising Postproduction . . 305
Chapter 16: Pix Postproduction . . . . 257 . . .And Distributors . . . . . . . 306
The Moral . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
The “Final Draft” . . . . . . . . 257
The Director as Editor . . . . . 257
The Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Chapter 18: Finishing/Online/
The Editor Speaks . . . . . . . . 258 Laboratory . . . . . . . . 307
The Documentary Editor . . . . 258
The Editing Process . . . . . . . 258 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
What Is Editing? . . . . . . . . . 258 The Finished Look . . . . . . . 307
Evolution of the Edit . . . . . . 264 The Choices . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Locking the Picture . . . . . . . 266 Film Workflow . . . . . . . . . 307
Technical Considerations When Opticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Editing Film on Video . . . . 266 Cutting the Negative . . . . . . 309
Digital Basics . . . . . . . . . . 267 Film Matchback . . . . . . . . . 311
Basic Workflow of a Nonlinear Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Editing System . . . . . . . . 271 Types of Prints . . . . . . . . . 312
Editing Sequences . . . . . . . 273 Traditional Linear Video
Basic Sound Editing . . . . . . 274 Online . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Special Digital Video Effects . . 275 Video-to-Film Transfer . . . . . 313
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Nonlinear Online Edit . . . . . 314
Film to Video . . . . . . . . . . 278 Animation and CGI: Rendering
The P2 Workflow . . . . . . . . 280 and Compositing . . . . . . . 316
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Advise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Keeping Track and Looking
What You Want from a System? . 280 Ahead (and Back If
What Is Available? . . . . . . . 280 Necessary) . . . . . . . . . . 317
Editing Room . . . . . . . . . . 281 Looking Ahead/Key Points . . . 317
Postproduction Schedule . . . . 281
Stepping Back and Looking
Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Chapter 19: Distribution/Exhibition . 319
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Launching the Film . . . . . . . 319
Chapter 17: Sound Postproduction . . 285 Start Early: Have A Plan from
the Beginning . . . . . . . . 320
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
The Markets . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . 285
Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
What Is Sound Design? . . . . . 285
The Internet . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Respect for Sound . . . . . . . 286
YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
What Is a Soundtrack? . . . . . 287
iTunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Post Flow Options . . . . . . . 287
Internet Sites . . . . . . . . . . 323
Spotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Cell Phones . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Dialogue Tracks . . . . . . . . 290
DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Automatic Dialogue Replacement
Television . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
(ADR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Theatrical Markets . . . . . . . 324
Walla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Nontheatrical Markets . . . . . 324
Voice-overs and Narration . . . 293
Foreign Markets . . . . . . . . . 326
Sound Effects Tracks . . . . . . 294
Distribution Options . . . . . . 327
Contents ix
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Appendix E Safety Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Appendix F Music Clearance and Insurance . . . . 361
The Academy Awards . . . . . 335
Appendix G State Film Commissions . . . . . . . . 365
Appendix H Film and Media Programs . . . . . . . 369
Appendix A A Short History of the Short Film . . . 337
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Appendix B Genres and Animation . . . . . . . . . 339
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Appendix C Script Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Appendix D Screening List . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Web Contents
Visit the companion site at

http://booksite.focalpress.com/companion/IrvingRea/
and use passcode IRV2UT98SW69 to login; on the
companion site, you will find:
Contents FORMS to download, save, and print, including:

Script Breakdown Sheet
Header and Stripboard
Web Site Extras for Lunch Date
Call Sheet
Web Site Extras for Citizen
Short Budget Top Sheet
Web Site Extras for A Nick in Time
Release Form
Web Site Extras for Truman
Location Contract
Web Site Extras for Crazy Glue
Short Budget-2
Web Site Extras from Mirror Mirror
Short Budget-3
Information on Web Development
Short Budget-4
Associations
Short Budget-5
Distributors
Animation Budget
Film and Video Festivals
Grants and Financing Sources
Important Internet Sites
Web Site Extras on Sound and Microphones
Traditional Film and Video Post Production
xi
Preface: Fourth Edition
Since the third edition, the range of options available for Our web site at www.focalpress.com/companions will
the beginning filmmaker has multiplied tenfold. High def- also include links for the short films, all the forms in this
inition (HD) has integrated itself firmly into production, book, plus much important information for the beginning
distribution, and exhibition. A camera has been developed filmmaker. Besides updating the book to address new
that is essentially a lens mounted on a computer (The technologies, we have been fortunate to receive comments
RED). Professional postproduction software once linked and suggestions from many of our readers since the book
to an editing system that filled a room can now be loaded was originally published. We are happy to make changes
onto a laptop. Essentially, anyone with a digital camera to better explain a concept or illustrate a point.
and a laptop is able to create a film that has the look and
feel of a professional product.
Equally noteworthy, social networking channels such EFFICIO COGNOSIO (LEARN BY DOING)
as YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter have
altered the communication landscape. Broadband has There is no substitute for experience. In this book,
helped usher in a true “Convergence of Media.” we want to emphasize the importance of the School of
Insomuch as digital technology has transformed how Hard Knocks. Whether you are in a film or media program
films are made and distributed, “film” is very much alive or making a project on your own, this is an excellent time
as a professional capture format and still (for now) the to be studying filmmaking.
primary exhibition format for feature films. Implementation There is no better way to learn how to make a film
of digital projection systems and satellite delivery are still than by actually doing it. Books and manuals can serve
on the horizon. as guides. Other films can act as inspiration, and talking
Very few of these changes affect the text in this book. about and critiquing films can trigger ideas. However,
Telling a story visually is juxtaposing one image with the two best teachers are failure and success. Experiencing
another and then next to another, the sum of which makes the process of putting together a project, building work
a narrative, documentary, animation, or experimental muscles, and understanding the craft and discipline of
piece. However one captures the image, manipulates it the process are ultimately the best ways to develop
editorially, or projects it for an audience, the basic steps your skills.
of visual storytelling have been the same for the hundred
plus years since film was invented. Technological
advances can aid the process, but not sidestep any of the THE POWER OF THE MEDIA
steps. The responsibilities of a producer and a director
are directly tied to their hearts and minds, not their toys. Finally, your short film has the potential to influence a
No matter what the tools, art is created out of the heart. great many people. Both media have gained great expo-
In this age of multiple media sources competing for our sure in the past 20 years, and their potential is growing
attention, it is important to understand that “content” is still rapidly. All indications are that by the year 2010,
king. More and more festivals have been sprouting up yearly. products from the communications industry will be the
Making your presence felt in the expanding market for shorts United States’ chief export commodity.
and a flooded Internet requires that you create a product that Coupled with the wide distribution of these media is
rises above the thousands of daily entries. Having something the issue of the power of their content to influence. We
to say and saying it well never goes out of fashion. are now grappling with crucial problems, from overpopu-
To aid you in your quest, this edition boasts the addition lation to racial discrimination, from management of the
of two new narrative films, one filmed in Super 16mm and earth’s resources to the management of human resources.
one in 35mm. We have included a strategy for using a web Film and video have a powerful voice in the dialogue
site designed for your project as an effective tool for prepro- about these challenges. Our hope is that in expressing
duction, production, and distribution that is woven in the text yourself in this fashion, you will consider the world in
and expanded on our web site with several case studies. which it will be viewed and will use your talents wisely.
xiii
Acknowledgments
FIRST EDITION Suzie Korda, Dow McKeever, Stevin Michals, Marsha

Moore, Mo Ogrodnik, Sam Pollard, Paul Thompson,
We would like to thank the following people who assisted us Mike Thornburgh, Mika Salmi, Simon Lund, and Lamar
in the writing of this book—in particular, the faculty, staff, Sanders.
and students at New York University, Tisch School of the Also, special thanks to Terri Jadick for her patience
Arts, Undergraduate Film and Television: Arnold Baskin, and support and Maura Kelly for her production skills.
John Canemaker, Pat Cooper, Carlos DeJesus, Tom
Drysdale, Carol Dysinger, Dan Gaydos, Fritz Gerald, Chat
Gunter, Ron Kalish, Julia Keydel, Marketa Kimbrall, Dan THIRD EDITION
Kleinman, Lou La Volpe, Rosanne Limoncelli, Ian Maitland,
Barbara Malmet, Rick McKinney, Lynne McVeigh, Lamar Special thanks to Norman Bebell, Mitchell Block, John
Sanders, Julie Sloane, George Stoney, Nick Tanis, Darryl Canemaker, Michael Carmine, Michelle Coe, Fritz Gerald,
Wilson, Brane Zivkovic, and especially Steven Sills. Also, Joe Hobeck, Marsha Moore McKeever, Jamaal Parham,
New York University Professor Richard Schechner, who David Russell, David Spector, and Debra Zimmerman.
saw an early version of Producing and Directing the Short Special thanks to Lou LaVolpe. We are also indebted
Film and Video. to Etgar Keret for allowing us to reprint his short story.
We would also like to thank Mitchell Block, John Adding a fourth film would not have been possible with-
Butman, Steve Hanks, the law firm of Rudolf & Beer, out the contributions made by filmmaker extraordinaire
Doug Underdahl, Nancy Walzog, and a special thanks to Tatia Rosenthal and the dean of the Savannah School of
Carol Chambers for her continued support throughout the the Arts, Peter Weishar.
writing process and Steve West for his editing skills.
We would also like to thank Ken Bowser, Hamilton
Fish, Jr., David Gurfinkel, Tova Neeman, Priscilla Pointer, FOURTH EDITION
and Robert Wise, for inspiration and encouragement.
For the editorial and production skills they provided to Special thanks to Geoffrey Erb, Marsha Moore McKeever,
Focal Press, we would especially like to thank Mary Ellen Dow McKeever, Jeff Stolow, Stevin Michels, Steve Elliot,
Oliver, Marilyn Rash, and Judith Riotto, who made the Scott Bankert, Alex Raspa, Jessalyn Haefele, Gavin Keese,
process of assembling these final pages a rewarding one. Camilla Toniolo and Amos Katz.
Special thanks to Howard Beaver and John Nymarky
for their invaluable contributions.
SECOND EDITION Special thanks to Kevin Cooper, Kim Nelson, and
Gary Goldsmith for their editorial advice.
Special thanks to Mitchell Block, John Butman, John And finally, special thanks to Jane Dashevsky for her
Canemaker, Michael Carmine, Gary Donatelli, Fritz Ger- incredible patience, Melinda Rankin for her production
ald, Fred Ginzberg, Chat Gunther, Milly Itzack, skills, and Elinor Actipis for her continued support.
xv
Introduction
Why make a short film? The idea of being in a darkened CRAFT VERSUS ART AND
screening room and watching your film touch an audience COLLABORATION
is exciting. There is deep satisfaction in communicating
on this basic level. The fantasy of creating something that Moving pictures are arguably the greatest art form of the
has an emotional impact on others is what motivates many twentieth century. After all, the medium combines ele-
people to go into picture making in the first place. ments of literature, art, theater, photography, dance, and
There is, also, the artistic satisfaction. music, but is in itself a unique form. For the sake of all
Most short works are created to give filmmakers an beginning filmmakers who read this book, we take off
opportudnity to express themselves, display their talent, and the pressure by refusing to emphasize the creation of art.
develop filmmaking skills; to experiment with the medium; Instead, we stress the craft of storytelling, and telling a
or to provide a stepping stone to a career in film and televi- story well is not an easy task. Telling a short story well
sion. The key advantage to making a short is learning the is even more difficult.
filmmaking process on a project of manageable scale. For us, it is difficult to think of filmmaking as an “art-
If the work turns out well, shorts can be entered into any of making” endeavor. Orson Welles probably did not intend
the hundreds of national and international festivals. They pro- to make art when he conceived and produced Citizen
vide validation for your filmmaking skills and opportunities to Kane. Instead, he probably set out to make the best film
meet people who can further your career. The producer and he could from a particular script. The result was a well-
director can parlay awards and the fame of winning competi- crafted film, which was later deemed to be one of the
tions into meetings, agents, and (ideally) employment. finest feature films ever made and ultimately came to be
The market for “shorts” has been traditionally limited. considered “art.” This label has more to do with the con-
Rarely did shorts recoup their investments, let alone make sensus of a critical audience long after the fact than it does
money. For these reasons, the creation of a short work was with the intention of the filmmaker. Our advice to you is
usually motivated by considerations other than profit. to set out to shoot the best short story you can and let
Over the years, however, opportunities for distribution the audience decide whether it is art.
and exhibition have grown substantially. Traditional distri- Let’s not give Welles all the credit for the success of
bution outlets still exist (see Chapter 19), but the short Citizen Kane. Filmmaking is a collaborative enterprise in
film can now be exhibited to a worldwide audience across which many creative people lend their expertise to the
myriad platforms. With this kind of exposure come director’s vision. Too many ingredients affect the outcome
expanding opportunities for beginners to profit from their of a film to allow any one person to take credit for its suc-
work. From iTunes to iPods to webisodes, the short form cess. Welles himself said that “making a film is like paint-
finds itself a good fit with the new technologies of the ing a picture with an army.” He thought so much of the
twenty-first century. contribution of his cinematographer, Greg Toland, to the
film’s success that he shared a card with him in the closing
credits of Citizen Kane.
INTERNET Above all, to make a successful short film, the entire
creative team must share a passion for the material and
What has made many of these opportunities for filmmak-
the process. If there is no passion, the process will be no
ing possible is the growth of the Internet and its potential
more than going through the motions of manufacturing a
to create an integrated and consistent message across all
product. Lack of passion shows on the screen.
media. As you develop your short film idea, the web can
be used to promote awareness of your project, to raise
funds, to reach out to cast and crew, and eventually to
act as a distribution outlet. The Internet is a tool and, as
WHAT ARE THE STEPS?
such, can be employed to whatever extent you wish. We How do you go about making a successful short film? Pic-
will outline many of the possibilities throughout the book. ture making is a complex and demanding activity, even for
It is up to you, the filmmaker, to decide to what extent you the experienced. A myriad of problems inevitably arises
wish to avail yourself of its possibilities. involving script, crew, budget, casting, lighting, and so
xvii
xviii Introduction
on. Each project has its own unique set of challenges. In addition, we have divided each chapter into two
For example, one film might need a difficult location such parts, reflecting the management, or “producing,” skills
as Grand Central Station; another might call for a school and the storytelling, or “directing,” skills. Presenting a
gymnasium or an old-fashioned barbershop. clear picture of what the producer and director is doing
One script might require a talented young boy who at any given time gives the novice a detailed understand-
must also be meek and scrawny; another might need a ing of and respect for the processes of both producing
homeless person. One project might run out of money and directing, one step at a time, from idea to final print.
before postproduction; another budget might not allow It can also serve as a practical guide to help navigate
for crucial special effects. Even before starting production, through creative and managerial straits.
you must understand sophisticated technical crafts;
resource management; political and social interaction;
and personal, financial, and professional responsibility. PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR?
The process of producing a film, whether it is a half-
Unfortunately, students and beginners often find them-
hour or a five-minute piece, has been refined over the years
and developed into an art. As you will discover, there is a selves taking on the dual role of the producer and director.
Having to tackle two very different and complex responsi-
straightforward logic behind these steps—a logic governed
bilities at the same time puts undue and unnecessary pres-
by the management of time, talent, and resources. Each step
sure on the novice. This problem exists for many reasons.
is informed by pragmatism and common sense:
Primarily, it is that the director, in most cases, financially
l Script development. Your script must be well crafted supports the project and either can’t find someone willing
before preproduction can begin. to do the job or is unable to trust someone the manage her
l Preproduction. The production must be efficiently money properly. The burden of having to direct and pro-
organized before the camera can roll. duce can have a deleterious impact on either important
l Production. The project must be shot before it can be function. We discourage it.
edited. If and when a producer does become involved with a
l Postproduction. The project must be edited before it student production, that individual often serves as either
can be distributed. production manager or glorified “go-fer.” Neither of these
l Distribution/exhibition. A film that is not seen or situations results in what could and should be a creative
experienced by an audience serves only as an exercise. partnership, one that we believe best serves the needs of
This list is only a broad outline of what must happen dur- any production.
ing the production of a short work. It describes the general
flow of activity, but it does not address what these steps
mean or when and how they must be performed. Translat-
The Producer
ing an idea into a film involves the execution of thousands The most misunderstood and mysterious role in the film-
of details over a long period of time. In fact, the success of making process is that of the producer. We’ve been asked
any film project relies as much on management as it does hundreds of times, “What does a producer actually do?”
on storytelling. Knowing where to put the camera to cap- That his role is a mystery to most laypeople is not alto-
ture the right dramatic moment of a scene requires as gether surprising. The producer’s position in the film and
much skill as marshaling the necessary people, equipment, television industry is amorphous and has varying defini-
and supplies to the location in the first place. One can’t tions. In addition, the producer never has the same job
happen without the other. description from one project to another, and on many
kinds of films, it is common to see from four to eight
names with one of these producing titles:
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK l Executive in Charge of Production
l Executive Producer
Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video is
l Producer
organized according to the general logic of how a short
l Co-Producer
work is assembled. Each of the preceding stages of script
l Line Producer
development, preproduction, production, and postproduc-
l Assistant Producer
tion is fleshed out in detail with concrete examples. Our
l Associate Producer
goal is to impart to the beginner a fundamental under-
standing of what is required to organize and execute the In this book, we use the term producer primarily to
production of a successful short picture. Bear in mind, describe the driving force in the making of a short. We
though, that no two shows are alike and that there are no refer to this person as the “creative” producer. We also
rules. This book is a guide, not a formula. use producer to describe the person who engineers all
Introduction xix
the elements necessary for the creative and business Although the producer strives to support the director’s
aspects of production. This is the role of producer as pro- work and the director is the authority figure on the shoot,
duction manager. In Chapter 6, this position is described the director answers to the producer. However, the pro-
in depth. ducer complements the director’s work. When the direc-
A movie begins with an adaptation from an existing tor’s decisions affect the budget or the schedule, she
short story, a script, an original idea, a true story, or sim- consults the producer. The responsibilities of the producer
ply an image that has dramatic and visual potential. The and director often overlap. Ideally, the director and pro-
imagination and belief that such an idea or story can be ducer should be able to work well together and understand
transformed into a motion picture are what begin the pro- the script in the same way. Picture making is, after all,
cess. What is not widely understood is that the producer a creative collaboration.
can be, and often is, the creative instigator of most films: The director must be demanding but not dictatorial.
the one with the original inspiration who launches the She must do her best to draw out each cast and crew mem-
project and then sails it home, with himself as the captain. ber by making him feel involved. The director is an active
This is the individual who is involved in all stages of pro- observer. She directs the actors by being part coach, part
duction, from development to distribution. audience, and part performer. She will stand on her head
In a general sense, we could say that without the pro- if necessary to elicit a good performance. The director
ducer, the picture would not be made. The Academy of should have unlimited patience and be methodical,
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives the Best Picture organized, articulate, and succinct. She should be broadly
Award to the producer of a film. This is the industry’s educated in the arts and have a working knowledge of the
acknowledgment that the producer is the person who is duties and responsibilities of each member of the team.
responsible for putting the pieces together, the person The director needs six things to execute a successful
who creates the whole. short: a good script, a talented cast, a devoted crew, ade-
One of those previously named producers may have quate funds, good health, and luck (a major variable in
initiated the project but not have necessary skills or expe- any artist’s work).
rience to “manage” it. One of the main elements—if not
the most important—is the money. The producer is also
responsible for raising it, budgeting it, and ultimately SIX SHORT FILMS
accounting for it to the investors. The producer as produc-
tion manager, commonly called the line producer, is also In this book’s chapters, we try to illustrate that the poten-
in charge of coordinating the logistics of the production tial of realizing magic on the screen is directly propor-
that are outlined throughout out the book (see Figure 1.1 tional to the quality of management in the production
for producer’s responsibilities). stages. To help you understand this critical relationship
between organization and creative success, we use exam-
ples throughout the book from what we consider to be
six successful shorts: four narratives, an animated film
The Director
(also a narrative), and one documentary.
Because of the images of several contemporary superstar As teachers, we find it difficult to talk generically
directors, including Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Jane about production without using examples from specific
Campion, Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, Kathryn films. Many basic concepts and terms are alien to the
Bigelow, etc., the role of the film director has taken on a beginner, and relating them to an actual production creates
romanticized image. The director shouts “Action,” and a common reference and a strong context. Throughout
the whole set swings into motion. The director chats with each chapter, we quote from the filmmakers’ personal nar-
actors between takes and enjoys posh dinners after the ratives about that part of the production process. Citing
day’s wrap. their films, which you can see and whose scripts you can
In reality, the director’s work is never done. Because read, offers concrete evidence of the range of procedures
her job is to supply the creative vision for a one-of-a-kind and challenges encountered in producing and directing a
and essentially handmade product, the choice and effect of short film. The rules of production planning for the short
thousands of decisions fall to her. Solving all creative pro- form can also be applied to any live-action (not animated)
blems on and off the set is the director’s final responsibil- subject matter, whether it is narrative, documentary,
ity, from how much light to what color blouse, from which experimental, industrial, or corporate in nature.
location to how long a scream. The director alone has the The case studies are Citizen, an 11-minute color narra-
“vision” of the whole film in her head, and she alone is tive film written and directed by James Darling; A Nick in
obligated to make the sum of all her decisions throughout Time, a 10-minute narrative film written and directed by
the process add up to its fulfillment. The director’s goal is Be’ Barrett; The Lunch Date, a 12-minute black-and-white
to deliver a finished film ready for an audience. narrative film written and directed by Adam Davidson;
xx Introduction
Truman, a 12-minute color narrative film written and 462 Broadway

