Screenwriting for Short Films: How to Structure Your Plot

The author of Short Films 2.0: Getting Noticed in the KZbin Age, talks about how to structure a short film screenplay.
Watch his FREE COURSE on short filmmaking here: • The Evolution of Short...
Book available here: www.doxanousmedia.com/product...

[@LukeZRN]

Starts zoning in on short films @33:50

[@nathanchin2483]

Thank you for saving my time.

[@perrap79]

cheers mate

[@terrancefinn1303]

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[@mustafazion1737]

@Terrance Finn Instablaster =)

[@terrancefinn1303]

@Mustafa Zion thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@Zach_Films]

This is really helpful, thank you for sharing!

[@ChaiNBooks]

This was super insightful. Thank you! Took a lot of notes! 😄

[@MikelWisler]

Awesome! I'm so glad it's helpful. Thank you for sharing. Was there anything in particular that you found most helpful? Anything that's unclear that I should seek to clarify in a new lecture or video?

[@redball7362]

This was very good and very helpful. Thanks

[@MikelWisler]

So glad it was helpful. If you want to dive into more info about making short films, be sure to check out Short Films 2.0 on Kindle or paperback. Thank you for watching.

[@williamkam1589]

Wow I found this lecture very useful compared to what I am getting from school. Just started my journey in digital cinematography.

[@MikelWisler]

Thank you so much! I'm glad it's helpful. What stood out to you as far as infromation that you haven't gotten from school?

[@redball7362]

I love this digital age.....I just got your book on amazon kindle. Thanks again.

[@MikelWisler]

That's great. Definitely let me know what you think of the book. I love hearing feedback from readers. I'll eventually be doing a second edition, do feedback on areas that you'd like more info about is very helpful.

[@nickpapps7155]

Yeah, this is great. Got the book as well.

[@MikelWisler]

Thank you so much! Please feel free to contact me with any feedback, questions, or comments you have on the book. Reader input is quite valuable to us as we look forward to doing a second edition.

[@DunyaTube-uu8ic]

You are great!!

[@tommyalexxxander]

Thanks! Learned more about structuring shorts here then in two years of film school.

[@MikelWisler]

Wow! That is high praise. What was most helpful? And what would like time to know more about?

[@tommyalexxxander]

@@MikelWisler How you can skip acts and play around with them the way you said was really new to me. Also how the characters have different goals to achieve like the example with the guy with the guitar to tune and the other guy who hanging up a lamp, made me understand their purpose in the story and why one just cant be passive. Also how to tell as much as possible in few shots like the example of a car crash was great and one of your last things there about giving your extras something to do. Like a goal of their own to take care of that doesn't disturb the main story. For the moment I'm writing a horror short (it's about a bartender that gets chased around the location by a big creature) and I don't wanna skip any acts in it so struggling a bit on how to raise the obstacles throughout the chase.

[@vinodunnithan1360]

When even get into main character struct getting the complex text to be in position with incident monologues is parallel aximon?

[@TheJadedFilmMaker]

That karate kid idea happened !!! Thank you KZbin red

[@SerapioSergiovich]

Movie with interesting elements.

[@PeterSodhi]

Good lecture

[@MikelWisler]

Thank you! I also have a series of videos that deals with making short films. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWrTiHiij7iWpbs Was there anything in particular about this lecture you found most helpful?

[@PeterSodhi]

Hey Mike, there was so much of value. but the haiku poem analogy really stood out - a real masterstroke! The simplification of the story - reduction in characters, eliminating exposition were all superb insights. Changed the whole direction of my short film. Thank you so much.

[@MikelWisler]

Fantastic! So glad this was helpful. Is your short film completed? Can I see it?

[@PeterSodhi]

Thank you - I am due to publish in December. Will let you know when it is done!

[@MikelWisler]

Great! Please do!

[@starg47]

I'm not angry. I just dislike when people sell these books that promise success by following some three act structure and other crap. I just don't like people getting ripped off. Anyway, I'm glad you're teaching this to kids. The reason why I despise three act structure is because each genre has it's specific structure which you must manipulate to fit your unique idea, unless if you want to be a copycat writer which won't work. I don't see how three act structure will work if you wan to be truly original. Also, three acct structure puts you in a box, because some films are more fast paced than others, so your Act 2 may be very close to your Act 3, ect. It just confuses. Stories are may more complex then three acts, especially if you writing a truly unique idea.

