Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Vampire Film Synopsis!


We see the priest leaning against what appears to be a rail in a large, open building. The building appears to be a church. We can tell from his body language that he is frightened, as he is leaning back and his whole body seems to be tensed as fear. From the left of the frame, the vampire emerges moving ominously and creepily towards the priest. It is a low-angle, mid shot and also an over-the-shoulder shot. We hear the sound of the vampire’s feet creaking against the floorboards and the priests breathing starts to become heavy, tense and quite loud.

We cut to a point of view shot from the priest’s perspective with the vampire looking down on the priest hungrily. The vampire appears to be wearing a formal jacket that looks quite dirty and old, with a striped tie and a white loose shirt underneath. His hair is very scruffy and unclean. We can see that his facial expressions are very serious and scary and his eyes show a lot of evil in them. Sounds of the wind howling are heard in the background of the shot.

The audience then sees a tracking shot of the priest moving from right to left across what appears to be a barrister on a balcony of a church. He is leaning right against the rail, illustrating that he is scared and wants to stay as far away as possible from the vampire. As he moves along the barrister, his hands are tightly gripped to the piece of wood, which shows that he is very tense and frightened. We can see the vampire appearing in the background, moving menacingly forward toward the priest in a steady, stiff manner. All the audience can hear is the moans from the priest who is frightened and his footsteps along the wood as he moves further and further away. It is a mid shot. The shot then cuts and we see the vampire launch himself off the balcony flinging the priest down onto the altar, which is on the lower floor of the church. The alter candles are flung in disarray and the two men’s bodies appear to be lifeless. The camera zooms out from the two bodies lying on the alter table and the vampire starts to feed on the priest. We hear the sound of the balcony snapping as the vampire launches himself onto the priest and then the sound of the loud thump from the two men landing on the altar. The audience can also hear the sound of many items near the altar, where the ten men landed, shatter apart. It is portrayed as a high-angle, mid-shot.

The camera zooms out slowly for the rest of the film. It is a high-angle, mid-shot to a long shot. The audience can see the priest’s body lying across the alter still. As the camera zooms out, Jesus is shown hanging on the cross above the priest. Tense music is playing in the background and the vampire is nowhere to be seen. The shot then cuts to a black screen and all is quiet. 

Notes on Protagonist and Antagonist!


Protagonist drives the plot forward. 
Antagonist tries to stop him.

The protagonist is the main character, usually the "good" guy in the story. The story mainly focuses on this character's experiences. 

The Antagonist is usually portrayed as the "bad" guy, or the person that goes against the protagonist and way he's trying to do. 

In the Story Mind, the Protagonist is the Prime Mover of the effort to achieve the Story's Goal. The Antagonist is the Chief Obstacle to that effort. In a sense, Protagonist is the irresistible force and Antagonist is the immovable object.

Without a Protagonist, your story would have no directed drive. It would likely meander through a series of events without any sense of compelling inevitability. When the climax arrives, the protagonist would likely be weak. This is not to say that the protagonist won't be convinced to stop trying, eventually, he or she will ignite again and once more resume the drive toward the goal. 

In choosing which of your characters to assign the role of the Protagonist, it doesn't have to be the most powerful character, rather it will simply be the character who keeps pressing forward, even if in a gentle manner until all the obstacles to success are either overcome or slowly eroded. 


Monday, May 28, 2012

Notes on Plot Development!

What is a plot? 

A plot is the organised pattern or sequence of events that make up a story. Every plot is made up of a series of incidents that are related to one another.

Exposition: 

This usually occurs at the beginning of a short story. Here the characters are introduced. We also learn about the setting of the story. Most importantly, we are introduced to the main conflict.

Rising Action: 

This part of the story begins to develop the conflict(s). A building of interest or suspense occurs.


Climax: 

This is the turning point of the story. Usually the main character comes face to face with a conflict. The main character will change in come way.


Falling Action: 

All loose ends of the plot are tied up. The conflict(s) and climax are taken care of.

Resolution: 

The story comes to a reasonable ending.