directed by Howard McCain; Mirror Mirror, a 17-minute Suite 500
documentary film produced and directed by Jan Krawitz; New York, NY 10013
and Crazy Glue, a 5-minute animated short produced and Tel: 212-925-0606
directed by Tatia Rosenthal. Fax: 212-925-2052
Each of these films has won competitions, and one, Area of specialty: Films and videos by women about women
The Lunch Date, won an Academy Award. The four narra- email: [email protected]
tives were made as student films: Truman, Crazy Glue, and
Citizen at New York University and The Lunch Date at
Columbia University. A Nick in Time was made as an
THE FILMMAKERS SPEAK
independent film. Mirror Mirror was made by a docu-
mentary filmmaker who teaches at Stanford University. Culled from hours of interviews, relevant quotes from the
Truman is distributed by Direct Cinema Inc., Mirror six short filmmakers have been inserted to support the
Mirror is distributed by Woman Make Movies, Crazy specific topic of each chapter. We hope that these pearls
Glue is self-distributed by Ms. Rosenthal, and The Lunch of wisdom will personalize their experience in producing
Date is distributed by The Lantz Office. More detailed and directing the short films we use as case studies in our
information about these distributors is included below book. All have gone on to do wonderful things with their
and in Appendix B. The script for Citizen, set in careers. Check them out on imdb.com.
standard screenplay manuscript format, is printed in
Appendix C. Adam Davidson is the writer and director of The Lunch
Why did we choose these films? They are excellent Date (a live-action narrative); Adam made The Lunch
examples of well-produced and well-directed short films. Date as a graduate student at Columbia University
As stories, they are appropriate for the short form. School of the Arts.
We chose narratives that are similar in length but differ Garth Stein is the producer of The Lunch Date.
in storytelling styles, subject matter, and production orga- James Darling is the writer and director of Citizen; he
nization. Crazy Glue,the animated film, affords us the made it as an undergraduate student at NYU, Tisch
opportunity to share the experiences and techniques School of the Arts, Undergraduate Film and Television.
required of this demanding form of film expression. It is Jessalyn Haefele is the producer of Citizen.
also been adapted from another medium. Be’ Garrett is the cowriter and director of A Nick in
Mirror Mirror was included because the documentary Time.
is an important short form. Many young filmmakers Jan Krawitz is the director and producer of Mirror Mir-
explore the documentary as a means of self-expression. ror (a documentary); Jan is a professor at Stanford
Although Mirror Mirror is different in nature and struc- University.
ture from most traditional documentaries, the form offered Howard McCain is the writer and director of Truman (a
Jan Krawitz a unique arena in which to explore her views. live-action narrative); he made Truman as a student
Contact information to rent or purchase a DVD copy of at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Film and
the short films follows: Television.
Tatia Rosenthal is the writer and director of Crazy Glue
Citizen (an animated narrative); she made Crazy Glue as a stu-
James Darling dent at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, Undergraduate
A Nick in Time Film and Television
Be’ Garrett
Truman
Howard McCain CHAPTER BREAKDOWNS
The Lunch Date Chapters 1 and 2 cover the development preliminaries that
Adam Davidson need to be dealt with prior to the preproduction phase of
any project. Each chapter in Parts I and III that covers
Crazy Glue
the preproduction and distribution processes begins with
Tatia Rosenthal
the producer’s responsibilities. The production and post-
Tel: 917-613-2667
production chapters in Parts II and III begin with the
[email protected]
director’s duties. The typical timeline graphic shown in
Mirror, Mirror the introduction to Part I summarizes the activities of the
Jan Krawitz producer and director during the process of making a short
Women Make Movies work. Although determining the specific amount of time
Introduction xxi
needed for each phase is difficult, the following break- l Preproduction usually requires 2 to 8 weeks.
down may provide some insight: l Production usually takes somewhere between 1 day
and 2 weeks.
l Financing might be immediately available or might
l Postproduction details take anywhere from 2 to 10
take years to obtain.
weeks.
l Scripts can come from many sources and may be ready
l Distribution can take as long as several months.
to shoot or could take years to get into shape.
Timeline
PRODUCER DIRECTOR
DEVELOPMENT
Script Developing the Script Supervising or Performing
Rewrites
Ideas for scripts can be developed in many ways and come from many sources but there is one fact that cannot
be disputed – without a well crafted script; you cannot have a good film.
Finance Raising the Capital Pitching the Project
Both the producer and the director can be engaged in the process of securing financing. Without funds, any
preparation for a production is merely an exercise. The two documents required at this phase are a script
and a financial planning package, or prospectus.
PREPRODUCTION
Breakdowns Breaking Down the Script Storyboards and Floor Plans
Having achieved a tight screenplay, the producer and the director begin breaking down the script to prepare
the company for production.
Schedule Building a Stripboard Determining the Visual Plan
The first document made from the breakdowns is the schedule. The producer creates the schedule from the
script in conjunction with the director’s visual plan for photography.
Budget Creating a Budget Shooting for the Moon
The second document made from the breakdowns is the budget. The budget defines the parameters of what
can or cannot be achieved although the director will usually want to “shoot for the moon”.
Crewing Hiring the Crew Hiring the Crew
The crew must be to the mutual liking of both the producer and the
director. Once a crew member is chosen, the producer negotiates his
or her deal.
Casting Auditions Auditions
The producer sets up the auditions and aids the director in making choices for the cast. Factors to be
considered are talent, cost, and availability.
Art Direction Assembling the Team Creating a Look
The producer assembles the team, headed by the art director, which will help the director create “a look” for
the picture. The look must be achieved within the parameters of the budget.
Location Securing Locations Scouting Locations
Working with the DP and art director, the director chooses the locations, and the producer secures them. If a
site cannot be secured for the amount allotted in the budget, a new or backup location is explored.
Rehearsals Rehearsal Schedule Working on Scenes
The producer organizes and plans the rehearsal schedule. The director uses the rehearsal period to work with
the actors to develop their roles and explore organic ways to block the action for the camera.
Camera Support Collaborate
Like the art department, the producer supports the requests and needs of the camera department. The director
and camera department, led by the DP, must work like a hand in a glove.
xxiii
xxiv Timeline
Sound Control Environment Record Clean Tracks
The one ongoing battle on the set (unless you shoot on a sound stage) is the control of noises. The producer
must do everything in his power to keep outside noises to a minimum. The director must try to get the
best location sound. If the sounds being recorded are “dirty” because of noise, the director must advise the
sound person on how she wants to deal with each recording.
Art on Set Construction Guide
Of all of the departments, art is the one that is most likely to expand unexpectedly during production. The
producer must monitor this expansion while supporting the art director’s needs. The director should guide
the art department as much as possible to control any inflation of the budget.
PRODUCTION
Set procedure Organize Inspires
The producer organizes a system for set procedures. It must function like a military operation with the AD as
the chief lieutenant. The director sets the tone and mood of the set. Her energy (of lack thereof) defines how
well the crew will perform.
The Actor Accommodate Direct
The producer organizes the cast schedule and is responsible for the cast’s morale. The primary role of the
director is to create a supportive and creative environment on set.
POSTPRODUCTION
Picture Advise Edit The “Final Draft”
The director and editor cut the picture and sound to make the best film possible from what was captured on
set. The producer acts as an objective viewer and advises the editing team accordingly.
Sound Supervise Postproduction Sound Design
Apart from the first day of principal photography, the most important target date is the mix date. The sounds in
your film contribute to telling the story as much as a good shot or an outstanding performance.
Finishing/ Makes Prints Time

Laboratory/Online
The producer oversees process of “finishing” the film. The director and director of photography oversee the
final “look” of the film.
Distribution/ Make a Deal Publicity

Exhibition
The producer is responsible for finding an outlet for the finished product. The director assists in publicizing the
film.
Chapter 1
Script
The script is everything. The importance of script is: it has to be The guidelines in this chapter are not absolutes. Violating
on the page. some of these narrative principles should not keep you from
Be’ Garrett moving ahead if you feel strongly about the idea. You will
be living with this project for quite a while, so it is important
It all starts with an idea. For that idea to become a film; it that you feel passionate about the material and its message.
must be fleshed out and developed into a script or screen- Remember, though, that film and video are art forms that
play. The script represents the vision of the filmmaker in communicate via visual images. If the script cannot convey
practical form. It is also your guide through production. a message visually, it might not engage an audience.
From it, you know the story, the characters, the locations,
the approximate budget, the final length, and your target
audience. With a script, you can finance the production THE CREATIVE PRODUCER
and attract the creative team that will transform the script
into a final product. The first member of that team is the Developing the Script
director. Her job is to bring a personal vision to the mate-
rial by either rewriting the script herself or collaborating The first step in producing a short film is securing a script.
with the writer until the script best suits a production There are many ways you can do this:
based on her design. l You can write one yourself.
This is the model we are following in this book. l You can develop an original idea with a writer or
There are other scenarios as well. The director and pro- director.
ducer can develop an idea with a writer, or a director/ l You can adapt a script from another genre (a play or
writer can develop the idea and bring on a producer (most short story) or true story.
film school situations). In the latter case, the producer l You can find a script that is already written.
serves as more of a production manager than a creative
force. This scenario can lead to certain complications. The producer supervises the development of an idea
For example, even if the director is a good writer, the pro- until a director is brought on board to supervise the
cess may reach a point when the producer feels that the rewrites and prepare the script for production. What starts
script needs a fresh set of eyes. Negotiating this and other out as a simple notion might go through many evolutions
issues can be sticky unless the director is able to put her before it is ready to go before the cameras. The goal is
ego aside and focus on what is best for the project. to end up with the best script possible from your original
We believe that a productive synergy develops idea. No magic on the set will correct any unresolved story
through checks and balances. The give-and-take over all or structure problems. The old axiom holds true: if it isn’t
creative and financial decisions from script to screen is on the page, it won’t be on the screen. Be prepared to
not only healthy but essential in creating the best film work and rework the material.
from the material. Keep this in mind. However, whatever
approach is taken, there is one fact that cannot be dis- When I sat down with each of my actors, I knew the charac-
puted—without a well-crafted script, you cannot have a ters inside and out. I had one actor in particular, the only
good film. woman in the film, who had come to trouble trying to figure
This chapter introduces you to some necessary guide- out who her character was and how she fit into this whole
lines for writing a short film script. It does not, however, story as the wife of the judge. But because I had spent so
explore in depth the nuts and bolts of writing technique. much time on the rewrites, she had an entire character bible
that I had worked out so I was able to basically tell her who
We recommend that you consult books written specifically
she was.
about screenwriting for the short form. You’ll find sugges-
Be’ Garrett
tions in the Bibliography.
# 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

doi: 10.1016/B978-0-240-81174-1.00008-7 1
2 Chapter |1 Script
Producing a documentary script involves a different Because television offers very little product in the
process than generating a narrative text. The specific short form other than half-hour sitcoms, commercials, or
nature of developing documentary idea is addressed later music videos, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many
in this chapter. There may be those wishing to develop ideas developed by first-time filmmakers are better suited
an experimental or avant-garde short. “Experimental” is for the big screen. It may seem that the short form is lim-
not even considered a specific genre because the range iting in its creative and/or thematic possibilities, but after
of ideas for experimental projects is so enormous—from you study many short films and videos, it should become
abstract images to installations to nontraditional narratives apparent that ideas expressed in this form are limited only
(see Appendix B for more information of genres). by the imagination. All the short films selected for this
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences book touch on serious issues and themes.
Student Academy Awards has a specific category named Finding and viewing short films is much easier than
“Alternative.” If you want to understand what “alterna- it ever has been. Students and beginners have access to
tive” can represent, it’s best to review past winners of this YouTube, ITunes, Facebook, and the massive amount of
award. Compilations of student Academy Awards are now product on the behemoth called the Internet. Anyone with
available on DVD. We will reference a number of film- an audience of one can post something on YouTube.
makers and films to view to sample a little of what can The challenge is to sift through it all to separate the wheat
be done. (Appendix A on short films includes a list of from the chaff. Appendix B will be expanded to include
important experimental films and filmmakers) links to web sites for shorts as well as excellent short film
Whatever the genre, it is important to be able to create collections. It also contains recommendations for classic
a written representation of your idea, the script. Writing a shorts of all genres and how to find them. In addition,
good short script is difficult. The most common mistake the web site for this book will be updated to include
novices make is trying to explore complicated or grandi- recommendations for what we consider excellent examples.
ose ideas that are more suited for the feature film format.
They want to say it all in 10 minutes. The short film idea
I think that I had seen a couple of films on eating disorders, and
doesn’t have the time to explore more than one topic. I had a feeling that I knew what was out there. I did seek out one
It needs to be focused and specific. Simple is best. The film on beauty pageants, which was pretty irrelevant to this
six examples provided in this book are good scripts subject matter. But I do think that’s important. I didn’t want to
because they are simple stories told well. (See Appendix make a film like this if there was a film that had just come out
C and the web site for each film for the complete scripts.) a year earlier. I did enough of a search to convince myself that
there was really not one that took this particular perspective.
Probably the biggest influence—besides all the films I’d ever Jan Krawitz
seen in my life—was looking at student films, what was
working and what wasn’t. One thing that I thought wasn’t
Make sure to explore the range of genres—comedy, farce,
working was that the stories went all over the place and that
there was an emphasis on the technical rather than substance. drama, tragedy, or melodrama—to learn what is best suited
Adam Davidson to the short film. Comedies, for example, lend themselves
to the short form more comfortably than melodrama (film
noir, Western, murder mysteries, sci-fi), which usually
Do Your Homework requires the development of a more complex plot.
Many of the great filmmakers were influenced by
Before embarking on a production, see and study as many existing material. Orson Welles saw and studied John
shorts as possible to get a feel for the form and what can
Ford’s famous Western Stagecoach more than 50 times
be accomplished in its time frame. The length for shorts
while preparing to shoot Citizen Kane.
varies from 2 minutes (Bambi Meets Godzilla, United
States, 1969) to 34 minutes (The Red Balloon, France,
1956). Novices often struggle to develop stories for shorts I made a list of the films that really affected me as a child.
because they are not familiar enough with the kinds of One of them was An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (which
ideas that translate well into smaller packages. Shorts most people have seen). Then, of course, so did The Red Bal-
and features have dramatic principles in common, but in loon. In film school, I saw many other films, such as Truf-
faut’s Les Miston (The Brats). This film didn’t influence me
the same way that short stories are different from novels,
in a conscious way but filled me up emotionally. It was so
there are specific limits to the dramatic scope and range melancholy and beautiful that it made me want to run out
of stories. A character can fall in and out of love, discover and make films, even though I ended up making a film like
the meaning of life, or conquer a nation in two hours. Truman.
In 10 minutes, a character may only be able to get up Howard McCain
the courage to ask someone for a date.
Chapter |1 Script 3
What Is a Script? Magic and Celtx link to a scheduling and budgeting soft-
ware). Most can format your script as you type it and
A script is to filmmaking as a blueprint is to shipbuilding include every genre, including TV. They can be found
or as a score is to a symphony performance. Imagine the where computer programs are sold, and some companies
ensuing difficulties of a shipbuilder who begins construc- will send you a free demo disk.
tion on a boat with only a few sketches to work from, However, a story doesn’t have to be presented origi-
or the cacophony of a full orchestra trying to play a con- nally in screenplay format to make dramatic sense. You
cert from a sketchy musical score. Just as the drawings can work from a step outline or a treatment. A step out-
tell the shipbuilder exactly where to place the mast and line is, as the term implies, the story told in steps or story
the notes on the score tell the musicians what and when beats of one or two sentences describing the action and
and how loudly to play, so a script dictates how each the dramatic tension in each scene. A treatment, similar
member of the production team is to go about fulfilling his to a synopsis, is the bare bones of a story told in narrative
or her job. prose rather than in descriptions of individual scenes.
A script depicts the moment-to-moment progression of A treatment reads like a short story and can be as straight-
events by indicating what the audience will see and hear. forward as the way the case studies are described later in
Unlike a novel or a poem, the script is an unfinished work; this chapter. A step outline also represents the bare bones
it is only a part of the media-making process. It has no of the story, but is not concerned with dialogue, details, set
inherent literary value other than as a guide from which dressing, or minor characters, just the action of the scene,
a film is wrought. who does what to whom. Whatever method you use,
it is imperative that the idea eventually conform to the
standard script format.
I went to the Academy Award winning short screenings for a
A common format for documentary scriptwriting is a
few years. Of those I saw, three caught my attention.
two-column page: one side lists the visuals, and the other
The first, Two Brothers or Two Soldiers, is a film about
an older brother going off to World War II and his side lists the audio. The reader will get an idea of the show
12 year [old] brother who runs away from home and falls into by imagining these two elements together. However,
the recruitment center. That was a 40-minute short film, but it unlike the script in a narrative production, this is a form
had great production values and an epic story. that evolves after much of the footage has already been
The second was a French film called A Man Without a shot. Documentarians learn to be especially responsive to
Head, a fantasy about a society of underclass of people that their material. By the time the documentary gels, the story
live without heads. Incredible special effects. might have changed, taking a direction very different from
The third was [a] short told in a single shot with no dia- the original outline.
logue. It is about these refugees who are trying to cross a For example, in Errol Morris’s Academy Award–
border. It starts out on a vista and then all these people pop
winning documentary The Thin Blue Line, his original
up from [the] grass and begin walking. Suddenly, helicopters
intent was to interview inmates on death row in Texas.
and then soldiers appear and sweep around them, and take
them away. The final image is of one guy who has managed In the course of conducting the interviews, he met and
to escape the clutches of the soldiers. And this is all in interviewed a man who was to become the sole subject
one shot. of his film. Believing the man on death row to be inno-
All those shorts created their own special universe in a cent, Morris took his case to the film audience. The
very short time and were experimental—still great stories— argument was so compelling the man was retried and
but developed a world from a very unique perspective. eventually freed from prison. This example demon-
James Darling strates not only the adjustments documentary film-
makers undergo in the discovery process of their topic,
but also the power of cinema to make a change, to affect
What Does a Script Look Like? the world.
The scripts of The Lunch Date and Citizen in Appendix C
are presented in Writers Guild of America (WGA) stan- During the interview with my first subject, I asked way
dard screenplay format. This format is an industry conven- too many questions. After shooting 800 feet on that
tion that has a direct relationship to how the script is single interview, I reduced the number of questions from
photographed. (See Chapter 3 for more about screenplay eight to four and really simplified the content. Because,
format.) Writing a script in proper format has become sim- despite a “test” interview, I had overestimated how much
information I could cover in a 400-foot (11-minute) roll
plified with the availability of software systems. Some of
of film.
the current scriptwriting programs are Final Draft, Movie
Jan Krawitz
Magic Screenwriter, and Celtx Studios. (Both Movie
4 Chapter |1 Script
Where Do Scripts Come From? teachers would roll out on rainy days in fifth grade. I wanted
it to be fun to make. I wanted to enjoy it.
Scripts are developed from whatever might inspire you to
Howard McCain
express and communicate something in visual and dramatic
terms. All the following sources can serve as the basis for a
dramatic or documentary project:
The woman in The Lunch Date also has a personal rev-
Ideas Dreams elation. She and a homeless man share an unusual moment
Images Real events
together, and then she escapes back to the suburbs (see
Characters Fantasies
Concepts Memories Figure 1.1). This moment probably does not have the same
Historical events Real-life experiences impact on her life as the events in Truman do on the boy
Places Social issues because she is older. We see her experience the unex-
Adaptations from short stories News stories pected, which then affords her the ability to know the
Magazine articles
homeless in a new way. Both characters are changed in
You might be inspired by a single event that occurred on some way by the events of their stories.
a bus or train, an interaction between two people that strikes
you as funny or poignant, an uncle who told you wonderful I remember that several years before, I had heard a story sim-
stories as a child, or a favorite teacher who was a memorable ilar to the one I used in the film, which was a story about a
character. You might have a compelling need to express person misidentifying something of someone else’s as
something about the social conditions in your neighbor- belonging to themselves. And I thought this was a pretty
hood. The best scripts are written from the heart. They are human mistake that anybody could make and that I had prob-
based on subjects the writer knows on a first-hand basis. ably made somewhere along the line—assuming something
Truman focuses on conquering feelings of inadequacy about somebody else. So I played with the idea of setting this
in public. Most of us can empathize with Truman’s tran- story in New York and having the two most opposite people
scendental moment when his perception of himself in I could think of meet.
Adam Davidson
the world undergoes a major shift, a spurt of personal
growth.
Citizen tells the story of a young man in the not-too-dis-
During the summer, I kept notebooks full of different ideas, tant future who tries to escape from his homeland in the
random stuff. I kept drawing the picture of a little boy hang- dead of winter (see Figure 1.2). As this teenage boy is
ing from a rope. That image propelled me forward. I can’t chased by hunters through the harsh wilderness approach-
remember why. I also wanted to make a film that, if I were
ing the Canadian border, he is haunted by a fateful doctor’s
an eight-year-old boy, would amuse me. The sort of film
visit and the perilous choice he has made.
FIGURE 1.1 Two hungry diners, from

The Lunch Date.
Chapter |1 Script 5
FIGURE 1.2 A scene from Citizen.
that forthright (see Figure 1.3). To distract the young

I read about these deserters from the U.S. Military that
were seeking sanctuary in Canada. From my own family his- man from making a serious mistake, the barber digs into
tory—I am estranged from my father, but he did go to Viet- his past and tells a story of a key moment that changed
nam, I was aware of the Vietnam era draft dodging his life in the hopes that he can save the kid’s.
community. I also spent my life crossing the U.S./Canada bor-
der visiting my extended family in Arkansas and Texas. I had an idea to do a film. I began to kick around this idea of
Around those ideas I started thinking about what might happen what kind of movie would I want to do that would be, particu-
if this trend continues, if the wars that America are waging are larly to me and my past and my history, that I would want to
escalated just a little further so that people were calling for a convey to others. I’ve always loved being in a barbershop. I
military draft. Small advocacy groups—more on the anti-war remember going back home to Philadelphia and being in a bar-
side would not be fighting this war if everyone was at risk. bershop my cousin owned at the time with my mom and my
James Darling cousin, and I’d begin to tell them about the idea, the genesis
of the idea which was this guy who comes into the store, and
he’s talking to the barber, but I need something to happen
A Nick in Time is the story of an old-school barber in between the barber and the guy, and I’m thinking about maybe
having some sort of twist where the barber tells him something.
Brooklyn, New York, who is confronted by a young man
Be’ Garrett
wanting a haircut but whose intentions do not seem to be
FIGURE 1.3 Characters from A Nick in

Time.
6 Chapter |1 Script
FIGURE 1.4 A masked woman surrounded

by mannequins, from Mirror Mirror.
The film Mirror Mirror focuses on the topic of how