[@Sandra-hc4vo]

I would when starting out, like to learn the basics on how to get a story to work. And then after maybe try and be more experimental. So you start with the basics and then you the creative can be as experimental as you want, but just know you may fail. A teacher of a creative cannot teach the exact right success. But if you learn the basics and then can think more like a story teller. And also for me personally, it actually will take a long time for me to get a completed short out, and that means doing something like this is an investment and a risk. I think it is the risk itself for people, rather then the teachers that make there be a lack of creativity. Then I think people end up finding other ways to be creative. But the structure of a film, like a building needs to be sturdy and sometimes that's limiting.

[@MrCheminee]

At the moment I am working on a script that has a twist before the end of act two, I know that tradtionally the biggest twists are given somewhere in the middle of act three, only in this twist our protagonist 'kills' someone and then finds out it was all based on a misunderstanding. This is of course followed by the mental crisis. The thing is that after this, the protagonist doesn't really have a motivation to do anything since his only goal, fighting the guy he thought he hated, is gone. Untill the start of act 3 where he finds out that the misunderstanding was actually orchestrated by a new bad guy. So i feel there is some kind of motivation gap at the end of act two, according to most theories now he should be as far from his goal as possible, but here he doesn't really have a goal anymore. So could this be a problem? Anyone any thoughts on this?

[@victoriakarakoleva4304]

Every human has a goal. What I think happened to your protagonist is that his goal has changed. I have this twist in my film before the act two. But what your protagonist is doing is changing his inner self goal. The real goal that he has in his inner life. So your protagonist had a goal but it's just not that external goal any more that moves the external plot of the film. Your ending is simply your protagonist inner goal that he wants secretly to happen for him. I'm just guessing though. : )

[@davineuskens21]

What I felt is that a new bad guy is a bigger twist, so I was thinking that maybe you'd have to really amplify his desire-obstacle journey on Act 1 and 2 so that the misunderstanding relevation really pops out and overshadows the second twist on Act 3. That's just my thought though

[@davineuskens21]

@@victoriakarakoleva4304 That was a nice perspective

[@jianping5976]

can you post the slides online, so we can download it. thank you

[@MikelWisler]

You bet! Here you go: www.dropbox.com/sh/q55jo5wrptce89k/AAD8t128r6HINCHhw-ealKkTa?dl=0

[@jianping5976]

I really appreciate it. Just watched 2 times. Took a lot great notes

[@MikelWisler]

@@jianping5976 Awesome! I hope this is helpful. You might also be interested in this other free course on making short films I released: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWrTiHiij7iWpbs

[@starg47]

I got a sample of your book from amazon

[@MikelWisler]

Cool. Hope it's helpful. Let me know what you think of what you are able to check out in the sample.

[@starg47]

It seems to be pretty good. It gives some good reasons to start doing short films. I hope you gave some tips on how to continue with film. The arts is a difficult business because there's no clear path, like something you learn in school. It's good to have a mentor to let you know whether you're on the right tract or not because on one side of the line is starting out, at the other end of the line is success, depending on what success means for you, and that big grey area in the middle, the arts is scary.

[@starg47]

And the plus the cost of buying a camera, equipment. You have to pray that it's going to work out, it's very stressful. And finding actors that are as passionate as you are without spending so much money is a challenge also. What's a good camera to film with under $1000, or are there no such thing.

[@MikelWisler]

Yeah, I address some of the things in the book. In particular, I talk about how my mind changed from worrying about gear to spending money on production design and things that were actually going to be noticed and help the story. As for a camera, I own a canon DSLR and a BMPCC (which I got when it was on sale for 50% off). With the Magic Lantern hack on a Canon DSLR that costs $300 to $800, you can do some pretty amazing things. The bigger expense becomes lenses, but, as I go into detail about in the book, I don't get too hung up on that these days as much as working with good people and making sure my props and sets look right.

[@starg47]

ok ok, where can I watch your movies