Festival organisers, Merging Art Productions, ask: 

How do filmmakers tell a story in less than five minutes? Not just trailers, music videos, or experimental projects, but honest-to-goodness beginning-middle-end stories?

The Short Short Story Film Festival celebrates brevity in filmmaking, featuring films from across the globe. For more information visit the festival website

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LONDON will showcase an engaging variety of creative short films (from this year’s Festival Shortlist) about, for or made by Londoners. The work includes factual accounts, fictional settings and animated adventures that will be sure to transport the audience into the many different worlds of London.

Those who know the film will wonder how a drama shot in Gateshead and Sunderland with North East producers and actors and a writer who lives in Newcastle managed to get the LONDON tag. Well it’s because director Mike Steel, although a northern lad himself, lives and works doon sooth at the Beeb.

The screening will take place at 2.45pm at the Old Magistrate’s Court on Friday 2^nd October.

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1. Short Story Film Festival: ‘Enemy Lines’ in New York
2. SoCal Film Festival – semi-finalist
3. Rushes Soho Short Film Festival

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2. The Art and Science of Screenwriting
3. Screenwriting: Writing for the Camera

You may have heard that you should never write camera directions into a script – camera pans out, close-up on Bob etc … Well, this is mostly true – among other things camera directions bring a story to a complete standstill. But writing for camera is a different thing altogether. It is a fundamental technique that makes a screenplay an enjoyable read and more immediately visualised by the reader. They’ll see it in their head whether they want to or not. Writing for camera is not rocket science and you don’t need to be an expert in lenses to do it. It’s an approach. Simple as that.

Think images

Think of classic images you know and love. Analyse them. What makes them work so well? Nine times out of ten it’s something as simple as juxtaposition. One that immediately springs to my mind is of a very wealthy executive who opens the curtains of his designer house to see a large crater in his lawn – with a horse standing in it. This is from a book by the way – ‘This book will save your life’ by A.M. Holmes.

Write visually

This does not mean in the tradition of novels. Paragraphs of lush descriptive prose make a screenplay drag. Aim for tightly-packed sentences and make the words count. The screenplay then seems agile and more compelling. Your reader must enjoy their read and want to keep turning those pages.

Consider dialogue breaks

If you’ve just had a heavy section of faces talking to other faces freshen the audience up by dropping in a strong image. It lets them breathe and prepare for the next drama with which you’re about to confront them.

If you have long exchanges of dialogue break them up with occasional simple gestures and expressions. Don’t leave all of it to the director and the actors. This is a great tool for creating pace and mood. Here’s an example from ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. The family are around the dinner table, the suicidal gay uncle is telling his heart-wrenching story and as he ends grandpa brings the axe down by loudly blowing his nose. As with anything, though, be subtle and do not overdo it.

Read screenplays

If you have the time get your hands on a printed screenplay (every bookshop has a shelf full) then compare it to the finished film. I did this with Get Shorty and it’s amazing how much has been packed in on the journey from page to screen.

Keep your objectivity

Keep stepping back and viewing the film in your head. Stay in control of how it plays on the page. Keep focused on the size of film you are writing. Maintain a rough idea of what can and cannot be achieved. A lower budget production can only stretch so far, so don’t write impossibilities. Stay realistic.

Capture movement

Finally, remember that a movie camera’s purpose is mainly to capture movement (even a still image ‘breathes’). It has an insatiable appetite for this and gets bored very quickly. If you bore the camera your audience will develop ‘numb bum syndrome’ and run screaming from the screen. So write with a camera in mind. The reader of your screenplay will finish it thinking they’ve just seen a film!

Read further

For a grounding in basic film making techniques there are a million ‘how to’ books out there. What you need is a book that won’t blind you with science. Here are my recommendations:

• Filming on a Microbudget – it’s a couple of years old now but still relevant
• Filmmaking for Dummies – will take you through the basics without patronising you.
• Film Art: an Introduction – an essential text for those in search of a more detailed academic read (it helped me get my degree!)

After graduating from Northumbria University film school John Allen served his apprenticeship on shoots for the BBC. Branching out on his own he produced documentaries and community films under Metaluna Media. His ’sometime company’ Malleable Films has produced two independent short films ‘Butterfly’ and Last Gasp which both received critical acclaim and film festival exposure. This led to UK Film Council funding for his latest short film ‘Real Must Have’, produced by Vita Nova Films, which is currently in post-production.

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2. The Art and Science of Screenwriting
3. Screenwriting for Dummies

And all of this on the back of a very successful festival run for Enemy Lines at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival. We didn’t win, but certainly held our own.