As a going away gift when I left Israel I received a short book
women perceive their bodies. The filmmaker had a spe- by Etgar Keret, the writer with whom I now work. I finished
cific theme to explore and set about devising a situation it on the plane. It was about 50 short stories of his. I thought
that would allow women to express their innermost every single one of them should have been a short film. In
thoughts (see Figure 1.4). fact, I think since they do lend themselves so well, more than
a hundred of his stories were adapted to short films at this
point. I adapted quite a few of them through many different
I believe that this self-deprecation and striving for an unat-
classes at NYU, and when it came time to have my senior the-
tainable body type is a generalized experience among a lot
sis project made, that story “Crazy Glue” was just so beauti-
of women. All you have to do is eavesdrop in department
ful. I thought it was the most beautiful short story I ever
store dressing rooms or women’s locker rooms to hear the
read. It also had a lot of magical realist sensibilities to it.
laments that women have about their bodies.
I thought it was very appropriate for stop motion animation.
Jan Krawitz
Tatia Rosenthal
Crazy Glue is an animated clay puppet short adapted

How Are Scripts Developed?
from a story by Israeli author Etgar Keret. This clayma-
tion (see Glossary) film tells the story of one innovative You should always be on the lookout for interesting mate-
attempt to patch up a disintegrating marriage—through rial. Turn your eyes and ears outward to the world around
the use of Crazy Glue! you and write down the events that you observe in your
Whereas Truman, The Lunch Date, A Nick in Time, quest for a good idea or story in a notebook or diary. If
Citizen, and Mirror Mirror are original ideas, Crazy Glue you use a computer, you can file incidents in a database
is an adaptation. Writer Etgar Keret is one of the leading under a variety of tags. Moments in life happen at break-
voices in Israeli literature and cinema. Since the late neck speed. You might think at the time that you will
1990s, he has published three books of short stories and remember them when you go home at night, but chances
novellas, two comic books, two feature screenplays, are you will have forgotten some significant detail that
and numerous teleplays. His stories have been published struck you as funny or compelling.
in 15 different languages and have gained both critical One result of typing and storing material is that you
acclaim and success with the public. His book Missing remember it better. Good ideas beget good ideas. The events
Kissinger was named one of the 50 most important books you write down will stimulate your imagination further.
written in Hebrew. Your writer’s notebook could contain these categories:
Chapter |1 Script 7
Characters: Short films are mostly character based, deal with this accumulation of ideas and material is to
so keep detailed notes of people who could be the basis “workshop them” with interested people. Ideas that are
of a story. We have all met people who in one way or spoken out loud have a different impact than those that
another fascinate us. These could be ones you know very are read. They can either sound better than you thought
well or not at all. It could be what they do, how they do it, or fall flat. Not only can you test an idea or concept on
or what they know that interests you. Interesting people an ad hoc audience, but, more important, these verbalized
you see on a train or plane or meet at a party. Note how ideas will be stimulating. A thought or image conjures up
they look and dress and any unique behavior or manner- different impressions in each person’s mind. If one of
isms. Human actions form the core of drama, so people these ideas becomes the core of your final script, these
are the most obvious starting point for a writer. brainstorming sessions will serve as a bond and the start
Locations: Places create mood. Be on the lookout for of a long and fruitful collaboration that will, it is hoped,
visually interesting spaces that serve as compelling continue throughout the entire process.
backdrops for dramatic encounters. Because certain
behavior tends to occur in specific places, locations There was a phase in the middle of writing the script where I
can serve as inspirations for story ideas. went off and tried to make it a little bit of a self-reflecting
Objects: Curious or evocative objects. They could be piece where the husband was going to go to work, and at
interesting pieces of clothing, objects found around work he’s a three-dimensional animated character. So he goes
the house, key chains. Objects in films can take on a to work, goes to the computer, and his job is to move inside a
significance based on the circumstance in which they computer. It was quite amusing, but technically it would have
are placed. made the script much much harder to produce. I ended up tak-
Situations: Revealing or telling situations that you witness ing all of that out and going back to the original story as it
or experience firsthand. was. The only one reference I left in there was when the
Unusual or Revealing Acts: Witnessing people act or woman is having an argument with her husband. She is doo-
dling inside of a cookbook, and what she has done is made a
behave in a way that reveals something powerful and
flipbook inside the cookbook. That was the little leftover of
unique about their character. that idea.
A News File: Save good stories in a folder that could Tatia Rosenthal
serve as an inspiration for a documentary or narrative
idea. Look at old magazines and newspapers that have
items that are noncurrent material that no one else is During the workshop phase of development, it might
using. be necessary to develop many ideas before you discover
Picture File: Collect pictures from magazines, newspa- one that reflects your own voice and that also suits the
pers, and the Internet. Inspirations can come from dra- short form. There is no easy or quick path; there is only
matic pictures from war, crime situations, fashion a process that if pursued on a regular basis will ultimately
images, or any images that stimulate your imagination. result in a story that you believe in and want to tell.
People say a “picture is worth a thousand words.” Be
on the lookout for those telling ones.
Dream/Fantasy Journal: Your dreams and fantasies are a
The big thing I was struggling with is; how did I feel about
sure indicator of your underlying concerns. Keep a
the character? I was definitely putting myself in the charac-
notebook by your bed and write down each dream ter’s shoes. What would I do in this situation? Ultimately, I
while you remember it. This part of your journal is decided that I did not want the film to necessarily take a point
for you to let your mind take off in any direction it of view on the character. I wanted to inspire conversation
wants, stimulated, we hope by the collection of mate- afterwards. It was that idea that eventually got me to the con-
rial you collect. cept: what if you really do not know what is going on until
Themes: Themes grow out of who you are and what you very near or close to the end of the film. That is when I had
believe. They are the heart and soul of good stories. one of my early writing teachers at NYU give me one note.
Write down themes that intrigue you or you feel deeply It is a Twilight Zone episode. It is perfect. I was like—okay.
about. When you see a film or read a story that speaks James Darling
to your own sensibilities, make note of it.
Adaptation
Workshop Your Idea
The beginning filmmaker may also look for ideas for a
All the information you collect can be transformed into short project from preexisting material. In our list of
many different scenarios. Mix and match the various char- where scripts come from, we site short stories, real-life
acters, evocative situations, and locations in your journal. experiences, news stories, historical events, real events,
Look for unlikely relationships. A constructive way to and magazine articles.
8 Chapter |1 Script
The history of motion pictures has been dominated by

Filmmaking today encourages the writer/director auteur and it
adaptations, mostly from novels. At the height of the stu- is a bit of a shame because when you have the same person
dio period in the 1930s, Hollywood was turning out more write and direct, you miss one generation of imagination.
than 600 films a year. To supply this pipeline of production, I think adapting from a book is having that one extra genera-
studios looked to material that had already proven itself tion of imagination in both writer and person. I think it
in the marketplace. Novels served this purpose. Although becomes more profound and valuable.
the studios in the United States produce nowhere near that Tatia Rosenthal
number of films a year now, roughly half are adapted from
another medium, usually from a novel or play.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Rights
honors the craft of adaptation; a separate Oscar is given
to best adaptation in addition to best original screenplay. If you have found a story, comic book, magazine article,
Yet there are few books devoted to adaptation and only or video game that you want to adapt, the first step would
a handful that reserve a substantial section for this craft. be to find out if the underlying rights to the material are
Most how-to writing manuals focus on creating original available. This step is a very important, and it is one that
stories. Although all the important lessons about dramatic many beginning filmmakers fail to take. If the rights are
writing apply, the ability to transpose a well-written short available, you can take the next steps. If they are not,
story (or even a real-life incident) into a film script you will have saved yourself from a lot of effort for noth-
requires a specific discipline. ing (unless you were using the process as an exercise).
However, we suggest another step before approaching
the author or the author’s agent. Spend some time thor-
Why Adapt?
oughly scrutinizing the story’s potential for the screen.
One obvious reason to adapt is that you have already Come up with ideas on how to adapt the work. If you
found a story that has inspired you to produce it as a are lucky to be able to contact the author personally, hav-
motion picture. A short story comes with built-in charac- ing a well-thought-out plan may be a key selling point in
ters, plot, setting, and a theme or central idea. You may receiving the author’s permission. If you are not offering
have been moved by the words on the page; now you want a lot of money, you will have demonstrated that you have
to transfer those feelings to the screen. done your homework. You have nothing to lose and every-
There may be a short story that you always loved that thing to gain. This step also should solidify your belief in
you thought had dramatic or visual potential. It could have the dramatic and visual potential of your story
been written years ago and by someone not well known.
It doesn’t have to be an example of classic literature (because
these stories may be out of your price range as well). Some Legalities
successful adaptations have come from mediocre books or
Rights and Adaptations (Preexisting Material)
stories. What they did offer was a strong plot. There is a
well-worn axiom that the best books make the worst movies For the privilege to profit from the commercial sale or
(not always true). This has something to do with the expecta- rental of your short film or video, rights to original mate-
tions that come with adapting a classic. We have all experi- rial must be purchased. This is also true if you intend to
enced the reaction of “it wasn’t as good as the book.” post your short project on the Internet. This gives you
At the same time, adapting a story by a well-known author complete control of the story in that medium. For a well-
can open doors to film financiers in a way original scripts known story, commercial rights can be expensive, if not
or scripts adapted from obscure works cannot. prohibitive, for a producer on a limited budget.
Another reason to adapt is that original ideas may be It is essential for you to obtain permission to use exist-
harder to come by. Developing an idea from scratch, alone ing material or even to dramatize someone’s biography
or with a writer, may be more challenging than working unless that person is within the public domain as a public
with already-established material. But don’t think that figure (e.g., Madonna, Tom Cruise). If you read about
adapting a preexisting work is any easier. (This also goes some extraordinary man in the newspaper, get permission
for true stories that we will address at the end of this sec- to write about him. You’ll also need permission from the
tion.) Literature is another medium with its own set of author of the article if she has exclusive information about
rules. Capturing the spirit of the work but placing it in the subject.
another package can be equally if not more challenging If you find a short story you like, make a legally bind-
than developing an original idea for the screen. In this sec- ing arrangement with its author for the right to use it as the
tion, we will discuss some strategies to help you discover basis for your film. Contact the author’s representative,
if the story you are considering is an appropriate candidate perhaps an agent or an attorney, through the publisher. If
for a successful adaptation. the author is deceased, an agent or lawyer will represent
Chapter |1 Script 9
the estate. If you have a personal relationship with the A simple letter of agreement (see our web site, http://
author, you might want to bypass the publisher, agent, or booksite.focalpress.com/companion/IrvingRea/) between
attorney and appeal directly to the author. This approach you and the author will make the process legal. This letter
might also be worth trying in the case of well-known is your protection against future disputes concerning
authors whose representatives categorically reject any ownership or division of any profits.
request from unknown producers.
In any case, make no assumptions. You make think Copyright
that a story is out of your reach, but you’ll never know
unless you ask. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The copyright law protects you from someone copying
This philosophy applies to all aspects of filmmaking. what you have written. A copyright certifies that the mate-
The work might be in the public domain and free to rial existed on a certain date. If someone presents the same
use if it has been 70 years since the author’s death. project later, you have grounds for a claim of copyright
A book is in the public domain when its copyright infringement. However, copyright law does not protect
protection has expired. Examples are stories by Aesop, ideas. It protects only the “expression of an idea that is
Dickens, or those from the Bible. If you have any doubt fixed in a tangible form.” This means that an original
as to what is or isn’t in the public domain, write to the treatment, outline, or screenplay is protected, but the ideas
copyright office: Reference and Bibliography Section, behind them are not. The more fully your ideas are rea-
LM-451 Copyright Office, Library of Congress, lized, the more protection you have. A complete screen-
Washington, DC 20559. play will be protected more than a short treatment.
Register only the first draft unless the story changes dra-
matically from one draft to another.
Securing rights was a concern. With “Crazy Glue,” Etgar Before applying for copyright, make sure to register
Keret had an agreement with his publishers who owned the your treatment or outline with the Writers Guild of Amer-
rights for his stories at the time that he can just grant students ica. Taking this step doesn’t protect you legally, but it helps
the right to use the material. It becomes an issue when money
establish the history of the creation of your script—a paper
exchanges hands. I just had to ask his permission and I could
do it. Maybe I should have had it in writing, but as soon as
trail so to speak. Make sure that the cover of your treatment
you know somebody—you know if you can trust—the reality or script contains the WGA registration number and the
they are presenting—he is a very trustworthy person. maximum amount of information about you: your name,
Tatia Rosenthal address, phone number, email, agent (if applicable).
WGA registration is available for everyone, and the
cost is very low (around $30). The WGA gives the treat-
Noncommercial/Festival Rights ment or script a number, puts it in a sealed envelope,
and stores it in a vault for 5 years. No one can withdraw
Film students and beginners exhibit their work primarily
your script but you. The entire process can be handled
at festivals, museums, or conferences (on the Internet
online at www.wgawregistry.org.
as well, but these issues will be covered separately in
To obtain a copyright from the Library of Congress,
Chapter 19). A basic use of a short work is as a spring-
you can get a copy of FORM PA from the copyright office
board to future employment. Prizes at festivals are not
web site at www.copyright.gov/forms or by calling 202-
considered profit, so it might be possible to strike a deal
707-9100. There are many registration forms, each for a
with the author’s representative for a noncommercial or
different kind of work. These forms can be filled out and
“festival license.” These licenses are easier to obtain than
sent back or processed online. It may take months to hear
commercial rights. They’re also cheaper—sometimes even
back, so be patient.
free. It is suggested, however, that you obtain a quote for
A documentary producer must secure the rights to tell
full rights and mention this amount specifically in your
the story of a particular subject. Rights are not necessary
festival license agreement. That way, you will know
when dealing with historical or public figures, however.
exactly what your licensing budget would be if a distribu-
Private subjects must sign a release (see our web site)
tor is interested in your film. (This principle applies to
providing the producer with all rights necessary. If you have
music rights as well.)
any question about the process of securing rights to a non-
public figure or subject, consult an entertainment lawyer.
Original Material
On the opposite end of the spectrum is an original story
Basic Guidelines for the Short Form
written directly for the screen. The producer has already
discovered a screenplay that he wants to produce. If you How do you evaluate an idea for a script? Short films can
decide to go this route, you should purchase the rights to be developed from many different kinds of ideas. How-
the material from its author, even if only for a dollar. ever, there are limits to what can be accomplished in the
10 Chapter |1 Script
short form. Because most beginners are not familiar with The theme represents the reason why you want to
its format, let’s examine these common attributes and fur- make the film in the first place: to say something about
nish a critical point of view. The following are general the human condition. In Truman, the theme is conquering
guidelines; there will always be exceptions. a fear. The Lunch Date is about letting go of one’s preju-
Let’s examine what Truman, Mirror Mirror, The dice. Crazy Glue is an intimate story about a lonely wife’s
Lunch Date, Crazy Glue, A Nick in Time, Citizen, and a attempt to draw back her philandering husband. Mirror
few classic shorts have in common. This will give you a Mirror centers on how women see themselves juxtaposed
greater understanding of the dramatic parameters of the with society’s mirror. In A Nick in Time, success or failure
short form. Make sure to use these guidelines when you in life can hinge on only one moment. One person can
watch and critique other short works. make a difference in your life. All the scenes in your film
The screenwriting process is about research, discovery, should be subordinate to the main theme. If a scene
and crystallization. Watching your story develop is an doesn’t support your theme, eliminate it.
exciting experience. The final result should feel as if each
scene is in the right place.
Achieving this feeling, however, comes from patience That is what it has always been about for me, the communica-
and hard work. You will soon understand the age-old rule: tion of ideas and stories: The desire to express oneself.
What has really happened in the last few years with the
writing is rewriting. Subscribe to it. Be satisfied only with
web, with YouTube, with a lot of traditional media going
the best you can do. onto the web, but also with amateur user generated content,
filmmaking has become the new writing. There is writing that
Length is published in a novel form, but there is the writing we do
everyday between each other. Filmmaking, whether it is
Is there an ideal length for a short? (The Academy of video conferencing, recording personal greetings; it has
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ length requirement for become ubiquitous in everything. So the big challenge that
a short is up to 40 minutes.) The best length is the one that I and my peers seem to be facing is where does art begin?
satisfies your particular story. Work from this point. If you If everyone can do this—at different levels certainly—but what
are concerned about the ideal length for distribution mar- is culture vs. what is communication? It is a big question.
kets, submit your proposal or script to several distributors James Darling
for feedback. If you have already found a market for your
picture, the ideal length might be predetermined.
Look at the length of films at well-known festivals. Conflict
What is the average time? Films in the 10-minute range A basic element common to all visual drama is the need
usually have a better chance of festival acceptance for a specific and identifiable conflict. Conflict creates
because festival organizers like to program as many as tension. Tension engages the viewer’s emotions, it keeps
possible. YouTube shorts are even shorter. At the end of them engaged, until the conflict is resolved and the tension
the day, your film is as long as it needs to be to tell the is relieved at the end of the piece.
story. What is conflict, and how is it created? Conflict is realized
through characters. Someone wants something or is unhappy
STUDENTS or unfulfilled in some way, takes action, and meets with con-
Eager to impress people with their talent, beginning film-
flict. Most narrative stories begin by establishing a problem,
makers often want to say too much with their short film dilemma, or goal. The process of working out this issue
project. They tend to compress feature-length ideas into defines the drama. Obstacles to solving the problem intensify
10-minute pictures. Resist this temptation. the conflict. The necessity of overcoming obstacles to resolve
the conflict places a greater value on the lesson learned.
The Central Theme

The Law of Conflict: Nothing moves forward in a story except
The central theme is what the story is all about. It is the through conflict.. . . As long as conflict engages our thoughts
raison d’être, the cement that holds the story together. and emotions we travel through the hours unaware of the voy-
Themes are concerned with universal concepts—love, age. Then suddenly the film’s over. We glance at our watches,
honor, identity, compromise, responsibility, ambition, amazed. But when conflict disappears, so do we. The pictorial
greed, and guilt—that are experienced and shared world- interest of eye pleasing photography or the aural pleasures of
wide. The universal quality of these ideas and emotions a beautiful score may hold us briefly, but if conflict is kept on
hold for too long, our eyes leave the screen.
helps ensure that the audience will relate to the material
Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the
on a deeper level than the plot. Without this unifying
Principles of Screenwriting
ingredient, there is no purpose or meaning to the work.
Chapter |1 Script 11
The Basic Conflicts overcome his fear and climb the rope. Once he does, the
conflict is resolved, the tension is diffused, and the story
Different kinds of conflict are possible in a story, regard-
ends.
less of whether it’s fictional or nonfictional:
The conflict in Mirror Mirror is one of individual ver-
Individual versus self (internal) sus nature, society, and self. The goal is for the women to
Individual versus individual (personal) accept their physical appearance. Tension arises from the
Individual versus society (social environment) fact that their looks are at odds with society’s standards
Individual versus nature (physical environment) of beauty. This tension is intensified by the emphasis
and importance our culture places on how a woman’s
Each one of these conflicts, alone or in combination,
body looks.
draws our attention to the plight of the main character,
In each of these stories, the filmmaker sets up an
or protagonist, when confronted by personal or another
expectation by establishing a conflict. We are engaged
individual’s demons, or the forces of society, or nature.
by the main character’s need to overcome the conflict
The filmmakers create a deep emotional connection
and deal with the problem, and we will be satisfied only
between the audience and the protagonist by clearly
when the conflict is resolved. If the characters could get
identifying the protagonist’s dilemma.
what they wanted easily, there would be no story.
Citizen employs three levels of conflict: individual ver-
Equally important, the basic conflict existed even
sus society (the state), individual versus nature (physical
before the story began. Truman was scared to climb the
environment), and individual versus self (personal loss).
rope ladder, and the woman of The Lunch Date had her
The young man, fleeing from the draft, not only must
social prejudices well before the film began. The story
overcome rough terrain, snow, a formidable wall, and
setting presents a situation to reveal conflict that already
the border patrol to make it to Canada, but also face never
exists. There is no time to develop conflict in a short
seeing his parents again.
piece, so conflict should be inevitable.
The protagonist in The Lunch Date faces two levels of
conflict: internal and personal. Her goal is to eat her salad.
The obstacles are the homeless man (personal) and her
The Dramatic Arc or Spine
prejudices (internal). This is the basis for conflict. How
she deals with this unexpected situation creates a tension Every story should have a beginning, a middle, and an
that will be resolved only when the woman either gets end—but, as Jean-Luc Godard once said, not necessarily
her salad or does not. The tension created by this expecta- in that order. In Truman, Crazy Glue, and The Lunch Date,
tion impels us to watch. We are eager to learn how she A Nick in Time, and Citizen, each main character has a
will handle this unique situation. Will she overcome her goal (the rope, the husband, the salad, the need to con-
aversion to the homeless man? The transition from outrage vince the young man, the border), and each has an obsta-
to mutual respect is a satisfying leap for the character and cle (fear, her husband’s indifference, the homeless man,
the audience. the possibility of violence, the border patrol).
Crazy Glue shows a lonely wife’s attempt to draw back Most narrative stories can be reduced to this
her philandering husband through the use of common basic formula of goal-obstacle-resolution, creating this
household glue. This individual versus individual story progression:
has a universal appeal.
Beginning (setup)
Truman employs three levels of conflict: individual
Middle (development)
versus society, individual versus individual, and individual
End (resolution)
versus self. The class represents society and is punished
because of Truman’s weakness. By overcoming his fear This can also be stated in terms of character:
and climbing the rope, Truman is accepted to the bosom
Someone wants something
of the group. The film also deals with the conflict of indi-
Takes action
vidual versus individual, with the coach as the antagonist.
Meets with obstacles (conflict)
He tries to humiliate Truman into climbing the rope,
That leads to a climax
thereby forcing the boy to make his final decision.
And a resolution.
These two levels are, however, extensions of the pri-
mary conflict that is at the heart of the story: Truman’s This formula creates the natural arc or spine of all narra-
internal conflict with himself. His need to climb up the tive and non-narrative drama. All stories follow this pro-
rope (and his fear of doing so) is the reason the story gression. The problem is introduced, developed, and then
exists. As an audience, we strongly identify with that need resolved. When the resolution has been achieved, the story
and are emotionally involved in finding out if Truman can is over.
apart, but the “realtime” or event of the film is the time

