It has been a while since the post that started this discussion. In that time I’ve prepped a couple of classes and designed a course about production planning. That research in hand I’m ready to set out treatments as your primary planning document.
working in Celtx
The screenplay is usually the initial stage of program development and it becomes a filmmaker’s choice to build a document which is rigidly structured or loosely framed. I teach to structure as it allows control during pre-production. The planning process consumes a small portion of the budget however if given sufficient time there will be payoffs at the production stage.
The narrative filmmaker quickly finds scripting tedious as a tool in designing production that is primarily b-roll. Treatments allow you a level of production control equal to Singleton’s production breakdown model. As with a script breakdown you start with coding which is done by marking up the treatment.
location scout plot
In writing the treatment there should well defined scenes that point to locations which have been scouted. From the floor plan sketch on your location scout shot angles, action and camera placement can be plotted. This serves as the basis for your breakdown and the starting point for organizing ‘coverage’ for you production.
Now for Schommer’s Three Rules of coverage. Rule #1 every camera setup needs a second angle. Rule #2 every angle gets a minimum of four shots … Establish, Med. Shot, Close-up, Close-up. Two angles of coverage will allow cuts on action, any action. Properly planned and you’ll get coverage. Oh, rule #3 don’t break the rules.
treatment marked up - scene 13
A set-up? Defined as a camera placement establishing the axis on which a stationary camera will shoot. Filmmakers don’t think of a camera as covering 360 degrees from an original point but rather an “angle of view” defined by lens, iris and subject. A setup on the coverage plan is dependent on action or is defined by the action characters take across or along the axis. Pulling a single shot from a single set up after all the work of finding and lighting a good angle is a monumental waste of time. If it helps think about shooting master scene and second angle is insert material.
Pull scene numbers from the treatment and then label camera placements on your location plot. Next create a list of the shots needed (rules dictate) along the axis of that setup. Each shot now has a scene and shot number that can be tracked throughout the production. This “shot list” ties the treatment to the production plan and offers level of confidence that if all these shots are captured you’ll have coverage. New angle has new set of
location plot w/setup for scene 13
numbers and if you are setting lights note that it will be easier to make slight corrections to lighting if the next set up is along the same axis. The second and third angle are lists in the same manner.
Narrative film doesn’t always lend itself to running a scene multiple takes, so you need to look for repititative action in your subject. Find setups that will cover the repeated action while allowing you two angles. It’s matter of covering the action in detail from one setup and then doing getting second angle on the points of repitition from the second angle. This requires detailed knowledge of the process being filmed. A third angle will offer another edit point for continuity issues and often is an establishing shot bringing subject into or out of a scene without close-ups. So yes you can break the rules with a stand-alone angle if this gives better coverage for complext subject action.
… next is a discussion on scheduling using these shot lists you’ve developed from treatment, breakdown and location scouts. js
