FS1 Storyboards or scriptwriting for coursework

There will be some changes next year but for this year the following advice should pay off.

The synopsis
When writing your synopsis carefully consider the genre and its generic elements as you construct a scene. Think also about the narrative structure of your scene.

The cinematography and editing
Your scene should be between 15-25 shots with shot numbers, timings, mise-en-scene and a variety of shots including camera angle and movement. You might also consider the types of focus you might want to use. (Try to avoid too much still camera.) Show the examiner that you can visualise your scene in an imaginative manner that helps communicate your film. Several shots could be typical of the film's genre. (For instance in a comedy you might use a canted shot.) Show also that you can use a repertoire of edits, although you also need to be sensible and use a range of edits where appropriate.

Cinematic Ideas
Pull together the ideas that you used to construct the scene and be conscious of how you tried to construct it using film language, genre and narrative. Place your scene within the wider narrative of the film. Think about the structure of the narrative in your scene and how it fits within the film's plot. You could also explain here how you were influenced by films that share the same genre and how you tried to emulate shots, or part of a scene.

Evaluation
Consider the problems that you faced in film language, narrative and genre and how you overcame them. Perhaps you shifted from a storyboard to a script because you are more of a writer than someone who can visualise and lay that vision out in the form of a storyboard. Point out here responses to your work from other students and tutors in how you met aspects of the genre and whether they made any suggestions on changes you might make to your treatment of the genre, cinematography, mise-en-scene or narrative.

The above is not an exhaustive list. Just treat it as a starting point in your work.

1. Synopsis - about 200 words. [5 marks]

2. The Storyboard - about 25 shots. [20 marks]

3. Cinematic Ideas - about 200 words. [5 marks]

4. Evaluation - 400 - 500 words. [10 marks]