My whole script hinges upon the fantasy sequences. They are
small and contained in the final film, but they are very impor- it takes for one haircut. By experiencing the illusion of
tant in showing who the main character is. What role they realtime, the audience is brought into the immediacy of
play in the film constantly changed. Originally, they were the drama. The director’s challenge then becomes to show
the entire film. But as the story developed, they became what is outstanding about this bit of time.
shorter and their importance changed. They became more an Citizen focuses on creating a relationship between two
element of surprise and gave clues showing what Truman events: the physical exam and the young man’s run for the
was feeling. But this weeding out and connecting occurred border. The time frame for the connection is clearly more
over 13 drafts; eventually, however, the fantasies found their ambiguous. The event in Mirror Mirror is the coming
proper place in the story. together of many women to express their feelings about
Howard McCain
their bodies. The single event is an important element in
the success of each film. In a short of less than 30 minutes,
it is difficult to balance any more.
The story should have some twists and turns along the By focusing on the playing out of just one event, the
way (complications) to add tension to its development. filmmaker can fully explore the event’s dramatic potential.
Either the characters or situations cause the events of a This simplicity of purpose frees her to give depth to the
story. In the case of Truman, each time Truman attempts piece. The audience comes away satisfied because their
to climb the rope ladder, his fantasies distract him from expectations have been fulfilled.
achieving his goal. The Lunch Date has several unex-
pected twists along the way. First, the homeless man
allows the woman to share his salad; then, he buys coffee It was out of necessity that the structure had to be non-linear
for her; and finally, she discovers that it wasn’t her salad in order to keep the audience guessing. This allowed us to
after all. In Crazy Glue, the use of the key prop, a tube jump to this and then jump to that. My big influences were
of glue introduced in the first scene, becomes the “bond” definitely the construction of Memento along with the Twi-
light Zone mystery aspect. Coming to terms with non-linear
that reunites the married couple.
construction was a crystallizing moment as I started to
The additional twist of A Nick in Time is the reveal that write.
the one getting the haircut is actually a cop who had his James Darling
gun drawn under the cape the whole time. Citizen, on
the other hand, plays with ambiguity of time. It is not clear
if the young man had his “physical” for the army before It’s not always necessary to work within a confined
deciding to flee or after. time period to create a successful story. Le Poulet (The
Each of these events defies the dramatic expectation of Chicken), a 15-minute Academy Award–winning short
the story setup. They give each story its originality. The film written and directed by Claude Berri (B&W, 1963),
director can map these emotional beats out on a graph so takes place over a period of days. Le Poulet is the story
that no matter what scene is being shot, she can under- of a young French boy who becomes so fond of a rooster
stand the dynamics of each moment and its relationship that his parents bought for Sunday dinner that he secretly
to the whole. This map allows the director to communicate decides to convince them that it’s a hen. He steals an
with the creative team out of sequence. For example, egg from the refrigerator and places it under the rooster.
knowing what transpires in scene 4 will inform her work This ploy works until one morning when the rooster wakes
with an actor in scene 3. If the actor plays scene 3 too up the father with its crowing. Frightened that his parents
forcefully, he may have nowhere to go emotionally for are now going to kill the bird, the boy pleads for its life.
the climax in scene 4. The parents, surprised and touched by the boy’s attach-
Most of these principles hold true for the documentary ment, decide to let him keep the bird as a pet.
form. A documentary also needs a dramatic arc by which The story focuses on a single conflict that arises out of
it can tell a true story. the main character’s goal to keep the rooster as a pet. That
conflict takes place over a week, not hours. The film is
One Primary Event told in small vignettes that underscore the young boy’s
dilemma and how he attempts to resolve it.
A short film should focus on a single event around which
the action of the story revolves. Crazy Glue, Truman, The
Lunch Date, and A Nick in Time are stories told in a
One Major Character
contained time period: in Crazy Glue, prying his wife off
the ceiling; in Truman, climbing the rope; in The Lunch Truman, The Lunch Date, and Citizen are all approxi-
Date, sharing a salad. In A Nick in Time, the story parallels mately 11 minutes long. Crazy Glue is half that length.
between two haircuts in the same barbershop 25 years A Nick in Time runs about 15 minutes. This is time enough
to focus on only one main character. A dilemma is intro- The young man in Citizen is determined to cross the
duced, expanded, and resolved for Truman, the wife in border. The barber in A Nick in Time works hard to con-
Crazy Glue, the woman in The Lunch Date, the young vince the young man not to make the mistake of his life.
man in Citizen and the barber in A Nick in Time. It’s true Truman does not give up in his attempts to climb the rope
that the gym coach, the husband, the homeless man, and ladder. Neither does the woman give up in her pursuit of
the young man in A Nick in Time go through some sort “her salad” in The Lunch Date. Aristotle established this
of change, but only in direct relationship to the main char- dramatic principle in his Poetics 2,000 years ago. It is this
acter. They serve as the antagonist. They force or initiate ability to follow through that keeps the audience engaged
the conflict by serving as obstacles to the protagonist’s and the story alive.
goal. Although there can be other characters, our emotions Likewise, the antagonist must be a suitable adversary,
focus on one person’s story in each film. We don’t care for up to the challenge of the main character. “Unity of oppo-
the other characters in the same way as we care for the sites” is a common term in dramatic writing. The major
main characters. characters must be at least evenly matched for conflict to
When a short film is expanded to 30 minutes, it is pos- exist. If the antagonist is even stronger than the protago-
sible to deal fully with two characters, although their des- nist is, the audience will question whether the main char-
tinies should be interlocked in some way. An excellent acter will succeed, and when she does, the victory will
example of a two-character piece is an award-winning be that much more satisfying. In Citizen, Mother Nature
short film titled Minors, written and directed by Alan and the border patrol serve as worthy antagonists.
Kingsberg (1984, New York University). This film is the The coach is also relentless in his attempts to make
story of a teenage girl who needs a subject for her science Truman climb the rope ladder before he will let the class
project and a minor league pitcher struggling to make it to have some fun. If he let Truman off the hook too easily,
the majors. The story brings these two people together. there would be no conflict and no story (or it would be
The girl, who is a baseball fanatic, convinces the pitcher much shorter).
that if she can teach him to throw a curve ball, he will
be called up to play in the majors. She puts the pitcher Minimum Back Story
through a training program, and he eventually develops a
terrific curve ball. He is called up to the majors, but she What is back story? It is the historical information, or
is left without a project. He helps her present their pitching exposition, about the characters that is necessary to under-
experiment as the science project, and it is a success. She stand their motivation during the course of the story. In a
passes her science class, and he pitches for the Yankees. short, back story must be communicated quickly and effi-
Even though there are two main characters in Minors, ciently. A feature film has 30–40 minutes of setup time,
their goals intersect. Each wants something different, but but a short has only a few minutes.
the success of one is directly tied to the success of the other. The character of the woman in The Lunch Date is well
The pitcher makes it to the majors because of the student, defined by her wardrobe, packages, and demeanor. She is
and she completes her science project because of him. a wealthy woman headed back to the suburbs. Her reac-
tion to the street people in Grand Central Station sets up
an expectation about how she will react to the man who
What I knew from the script was the basic structure of the has “stolen” her lunch. Truman is immediately presented
events that would happen. The important things to me were as a young boy with a fear of climbing up a rope. We do
that the woman would get bumped, lose her wallet, miss her not need to know any more about his history to relate to
train, and that she’d enter this restaurant. She’d sit down, his present situation. A lonely wife in Crazy Glue fighting
get up to get a fork, and come back, and the guy would be to revive her marriage is someone we can all relate to. The
there. And they would share a salad, and he would get up young man in Citizen is willing to risk his life to avoid
and get coffee, and come back, and ta da. I had to figure being drafted. There is no need to know any more about
out how I was going to reveal her mistake. That was the these characters to understand the rest of the films.
framework that I had. Then the lines, the bits of action, and
A Nick in Time cleverly integrates the barber’s back
the small details would come out of that.
story into the fabric of the narrative. It serves two pur-
Adam Davidson
poses. We learn important exposition about the barber,
information that also serves as warning to the young
man who may be considering making a big mistake in
Follow-Through
his life.
Your main character must be capable of following through If understanding your main character requires the audi-
with the primary action or story purpose of the film. The ence to grasp too much information before the story can
conflict cannot be sustained if the character is not relent- start, find a clever way to integrate exposition into the
less in the pursuit of his goal. body of the story or move on to another idea.
Internal Motives, External Action Movies SHOW. . .and then TELL. A true movie is likely to be
Communicating internal problems is one of the chal- 60 to 80 percent comprehensible if the dialogue is in a foreign
lenges of writing for the screen. This is a visual language.
medium. Dramatic events must be manifested through Alexander Mackendrick, director and screenwriter,
The Sweet Smell of Success, The Man in the White Suit
actions and sounds. Truman, the wife in Crazy Glue,
and the woman from The Lunch Date expose their inter-
nal conflicts through their actions. Truman’s outrageous
fantasies are external representations of his fear. The Scripts are usually overwritten because writers feel the
wife in Crazy Glue sticks by her marriage, literally. In need to put it all in. It is the director’s job to trim the “fat”
The Lunch Date, the woman’s prejudice is revealed (unnecessary words or actions). In The Lunch Date, the origi-
when she refuses help from a well-dressed black man. nal screenplay called for the woman to be accosted by a home-
The barber in A Nick in Time warns the young man less person on her way to the train after the salad incident. She
not to do anything that he would regret in an indirect was to tell the man, “Get a job!” The scene was shot because it
way (because he knows he is cutting the hair of a cop) was in the script, but it is not in the final film. In the film, the
by telling him a story of his past. These stories throw woman is approached by a homeless man on her way to the
their characters into unexpected situations. We see train, but she completely ignores him. Why? This physical
who they are by the way they act. slight seemed to the director far more potent a gesture than
the words “Get a job!” Addressing the man acknowledges that
he exists; ignoring him treats him as if he doesn’t exist.
No Talking Heads
If your story contains a lot of dialogue and very little
action or dramatic movement, it might be better as a radio Collaboration
drama or a play. Films are usually about action. The
motives of the characters are exposed through their Working with a Writer
actions. Viewers should be able to watch a film with the Some producers can write, and some can’t. If writing is
sound off and still understand the story. The rule most not your strength, develop your script with a writer who
often quoted is “show, don’t tell.” Truman and Crazy Glue can effectively put your ideas on paper. You might
have very little dialogue; The Lunch Date has little mean- become a cowriter or act in a supervisory role. Most pro-
ingful dialogue. The young man in Citizen barely speaks. ducers follow the latter path unless they are confident wri-
His actions, willing to risk his life so that he can cross ters themselves. The give-and-take between two creative
the border to Canada, tell the audience volumes regarding individuals can energize the process, resulting in a union
his dedication and commitment. Everything that the barber in which the sum is greater than the parts.
says to the young man in A Nick in Time is supported by a During the process of developing and producing a proj-
visual dramatization in the past. ect, producers work with many different kinds of creative
The dialogue that exists supports the action, defines the people. No two egos are alike. Learning how to maximize
characters, and enhances our appreciation of the images. people’s varied talents is essential to becoming a good
If you are interested in adapting a play, you will need to producer. The writer is the first of these individuals.
“open up” the drama by devising actions and movement
to replace many of the words and to create a visual com-
We wrote the idea, my writing partner and I with whom
ponent that doesn’t exist on the stage. Documentaries I went to school, Tina Landsmark. We got together and wrote
should also seek visual action, rather than depending on the short story. We put it together and we went through sev-
one interview after another. Visuals should complement eral, several drafts of it to get it to the point where we actually
the aural narrative submitted it to a couple of contests. We ended up winning
one for the Organization of Black Screen Writers. We won
for Best Short Film. It proved we could tell a story.
Images Before Words
Be’ Garrett
The dominant rule about visual storytelling is that if you
can show it, don’t say it. Many beginners mistakenly think
you tell a story with dialogue. A director is aware that on Any agreement with a writer to develop an idea,
the screen, the actor’s face itself becomes part of the dia- whether it is the writer’s idea or yours, should be forma-
logue. A well-placed close-up could serve better than a lized on paper in a deal memo (see our web site). Once a
word or phrase; an image usually speaks louder than any director is brought on board, it will then be the re-
word. Dialogue supports the plot movement; it doesn’t sponsibility of the producer to supervise the collaboration
supersede that movement. Use the words to enhance, not between the director and the writer (if the director is not
replace, an image. going to personally rewrite the script herself).
Rewriting Ask these questions:

The axiom “writing is rewriting” is true. Stories go l What do you feel after you have read the story? Why
through evolutionary stages. They are like puzzles, does the story move you?
worked at until all the pieces fit together. The goal is to l What does it say about the human condition? Do you
find the right balance among the elements. Each draft identify with the theme?
reveals something that was hidden in the previous l Are you able to tell what happens in the story in one
version. sentence?
Professionals know that creating a well-crafted l Whose story is it? What does the main character want?
script takes time, patience, and devotion. The key is l How much of the story is developed through internal
to get it right before walking on the set. Don’t hope thoughts and feelings?
to work out script problems during the heat of produc- l Does the main character change? If so, is that change
tion. During preproduction, you have the time. Take it. demonstrated externally through action?
I counted 13 drafts altogether, but I don’t think that is a lot Find Your Plot and Characters
of drafts for a 10-minute film. Part of it is due to the fact To find the plot (what actually happens), strip the story of
that the short film form is not necessarily a very natural its dialogue and internal monologues (what the characters
writing form; it’s sort of a sonnet. It’s very tough. Thirteen
are thinking and feeling). This will reveal the dramatic
drafts is pretty much the average. Looking back through
through line of your story. Once you have eliminated what
my files, it’s clear that in each draft the story became
shorter and clearer and also moved closer to becoming a you can’t see or hear, what do you have? Is there a single
shooting script. action that unites the incidents of the story? Do you have a
Howard McCain character who wants something? Is there conflict? Is there
a beginning, middle, and end?
The well-to-do women in The Lunch Date, the boy in
Truman, the wife in Crazy Glue, the barber in A Nick in
Time, and the young man in Citizen are defined by what
What Is the Story About?
they do and say. Their actions represent their internal life.
You have found a short story that you love and want to Among the three films, only Truman attempts to get inside
adapt; there is a screenplay that you are interested in pro- the head of the main character. Truman’s fears are illu-
ducing; you have been developing several ideas with a strated by his colorful, dramatic, and funny fantasies. We
writer and have a draft that you are in the process of know Truman is scared, but these fantasies bring us closer
reworking. Knowing and understanding the basics of the to what he is experiencing
short form, you and your writer are ready to test the dra- In Tatia Rosenthal’s adaptation of Keret’s story Crazy
matic and visual potential of any of these projects. Equally Glue, a frustrated wife takes a creative approach to livening
important to scrutinize: is it an idea best suited for the up her sexual connection with her husband who has been
short form? Many beginners try to squeeze a feature film playing around with another woman. She glues herself to
concept into a short film script. These projects do not turn the ceiling. This is the action that defines the story and
out very well. the main character. However, there is a subtle difference
This next step involves picking apart the story to dis- between the structure of the story and the film. The short
cover the relationship between the characters, plot, and story is told through the husband’s point of view. Tatia
theme. Read the story or script over two or three times shifted the focus and presented the action through the
so it is firmly in your head. wife’s point of view in the film. It is now her story.
Crazy Glue
By Etgar Keret
She said, “Don’t touch that.” “Nothing around here needs gluing,” I said. “I wish I under-
“What is it?” I asked. stood why you buy all this stuff.”
“It’s glue,” she said. “Special glue. The best kind.” “For the same reason I married you,” she murmured. “To
“What did you buy it for?” help pass the time.”
“Because I need it,” she said. “A lot of things around here I didn’t want to fight, so I kept quiet, and so did she.
need gluing.”
Continued
Crazy Glue—cont’d
“Is it any good, this glue?” I asked. She showed me the pic- it to the floor. The fridge wouldn’t open. She’d glued it shut. I
ture on the box, with this guy hanging upside-down from the didn’t understand what was happening, what would make her
ceiling. do such a thing. I didn’t know where she was. I went into the
“No glue can really make a person stick like that,” I said. living-room to call her mother’s. I couldn’t lift the receiver;
“They just took the picture upside-down. They must have put she’d glued that too. I kicked the table and almost broke my
a lamp on the floor.” I took the box from her and peered at it. toe. It didn’t even budge.
“And there, look at the window. They didn’t even bother to And then I heard her laughing. It was coming from some-
hang the blinds the other way. They’re upside-down, if he’s where above me. I looked up, and there she was, standing
really standing on the ceiling. Look,” I said again, pointing to barefoot on the living room ceiling.
the window. She didn’t look. I stared openmouthed. When I found my voice I could only
“It’s eight already,” I said. “I’ve got to run.” I picked up my ask, “What the hell. . .are you out of your mind?”
briefcase and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be back pretty late. She didn’t answer, just smiled. Her smile seemed so natural,
I’m working—” with her hanging upside-down like that, as if her lips were just
“Overtime,” she said. “Yes, I know.” stretching on their own by the sheer force of gravity.
I called Abby from the office. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you down,” I said, hurrying to the shelf
“I can’t make it today,” I said. “I’ve got to get home early.” and grabbing the largest books. I made a tower of encyclopedia
“Why?” Abby asked. “Something happen?” volumes and clambered on top of the pile.
“No. . . I mean, maybe. I think she suspects something.” “This may hurt a little,” I said, trying to keep my balance.
There was a long silence. I could hear Abby’s breathing on She went on smiling. I pulled as hard as I could, but nothing
the other end. happened. Carefully, I climbed down.
“I don’t see why you stay with her,” she whispered. “You “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll get the neighbors or something.
never do anything together. You don’t even fight. I’ll never I’ll go next door and call for help.”
understand it.” There was a pause, and then she repeated, “Fine,” she laughed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I wish I understood.” She was crying. I laughed too. She was so pretty, and so incongruous, hang-
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Abby. Listen, someone just came in,” I ing upside-down from the ceiling that way. With her long hair
lied. “I’ve got to hang up. I’ll come over tomorrow. I promise. dangling downwards, and her breasts molded like two perfect
We’ll talk about everything then.” teardrops under her white T-shirt. So pretty. I climbed back up
I got home early. I said “Hi” as I walked in, but there was no onto the pile of books and kissed her. I felt her tongue on mine.
reply. I went through all the rooms in the house. She wasn’t in The books tumbled out from under my feet, but I stayed floating
any of them. On the kitchen table I found the tube of glue, in midair, hanging just from her lips.
completely empty. I tried to move one of the chairs, to sit Translated by Miriam Shlesinger
down. It didn’t budge. I tried again. Not an inch. She’d glued
The story you are interested in adapting may include human condition. In “Are These Actual Miles,” the narra-
several characters but no leading contender for the main tive unfolds inside the main character’s mind as he thinks
one. In the Raymond Carver story “Are These Actual about the events leading up to that day. The richness and
Miles,” a man in desperate financial straits spends a day descriptive nature of the language and original writing
in his house, while his wife is out trying to sell their car style keep us engaged and involved, but nothing really
and his kids are with their grandparents. Nothing actually happens. Our primary information in a filmed story should
happens inside his home. The man sits around and drinks be communicated through the characters’ actions, not their
and mulls over how he and his family got into the fix they thoughts. If we filmed Carver’s story as is, we would
are in. The action or plot of the story (selling the car) takes spend 15 minutes in a room watching a passive, unsympa-
place somewhere else, and his and our only contact with thetic man drink and mull over his fate while his wife des-
its progress is through the telephone. The bulk of the story, perately tries to sell their car for much needed funds.
however, is internal and communicated through the man’s The types of stories to look for that externalize the
thoughts and feelings while he waits for his wife to come drama and translate more effectively to the screen are in
back. Although, as written, it is the husband’s story the vein of those written by the great American short story
because the world is seen through his eyes, the wife is writer O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter
the only active character. (1862–1910). O. Henry stories are known for their wit
and colorful characterizations but mostly for their surprise
twist endings, to the point that such an ending is often
Make the Internal External
referred to as an “O. Henry ending.” Many of his stories
The Carver story underscores one of the ways literature take place in New York City, and deal for the most part
differs in its capacity to explore internal conflict and the with ordinary people: clerks, policemen, and waitresses.
You can pick up a selection of his stories or rent O. General Guidelines for Adaptation
Henry’s Full House, the 1952 feature film featuring the
Film and literature are separate media; they shouldn’t have
dramatization of five of his stories. The following are
to compete with one another. Neither film nor theater can
short synopses of two stories that are included in the film.
surpass the power of literature to explore the internal life
“The Gift of the Magi” is about a young married cou-
of the characters, but what a film can offer that a book
ple who are short of money but desperately want to buy
cannot is powerful images (as well as a creative use of
each other Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della
sounds). The idea that a picture is worth a thousand words
sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in
rings true. The camera has the ability to see into the soul
order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim’s watch; while
of the character and read her true intentions. With film
unbeknownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable
dialogue, what is not said, the subtext, is often far more
possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Della’s
meaningful than the words themselves.
hair. “The Ransom of Red Chief” is about two men who
These are some general guidelines to follow as you or
kidnap a boy of 10 for ransom. The boy turns out to be
your writer tackles the adaptation of your story:
so bratty and obnoxious that the desperate men ultimately
pay the boy’s father $250 to take him back. l Find the dramatic spine of your story.
l Be aware of the economy of time, place, and action.
l Be true to the essence or spirit of the story.
Dramatic Expectations
l Be willing to reinvent.
Question the dramatic expectations of the material. Do l Keep it simple.
they exceed the short form? In 6–30 minutes, can you l Make it your story.
expect us to believe that your character could arrive at a
Short stories can be episodic and take place over dec-
major life decision? Will the young man in A Nick in Time
ades. There may be many characters with many goals.
take the barber’s advice? Will Truman climb the rope lad-
Keep the action focused in time (a short as possible), in
der? Will the woman be able to eat her salad? Will the
place (as few locations as possible), and in action (one
wife fight for her husband? Will the young man in Citizen
plot line). Truman and The Lunch Date take place over
make it across the border? These are attainable goals
an hour at best; Crazy Glue, over two days. A Nick in
within 12 minutes. Could we expect the woman to change
Time takes place over the span of one haircut. In each
her attitude toward the homeless in 12 minutes of screen
of these stories, there is one main character with one goal
time? Certainly not. In fact, as she leaves the cafeteria,
in one to two locations. The time frame of Citizen is cen-
she completely ignores a homeless man asking for spare
tered on two actions: the physical examination, which
change, and as she enters the train, she collapses in relief.
takes only a few minutes, and the character’s quest to
That is not to say change can’t happen, but it must be
cross the border, which takes approximately a day and
small in scope. We must believe it could happen in the
a night.
short “screen time” we have with these characters
Probably the biggest hurdle to overcome is the feeling
that you are obligated to the author of the story (or in case
of a true story, the facts) to retain as much as possible of
What Do You Do Now? the structure and dialogue of the story. This is a normal
reaction, but one that will not result in the best adaptation.
You have dissected your story or screenplay completely.
The goal is to create an organic piece, not one that has
If your screenplay meets the requirements we have out-
been constructed piecemeal from another medium. You
lined in this chapter, you can look to bring a director on
are out to make the best motion picture possible and one
board. If you have been examining a short story for dra-
that will retain all the emotions of the story, it is hoped,
matic potential, you must ask these questions: Do you
but presented in a different package. Achieving this is
have a story that will translate to the screen? Does this
the goal of adaptation. The enormity of the task will
wonderful literary property you have fallen in love with
depend entirely on the nature of the story you have cho-
fulfill the dramatic requirements of a film story?
sen. The lesson from this section: look for material with
If so, now comes the specific craft of adaptation. How
active characters.
creative you and your writer will have to be will be based
on the nature of the story. Tatia Rosenthal had little to do
other than shift the point of view. In Rosenthal’s short film
True Stories and Events
Crazy Glue, the wife is now the active character who,
faced with a marriage problem, decides to do something Follow the lessons of literary adaptation if you have the
about it. In Carver’s story, we suspect a great deal would rights to a true story or something that happened to you,
have to be done. The following section provides some a friend, or a member of your family that you thought
general guidelines to follow. would be the foundation of a screenplay.
Don’t be seduced by the notion of “this is really what the director and the writer may not be able to see eye
happened.” Mark Twain once said, “Why shouldn’t truth to eye on how to solve the creative challenges of the
be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to stick to script. At this point, the director can either take over
possibilities.” The events of life are arbitrary, strange, the writing responsibilities or request that another writer
and unpredictable. It is the artist’s job to manipulate those be brought on.
facts to satisfy the dramatic need of the story. Up to this point, the writer has supplied the creative
Use an event as a springboard to develop a character. direction for the project. His vision, coupled with
Just like Howard McCain used the rope ladder to express the producer’s, has governed the direction of the screen-
an event that could have happened to anyone of us and play. With a director on board, it will be her vision
to explore a child’s fear, look inside the event that you that guides the project. Depending on how much work
would like to express in a film. What does it mean to has to be done (from polish to complete rewrite), the
you? What truth does it reveal about life, and what do progress made will depend on the creative relationship
you have to do to manipulate the event to make that truth between the writer and the director. The success of this
self-evident? collaboration is key, and it is the producer’s job ulti-
mately to see that the project is best served by this
union.
DIRECTOR
Supervising or Performing Rewrites STUDENTS
It is our experience that most students want to write their own
When the screenplay is well into development, the
scripts. They feel that it is not “their story” if they don’t.
producer brings in the next important member of the
However, the failure of many student projects is most often
creative team: the director (unless she is also the the result of script, not directorial, problems. There are wri-
writer). The producer seeks an individual who is ters, there are directors, and there are some who can do both.
aware of the material’s dramatic potential and shares Recognizing where your talent lies is a part of the learning
or complements the producer’s vision. The director will experience. Developing a relationship with a writer in a film
shepherd the script through the final stages of develop- school setting will more accurately mirror what will happen
ment, supervising the rewrites or completing them her- in the professional world, where directors usually don’t write
self and freeing the producer to focus on fundraising their own scripts but sometimes must work with many writers
and preproduction. on a single project.
The director puts her personal stamp on all projects
through the creative decisions she makes along the way,
such as guiding the actors, approving the choice of crew Director as Storyteller
and locations, and determining the visual style. She pro- The director must evaluate whether the story is being
vides the creative glue that holds the project together. told properly. Is the present draft the best realization
However, the foundation on which all else is built is the of the central theme or concept behind the story? If
script. A director who writes or rewrites the script or col- the script needs work, the director must work with the
laborates with the writer contributes her personalized writer or apply her own storytelling skills to reshape
vision to the project. In so doing, she should ensure that the screenplay.
the final draft is the best it can be. After all, any story The work to be done might vary from a slight “polish”
worth telling is worth telling well. (minor dialogue changes) to a complete rewrite (restruc-
turing the story). If the script is in relatively good shape,
the director need only prepare it to be photographed by
Working with the Writer
creating a shooting script. This process requires number-
If the producer has developed the script with a writer, ing the scenes to reflect the (See figure 4.2 in Chapter 4)
several important decisions are made at this point. If locations. Each scene is given a number to make the
the writer has been paid to turn in several versions of breakdown of the screenplay precise. When this stage
the script, the producer has the right to terminate the rela- has been completed, the real work of preproduction can
tionship and bring in the director to take on the responsi- begin—that is, the stripboard, budget, and schedule.
bilities of rewriting the script. However, if all parties are Elements other than story content and structure can
pleased with the progress of the script, the writer will influence the development of the screenplay. The direc-
now work with the director to complete whatever work tor might be inspired by a location, a particular actor,
has yet to be done. It makes sense to keep a writer whose or the work being done during rehearsals. While scouting
work has been good, but a writer can become creatively locations, she might come upon a unique setting that
dry and be unable to further enhance a project. Also, inspires a rewrite of a particular scene or even the whole
story. After hearing a strong performer read a part, the