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2. Enemy Lines in Jersey
3. Short Story Film Festival: ‘Enemy Lines’ in New York

140 new films from 18 countries will be competing in 8 categories:  Long Form, International, Newcomer, Short Film, Documentary, Animation, Music Video and Broadcast Design. The Official Competition Screenings will be held at The Institute of Contemporary Arts in central London.  The Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday 30th July 2009.

Enemy Lines will be screened on Thursday 23 July (6.30pm , Cinema 1; Saturday 25 July (9pm, Cinema 2) and Wednesday 29 July (9pm, Cinema 1). 

Other films to be screened at the festival include Sadie Frost’s Directorial Debut, Danny Boyles End Credit Sequence for Slumdog Millionaire, actors such as Michael Bryne (Gangs of New York), Juliet Stevenson (Bend It Like Beckham), Nick Nolte (Hotel Rwanda, 48 Hours), Connie Fischer (Sound Of Music), Russel Tovey (Being Human), Chris Hehir (Green Street), Danny Cunningham (24 Hour Party People), Jack O’Connell (This is England), comedians such as Adam Buxton Lulu McClatchy and Alexei Sayle, and music videos from McFly to Royskopp, Will Young to Goldfrapp, Coldplay and U2 and many more.

Having grown dramatically every year since its inauguration in 1998, this year’s festival runs over 10 days and offers a wide range of events including the Opening Night Premiere ‘The Calling’, BAFTA Short Filmmakers Market, seminars, panel discussions, guest screening programmes, receptions and exhibitions held in 15 different venues in Soho district.

All events and full booking details can be found on their website:  www.sohoshorts.com.

I’ll be going down for the Wednesday screening and will be meeting up with my director, Michael Steel. Please let me know if you’re going to any of the screenings.

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1. Short Story Film Festival: ‘Enemy Lines’ in New York
2. SoCal Film Festival – semi-finalist
3. How to get your short film onto the festival circuit

You will need:

1. A stock of DVDs of your film – preferably labelled with the title, director’s name, aspect ratio, format, duration and contact details.
2. Stills from the film in electronic format.
3. Director’s filmography in electronic format.
4. The names of the key professionals involved including director, producer, DOP, sound, music, editor, designer.

Distribution websites

There are several websites which will help you distribute your film. Some of the best known are:

• www.withoutabox.com
• www.shortfilmdepot.com
• www.britfilms.com

Withoutabox

This website aims to be comprehensive and it gives you access to a wide range of festivals. First, you need to do quite a lot of set-up work, entering the details of the film. Withoutabox needs these because at a later stage you will ask the system to “qualify” your film, ie check that it fits the criteria laid down by the festival.

One of the most important details is the list of screening formats which you have available. For instance, the film which I am currently distributing was shot in high density video and the screening format is DVD-PAL Region 2 – this is what most people would call a normal UK DVD. The producer can, if required, also supply Mini DV and Digi Beta. However, many festivals call for formats which I cannot provide, such as 35mm or DVDs tailored to the US market: this lack of fit should be highlighted when I “qualify” my film.

When you go into Withoutabox you can search its database of festivals in many ways: you can look for festivals by name, or festivals in given country, or festivals with a submission deadline within a certain period. In most cases, you can click on a link and view the festival’s submission rules and entry form: in many cases, you can submit your film online. If you submit online, this doesn’t usually mean emailing the film in electronic form: you will usually be given an entry number which you need to write on the DVD before posting it.

Withoutabox also allows you to set up Paypal details which you can use to pay entry fees for many festivals. Some quibbles concerning withoutabox: many of the festivals listed are in the USA. Most charge a submission fee and many do not accept European formats. Hence you may need to do quite a lot of spadework to find festivals that you want to enter. Note however that some festivals only accept submissions through Withoutabox or Shortfilmdepot. Withoutabox also has a category for screenplay competitions too. A summary of up-and-coming festival deadlines will be emailed to you once a month if you sign up for their newsletter.

Shortfilmdepot

Again you need to spend time setting up your film on this system. Once you’ve done this, you need to log in regularly (say once a week) and it will suggest festivals with deadlines in the near future. You can often enter at the click of a button.

Britfilms

This site is maintained by the British Council and includes a list of UK and worldwide festivals. The database does not guide you: it’s up to you to search for festivals that you may wish to enter. However, I like this website because it’s very easy to search.

Suppose that I am looking for UK festivals: I choose UK from the drop-down menu and I get a list of festivals in alphabetical order. The list shows the month in which the festival takes place, and usually the deadline for submissions. This enables me to make a very quick decision about which UK festivals are likely to be accepting submissions at the present time. I click on the name of a festival and I can view a page containing brief information. This may enable me to make a snap decision about eligibility eg the festival may specify young/black/gay filmmakers only. I can then reach the festival website with a couple of clicks.

