Genre and Narrative Research

Short Film Genre and Narrative Research

 As part of the research I have done to help me in the process of creating my screenplay I watched two videos.

The first video is by youtuber Karsten Runquist and titled 'How to make a "Good" Coming-of-Age Movie' (Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jM75Pw_DP4), I came across this video whilst doing research on the internet into Coming-of-Age films (my chosen genre for my short film) and this video gave some really useful information on creating a film within this genre. Although this video mainly discusses feature films all the information is still applicable to short films. Karsten breaks the video up into three sections;
  1. Protagonist - the main character in a good Coming-of-Age film must be likeable and relatable, allowing the viewer to connect with them. The protagonist should also be flawed to give depth to their character and reflect real teenagers/young adults.
  2. Keep it simple - the plots of a lot of popular Coming-of-Age films are very simple.
  3. Personality - the personality and voice of filmmakers should show in a good Coming-of-Age film and makes these films more personal.
Karsten also says in the video that the valuable thing about Coming-of-Age films is their ability to teach new perspectives on common life events. This is all really useful advice that I hope to incorporate into my own screenplay.

The second video is by Tyler Mowery and is titled 'How to Write a Short Film' (Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMqIQcTMlA0). Tyler starts the video by addressing a few myths about short films and discussing the importance of story, he describes story as 'the core element of a short film' and explains how set up is necessary to a story.

Tyler then goes on to talk about finding an idea for a short film, he says an idea can come from anywhere. Once you have an idea for a short film then characters can be developed from there. Tyler suggests to start by developing the main character, the protagonist needs a desire and a belief which are in conflict with eachother, 'A short film needs: philosophical, ethical or moral dilemmas'. Other characters in the story should add to the philosophical conflict.

In the rest of the video Tyler talks about Dan Harmon's story circle and how it relates to one example short film Tyler looks at. Dan Harmon's story circle is a very useful structure for narratives and follows eight different story beats which are as follows;
  1. Main character is in a state of comfort (equilibrium)
  2. But the main character wants something
  3. They enter an unfamiliar situation
  4. They adapt to it
  5. They get what they wanted
  6. Pay a heavy price for it
  7. Return to their familiar situation
  8. Having changed

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