I was amazed at how hard it is to have a cohesive story come
director might decide to shape the character to better fit across and be moving, or even clear. I think I was so terrified
the talents of that actor. Some directors use the rehearsal by my live action film experiences in the early years of film
period to clarify and sharpen character development or to school that I went into animation in order to hone my story-
find dialogue that feels more natural to each character’s telling skills in a more contained environment.
voice. Tatia Rosenthal
It’s always, I think, about discovering the story. You write Readings
it on paper. You rewrite it. Then you start shooting it. You
shoot a lot. You start editing the film together and then— Once the script is close to being finalized, the director should
where’s the story? So you’ve got to find it all over again. conduct readings to audition the material. It is one thing to
You start editing things out, changing things around write a line on paper, but quite another to hear that line read
slightly. aloud or see it performed by an actor under a director’s guid-
Adam Davidson ance. What the director and actor want to discover is whether
the lines ring true. How do the words flow off the tongue?
Are there too many words or too few? Is the space bet-
Story Questions ween the words (pauses) more poignant than the words
themselves?
When you analyze your story/script, these are questions to
After you live with a project for such a long time, it
keep in mind:
becomes difficult to analyze what comes off the page
Who is the main character? For a short film, it is best to because you know too much. You have all this back story
focus on no more than one character’s story. swimming in your brain and expect that we know the
What does he/she want? Is it clear what the character’s characters as well as you do. You know how to read
goal is? Is it tangible and specific? Love, respect, and between the lines. We don’t. You must be able to take a
honor are worthy goals, but can they be accomplished step back and be critical about what each scene tells us,
in 20 minutes? not what you hope it tells us.
What are the stakes? How important is it for characters
to get what they want? What does it mean to them?
We had a good script in the beginning, and by the time we
Is the main character’s goal achievable (and believ- had gotten to the point of actual principal photography, we
able) within 15–30 minutes? had figured out the arc of each person’s story.
Is your main character actively pursuing his goal in Be’ Garrett
every scene? Are the characters active versus passive?
What is the conflict? What are the obstacles preventing
the main character from getting what he wants? Have The Shooting Script
you identified an antagonist?
Can we ultimately believe that the character can Having supervised the rewrite or having rewritten the
achieve the goal at the end of the film? Is the climax screenplay herself, the director must now develop the shoot-
satisfying and believable? ing script, which is a visual plan for the project. This draft is
written in the standard format of the Writers Guild of Amer-
ica and has markings and numbers that communicate the
Scene Analysis director’s vision to the producer and the camera and art
departments. Up to this point, it has not been important for
How does each scene:
the script to reflect shots or visual references. The emphasis
Advance the story and expand our awareness of the char- has been on structure, character, and dialogue.
acters and the conflict? The first step is to number each scene, enabling the pro-
Follow from the previous scene? duction team to identify each scene by its numbered code.
Lead to the next scene (the importance of transitions)? The director then previsualizes the script; that is, she creates
Advance the arc of the character(s)—what do we know a shooting plan for each scene. The plan should reflect
that we didn’t before? how the director will “cover” each scene in the project.
Feel rhythmically? The term coverage refers to the amount and type of shots
Change the relationship between the characters? the director will need to tell the story adequately in each
Give information to characters? scene. Developing a shot plan requires that the director
Give information to the audience? break down the script and create floor plans, storyboards,
Resolve the dramatic need of the main character? or both. (See Chapter 3 for more information.)
The director then marks the script with her shot plan. Animation
It will include abbreviations such as CU (close-up,
a very tight shot on an object or a character’s face), Live action usually starts with a script and then a break-
LS (long shot, in which the camera takes in a lot down, which is often followed by storyboarding. An ani-
of visual information), 2S (two-shot, in which two mator will often start with concept sketches and a short
characters are in the frame at the same time), and OTS treatment followed by an elaborate storyboarding process.
(over-the-shoulder shot, which is like a two-shot except Live action boards often block out the basic shots in
that the camera favors the face of one of the two a scene. Animation boards frequently show every “beat”
characters). of the scene. There can be a new beat with every change
The shooting script gives the producer information in emotion or significant character movement. For anima-
from which to construct an accurate schedule. The rest tion, specific production notes often accompany the boards.
of the production team obtains from the shooting script a Animators often use the boards and sketches as guides to
point of view from which to design the project. build a rough animation known as an animatic. The anima-
tic can have crude details and unrefined movement. It is
meant to resolve issues of blocking, composition, and, most
important, timing. Because CG character modeling and
How Do Scripts Affect Budgets? setup take such a long time, studios often produce the ani-
To begin fundraising, the producer needs to have an matic while primary modeling is still under way.
accurate budget that reflects the complete cost of pro-
ducing the script. Changes in the script that affect the
A crucial question I always ask myself before setting out to
budget must be examined at this stage. Suppose, for
make any film is, is this subject eminently “filmable” and
example, the writer describes a character’s interaction
uniquely appropriate to be treated in film? While I’m making
with another in a crowded restaurant. The extras a film, I try to foreground that issue to ensure that I am exploit-
become one of the many items that must be delivered ing (in a good way) the unique properties of film—the inter-
to the set on the day when the particular scene is to be face of sound and image, and an opportunity to frame things
shot. The producer looks at the script and says to him- differently from how one normally processes the world.
self, “Where do I get the 50 extras? Won’t it require Jan Krawitz
extra makeup personnel? Where am I going to get the
costumes? Where am I going to hold them? How much
food will be required? How much will it add to the Documentaries
budget?”
Aware of budget constraints and responsible for the Because the development and execution of a documentary
schedule, the producer might ask that a more manageable (nonfictional narrative) might take months or even years,
and less expensive solution be found. If the story is not be sure to choose subject matter about which you feel
compromised, an outdoor table, which is a smaller, well strongly and have a great desire to learn more. You might
lit, and a less expensive production item, could replace a need to do extensive research to determine whether the
crowded restaurant. The producer should request this sub- subject matter warrants making a short film. You might
stitution during preproduction rather than on the day have to view films or videos on the same or similar
before the scene is to be shot. subjects, research newspaper and magazine articles, or
Sometimes, compromises cannot be made without conduct pre-interviews. (An excellent collection of docu-
adversely affecting the project. In The Lunch Date, mentary shorts is distributed by the Full Frame Documen-
for example, one location could not be compromised. tary Film Festival.)
Grand Central Station is a very expensive location, but There are a few basic questions to consider when you
it had to be secured for two days of shooting. The film have found a subject that you believe is worth pursuing:
would not have had the same impact if it had been shot l What is the subject’s underlying significance to me?
in the train station at Stamford, Connecticut. l What is unusual and interesting about it?
l Are there compelling characters?
From its inception I wrote the script knowing that I did not l Where is the specialness really visible?
have a lot of money. So, I would say for young filmmakers l Do the characters or the story move the heart?
the thing to do and what I learned when I came out of film l Is there food for thought and or inspiration?
school, was write a script that is doable. Write a script that l Is there a story?
you know I can use x amount of dollars if I can get my hands l What can I show?
on it to shoot this. l Why do it (at all)?
Be’ Garrett l Why do it now?
The subject matter should contain inherent dramatic probing but cordial. If the subject needs to be drawn
value that engages the viewer in the same way a narra- out, a more provocative approach might be required.
tive story does, but with real, not imagined, events.
This could be an examination of an individual’s or
I asked my 13 subjects the same set of four questions, chang-
a group’s struggle to overcome adversities. There ing the composition for each question. I knew that I would
also must be filmic possibilities to support the inter- intercut their responses, relying on a jump-cut technique.
views, a corresponding visual story that complements One question was, “Describe your body from head to foot,
the aural. discussing different parts as you go.” Some women would
start with their hair, and were very diligent about hitting every
body part, and some people would start with their neck and
I thought I was interested in this whole notion of the jump to their knees, and that was okay. If they did that, I
“ideal” and how women in our culture are tyrannized by didn’t ask them to talk about their breasts, waist, or hips.
the belief that there exists an ideal body type and that it It was quite revealing to observe what they chose to talk
is ultimately unattainable. I wanted to present the ideal as about or ignore. Some parts were complimented, and some
something not fixed in stone, but as a representation of parts were totally derided. A second question was, “If you
something separate and different from all of us. I was inter- could redesign your body to conform to the concept of your
ested in the vagaries of the ideal. So I began to read a lot of ideal, what would it look like?” I didn’t realize it at the time,
books about concepts of beauty during different decades, but the two questions are essentially the same. Because while
trying to identify the prescriptions for this ideal type. I read they were redesigning, they might say, “I really hate my
about how the White Rock girl, who adorned bottles of shoulders,” for example, and that was an answer to the earlier
White Rock, was redesigned every decade so that her question.
dimensions would reflect the changing concepts of the Jan Krawitz
perfect physical type.
Jan Krawitz
The final script for a documentary can be fully devel-
oped only in postproduction. With all the visual and audio
From research notes, an outline for the documentary materials in hand, the director begins to grasp the shape
can be created. This outline serves as the genesis of a that the film will eventually take. The audio portion of
script during preproduction. From the outline, a series of the show will be the voices from the on- and off-camera
questions is prepared for each interview. The combination interviews, the track of the verité footage, any audiotape
of on-camera interviews, stock footage, and cinema verité recorded, and possibly a narration. The assemblage of
(in some cases, staged events) constitutes the visual com- these audio elements, especially the narration (if applica-
ponents of the piece. ble), becomes the final script.
It is acceptable to write out the script in its entirety.
This includes creating the answers you anticipate record-
ing. By writing out the script, you can prepare questions Developing a Web Presence
that will help your subject respond according to your
In the same way that you are developing your short film
design. This gives the director a target during the inter-
idea, you can simultaneously be researching the possibili-
views. The questions might be answered very differently
ties of actively using the Internet to promote awareness of
than you expected, but together with the subject, you can
your project, raise funds, reach out to cast and crew, and
explore fully the issues at hand.
eventually serve as a distribution outlet. The Internet can
be used as a tool to whatever extent you wish to use it.
We will be outlining all the possibilities throughout the
A lot of documentarists, and particularly women, have moved
book (Our web site will contain a link to how a web pres-
into fiction films after 5 or 10 years. They say, I got tired of
sitting around waiting for people to say what I wanted them to
ence can be developed and utilized). It is up to you, the
say. I always find that so interesting because for me, that’s filmmaker, to decide to what extent you wish to avail
why I will stay in documentary—because you never know yourself of its possibilities.
what people are going to say, and I really like the unpredict- As you develop your short film idea, you can
ability of it.
l Create a plan for your site.
Jan Krawitz
l Explore different designs.
l Create a site flow chart.
l Develop a trailer for the project.
Depending on the subject, the questions you compose
can be easy or provocative. If the subject is forthcoming This is a team project and, of course, you will require
with the information required, the questions can be someone to serve as web designer. Given the technical
know-how of most young people today, this should not be l Proper format has a direct bearing on the production
a problem. It is, however, one more key individual to be a breakdowns.
part of the production team. l Good scripts are not written; they are rewritten.
l Understand the short form. As the feature is to the epic
KEY POINTS poem, the short is to the haiku.
l Without a good script, you cannot have a good final

product.
Chapter 2
Finance
We basically put a lot of things on credit cards—my credit cards. The second problem you will face is lack of experi-
Adam Davidson ence. How do you persuade an investor to finance a
first-time producer or director, someone who has yet to
complete a project or, at best, has only a minimal track
PRODUCER record? To look at it another way, would you hire a con-
tractor who had never built a house?
Raising the Capital All novices confront these two major obstacles as
they start out to create their first films. The problem
If there is one role with which the producer is traditionally
of inexperience is no less real or daunting than the
associated, it is the role of fundraiser. The producer finds
problem of a limited market, but the producer and direc-
the money to fund the film. This role is paramount because
tor definitely have more control over it. Although it
money is the lifeblood of any project. In fact, without
might seem like a catch-22—the “Can’t get a job with-
adequate financing, there is no project. However simple
out experience, can’t get experience without a job” syn-
the production demands might seem, it is impossible to
drome—there are specific ways to overcome this
produce something for nothing.
seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Each year, many
Most beginners get turned on by romantic notions and the
young filmmakers with little experience but with lots
tantalizing creative possibilities of the visual media, but they
of ingenuity, energy, and verve are able to persuade
soon find out that much of their time and energy are focused
investors to believe in their talent and trust them to
on raising funds. Independent filmmakers spend much of their
manage their dollars responsibly.
time filling out grant applications, writing to investors, and
There is no secret formula for raising money success-
organizing fundraisers. Howard McCain, Tatia Rosenthal,
fully. In the pursuit of funding, you are almost guaranteed
Adam Davidson, and Jan Krawitz struggled to secure
to come up against tremendous odds and constant rejec-
financing for their projects. James Darling used a trust fund,
tion. Many potential investors will say no before one says
and Be’ Garrett relied on family and favors from people he
yes. Some may even say yes at first and then change their
had worked with. For Jan, it was a process that lasted years.
minds. To sustain excitement for your beloved project
after weeks, months, and sometimes years of effort
I wrote a lot of grants over the years, and I finally got the first demands a strong belief in yourself, the utmost patience
grant in the spring of ’87. Initial money came from the Paul and perseverance, and an unbridled passion for the
Robeson Fund for Film and Video. I only had two grants medium and your message.
when I began shooting, and the subsequent three came during
postproduction. I think that’s significant, because I find it’s
always a little easier to get funding once you have something We were doing Lunch Date cheaper than you would generally
to show from the project. do a student film. Generally, I would estimate $1,000 a
Jan Krawitz minute. This project was definitely budgeted for less. Adam
didn’t have a lot of money, and he didn’t want to spend a
lot of money. I think originally he wanted to spend $5,000
because it was going to be a fun project to do. He had a little
Basic Fundraising Problems extra money, and he wanted to make this film. It ended up
You can expect to encounter two basic problems in fund- costing more because in postproduction he wanted to spend
ing your projects. The first is the potential of either a siz- that money. He wanted to get a good sound editor and get
able return on an investment or no return at all. good music and do a good mix. But he always had the option
Overwhelming odds support the latter. Suffice it to say to not do that, to just finish it cheaply, do his own sound
editing and mix.
that the market for short films is financially anemic.
Garth Stein, Producer of The Lunch Date
(This problem is discussed at length in Chapter 19.)
# 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

doi: 10.1016/B978-0-240-81174-1.00009-9 23
24 Chapter |2 Finance
How Much Money Will You Need? having to create a not-for-profit business entity. In certain
urban centers like New York, Boston, or Los Angeles,
A short narrative film can cost somewhere between $500
there are arts organizations that will serve as fiscal spon-
and $100,000. The variables that impact your budget are
sors offering investors tax exemptions for contributions
the nature and complexity of the screenplay, the resources
to your project. In addition, students work in a supportive
of the filmmaker (what you can get for free), what is
environment with resources such as equipment and a
provided by a student filmmaker’s school (equipment,
sizable pool of free and willing labor. Independents must
stages, personal, post facilities, etc.), the availability of
put their production teams together from scratch. On the
professional and affordable digital tools, whether originat-
other hand, student filmmakers are almost completely shut
ing on film or video, and finally, the intended workflow. It
out of the grant world.
can be tricky to determine how much a film really costs if
There are no rules when it comes to finding money.
in-kind services have been provided (see below). Profes-
If you win the lottery, use it to finance your project.
sional shoots, especially those using several unions, will
Putting the lottery windfall aside, the following sections
certainly come in on the high budget range. (For more
describe possible sources of money for short films and
on these topics, see Chapter 5.)
videos.
The cost of originating on film (stock and processing)
is normally more expensive than shooting video, but rental
houses, eager to keep young filmmakers shooting film, are It was a struggle to stay at NYU financially and then I was
offering deals on super 16 and 35mm equipment and awarded the Universal Studios Fellowship my senior year.
Kodak has been known to donate film stock. Digital That took care of tuition so the money my family and I had
media, on the other hand, although cheaper on the front been saving to pay for that last year could now be put towards
my thesis film. That was my starting capital.
end, can have hidden costs along the way, depending on
I then did a variety of fund-raising screenings in NY and
what format the filmmaker is intending to finish on.
Toronto, but those were not terribly successful. Most of the
money I did get came after I had a cut of my film. I didn’t
have to pay for any post production costs. The money came
So, I wrote letters and made calls to both Fugi and Kodak. We from post grants from NYU and from the The Television
were going to shoot on whoever would give us more. Kodak Producers, Writers and Directors Caucus Foundation in LA.
donated 8,000 feet of film on 35. I was also able to get donations from friends who had
James Darling attended the fund-raising screenings but who had not been
able to give me anything at the time. Some had since gotten
banking jobs and could now help me out. The most important
The tools in this book will give you a measure of con- advice from all this: stay in touch with friends and family.
trol to understand the costs of producing a short film. You will discover that a lot of your friends from high school
Every project is unique and handmade. You start with are following more stable and lucrative careers, while your
an idea, how much you can spend, and you work from film school college friends are just as desperate and broke
there. as you are.
James Darling
Total funding for Mirror Mirror was $12,000, and the final
budget through release prints and a one-inch, but not includ- Private Investors
ing festival entry fees, was $14,300. The film stock, proces-
sing, location travel expenses, and the cinematographer’s Private investors include any individuals who are inter-
salary were the major production expenses. A lot of money ested in investing in your project. They might be friends,
went to research and acquisition of the archival footage. family members, or associates—even complete strangers.
And all the postproduction costs, sound mix and all of that, Some people might invest because they want to see you
probably ate up $4,000 or $5,000. Easy. succeed even though they understand they might not see
Jan Krawitz a return on their investment. Others might be looking for
a tax shelter, and still others might be shrewd business
people who believe in the investment opportunities and
Funding Options market potential of your project.
Both students and independent filmmakers can employ

