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The 3 Pillars of Filmmaking: FREE Film School

A film is a combination of 3 central pillars, each of which is equal to the other. If just one of these fails, the whole movie will fail. Those 3 pillars are: story, acting & image.

Of course, the audio underpins all 3. I don’t include audio (sound design and music) as a pillar, because it is rather the element which complements the main elements.

Now, in my opinion, these 3 pillars should optimally work with each other in harmony, so the final work achieves greatness above the sum of its parts. A filmmaker has to juggle these 3 balls and can’t afford to drop one.

What does this actually mean in practice?

In theatre, the stage play is almost sacrosanct. I’m not sure if this is still the case, but in the past anyone putting on a stage play by a living author had to get permission from the author if they wanted to alter the text. When it comes to film, however, screenplays can be altered up to the moment of shooting.

In the film The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, the re-writes came so often lead actor Jack Nicholson said he stopped reading the updates. He would simply turn up to shoot a scene and hope to find out what the new version would be.

Often, famous lead actors will go through a script before filming altering dialogue and actions to as they see fit. This of course depends on the stature of the actor. But it does illustrate how a screenplay is an element which can be under constant evolution, along with the evolution of the other 2 main elements.

Because each pillar has equal importance, no one pillar should take precedence over the others. In an ideal filmmaking situation, each pillar should be able to change and adapt to the needs of the other pillars.

I write my own screenplays, so I have no difficulties changing things to fit a performance or a camera angle. Perhaps a scene works differently in the location when you’re filming. Only when you, as a director, are working with the script, the actors and the camera at the same time can you fully realise the potential of a scene.

The screenplay is the launching point

For me, the screenplay is just a start point. As it happens, I don’t usually change the script too much when filming. But, hopefully, the more you have developed the story before filming the less you will have to change when filming takes place. However, it’s still a good idea to bear in mind that the real story is not told on paper, but on set.

Like in war, the best generals are those able to adapt in the heat of the moment. Likewise in film, the best directors are those able to adapt to the circumstances the crew find themselves in. Rather than panicking when things don’t go to plan, take it as an opportunity to be creative.

Sometimes these changes of circumstance and failed pre-planning have been the making of great movies. When Orson Welles, cast in the Third Man, failed to show up for most of the shoot they were forced into improvising something. His character was replaced by a shadowy figure, played by stand in crew members. Now, considering the film is a thriller centered on Welles’ mysterious character, Harry Lime, this improvisation added to his enigmatic quality.

I remember watching this as a kid on our old black and white TV. The reveal stayed with me a long time. The music is really a touch of genius; how many of us would have placed a predictable dramatic sting at the moment Harry Lime’s face is lit up from a nearby window?

Now watch this scene above and see how many shots Orson Welles appears in. In terms of filming this scene, Harry Lime appears mostly by filmmaking illusion. First he’s represented by shoes, which could be worn by any crew member. Then after vanishing he’s represented by running footsteps, which would have been placed in during post-production.

Welles is only there for a brief moment, but this makes the scene 100 times more effective than if he’d been in every shot. The creativity needed to overcome the actor’s non-appearance made one of the most memorable scenes in film history.

FREE Film School: Week Ten Task

Last week you used the therefore and but method, combined with an understanding of character, to develop your 10 page screenplay. This week, take your 10 page screenplay and consider it’s place as one of the 3 pillars.

In other words, if you were to make this as film today, with your limited resources, what creativity would been needed to make it happen? Do locations need to be changed to ones available to you? Can characters be modified to fit available cast?

Writing a screenplay is an exercise in creating an abstract story. But the reality of any filmmaking situation is that things need to be adapted to fit circumstances. This is true of ANY filmmaking, no matter the limit of your budget.

Perhaps when we understand that our limitations are the mothers of invention, we will now welcome limitation. Instead of using it as an excuse to put off making our film, we will see it as something to be embraced with open arms. We can now feel sorry for those poor filmmakers with huge budgets having their creativity limited.

Instead of being creative, pity those filmmakers with so much money they simply pay for exactly what’s in the script and exactly what was planned. Because where’s the fun in that?

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    Simon Horrocks

    Simon Horrocks is a screenwriter & filmmaker. His debut feature THIRD CONTACT was shot on a consumer camcorder and premiered at the BFI IMAX in 2013. His shot-on-smartphones sci-fi series SILENT EYE featured on Amazon Prime. He now runs a popular Patreon page which offers online courses for beginners, customised tips and more: www.patreon.com/SilentEye

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