Competition Rules

Always read the rules of each festival carefully. There are innumerable variations on many basic themes. For instance, some festivals only accept submissions online. They will allocate you a number which then needs to be written on the DVD. Some festivals accept both online and hard copy submission forms. Some festivals need two copies of your DVD. Some require a press kit including still photos, director’s biography etc, others don’t. There’s no point in wasting postage if you haven’t followed the festival’s rules.

Eligibility and ‘premieres’

Most festivals prefer to show films which can be billed as premieres. You will often be asked to state whether the film has been publicly shown in the territory in which the festival takes place. Don’t assume that you have lost the “premiere” effect once your film has been to one festival. There are very few festivals which insist on world premieres. Remember that your film can have several premieres – in the UK, in the US, in France etc.

However, if you have already made your film publicly available online, you have effectively given away its “virginity” and from that point onwards its festival life is circumscribed. Some festivals specifically state that they don’t want to show films which are already online. The subject of online distribution is of course a separate, and more complex subject. Most festivals ask when your film was completed and in many cases they will only accept films made within a certain period – often two years before the festival date.

Sending your film

The whole process ends with a trip to the Post Office to post your envelope containing the film, the form, the cheque etc. Before you go to the Post Office, make sure that you have labelled the envelope “FOR CULTURAL PURPOSES ONLY – NO COMMERCIAL VALUE.” Many festivals actually specify this in their rules. As you can see, there is a lot of clerical work to be done and the process is quite expensive when you add up submission fees, postage and stationery costs. If you are lucky, the producer may have funding for this part of the process and may reimburse you: but if this is a self-produced film, and you have limited money available, you need to think carefully about your distribution strategy so that you get the best value for money.

Keith Jewitt is the founder of North East Screenwriters who meet on the third Saturday of each month at the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle upon Tyne. His films are ‘69 Miles to London’ (Shakabuku Films, 2007) and ‘Litterpicker’ (Pinball Films, 2008)

Related posts:

1. Short Story Film Festival: ‘Enemy Lines’ in New York
2. Rushes Soho Short Film Festival
3. SoCal Film Festival – semi-finalist

Phil is a producer and freelance development consultant whose clients include Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) and The Mob (Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather). He is the founder and Course Director of the MA in Screenwriting, at London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London.

About The Art and Science of Screenwriting

The Art and Science of Screenwriting is a fairly dense text and quite ‘academic’ in tone. But don’t let that put you off.  If you’re an absolute beginner, this book might not be for you, but if you’ve penned a screenplay or two and are ready to redraft them, it will be very useful. Although he does discuss short film and documentary, his main focus is the dramatic feature.

Although initially confusing, I found his presentation of what he refers to as the ‘creative matrix’ extremely useful in understanding the interplay of genre, style, form, plot, story and theme.  It has helped me look at my current feature script in a new light, and I’m reworking it accordingly. 

His chapters on ‘from stories to themes’, ‘revealing form and plot’ and ‘explorations of genre and style’  helped me to see what kind of film I was developing and how to identify which areas needed to be strengthened, particularly with regard to characters embodying a theme.

His discussion of rhythm and tempo (within and between scenes) was very useful, as were his tips for troubleshooting problematic structures. This is a book that will help you to see what is working in your screenplay, what isn’t and why. But what it won’t do is the rewrite, that’s still up to you.

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TCW: First of all what do we mean by a micro-budget film?

JT: There are no hard and fast rules but I am going to be talking about films costing well under £1million and in most cases less than £250,000.

TCW: Can you give us some examples that we might have heard of?

JT: Two highly successful examples were ‘Open Water’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’.  It’s always hard to get accurate information about exactly how much a film to cost to make – these are my estimates based on publicly available data.  ‘Open Water’ cost an estimated $130,000, but grossed at least $9m. Recent examples from Europe include ‘Once’, and ‘Mum and Dad’.  Once cost about £100,000: it went on to take roughly £10m in cinemas and won an Oscar for best song.  ‘Mum and Dad’ is a horror film, funded by Film London through its Micro-Waves scheme which means that it cost under £100,000.  Other examples: ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’ and ‘London to Brighton’.

TCW: So what are the screenwriting skills?  Are there hard and fast rules?

JT: When a producer looks through a script, he instinctively counts up the locations and the characters.  A micro-budget film should usually have as few of both as possible.  However, I’m going to add a caveat – all of the films I have quoted as examples break at least one of the rules.  For instance, ‘Once’ has a lot of locations; ‘Open Water’ was shot from a boat.

