Writing Short Film Screen Plays

Short films are story-driven narratives, in which screen play a major role. At the heart of all short films is a story of a character.

• The protagonist.
• The active question or the basis of the action.
• Who or what opposes the protagonist.
• Whose point of view is the story
• The theme of the story.
• The style of the story.

The protagonist is the person in center of the story and dominates the story.

Springing Lenin (Andrie Nekrasov, 1992)

The active question, what are the actions in the film?
What is the audience would be interested in?

The Curious (Director : Stephen Brown, Writer: Robert Smith, 1994),

Decide on an incident which will form the basis of the film's climax,. Most films made from true incidents.

Yellow (Director Billy Elltringham and Simon Beaufoy: 1998)

The film can be a single defining moment in the central character's life, which creates challenge, situation or a problem to solve.

The Cutter (Director :Carl Prechezer, Writer: Peter Salmi, 1992)
Springing Lenin: Germ of an idea (0:45)
Zinky Boys Go Underground: My brother (0:50)
The Curious: A vision (0:51)
Yellow: The wasp (0:40)
Deep Down: The dress (0:57)

Knowing why a character can't deal with a situation, or he is forced to do something different other than their normal way of response. It is critical to develop an engaging points in story.

The Cutter: Father and son business (0:47)
Deep Down (11:30)
Zinky Boys Go Underground: 'The party's over' (0:50)
Springing Lenin: Mrs Shillinglaw (1:14)
Deep down: Mother and daughter (1:41)

Point of View & Theme

The Curious (1994)

Once you have decided
1. Who shall  be the film is about (The protogenist)
2. What or who opposes them (antagonist)
3. What it is the audience is being asked to follow (the active question)

next is 'Whose point of view is the audience see ?'

short films are exploiting background information and character's motivations, in a very small time space. Hence narration, and narrators, are very useful in short films.

Finding a theme is critical to giving a film a dramatic unity. It need to relate directly to the audience's emotions.

Yellow: rivals (0:56)

Style & Tone

The Cutter (1992)

The style 
You have a challenge in creating a emotional climax in ten minute film!  Use surrealism, Curiosity and the point-of-view (POV) camera work, and the heightened color and effects.

Include tragic situations
Make audience guess what will happen next 
Make central character uncertain
Create audience's fear of uncertainty/chaos 

This sense of uncertainty is at the heart of short films.
Characters need to have mixed outcomes in their actions
They might solve a problem only to be faced immediately by another or, if they win something, it's at a loss. 

Make audience engage.
Let the audience feels the powerlessness of the central character using POV shots and emotional camerawork.
A neutral tone of the narrator help the audience
to engage with a vicious and threatening world. 

Yellow: Natalie (0:17)
Yellow: Jim (0:46)
The Curious: Eye test (1:22)
The Curious: Dream (0:23)
Deep Down: Rest in peace (0:58)
The Cutter: An accident (1:12)
Springing Lenin: Legal tender (1:08)

Source : screenonline.org.uk