Fiscal Sponsorship
similar methods for raising funds. However, some oppor-
tunities available to students are not open to independents Fiscal sponsorship status allows the filmmaker to receive
and vice versa. For example, some students can take charitable deductible contributions from individuals—a
advantage of their university’s tax-exempt status without major incentive for those considering making a donation
Chapter |2 Finance 25
to your project. For a donor to receive a tax credit, that Most of the listed fiscal sponsors have excellent web
donation must be given to a bona fide nonprofit organiza- sites with detailed information regarding eligibility
tion, known by the IRS classification as a 501(c)(3). requirements, fees, past histories, downloadable applica-
The filmmaker can either create her own 501(c)(3) organi- tion forms, etc.
zation (which is very time consuming and expensive) or
find a fiscal sponsor that already has 501(c)(3) status.
The big thing I would emphasize is anywhere you can
A fiscal sponsor can be any organization that already get money is still money. We set the project up with
has nonprofit status, including media arts centers, hospi- Arts Engine, a non-for-profit organization, so personal
tals, schools, or associations. The sponsor acts like a non- donations could be tax deductible. They like to support pro-
profit tax-exempt umbrella that accepts and administers jects that have “messages”. They run a film festival that I
contributions and provides limited financial and legal was rejected from, even though they helped finance the
oversight for your project. Once sponsored in this way, film.
the filmmaker is eligible to solicit and receive grants and James Darling
tax-deductible contributions that are normally available
only to 501(c)(3) organizations. The sponsor is legally
responsible for the funds received on behalf of the fiscally
sponsored project. However, this does not mean that the Private Foundation Grants
sponsor is connected to the content or actual production.
There are hundreds of private foundations in the United
All artistic and proprietary rights, title, and interest in
States, but only a few support film and video projects.
and to the completed project will belong to the filmmaker.
Finding the ones that might be interested in your par-
Simply put, the sponsor will accept a check for your
ticular project requires exploration. The Foundation
project. The check is made out to the fiscal sponsor with
Center Libraries contain many books that list founda-
your project as the beneficiary in the note section at the
tions, their areas of interest, application procedures
bottom of the check. Then the sponsor deposits that check
and grants that have been given in the past, as well
and returns most of the money back to the filmmaker.
as basic books on how to write grants. The Foundation
The sponsor and the filmmaker negotiate the fee that will
Center maintains cooperating center branches in every
be kept by the umbrella organization. An average range is
major city in the United States. For the one closest to
between 5 percent and 10 percent. Some well-known
you, call 1-800-424-9836 or visit the web site at
fiscal sponsors for filmmakers include
www.fdcenter.org. The main branches are in New York
Bay Area Video Coalition and San Francisco Film Society City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Cleveland, and
(San Francisco) Atlanta.
Center for Independent Documentary, Filmmakers Collab-
orative and Documentary Educational Resources
(Boston) The seed money for my film came from a trust fund from
Chicago Filmmakers (Chicago) my grandmother but the bank misquoted us as to what it
was. We learned this about five weeks from our originally
From the Heart Productions, International Documentary
scheduled start of principal photography in March 2005.
Association (Los Angeles)
We anticipated shooting a 25 page script for $25,000,
New York Foundation for the Arts, Arts Engine, Fractured following the old thousand-dollars-per-minute rule but
Atlas, Make Movies (New York) learned that the trust was closer to $10,000. I was faced
Southern Documentary Fund (North Carolina) with the choice of doing everything at half of the produc-
tion level or cutting the script in half and producing it in
To help you locate more sponsors, the San Francisco
five weeks.
Study Center, in conjunction with the Tides Center and the
James Darling
National Network of Fiscal Sponsors (NNFS), has created
a Fiscal Sponsor Directory. You can search by state, service
category, or keyword for information on nonprofit fiscal
sponsors. Profiles include eligibility requirements, fees, ser-
Public Foundation Grants
vices, and types of projects supported. The directory also
provides statistics and resources on fiscal sponsorship. Some public foundations financed by federal, state, and
You can also use the Foundation Center’s Foundation local governments offer grants and other forms of finan-
Grants to Individuals, available in print or as a searchable cial aid to filmmakers. The National Endowment for the
web-based database, to identify organizations that offer Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities
fiscal sponsorships to individuals and non-501(c)(3) non- (NEH), and the American Film Institute (AFI) are three
profit groups. examples.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Kiireesti sieppasi pappi vaatteet yllensä. Sydän alkoi kiivaasti
sykkiä. Ehkä se jo osasi huonoja uutisia aavistaa. Hän aukaisi ulko-
oven ja astui rappusille.
— Tässä olen, hyvä Billeghi. Mitä teillä on tuomisia?
Billeghi ei kuitenkaan seisonut enää siinä, vaan loitompana tiellä,

viljakuormansa vieressä irrottamassa koria, missä pikku Veronka ja
hanhi olivat. Hevoset olivat väsyneet, päät painuksissa. Toinen niistä
olisi mielellään laskeutunut maata ja sitä jo yrittikin, mutta vetotanko
esti. Koettaessaan painautua toiselle kylelleen se tunsi valjashihnojen
painuvan nahkaansa, eikä hevosen kunnia salli mukavuutta etsiä
niinkauan kuin valjaat ovat selässä. Oudosti ovat silloin asiat, kun
valjaissa oleva hevonen makaamaan laskeutuu. Niin kehittynyt on
hevosella velvollisuudentunto.
Billeghi sattui kääntymään ja huomasi nyt papin seisovan

rappusilla.
— Ka, Jankó! Kas, kuinka olet kasvanut! Sinustapa on tullut

solakka mies. Kyllä äitisi ihmettelisi, jos eläisi. Lempo vieköön tämän
köyden, sain siihen liian lujan solmun.
Pappi astui muutaman askeleen rattaita kohden, missä isäntä

Billeghi yhä puuhaili saadakseen koria kuormasta irti. Sanat "jos äitisi
eläisi" tuntuivat hänestä kuin kiven isku vasten otsaa; päätä alkoi
huimata, jalat horjua.
— Mitä puhuitte äidistäni? — sopersi hän kalpeana. — Onko äitini

kuollut?
— Jo laski raukka lusikan kädestään. Mutta tässä, — ottaen
taskustaan puuvartisen linkkuveitsen hän alkoi sahata poikki köyttä,
— on pikku sisaresi, vaan Herra armahtakoon, minullahan on oikea
kananpää, en jaksa edes muistaa että puhuttelen pappia… toin
tänne kunnianarvoisan pastorin pikku siskon. Mihin saan hänet
viedä?
Näin sanoen nosti hän kuormalta korin, missä lapsi nukkui sikeästi
ja rauhallisesti, hanhi vieressään. Hanhi näytti vartioivan tyttöä kuten
hyväkin lapsenpiika, karkoittaen alituisilla päänliikkeillä pois kärpäset,
jotka olivat halukkaita asettumaan lapsen huulille, aivankuin hunajaa
niistä imeäkseen.
Syksyisen päivän kalpea rusko punasi korin ja siinä nukkuvan

lapsen. Kysyvästi loi isäntä Máthé vaaleansiniset silmänsä pappiin,
odottaen että tämä jotakin vastaisi.
— Kuollutko? — hän vihdoin kysäsi. — Sehän on mahdotonta.

Minulla ei ole siitä ollut aavistustakaan.
Sitten tarttui hän otsaansa ja huudahti katkerasti:
— Eikä kukaan minulle siitä ilmottanut, ei kukaan. En tietänyt tulla

hautajaisiinkaan!
— Enpä ollut siellä minäkään, — vastasi isäntä. — Tämä oli kenties

lausuttu lohdutuksen tapaiseksi; sitte lisäsi hän kuitenkin
hyväntahtoisesti: Jumala hänet korjasi luokseen, nouti istuimensa
eteen. Eipä jätä tänne meistä ketään. Hyi noita ilkeitä sammakoita;
astuin taas yhden päälle.
Pappilan ruohoisella, vesiheinää ja hullunruohoa kasvavalla pihalla
näet sammakot iloisesti hyppelivät suutaan maiskutellen, tultuaan
esiin kirkon kosteasta kivijalasta tänne päivää paistattamaan.
— Mihin vien lapsen? — toisti Billeghi kysymyksensä, mutta kun ei

saanut vastausta, laski hän korin varovasti rappusille.
Pappi oli aivan masentunut; hän seisoi siinä tunteetonna, raskaasti

hengittäen ja maahan tuijottaen. Hänestä tuntui, kuin olisi maa
taloineen, sälöaitoineen, Billeghineen ja korineen päivineen pyörinyt,
mutta hän itse seisonut paikallaan, kykenemättä mihinkään
liikkumaan. Tuolla loitompana suhisivat metsän hongat, aivankuin
olisi jotain ihmeellistä, sydämeen käypää kuiskutusta äidin puhetta
sieltä kuulunut. Vavisten hän sitä kuunteli, koettaen tarkata noita
ääniä, mutta juuri kun hän oli niistä jotain eroittavinaan ja
käsittävinään, hämmensi ne aina jokin erikoinen humaus. Vaan
hiljaa, hiljaa! Taas kuului äidin ääni metsästä. Jankó, hoida lasta
Jankó!
János-pastorin kuunnellessa näitä toisen maailman ääniä kyllästyi

Billeghi-isäntä tuohon äänettömyyteen; — olisi joutanut edes suuren
kiitoksen antaa, jos ei muuta. — Kun kerran niin on, niin on, — hän
murisi äkäisenä, piiskaa viuhauttaen. — Hyvästi, herra pastori! Hei,
hevoset!
Pappi en virkkanut vieläkään mitään, ei edes huomannut mitä

ympärillään tapahtui; hevoset olivat jo lähteneet liikkeelle astumaan
mäkeä ylöspäin, rinnalla isäntä Billeghi, itsekseen suuttuneena
mutisten, miten tavallista on tässä maailmassa ettei kananpoika
riikinkukoksi päästyään enää entisiään muista. Päästyänsä mäen
päälle hän vilkasi vielä kerran taakseen ja huomatessaan entisen
opettajan pojan yhä vielä seisovan siellä liikkumatonna hän huusi
ikäänkäin rauhoittaaksensa mieltään velvollisuutensa täyttämällä:
— Toin teille, mitä oli tuotavaa! — Tämä huuto herätti pastorin

jälleen tuntoihinsa; häntä puistatti. Hänen sielunsa palasi äskeiseltä
surulliselta retkeilyltään. Se oli käynyt kaukana äitiä etsimässä. Ensi
töikseen hän riensi äitinsä luo, hänen kanssaan hän vietti nyt vielä
kerran sekä sen ajan, jonka hän oli elänyt hänen kanssaan, että
myöskin mielikuvituksessaan sen, jonka hän oli viettänyt kaukana
poissa hänen luotaan. Hän oli olevinaan äitinsä kuolinvuoteen
ääressä polvillaan, rukoillen, ja mitä äiti silloin ajatteli, mitä hänellä
oli sanomista, hänen viimeiset huokauksensa olivat nousseet ilmaan,
joka antoi ne tuulen tuotavaksi, ja tuuli taasen ne metsästä huhuili:
hoida lasta Jankó!
Eipä tarvinnut pojan olla kotona saadakseen tietää kuolevan

äitinsä viimeisen tahdon ja toivomuksen. Ei tarvinnut sitä panna
paperille eikä toimittaa menemään sähkölankaa myöten, sen tekivät
toiset, suuremmat voimat.
Vaistomaisesti tuli János ensin ajatelleeksi että oli juostava

Billeghin perään, pyydettävä häntä pysähtymään ja kertomaan kaikki
mitä mies tiesi hänen äidistään, miten tämä oli elänyt nämät kaksi
vuotta, miten oli kuollut, miten haudattu, kaikki, kaikki. Mutta
Halápin mies oli jo ehtinyt kauas, ja nyt vasta kiintyi hänen
katseensa koriin.
Siinä siis nukkui hänen pikku siskonsa. Nuori pappi ei ollut häntä
vielä koskaan nähnyt. Viimeisen kerran kävi hän kotonansa isänsä
hautajaisissa, eikä pikku Veronkaa vielä silloin ollut, vain äitinsä
kirjeistä hän sai sittemmin tietää hänen syntymänsä, ja nämät kirjeet
olivat kovin häveliäät ja harvasanaiset.
János astui nyt korin luo, katsellen lapsen pyöreitä, kauniita
kasvoja. Onpa äitinsä näköinen, hän ajatteli, ja hänen siinä
katsellessaan ja lasta tarkatessaan, alkoivat nuo kasvot hänen
kyyneltyneissä silmissään muuttua ja kasvaa, kunnes yhtäkkiä
ilmestyivät hänen eteensä pienintä piirrettä myöten äidin kasvot.
Herra Jumala, mikä ihme tämä, mikä lumous! Sitä kesti vain puolisen
minuttia. Sitte oli taas lapsonen hänen edessään. Kunpa avaisi
silmänsä. Siitäpä János olisi ihastunut, mutta lapsi ei niitä avannut;
pitkät ripset seisoivat suorina kuin mustat silkkiripsut.
Ja häntä minun pitää nyt ruveta kasvattamaan? — mietti János, ja

hänen sydämensä aivan heltyi. — Sen teenkin. Mutta millä? Millä
varoilla? Eihän ole syötävää itsellänikään. Mitä tehdä?
Kuten ennenkin mielen apeaksi painuessa ja käydessä

alakuloiseksi muisti hän nytkin rukouksen. Niinpä hän siis lähti
kirkkoon rukoilemaan. Herranhuoneen ovi sattui olemaan avoinna;
parisen eukkoa oli siellä sisällä siistimässä.
János pastori ei astunut alttarin eteen, siellä kun eukot paraikaa

hääräilivät, mutta aivan oven suussa oli seinällä vihkivesiastian
kohdalla puusta ja läkkipellistä tehty Jeesuksen kuva; sen eteen hän
polvistui.
PYHÄ PIETARI JA HÄNEN
SATEENVARJONSA.
Niin, Jeesuksen eteen pappi polvistui. Hän kääntyi Jeesuksen

puoleen — herramme Jeesuksen puoleen. Minkä onnen onkaan
ihmiskunnalle tuonut tämä Jeesus, Jumala, joka oli ihminen. Jumalaa
en pääse tuntemaan, mutta Jeesuksen tunnen. Jeesus on minun
tuttuni, hän on kaikkein tuttu. Tiedän mitä hän on tehnyt, tiedän
miten hän on ajatellut, tunnenpa hänen muotonsakin. Mieltäni ei
rauhoita se tieto, että hän on herrani, vaan se että hän on tuttavani.
Parisentuhatta vuotta sitten eli maan päällä muuan tuttavani, mikä

ihmiskuntaa yhteenliittävä ajatus! Silloiset ihmiset ja heidän
jälkeläisensäkin ovat jo aikoja sitten tomuksi maatuneet, tomusta on
ruohoa kasvanut, ruohosta Herra ties mitä, mutta hän, minun
tuttavani, on aina elänyt ja tulee aina elämään.
Jos matkustan kauas vieraille maille, vierasten kansojen

keskuuteen, missä ihmiset ovat toisenlaiset, eläimet, jopa kasvitkin
oudot, taivas toisennäköinen, kaikki outoa, tulen ajatelleeksi
yksinäisyyden ja avuttomuuden tunteen painostamana, etten ole
enää koko tässä maailmassa, kunnes yhtäkkiä jonkun
ihmisasutuksen laidassa silmiini siintää risti ja siinä riippumassa
haavoistaan verta vuotava läkkipeltimies. Tämä on minun tuttuni.
Ah, hänkin täällä! Siis täälläkin hän! Enkä minä enää ole yksin
enkä avutonna. Minäkin silloin polvistun hänen eteensä ja kerron
hänelle aivan kuin tuo pappi, mikä mieltäni painaa. — Auta minua,
Herra Jeesus — tällaisia ajatuksia János pastori nyt hänelle esitti. —
Äitini on kuollut, pikku siskoni on tuotu tänne minun
kasvatettavakseni. Olen köyhä, kokematon, en tiedä miten on lapsia
kasvatettava. Ohjaa, Jeesus, ajatuksiani oikeaan! Ja vuodata
pohjattomasta yltäkylläisyydestäsi keinoja voidakseni häntä elättää
ja hoitaa. Tee minulle ihme, Herra Jeesus!
Läkkipellistä tehty jumalanpoika tuntui kuuntelevan hänen

rukoustansa.
Varjot ja valojuovat, jotka ikkunoista ja seinistä häneen sattuivat
ja hänen kohdallaan väikkyivät, näyttivät hänen kasvojensa ilmeiltä.
Kesken tuskiensa tuntui hän hymyilevän:
— Hyvä on, hyvä on. Tiedän kaikki. Puutun asiaan.
Kauan pastori oli siinä rukoukseen vaipuneena, yhä uudestaan

alottaen, huomaamatta että sillä välin yht'äkkiä oli taivas käynyt
pilveen ja nuo mustat pilvet ennustivat myrskyn tuloa, kuten
syksyisin usein tapahtuu sellaisella, miltei luonnottoman lämpimällä
ilmalla, mikä näinä päivinä oli vallinnut. Hänen astuessaan ulos
kirkosta valuikin jo vettä virtanaan. Vuorilta kylän takaa vesi koskena
kohisi puroissa, ja eläimet ammuten laukkasivat pitkin teitä. János
joutui kauhun valtaan.
— Jätin lapsen sinne rappusille. Voi, nyt se meni!

Kuin mielipuoli juoksi hän pappilaa kohden, ja nyt vasta hän sai
kummastella sitä näkyä, joka hänen silmilleen avautui.
Siellä oli kori vielä paikallaan. Lapsi istui korissa, mutta hanhi
juoksenteli pihalla. Satoi rankasti edelleen, tuuli pieksi sadetta
rappusillekin, vesi silläkin kohdalla virtana juoksi, mutta lapsi oli
kuivana, terveenä, sillä korin päällä oli levällään suuri, haalistunut
punanen sateenvarjo; sen kankaassa oli jo paikka paikan päällä,
sisäpuolella tuskin voi enää eroittaa kapeata kukkaisreunustetta,
joka kiersi ympäri laidan entisten aikojen muodin mukaan.
Nuori pappi loi kiitollisen katseen taivaille ja nostaen lapsen korista

hän suuteli sitä hellästi, sekä vei sen ynnä sateenvarjon köyhään
asuntoonsa.
Nyt olivat lapsen silmät auki, ne olivat siniset ja katselivat

kummastellen pappia.
— Olipa onni, — äännähti pastori — kun lapsi ei kastunut, olisi

voinut vilustua ja saada kuolemantaudin, varsinkin kun minulla ei
olisi ollut antaa kuivia vaatteita ylleen.
Mutta mistä oli tuo sateenvarjo sinne tullut? Käsittämätön asia!