TCW: But aren’t some locations available for free?

JT: That’s true – but in film production, time is money and when you move the cast and crew from one place to another, that often means half a day lost.  Assuming the shoot lasts 18 days – that’s about four minutes of film per day – a few changes of location might use up 15-20% of your whole budget!  Also – keep the locations as simple to use as possible.  Avoid crowded public spaces such as trains, airports, bars etc which are being used by the public at the same time.

TCW: And the same applies to characters – as few as possible?

JT: By and large yes.  Actors cost money and even getting several cheap actors involves time spent in casting.  Furthermore, it’s not just a question of how many actors you have in total – you also need to think about the length of each actor’s involvement.  Ask yourself this – can I avoid having all the actors involved for the whole shoot?  In a micro-budget production, it’s not just speaking parts you need to economise on.  Extras could also eat up a large portion of your budget – sometimes literally as all your cast and crew will expect to be fed!

TCW: OK that’s actors and locations – what about the technical stuff?

JT: To make a film you need a camera, lights and sound.  Each has associated costs which we should try to reduce.

TCW: So that means hand-held cameras?

JT: It certainly helps if you can cut down on tripods, dollies etc– and if you have a valid dramatic reason for rough hand-held camerawork, that’s even better.  An example was ‘The Blair Witch Project’, which was (according to the story) put together from videos made by frightened kids in a wood.  Another example: the quasi-documentary style of ‘London to Brighton’.  Less well-known examples: ‘Zombie Diaries’ and ‘The Last Horror Movie’.

TCW: And the lights?

JT: The best light of all is of course the sun.  That’s why the film industry gravitated to Hollywood in the first place, and it puts Northeast England at a bit of a disadvantage.  It may be easiest to take a decision at the outset that the shoot will be mainly outdoors.  A good example is ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’, which is set on Hampstead Heath.  There may be days lost due to rain, which means money down the drain, but that still might be cheaper than arranging to light indoor locations.

TCW: So are night scenes out of the question?

JT: It’s often possible to shoot “day for night” – the work is done in daylight but filters etc are used to make it look as though it’s dark.  Example – This is ‘Not a Love Song’, a film written by Simon Beaufoy of ‘Full Monty’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fame.

TCW: And then there’s sound …

JT: It’s often very difficult to get this right on a low budget.  Once, as I said earlier, used a lot of music.  This was recorded in a studio and then the studio recording was grafted on, instead of live sound recorded on location – this must have saved money.

TCW: So is music a good way to keep things cheap?

JT: Not as a rule, no!  If music is to have real emotional resonance, it usually needs to be popular songs that the audience know – and getting the rights to use these songs is usually really difficult and expensive.  Once was exceptional because the producers gave a starring role to a relatively little-known artiste, and relied on his (cheap) music to move the audience.

TCW: Does all the emotional impact have to come from the actors?

JT: The things that expensive films rely on – such as stunts, effects, violence – aren’t completely taboo, but you have to use them in a cost-effective way.  For instance, ‘Open Water’ used real sharks, which were hired from a professional outfit for two days.  The sharks ate up a lot of the budget, so it was essential that the filmmakers really made effective use of the footage they got in those two days.

TCW: Is there a common factor which links all of these stories?

JT: Many of the good things about these films are also characteristic of the best blockbuster films.  You need a simple story which can be summed up in one sentence.  ‘Open Water’ is about two people who go diving, get left behind and then threatened by sharks.  That’s about as simple as a film story can get.  Once is also simple, but it’s more character-driven.  A lot of micro-budget films are horror films.  A horror film-maker has some inbuilt advantages: the audience doesn’t generally expect to see big stars in horror films, and a lot of the best horror films are low-budget.

TCW: Don’t big stars sometimes do low-budget films because they like the story?

JT: Yes – usually character-driven stories.  An example is ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’, which had a terrific cast including Ewan Macgregor.  If your story is so good that you pull in a big star, you know you’ve done a good job.

TCW: And the length?

JT:Don’t worry if your film is short – most micro-budget successes are under 90 minutes, sometimes under 80.

Jack Tarling is a producer of short films  for Northern Film and Media and the UK Film Council.  He has worked with award-winning director Peter Snowdon and Third Films  Keith Jewitt is the founder of the North East Screenwriter’s Group which meets on the third Saturday of each month at the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle upon Tyne.  His films are ‘69 Miles to London’ (Shakabuku Films, 2007) and ‘Litterpicker’ (Pinball Films, 2008)

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Check out the trailer if you’re not sure what all the fuss is about:

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