 Wildcat Film School Story Telling Vocabulary

What’s your favorite movie?

Why is it your favorite movie?  The Actors?  Characters?  Story?  Overall feel of the film?  Gives you a certain emotion when you watch?  Music, effects, etc?

What are some classic films?  Jaws  Titanic  Wizard of Oz  King Kong (any version)  Psycho  The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Mood & Tone  Mood: a feeling the movie evokes from the audience; atmosphere  Tone: the exchange of the characters within the movie; how does everything relate to every other thing in the movie?

A Good Day to Die Hard

Prince Avalanche

The Heat

Dealing With Idiots

Way of the Wicked

Plot Diagram

Story Types - Taglines

Taglines Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter Alien Armageddon The Big Lebowski Bourne Identity The Campaign Christmas Vacation Clerks Dark Knight Dumb and Dumber Erin Brokovich Fargo Finding Nemo Gravity Inception Jaws Jurassic Park The Matrix Saving Private Ryan Schindler’s List The Terminator Tommy Boy The Truman Show Turbo

Tagline Answers  Yule crack up. - Christmas Vacation  There are 3.7 trillion fish in the ocean. They're looking for one. - Finding Nemo  An adventure 65 million years in the making. - Jurassic Park  Reality is a thing of the past.- The Matrix  The thing that won't die, in the nightmare that won't end.- The Terminator

Tagline Answers  If at first you don't succeed, lower your standards. - Tommy Boy  On the air. Unaware.- The Truman Show  Earth. It was fun while it lasted.- Armageddon  Her life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the mail.- The Big Lebowski  Just because they serve you doesn't mean they like you. - Clerks

Tagline Answers  For Harry and Lloyd, every day is a no-brainer. - Dumb and Dumber  She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees. - Erin Brokovich  A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere. - Fargo  The mission is a man. - Saving Private Ryan  The list is life.- Schindler’s List

Tagline Answers  You’ll never go in the water again. - Jaws  In space no one can hear you scream.- Alien  Why so serious?- Dark Knight  Your mind is the scene of the crime.- Inception  Don’t let go. - Gravity

Tagline Answers  He’s fast. They’re furious.- Turbo  President by day, hunter by night. - Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter  He was the perfect weapon until he became the target.- Bourne Identity  May the best loser win.- The Campaign

Disney Taglines

One sentence movies 1. He/she beat the odds and held his/her own.  Rocky  Hunger Games

One sentence movies 2. Their love was doomed from the beginning, but they fought for it anyway.  Titanic  Romeo and Juliet

One sentence movies 3. He/she found hope in the strangest place and fought for freedom.  Shawshank Redemption  Ben Hur

One sentence movies 4. They found love in someone they never expected.  Beauty and the Beast  Ten Things I Hate About You

One sentence movies 5. The government locked him/her away, but he/she broke free and saved the world (or just about anything).  The Rock  The Jackal

One sentence movies 6. Something is attacking the world and he/she must stop it/them and save everyone/thing.  War of the Worlds  Independence Day  Armageddon  Men in Black

One sentence movies 7. He/she was unaware of just how important he/she was and when he/she found out, he/she broke free.  The Matrix  The Truman Show

One sentence movies 8. He/she made a friend in an unusual place and together they could do so much more than they ever could do alone.  Rainman  ET

One sentence movies 9. A quiet guy/gal yearns to be so much more.  Secret Life of Walter Mitty  Fight Club

One sentence movies 10. They met, fell in like, had a misunderstanding and then fell in love.  Crazy Stupid Love  Warm Bodies  Forgetting Sarah Marshall  Sweet Home Alabama

One sentence movies 11. There’s an upcoming competition and this unlikely pair/group has to work together to win.  Pitch Perfect  Silver Linings Playbook

One sentence movies 12. They’re both fighting to win the love of the girl/guy and in the end only one can win.  The Notebook  This Means War

Character  Characterization: act of describing a character or qualities about them (in a script you will need to write it out and then in the movie show the audience who a character is).  Direct Characterization: the process by which you will reveal the personality of a character (direct is done in the script)  Indirect Characterization: the process by which the personality of a character is revealed through speech, actions, appearance, etc. (how we understand a character in a movie by seeing them – generally the first time).

Character

Dialogue  Diction: style of speaking dependent on choice of words (decide how each character specifically talks – we all talk differently through our word choice).  Pacing: the relative speed or slowness with which a story is told or an idea is presented.

Dialogue