Glogovassa ei ollut kellään sateenvarjoa.
Naapuritaloissa miehet kaivelivat ojia pihamailleen johtaaksensa

vettä pois. Pappi tiedusteli heiltä kaikilta asian laitaa.
— Ettekö ole nähnyt kenenkään käyvän lapsen luona?
Lapsen he kyllä olivat nähneet, mutta heidän tietääkseen ei

kukaan ollut sen luona käynyt.
Adamecz Matyasin leski oli pellolta kotiin hame pään yllä
paetessaan nähnyt, että jotakin punaista pyöreää juuri silloin oli
laskeutunut alas taivaasta. Hän saisi muka paikalla muuttua
kivipatsaaksi, jos hän valehtelisi; itse Neitsyt Maaria oli laskenut alas
tuon kapineen orvon suojaksi.
Joutavia höpinöitä nuo Adameczin eukon puheet! Akka kallistelee

hieman liiaksi lasia, joten ei ole ihmekään, jos hän näkee liikoja.
Mennä kesänäkin oli Pietarin-Paavalin yönä taivas hänelle auennut,
hän oli kuullut enkelijoukkojen veisuuta ja nähnyt niiden kulkevan
pitkässä saattueessa Jumalan valtaistuimen ohi. Siellä oli saattoväen
seassa astunut hänen kolmanna kesänä kuollut tyttärenpoikansakin
liinaisissa roimahousuissaan ja yllään punanen liivi, jonka Adameczin
eukko itse oli aikoinaan neulonut, ja olipa hän nähnyt siellä joitakuita
muitakin viime vuosikymmenenä kuolleita glogovalaisia, astuvan
taivaallisen laulun tahdissa hitaasti ja juhlallisesti, ihan samoissa
pukimissa, joissa heidät oli haudattukin.
Kun sitte Pietarin-Paavalin päivän jälkeen tämä näky tuli tiedoksi,

oli sangen monella asiata pyhän lesken luo. Yhtämittaa kulki hänen
luonaan ihmisiä, joiden omaisia nukkui nurmen alla, kysymässä oliko
hän nähnyt heitä siellä taivaassa. Entä minun tyttöni? Entä isäni,
entä miesraukkani?
Häntä uskottiin nytkin, sillä olihan luonnollista että Adameczin

leskelle näytettiin taivaallisia asioita enemmän kuin muille vaimosta
syntyneille. Tapahtuipa kerran hänen herrassa nukkuneelle
isälleenkin, Flinta Andrásille, joka oli maan kuulu varas, todellinen
ihme, kun näet Glogovan hautuumaasta noin kahdeksan vuotta sitte
leikattiin palanen maantiehen ja aukaistiin hänen hautansa, jotta
arkku voitaisiin siirtää toiseen paikkaan, ja kun tällöin vanhusta
katseltiin, huomattiin se ihme, että parta oli haudassa kasvanut,
vaikka viisi miestä tiesi varmasti todistaa että karjapaimen Gundros
Tamás oli vainajan parran aivan puhtaaksi ajanut.
Että vanha Flinta nyt on taivaassa, se on yhtä selvä kuin se että

kaksi kertaa kaksi on neljä, ja kun hän, tuollainen kelvoton veitikka
kerran on siellä, saattaa hän kyllä joskus jättää oven raolleen
laskeakseen tyttärensä sisään tirkistämään…
Tosin kellonsoittaja Kvapka Pál väittää aivan toista. Hän sanoo että
kun hän rajuilman puhjetessa soitti kelloja pilviä karkottaakseen, ja
sattui vilkaisemaan taakseen, hän näki vanhan juutalaisen näköisen
ukon astua laahustavan pappilaa kohden ja että tämän kädessä oli
tuo suuri punanen kangaslautanen, jonka pastori sitte oli tavannut
korin päällä.
Kvapka ei tietenkään sen enempää siihen huomiotansa

kiinnittänyt, unissaan kun vielä oli ja tuulikin pölyä lennätti hänen
silmiinsä, muistaahan vain asian himmeästi. Mutta minkä muistaa,
sen hän tohtisi vaikka valalla todeksi vannoa, — ja Kvapka on
luotettava mies.
Tuon juutalaisen näköisen ukon olivat nähneet jotkut muutkin.

Vanha se oli, pitkä, valkoinen tukka, koukkuselkä, kädessä keppi,
jonka kahva oli solmussa kuin sian saparo. Pribilékin kaivolla oli tuuli
vienyt hatun hänen päästään ja silloin huomattiin ukon olevan aivan
paljaspäisen.
— Toden totta, — virkkoi suntio, joka myöskin oli nähnyt hänet

avopäin, — hän oli aivan sen näköinen kuin kirkkokuvissa pyhä
Pietari. Ihan samannäköinen, avaimia vain ei ollut kädessä.
Pribilékin kaivolta oli hän oikaissut yli Stropovin niityn, missä
Krátkin lehmä, joka oli sinne omin lupinsa päässyt, yritti puskea
juutalaisukkoa, mutta oli tämä sitä lyönyt kepillään, ja siitä lähtien oli
lehmä — kysykää vain Kratkin perheeltä — ruvennut lypsämään
neljätoista tuoppia päivässä. Sitä ennen sai kiittää onneansa, kun se
antoi edes neljä.
Kylän laidassa vanhus oli vielä kysynyt myllärin piialta, mistä

menee tie Lehotaan. Tyttö oli sen hänelle neuvonut, ja oli ukko
lähtenyt kapuamaan polkua ylös vuoristoon. Vasta nyt muistaa
myllärin piika havainneensa jotain sädekehän tapaistakin vanhuksen
pään ympärillä tämän poistuessa hänen luotaan…
Tietysti se oli pyhä Pietari! Minkästähden ei olisi voinut hän olla?

Olihan hän taivaltanut monet matkat ennenkin Herran Kristuksen
kanssa. Onhan hänen tekosistaan niin monta kertomusta, että niitä
muistellaan vielä sadannessa polvessa. Mikä silloin ei ollut
mahdotonta, saattaa tapahtua vieläkin. Miehestä mieheen kulki
kylässä ihmeellinen huhu että viime rankkasateen aikana Jumala oli
lähettänyt kangasteltan pastorin pikku siskolle, jotta tämä ei kastuisi.
Orpojen ja avuttomien suojelija oli juoksuttanut pyhän Pietarin
itsensä sitä tuomaan.
Kelpasi lapsen nyt elää. Hän pääsi heti kaikkein lemmikiksi. Kylän
emännät alkoivat kaikella kiireellä paistaa piirakoita ja
pannukaakkuja viedäkseen niitä pikku tulokkaalle. Tuskin oli pastori
ovensa auki saanut, niin jo alkoi heitä lappaa sisään, kantaen
hienoilla ja puhtailla liinasilla peitetyltä ruokatavaroita, toiset toistaan
hienompia. Pappi suuresti kummasteli, kun niitä yhä tuli uusia.
— Voi, kulta kunnianarvoisa pastori, meillä olisi tässä vähän

namusia. Olemme kuulleet että teidän pikku siskonne on saapunut ja
ajattelimme että muutama makupala hänelle hyvää tekisi. Pitäisi
tosin olla parempaakin, mutta ei sitä köyhä kykene kaikkia
hankkimaan. Kyllä meillä on hyvä tarkoitus, mutta jauhot eivät ole
parasta lajia, ja tuo mylläri roistokin ne vielä vähäsen poltti, ainakin
mikäli se hornahinen ei niitä varastanut. Saisiko nähdä sitä pikku
enkeliä? Voi, senhän sanotaan olevan niin erinomaisen kaunis.
Tietenkin salli pastori emäntien mennä pikku Veronkan luo, häntä
silittelemään, hyväilemään ja suutelemaan. Suutelipa muuan heistä
hänen pikku jalkojaankin.
Pastorin täytyi usein kääntyä heistä poispäin, salatakseen

seurakuntalaisiltaan niitä kyyneleitä, jotka mielen heltyessä väkisin
nousivat hänen silmiinsä, varsinkin kun hän vielä sai tunnonvaivoja
itseänsä soimatessaan:
— Olen arvostellut näitä ihmisiä aivan väärin. Parempaa kansaa

kuin
Glogovan ei ole koko maailmassa. Miten ne minua rakastavatkaan!
Ihmeellistä, kuinka ne rakastavat!
Illan suussa saapui vanha Adammeczin leskikin, joka tosin ei tähän

asti ollut näyttänyt suurestikaan uudesta pastorista välittävän, mutta
joka sen nojalla, että hänen isänsä parta oli kasvanut vielä kuoleman
jälkeen ja vainaja siten päässyt tavallaan pyhimysten pariin, katsoi
olevansa oikeutettu puuttumaan kirkonkin asioihin.
— Kunnianarvoisa pastori, — hän virkkoi, — lapsi tarvitsee

hoitajan.
— Niin tarvitsisi, — vastasi pappi hetken mietittyään, — mutta

pieni on palkka ja seurakunta köyhä.
— Köyhä se pahus on, — kivahti Adameczin leski, — sillä kun ei
ole sydäntä ensinkään. Mutta meillä on sydän paikallaan. Ja eihän
pastori osaa tyttöä pukeakaan, ei pestä eikä kammata sen hiuksia.
Välipalaakin se tarvitsee, ettekä te voi käydä lukkarissa lapsen
kanssa aina syömässä. Täällä on ruokaa laitettava, pastori kulta. Sen
sanon minä vanha ihminen. Kellonsoittaja kykenee tosin siivoamaan,
mutta eihän se tolvana osaa lapsia hoitaa.
— Niin, niin, mutta mistä ottaa…
— Mistäkö ottaa? Tässähän olen minä. Olen aivan kuin papin

emännöitsijäksi luotu, vaikk'ei minua vielä koskaan ole mistään
semmoisesta epäilty.
— Niin, — sopersi pastori, — mutta mistä palkka?
Adameczin leski löi kahta kämmentä lanteilleen.
— Jättäkää se, pastori kulta, meidän kahden asiaksi, minun ja

Jumalan. Hän kyllä vaivani palkitsee teidän sijassanne. Vielä tänä
iltana tulen palvelukseen, tuon mukanani keittoastianikin.
Pastori kummasteli tuota kaikkea yhä enemmän, puhumattakaan

Urszinyista, joka samana iltana käydessään toveriansa tervehtimässä
sai kuulla päivän tapahtumista. Pastorin kertoessa Adameczin lesken
tarjouksen hän jo löi käsiään yhteen:
— Vai Adameczin leski? Tuo vanha noita? Ja vielä palkatta? Jottako

Jumala maksaa? Kuule János, ei ole vielä sitä kummaa kuultu että
glogovalainen olisi Jumalaa takuumieheksi hyväksynyt. Olet
todellakin lumonnut nämät ihmiset.
Pappi hymyili vain itsekseen, syvä hartaus valtasi hänen mielensä.
Hänkin ymmärsi ihmeen tapahtuneen. Tämähän kaikki oli niin
kummallista, käsittämätöntä. Hän aavisti kuitenkin tämän muutoksen
alkusyyn. Oli näet kuultu se rukous, jonka hän oli kirkon kivilattialle
polvistuen Jeesuksen edessä rukoillut. Jeesus oli poistanut
glogovalaisista itsekkään mielen ja antanut heille kullekin omansa
sijaan. Jeesuksen henkäys vielä ilmeni noiden ihmisten kasvoilla ja
käytöksessä…
Oli todellakin ihme tapahtunut! — Sateenvarjosta liikkuvia huhuja

hän ei kaikkia saanut kuullakaan, ja yleensä hän niille vain nauroi.
Hän ei tosin käsittänyt, miten se oli sinne joutunut, olipa tuota
hetken ihmetellytkin, mutta sitte hän ei siitä sen enempää välittänyt,
asetti sen vain erääseen nurkkaan siltä varalta että oikea omistaja
tulisi sitä noutamaan. Vaikka eipä tuo ollut kaiken kaikkiaan edes
viidenkolmatta kreutzerin arvoinen.
Mutta tämän päivän tapahtumat eivät vielä tähän loppuneet. Illalla

levisi salaman tavoin tieto, että Gongoly Mihalyn, Glogovan pohatan
emäntä oli hukkunut Bjela Voda-jokeen, joka rankkasateesta oli
paisunut tulvimaan. Onneton vaimo oli mennyt porraspuita myöten
toiselle rannalle noutamaan sinne joutuneita hanhiaan, olipa sieltä jo
tuonutkin kerran hanhikukon ja mustahelttaisen hanhen
kainalossaan, mutta yrittäessään mennä noutamaan vielä kahta
luiskahti hänen jalkansa ja hän putosi vaahtopäisnä kuohuvaan
koskeen. Herranen aika, aamulla ei siinä kohdassa ohut vettäkään,
ainakin olisi vuohi jaksanut sen juoda yhdellä siemauksella, ja
puolipäivään mennessä se jo oli paisunut vuolaaksi virraksi, niellen
ainiaaksi emäntäparan, kun ei ketään edes sattunut olemaan
lähettyvillä. Häntä etsittiin koko iltapäivä, koluttiin kellarit, ladot,
ullakot, kunnes virta illalla heitti ruumiin rannalle Lehotan kylän
kohdalle.
Sieltä löysivät hänet lehotalaiset ja muuan heistä lähti ratsain

tuomaan sanaa Gongoly Mihalylle.
Tapaus synnytti kylässä suurta tohinaa. Suurissa joukoin kerääntyi

ihmisiä kadulle keskustelemaan.
— Niin, voittaa se Jumala rikkaatkin!
Klincsok käväisi pappilassakin.
— Ylihuomenna on suuret hautajaiset!
Kellonsoittaja pistäysi, viinaryyppyä palkinnokseen toivoen,

kanttorissakin:
— Nyt, herra kanttori, — hän virkkoi, — nyt pankaa kaikki taitonne

liikkeelle. Meillä on lihava vainaja. Pitää olla koreat virret.
Kolmantena päivänä olivat sitten hautajaiset. Moniin aikoihin ei

ollut niin komeita Glogovassa nähty. Gongoly nouti Lehotankin papin
saattamaan, arkku tuotiin Beszterczestä, risti vietiin ensin
Kopanyiczaan, puusepän maalattavaksi mustan väriseksi ja että tämä
valkoisilla kirjaimilla siihen piirtäisi vainajan nimen ja
hukkumispäivän. Kansaa oli saapunut äärettömän paljon, vaikka ilma
ei suinkaan ollut kaunis, sillä pastorin lähtiessä täysissä
juhlatamineissaan kuoripoikain kanssa surutaloon nousi jälleen
yhtäkkiä kova ukkossade, jotta hänen täytyi kiireesti lähettää Kvapka
takaisin.
— Menkää joutuun noutamaan sateenvarjo; se on siellä kaapin
kupeella.
Kvapka katsoi kummastellen pastoriin. Hän ei näet tiennyt mitä

sateenvarjo onkaan.
— No menkää, — toisti pappi hoputtaen, — tuo iso pyöreä,

kankainen, joka tavattiin pikku siskoni korin päällä.
— Jo ymmärrän.
Pastori vetäytyi sateensuojaa odottaessaan Majgo Peterin

eteiseen, mutta hänen ei tarvinnut kauan vartoa varjoa, jonka
pastori kaikkien suureksi kummaksi yhdellä ainoalla kädenliikkeellä
työnsi selkoselälleen, jotta se ihan näytti siltä, kuin olisi tuhansia
yölepakon siipiä siihen yhteen ommeltu. Sitten tarttui hän varteen ja
nosti sen päänsä päälle, lähtien verkalleen ja arvokkaasti astumaan,
vähääkään kastumatta. Vaikka sade vinhasti pieksi tuon kummallisen
kapineen pintaa, ei se kumminkaan päässyt pastorin ruumiiseen asti;
valui vaan sen kuvetta myöten koreasti maahan.
Haudalla kaikki vain sateenvarjoa ihmeissään katselivat. Sekä

naiset että miehetkin siitä keskenään kuiskailivat.
Tuon on pyhä Pietari tuonut! Ainoastaan kanttorin kauniit värssyt

vetivät hetkeksi yleisön huomiota puoleensa, kuuluipa joukosta jo
nyyhkytystäkin, kun hän mitä hartaimmin vainajan nimissä
jäähyväissanoja veisasi:
Hyvästi, hyvästi kaikki naapurini,

Lajko Pal, Klincsok György lankoni.
Koko Lajkon perhe alkoi itkeä. Klincsokin emäntä huudahti
ihastuneena:
— Herra Jumala, miten koreasti osaakin veisata!
Tämä huudahdus antoi kanttorille uutta intoa ja entistä

kimakammin, hartaammin ja tunteellisemmin hän vainajan puolesta
hyvästeli nimiltään kaikkia sukulaisia ja tuttavia järjestään.
Ainoakaan silmä ei liene enää kuivaksi jäänyt.
Tuskin oli Gongolyn emäntä multiin saatu ja päästy hautajaisten

komeudesta puhumasta, niin kylän eukot jo alkoivat, — Herra heidän
jaarituksensa anteeksi antakoon, — kertoa, miten leski oli jo
haudalla heittänyt helliä silmäniskuja Tyurek Annan puoleen, minkä
johdosta sokeakin voi ennustaa etteivät emäntä-vainaan
juhlatamineet kauankaan saa naulassa riippua. Ja tuskin olivat
vieraat selvinneet hautajaiskestissä saamistaan viinoista, niin jo piti
taas uusi hauta kaivaa. Gongolyn emännän perään meni näet pian
Sranko János, joka nuorempana oli ahkerasti kosiskellut
emäntävainaata, vielä sen jälkeenkin kun tämä jo oli miehelässä. Nyt
menivät peräkanaa aivankuin yhdestä tuumasta. Mutta eipä voinut
muuta odottaakaan. Joskus ennenkin kerrottiin emännän vainiolla
kadonneen ruispeltoon, ja hetkisen perästä oli paikalle ilmestynyt
Srankokin ja samoin hänkin hävinnyt ruispeltoon. Sitä jumalatonta
ruista! Kasvaa vielä niin pitkäksi, että kykenee peittämään mitä
hullutuksia tahansa.
Toinen toisensa perään he nyt siis iankaikkisuuteenkin siirtyivät…

Hautajaisten jälkeisenä päivänä tavattiin Sranko aamulla kuolleena
vuoteessaan; häneen oli luultavasti iskenyt tuonen "ukonvaaja",
halvaus.
Srankokin oli varakas mies, kylän pomoja; hänellä oli
kolmisensataa lammasta ja laajat pellot. Hänenkin piti saada komeat
hautajaiset. Eikä leski kitsastellutkaan. Itse hän kävi sekä lukkarissa
että pappilassa järjestämässä kaikki ihan samaan tapaan kuin
Gongolyn emännän hautajaisissa. Maksoi mitä maksoi, mutta
Srankon perhe ei ole halvempi kuin Gongolynkaan.
Kaksi pappia pitää olla saattamassa sekä neljä kuoripoikaa

mustissa kauhtanoissa, ja kellojen soittoa kaiken aikaa. Ja niin
edespäin ja niin edespäin.
Pastori nyökäytteli tyytyväisenä päätään.
— Tehdään niin, tehdään niin.
Pastori laski, kynä kädessä, mitä se kaikki tulisi maksamaan.
— Niin, — puhui Srankon emäntä, mutta ottakaa laskuun, herra

pastori, myöskin se punainen, paljoako kalliimmaksi tulisi sen
kanssa.
— Mikä punainen?
— Se, jota piditte päänne kohdalla Gongolyn emäntävainaan

haudalla.
Sehän oli niin kaunis.
Pastori ei voinut olla nauramatta.
— Sehän on mahdotonta! Oh hoh!
Srankon emäntä kivahti suuttuneena seisoalleen, pää ylpeästi

kenossa.
— Minkätähden mahdotonta? Eikö minun rahani ole yhtä hyvää
kuin
Gongolyn? Vai kuinka?
— Mutta, hyvä emäntä, silloinhan satoi, vaan huomenna on

kaikesta päättäin kaunis ilma.
Srankon emäntä ei kumminkaan niin vähällä perään antanut,

osasipa väitellä viisaammin kuin itse pastori.
— Jottako silloin satoi? Nythän voitte siis, rakas, kulta herra

pastori, sitä mieluummin ottaa mukaanne sen, niin ei ainakaan kastu
kallis kapine. Ja kyllä miesvainaani on sen ansainnut. Kyllä hän oli
yhtä arvoisa henkilö kuin Gongolyn emäntäkin. Onhan mieheni ollut
lautakunnassakin, onpa kirkollekin tehnyt lahjoituksen, hän kun näet
viisi vuotta sitten hankki alttarille nuo koreat kynttilät, ja hänen
sisarensa on virkannut sen suuren valkoisen alttariliinan. Se
punainen pitää myös olla.
— Mutta minähän joutuisin naurunalaiseksi, jos käyttäisin haudalla

sateenvarjoa kirkkaassa päivänpaisteessa. Heittäkää, hyvä emäntä,
pois mielestänne nuo hullutukset.
Mutta nyt pillahti emäntä itkemään. Millä tavoin oli hän ansainnut
sen häpeän, että Herran palvelija kieltäytyy tekemästä vainajalle
kuuluvaa palvelusta, joka olisi jälkeenjääneillekin lohdutukseksi. Mitä
ihmiset sanoisivatkaan? Sen sanoisivat että Srankon leski ei antanut
miehellensä edes kunniallista hautausta, vaan antoi työntää hänet
kuoppaan kuin minkäkin kerjäläisen. — Tehkää nyt niin hyvin, herra
pastori, — hän rukoeli, ja pyyhkiessään nenäliinallansa kosteita
silmiänsä hypisteli hän sen nurkkaa niin kauan, että siitä solmu
aukeni ja sisästä putosi kymmenen florinin seteli.
Emäntä nosti sen lattialta ja asetti kainostellen pastorin pöydälle.
— Lisään vielä tämän, jotta vain tulisi täydet menot, pyydän

nöyrimmästi.
Tällä hetkellä pujahti kyökistä sisään Adameczin leskikin kauha

kädessä emäntää avustamaan.
— Niin, niin, herra pastori, Sranko oli jumalinen mies. Ne juorut,

jotka hänestä ovat liikkeellä, eivät ole totta. Ja jos niissä perää
olisikin, kohtaisi tuomio yhtä hyvin Gongolyn emäntääkin, — jolle
Jumala rauhan suokoon! Kun kerran sateenvarjo oli toisen haudalla,
saattaa sitä käyttää toisenkin haudalla. Taikka jos Jumala vielä on
vihainen, on yhdentekevä, vaikka hän olisi sitä vähä enemmänkin,
mutta jos hän on leppynyt, ei ole hän tästäkään pahastuva.
— Vai niin, ettekö häpeä puhua moisia tyhmyyksiä. Älkää kiusatko

minua moisella taikauskolla! Teidän pyyntönne on suoraan sanoen
naurettava.
Mutta eukot eivät vieläkään perään antaneet. "Kyllä meillä on

omat tietomme, ei herra pastori pääse meitä pettämään!" — ja
niinkauan he pyytelivät ja uikuttivat, kunnes lopulta päätettiin että
Sranko Jánoskin siunataan sateenvarjon alla. Pastori sentään tähän
lisäsi:
— Jos ei sen omistaja ennen tule sitä noutamaan. Sillä senhän on

joku varmaan tänne jättänyt, ja jos sitä tullaan hakemaan, on minun
se annettava.
Adameczin leski loi emäntään merkitsevän katseen:

— No, sen puolesta saamme rauhassa olla, sillä sen tuoja käy vain
kerran tuhannessa vuodessa täällä maan päällä.
Ei tosiaankaan tullut kukaan sateenvarjoa noutamaan. Vaikka

seuraavana päivänä oli mitä kaunein ilma, taivaalla ei pilven
hattaraakaan, aukaisi nuori pastori lähtiessään astumaan arkun
perässä sateenvarjon ja päätti siunata ruumiin sen alla seisoen.
Paaria, joilla ruumisarkku lepäsi, oli kantamassa neljä vankkaa

miestä: Szlavik, Lajko ja rotevat Magatin veljekset. Mutta kaiketi
Jumalan sallimasta toinen Magatin veljeksistä kompastui kylän pajan
kohdalla kiveen ja kaatui. Siitä taas pelästyi perässä astuva Lajko,
menetti malttinsa, horjahti, paaret kallistuivat pahasti ja arkku lensi
kivikkoon.
Kuului kova rusahdus, arkku särkyi, kansi aukeni, liikahtipa virkattu

kasvojenpeitekin, ja nyt tuli näkyviin kuollut, joka ankaran sysäyksen
johdosta heräsi valekuolleista, liikahti syvään hengittäen ja huudahti:
— Herra Jumala, missä minä olen?
Kovasti siinä hämmästyttiin, ihan ihmeissään olivat ihmiset.

