Screen Grammar

Screen Grammar could be seen as a set of rules, or tips if you will, that will help you develop a film correctly. Common Screen Grammar elements include framing, rule of thirds, the golden ratio, 180/30 degree rules, dramatic curves and transitions.

Below are my screen grammar notes, from Shelia Bernard's 'Documentry Storytelling' chapter within Directing the Documentary.

Exposition

- Grounds you in the story: who/what/when/where

- Gradual information = not giving too much away, too soon or too late for the audience

- Documentary = Front loaded with information

- Front loaded = Telling you all the information you need to know at the very beginning of a film/documentary

Exposition Examples

- Narration

- Printed material, headlines, newspapers, props

- Visuals eg. location sign in film, a sheriffs badge. These allow a viewer to pick up on plot clues without directly being told where the setting is/ what profession that character is in etc.

- Establishing shots

- Animation (eg. animations in Super Size Me)

Key information needs to be given at the right moment. Too soon and the audience will forget, too late the audience will have figured it out/ might get annoyed they haven't been told the facts. Information at the right time enriches our understanding of characters/raises stakes.

Theme

Theme is the general underlying subject of a specific story. Understanding your theme can help you determine both what and how you shoot.

Arc

The Arc refers tot he way in which the events of the story transform your characters.

The protagonist learns something about themselves and this place in the world, and those lessons change them.

Arcs can be hard to find in documentaries - facts/evidence change opinions, rather than a fictional narrative in film.

Plot and Character

Films are often described as either plot or character driven. In a plot driven film the characters are secondary to the events.

Point of View

Describes the perspective, or position from which a story is told. A point of view of one character can be compared to another to show different angels and aspects of a plot. Point of view can also be used in perspective of the camera, the viewers can see through the eyes of a character.

POV of film maker/filmmaking team/ character

POV of a time/era

Detail

Details in the mise-en-scene let you understand settings and characters. These can be purposefully misleading to set up the audience to believe incorrect facts.