Sepästä saatiin sentään patjoja ja päänalusia, pihasta saatiin
raudoitettavana olevat työrattaat, joihin tehtiin sija kuolleelle, jonka
Jumala erityisen ihmeen kautta oli henkiin herättänyt. Ja nyt muuttui
äskeinen surusaatto Jumalaa ylistäväksi juhlakulkueeksi; virsiä
veisaten saatettiin kotiinsa kunnon Sranko János, joka matkalla
toipui siihen määrin, että kotona jo kohta pyysi ruokaa.
Hänelle tuotiin maitoa. Hän puisti vain päätään. Lajko ojensi

hänelle viinahaarikan, joka oli täytetty hautajaisia varten. Jo mies
hymyili.
Satu sateenvarjosta sai oikeastaan tästä merkkitapauksesta
alkunsa, ja nyt se levisi kauas salojen taakse yli pilviin kohoavien
vuortenkin, yhä loitommaksi, kasvaen, nuortuen, yhä uusilla
yksityisseikoilla kullattuna.
Kun kallioissa tavattiin joku omituinen syvennys, oli se varmaan

pyhän Pietarin jalan jälki, ja kun jossain nähtiin oudonvärinen kukka,
oli pyhän Pietarin sauva siihen koskettanut. Kaikesta, niin kaikesta
päättäen oli pyhä Pietari vastikään käynyt Glogovassa. Ja sehän on,
hyvät ihmiset, tärkeä tapaus.
Salaperäisyyden ihmeloiste valaisi siis tätä sateenvarjoa. Se juuri

siinä oli hämärää, miten se oli joutunut pikku Veronkan korin päälle.
Muuta ei tarvittukaan. Taikausko etsii hämäryyttä, hämäryys taas
vetää taikauskoa puoleensa. Näiden kahden saalisna oli tuo
nukkavieru sateenvarjo.
Kauas levisi sen maine. Pitkin Bjela-Vodan varsia slovakit siitä

kertoivat paimennuotioittensa ääressä tai kehruutalkoissa asioita,
jotka vaikuttivat heidän mielikuvitukseensa ja kohottivat heidän
innostustaan, mitä kummallisimpia ja omituisimpia seikkoja. Oli
muka nähty tuo tuttu pyhä Pietari, taivaan portin vartija tuomassa
sateenvarjoa, ettei papin pikku sisko kastuisi. Mitenkähän vanhus
laskeutui taivaasta maan päälle? Istui varmaankin jonkun pilven
longalle, ja se laski hänet koreasti alas vuorenkukkulalle.
Vielä kerrottiin myöskin sateenvarjon ihmeellistä vaikutuksista,

miten muuan kuollutkin oli sen nähtyään herännyt henkiin, ja näin
levisi kertomus yhä laajemmalle, temmaten mukaansa myöskin
Glogovan papin ja tämän pikkusisaren nimet. Kukapa miekkonen
senkin neitosen kerran puolisokseen saapi! — Kun joku varakkaampi
mies kuolee kymmenennessäkin kylässä, noudetaan sinne János
pastori virkapuvussaan ynnä pyhä sateenvarjo, josta on tullut oikea
pyhäinjäännös. Mutta häntä ei viedä ainoastaan hautajaisiin, vaan
myöskin sairaita ripittämään kahdenkin päivän matkoille, sillä
välipuheella että hän levittä sateenvarjon sairaan ylitse tätä
ripittäessään. Aivan varmasti se auttaa; sairas joko paranee, taikka
jos ei paranekaan, tulee ainakin autuaaksi.
Parikunnatkaan, jotka tahtovat parempia vihkiäisiä, — ja sitähän

ne aina tahtovat, — eivät tyydy siihen, että heidän oma pappinsa
heidät vihkii, vaan tekevät lisäksi pyhiinvaellusretken Glogovan
kirkkoon, antaakseen siellä vielä sen sateenvarjon alla toisilleen
kättä. Silloin se vasta tepsii. Kellonsoittaja Kvapka pitää tuota
kangassientä heidän päänsä päällä, ja aina siitäkin heruu pientä
hopearahaa hänen taskuunsa. Mitä taasen tulee Glogovan pastoriin,
valuu hänelle rahaa ja lahjoja aivankuin säkin suusta kaataen.
Ensimmältä hän kyllä esteli, mutta vähitellen hän alkoi itsekin

uskoa että tuo sateenvarjo, joka kävi päivä päivältä yhä enemmän
kuluneeksi ja nukkavieruksi, todellakin oli Jumalan lähettämä.
Eiköhän se vain tullutkin suorana vastauksena hänen rukoukseensa
pikku tytön suojaksi. Siitähän johtuu koko hänen hyvinvointinsa ja
varallisuutensa, kuten hän oli rukoillutkin.
"Herra Jeesus" — niin oli hän sanonut tuona surullisena aamuna

— "tee minulle ihme, jotta voisin kasvattaa lapsukaisen."
Ja kas, ihme on tapahtunut. Rahaa, hyvinvointia, rikkautta vuotaa

vanhasta paikatusta sateenvarjosta, aivankuin olisi se sadun
ihmekaritsa, joka itseänsä ravistellessaan sirotteli kultia villastansa.
Sateenvarjon maine saapui korkeampiinkin piireihin. Hänen
ylhäisyytensä Beszterczen piispakin kävi uteliaaksi ja kutsutti eteensä
papin sateenvarjoineen. Tutkittuaan sitä ja kuultuaan kertomuksen
sen ilmestymisestä hän virkkoi, hartaasti silmiänsä ristien:
— Deus est omnipotens, Jumala on kaikkivaltias.
Tämä tiesi sitä, että hänkin uskoi sateenvarjoon.
Muutaman viikon kuluttua piispa toimi asiassa muutakin. Antoi

János pastorille määräyksen että hän ei tästäpuolen saa säilyttää
tätä pyhäinjäännöstä luonaan, vaan kirkossa muiden pyhien
esineiden kanssa.
Tähän János pastori kuitenkin oitis vastasi että puheena oleva

sateenvarjo oikeastaan kuului hänen alaikäiselle sisarelleen Bélyi
Veronkalle ja ettei hänellä ollut oikeutta sitä myydä eikä kirkolle
luovuttaa. Mutta kun tyttönen tulee täysivaltaiseksi, on hän
varmaankin lahjoittava sen kirkolle.
Joka tapauksessa tuotti sateenvarjo suurta hyötyä pastorille, joka

ennen pitkää hankki itselleen karjaa ja vetojuhtia sekä rupesi
harjoittamaan laajaa maanviljelystä, rakensipa itselleen muutaman
vuoden kuluttua sievän kivitalonkin, sekä käytti vaunuja ja
kaksivaljakkoa matkoillaan. Glogovan kuntakin sen kautta kohosi.
Kesäisin saapui sinne suurissa parvissa vallasnaisia läheisistä
kylpylaitoksista, kreivittäriäkin — useimmiten sentään vanhoja
kreivittäriä — lukeakseen edes yhden rukouksen sateenvarjon alla.
Näitä varten rakennettiin erityinen vieraskoti vastapäätä pappilaa,
nimeltä "Ihmeitätekevä sateenvarjo". Lyhyesti sanoen Glogova alkoi
silminnähtävästi kohota; kuntalaiset alkoivat monien matkustavaisten
tähden hävetä vanhaa kellotapuliansakin ja rakensivat kirkkoonsa
uhkean peltikattoisen tornin, hankkien siihen kaksi uutta kelloa
Beszterczestä. Tuonelasta palaamisensa muistoksi Srankó János
antoi leikata puusta ihmeen kauniin pyhän Kolminaisuuden patsaan
kirkon ovipieleen. Kotiopettajatar — János pastori oli näet sittemmin
ottanut Veronkaa varten oikean hattupäisen opettajattaren — istutti
pappilan pihan täyteen georgiineja ja fuksioita, jommoisia kukkia
glogovalaiset eivät koskaan ennen olleet nähneet. Kaikki muuttui
siellä somemmaksi ja siistimmäksi, lukuunottamatta Adameczin
leskeä, joka oli käynyt yhä vain rumemmaksi. Olivatpa glogovalaiset
tulleet niinkin ylpeiksi, että he pyhäiltoina, kun oli joutilasta aikaa
kaikenmoisia rupatella, alkoivat puhua siitäkin, että pitäisi Glogovaan
rakentaa kalvaaria, pyhiinvaelluspaikka, jommoinen oli
Selmeczissäkin, jotta toivioretkeläiset tänne tullessaan toisivat heille
rahaa ja synnyttäisivät vilkkaampaa liikettä.
TOINEN OSA.
GREGORICSIT.
TAHDITON GREGORICS.
Useita vuosia ennen kertomuksemme alkua asui kuninkaallisessa

vapaakaupungissa Beszterczebányassa muuan Gregorics Pál niminen
mies, jota yleensä sanottiin tahdittomaksi, vaikka hänen elämänsä
pääharrastuksena oli elää kaikille mieliksi. Gregorics Pál kosiskeli
kansansuosiota, joka on kaunis, keikaileva neitonen, mutta tapasi
aina kritiikin, joka taasen on vanha vihainen, kierosilmäinen noita.
Gregorics Pál oli syntynyt isänsä kuoleman jälkeen, täsmälleen

yhdeksän kuukautta hautajaisista lukien, menetellen siis jo silloin
tahdittomasti äitiänsä kohtaan, joka muuten oli sangen kunniallinen
nainen. Jos hän olisi syntynyt edes muutamia viikkoja aikaisemmin,
olisi hän ituunsa tukahuttanut monet ikävät juorut. Mutta eihän
Gregorics Pál sille mitään voinut, ja toiset elossa olevat Gregoricsit
päivittelivät sitä, että hän ollenkaan oli syntynyt, kun näet täten oli
tullut yksi perillinen lisää.
Lapsena hän oli kitulias; toiset Gregoricsit, hänen täysikasvuiset

velipuolensa yhä toivoivat hänen kuolevan, mutta hänpä ei
kuollutkaan — hän näet oli kun olikin jo ennakolta tahdittomaksi
määrätty — vaan voimistui, tuli täysi-ikäiseksi ja otti omaan
haltuunsa perintönsä, mikä suurimmaksi osaksi oli äitivainajan
osuutta, josta eivät ensi aviosta syntyneet lapset saaneet mitään,
eikä se ollut niinkään pieni, vaikka ei tosin isänkään jättämä perintö
ollut vähäpätöinen, sillä vanha Gregorics oli viinikauppiaana kerännyt
sievosen omaisuuden. Siihen aikaan oli näet helppo rikastua sillä
kaupalla niillä seuduin. Viiniä oli viljalti, mutta juutalaisia ei
ensinkään. Nyt viinikauppiailta usein puuttuu oikeata tavaraa, mutta
Garam-joen vettä kyllä sensijaan löytyy.
Luonto oli Gregorics Pálille antanut kesakoiset kasvot ja punasen

tukan, josta ihmiset tekevät yleensä sen johtopäätöksen, että kaikki
punatukkaiset ovat häijyjä luonteita. Gregorics Pál tahtoi toki
osoittaa olevansa hyvä mies. Tuollaiset puheenparret ovat vain
vanhoja astioita, joissa entiset sukupolvet ovat keitoksiaan
keittäneet. Ainakin yhden noista rähjistä Gregorics Pál tahtoo särkeä.
Hän on oleva niin hyvä kuin vehnäpulla, niin sulava kuin voi, jota
saattaa levittää yhtä hyvin mustalle kuin valkeallekin leivälle.
Hän teki vahvan päätöksen olla hyvä ihminen, oikein miellyttävä

mies; hänen elämänsä päämääränä oli saavuttaa kanssaihmisten
rakkautta.
Ja uskollisesti hän päätöstään noudattikin; mutta mitäs siitä, kun

joku häijy henki aina kulki hänen edellään johtamassa ihmisten
mieliä niin, että he aina arvostelivat nurjasti hänen kaikkia tekojaan.
Kun hän saavuttuaan kotiin Pestistä, missä hän luki lakitiedettä,

ensi kerran poikkesi myymälään ostamaan itselleen hienoja
havannasikareita, pääsivät pahat kielet heti liikkeelle.
— Tuo veitikka imeskelee neljänkymmenen kreutzerin sikareja.

Niinkö pitkällä sitä jo ollaan? Sehän on kauhea tuhlari! — Saadaan
nähdä että se mies vielä kuolee vaivaistalossa! Jospa voisi isävainaja
nousta haudastaan ja nähdä hänen polttavan neljänkymmenen
kreutzerin sikareja. Herranen aika! Ukko sekotti tupakkaansa
kuivatulta potaatinlehtiä ja kostutteli sitä kahvisakalla, jotta se
hitaammin palaisi.
Gregorics Pál sai kuulla, että hänen kalliit sikarinsa olivat

synnyttäneet pahennusta pikku kaupungissa ja rupesi heti
käyttämään halpoja kahden kreutzerin sikareja.
Sekään ei ihmisille kelvannut.
— Tuo Gregorics onkin oikeastaan kelvoton kitupiikki. Vielä

suurempi lurjus kuin hänen isänsä. Hyi sitä häijyä ahneutta!
Gregorics Pál oli sangen pahoillaan siitä, että häntä pidettiin

saiturina, ja ensi tilaisuudessa, saapuessaan hyväntekeväiseen
iltamaan, — ne olivat vapaaehtoisen palokunnan tanssiaiset, jonka
korkeana suojelijattarena oli itse yli-ispaanin rouva ja joihin sai
lunastaa jäsenlipun "korotetuillakin hinnoilla", — hän suoritti
kaksikymmentä florinia yhdestä kahden florinin lipusta, ajatellen
itsekseen: minäpä näytän, ettei Gregorics Pál ole mikään kitupiikki.
Mutta nytpä juhlan hommaajat jälleen kuiskaamaan:
— Gregorics Pál on pöyhkeilevä, tahditon ihminen.
Olipa heillä syytäkin suuttua.
Sehän on ennen kuulumatonta hävyttömyyttä että mokomakin

Gregorics kehtaa mennä edelle yli-ispaanin, paroni Radvánszkyn.
Tämä oli antanut lipusta kymmenen florinia, ja Gregorics menee
työntämään kaksikymmentä. Sehän on suorastaan uhmailua! Hän,
viinikauppiaan poika! Herra Jumala, kyllä on aikoihin eletty!
Kirppukin nyt jo kovemmin äyskii kuin jalopeura. On aikoihin eletty!
Kyllä on kummallisiin aikoihin eletty!
Yritti Gregorics parka mitä tahansa, kohtasi häntä aina kova onni.
Jos hän joutuessaan jonkun kanssa riitaan, ei antanut perään,
sanottiin häntä riitapukariksi; jos hän taasen antoi perään, sai hän
kantaa raukan nimen.
Lainopin tutkinnon suoritettuaan hän ei aluksi ryhtynyt mihinkään

toimeen, matkustihan vaan joskus maatilalleen, joka sijaitsi
peninkulman päässä kaupungista ja jonka hän oli äidiltään perinyt,
sekä myös joskus muutamaksi päiväksi Wieniin, jossa hänellä oli
kivitalo, äidin perintöä sekin. Muutapa tointa hänellä ei ollutkaan, ja
sentähden ahkerat kaupunkilaiset häntä sydämensä pohjasta
halveksivat.
— Gregorics Pál — niin he sanoivat, — on oikea maanpainajainen.

Ei pane viikkokausiin rikkaa ristiin. Mitä tekee maailmassa
mokomakin vetelys?
Tämäkin puhe joutui Gregorics Pálin korville ja hän oivalsi, että

ihmiset ovat oikeassa, ettei saa elämätänsä jouten kuluttaa. Onhan
asia oikeastaan niin, että jokaisen ihmisen tulee työllä leipänsä
ansaita.
Gregorics Pál tarjoutui siis hänkin käyttämään taitoansa joko

kaupungin tai maakunnan palvelukseen.
No, se vielä puuttui. Sadat kielet heti vastustamaan tätä aijetta.

Mitä? Gregorics Palko pyrkii virkoihin? Täällä meillä? Kun ei edes
häpeä! Ottamaan leivän köyhän suusta, vaikka itse elää
ylellisyydessä.
Jättäköön toki täkäläiset virat niille, jotka niitä tarvitsevat.
Gregorics Pál oivalsi tämänkin olevan totta ja jätti virkojen

hakemiset ja yleiset asiat sikseen, vetäytyipä erilleen toisten miesten
seuroistakin, päättäen mennä naimaan ja ruveta perheelliseksi.
Olihan sekin kunnioitusta ansaitseva tehtävä.
Hän alkoi nyt käydä perheissä, missä oli kauniita tyttäriä, ja

otettiinkin hänet näissä mielellään edullisena kosijana vastaan. Mutta
hänen juonittelevat velipuolensa, jotka yhä toivoivat tämän hintelän,
aina yskivän miehen pian kuolevan, turmelivat ennen
kuulumattomalla viekkaudella ja oveluudella kaikki hänen
suunnitelmansa, — siitähän kelpaisi kirjoittaa kokonaan eri kertomus,
— joten Gregorics Pál sai peräkanaa niin monet rukkaset, että hän
tuli siinä suhteessa ihan kuuluisaksi siinä osassa maata. Myöhemmin
olisi kyllä löytynyt neitoja, joita neitsyys oli alkanut liiaksi painaa —
ikää karttuessa alkaa painaa sekin kunnia — mutta heitä taas pidätti
häpeä. Eikä syyttäkään. Mennä miehelle, joka oli niin monen tytön
hylkimä. Kukapa rukkaskuninkaan kuningattareksi? Ei kukaan…
Uudenvuoden aattona sulatettiin ja upotettiin paljo tinaa taloissa
Garamjoen varrella, mutta ainoatakaan kertaa ei ilmestynyt
Gregorics Pálin haahmoa esiin. Yksi sana yhtä hyvä kuin sata, —
Gregorics Pál ei kelvannut haaveileville neitosille. Lemmenrunoutta
he haluavat eivätkä rahaa. Joku vanhapiika vielä tosin voisi ottaa
vastaan hänen sormuksensa, jos niiksi tulisi…
Mutta nuorista neitosista ei riitä yksi askel vanhoihinpiikoihin:

tarvitaan kaksi. Siinä välillä ovat näet nuoret lesket. Vanhatpiiat
tulevat viimeiseksi.

Instant Ebooks Textbook Producing and Directing The Short Film and Video Fourth Edition Peter W. Rea Download All Chapters

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Instant Ebooks Textbook Producing and Directing The Short Film and Video Fourth Edition Peter W. Rea Download All Chapters

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Instant Ebooks Textbook Producing and Directing The Short Film and Video Fourth Edition Peter W. Rea Download All Chapters

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Full download ebook at ebookgate.

Producing and Directing the Short Film and

Download more ebook from https://ebookgate.com

Writing Directing and Producing Documentary Films and

Directing and Producing for Television Third Edition A

Directing Film Techniques and Aesthetics 3rd Edition

Creative Motion Graphic Titling for Film Video and the

The Technique of Film and Video Editing Fifth Edition

Videomaker Guide to Video Production Fourth Edition

Grindhouse Nostalgia Memory Home Video and Exploitation

The Encyclopedia of British Film Fourth Edition Brian

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD

# 2010 ELSEVIER Inc. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

For information on all Focal Press publications

Printed in the United States of America

Web Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Student Fundraising Strategies . . 33

Chapter 5: Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Listen to the Material . . . . . . 158 Chapter 13: Art on Set . . . . . . . . . 219

Socializing . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Music Tracks . . . . . . . . . . 296

Visit the companion site at

Contents FORMS to download, save, and print, including:

FIRST EDITION Suzie Korda, Dow McKeever, Stevin Michals, Marsha

Truman, a 12-minute color narrative film written and 462 Broadway

Finance Raising the Capital Pitching the Project

Schedule Building a Stripboard Determining the Visual Plan

Budget Creating a Budget Shooting for the Moon

Crewing Hiring the Crew Hiring the Crew

Casting Auditions Auditions

Art Direction Assembling the Team Creating a Look

Location Securing Locations Scouting Locations

Rehearsals Rehearsal Schedule Working on Scenes

Camera Support Collaborate

Sound Control Environment Record Clean Tracks

Art on Set Construction Guide

The Actor Accommodate Direct

Sound Supervise Postproduction Sound Design

Finishing/ Makes Prints Time

Distribution/ Make a Deal Publicity

# 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

FIGURE 1.1 Two hungry diners, from

FIGURE 1.2 A scene from Citizen.

that forthright (see Figure 1.3). To distract the young

FIGURE 1.3 Characters from A Nick in

FIGURE 1.4 A masked woman surrounded

The film Mirror Mirror focuses on the topic of how

Crazy Glue is an animated clay puppet short adapted

The history of motion pictures has been dominated by

The Central Theme

apart, but the “realtime” or event of the film is the time

Rewriting Ask these questions:

story. After hearing a strong performer read a part, the

l Without a good script, you cannot have a good final

# 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Both students and independent filmmakers can employ

— Tässä olen, hyvä Billeghi. Mitä teillä on tuomisia?

Billeghi ei kuitenkaan seisonut enää siinä, vaan loitompana tiellä,

Billeghi sattui kääntymään ja huomasi nyt papin seisovan