Cinematic Storytelling

What a fascinating book for a scriptwriter to read! At first, you think "This isn't meant for me--it has chapters on camera lenses and camera positions, and wardrobe and sound effects! That's stuff directors and cinematographers and other people work with." From understanding the medium you're working in, comes better work. Jennifer Van Sijll's Cinematic Storytelling provides 100 film conventions (as mentioned in the full title) in concise, two-page examples. The pages are index card-like in their brevity, but are so well-done there is no need for extra words. First, she lists the filmmaking element, such as "Motion," and gives an explanation. Next, she gives a film example, such as E.T., and explains the scene pictured in stills and how the particular scene conveys the element. If needed, she lists a script note or two and then explains what the dramatic value is of the element. Lastly, she lists a few other films that can serve as examples. The page with movie stills also contains the scene's script passage to show how the element was written. A writer will find the pieces of script excellent examples from which to learn. Van Sijll's layout and logical progression through the different elements of film, from frame composition to locations and lighting, are easy to follow and almost Zen-like in their simplicity. Despite that simplicity, they do make an impact and stay with you long after you've put the book down. You'll find that when you sit down to write, you'll try and put those elements into your script with just a few well-chosen words (so not to look as if you're trying to direct). There are no exercises or homework and there is no general format information or advice on what the latest trick is to get your script seen. This is straightforward instruction presented in an easy-to-follow way. After each chapter, Van Sijll inserts a "Chapter Credits by Film Element" index where you'll find a segment on each film she's highlighted. Within the segment, you'll find its release date, writer, director, production company and distributor. It's an unconventional scriptwriting book, for sure, and definitely worth checking out. Van Sijll teaches at San Francisco State University, holds seminars, and also works as a script analyst for producers. I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

I recently reviewed a great debut film called 'Ascension' from a new microcinema director. The story and shooting style were fairly direct and straightforward; but--as this movie showed--just because the script didn't call for Michael Bay-style camera moves, it didn't mean that the shots had to be boring! A lot of beginning filmmakers (and even some that have more experience) can feel that they have to have lots of swooping crane or dramatic steadicam shots in order to have a great-looking movie. This isn't true. In reality, if you don't know how to effectively use the camera in the first place (visually speaking, not technically), you have no business putting it on a crane or steadicam; these devices cannot fix a visually uninteresting or inappropriate shot. Enter Cinematic Storytelling. Using some of the most iconic and well-known films as examples, Jennifer Van Sijll explains how to use visual composition, lenses, editing, sound effects, transitions, camera position, and much more to give emphasis and convey information and emotion in your movie. Comprehension One of (the many) cool things about this book is that you don't have to have had any prior experience working with cameras to be able to understand the material. If you can read English and can look at the picture examples given (still photos from various films), then you can understand the concepts conveyed in the book. Concepts and techniques (such as montages, intercutting, visual foreshadowing, etc.) are defined and clarified; even very subtle techniques that are almost unnoticeable in movies are pointed out and their effect explained. (For example, in describing the X-axis in screen direction, Van Sijll notes: "As Westerners we read left-to-right. If you rented fifty studio-made movies, there's a good chance that the 'good guy' will enter screen left every time. When the 'good guy' moves left-to-right, our eyes move comfortably. Subconsciously, we begin to make positive inferences. Conversely, the antagonist usually enters from the right. Since our eyes aren't used to moving from right to left, the antagonist's entrance makes us uncomfortable. The screenwriter exploits this by transferring our learned discomfort to the characters" (4). The author then goes on to show stills and a script excerpt from Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train to illustrate the effect of this principle. Depth of Information The book covers a tremendous amount of information, starting with the conventions of stationary camera techniques and progressing through editing, sound, lenses, camera movement and positioning, lighting, and finally, environment (location, wardrobe, props, etc.). However, each topic has still photos of at least one movie that exemplifies that certain technique, as well as an explanation of its dramatic value. This latter part is essential, because it's pointless to just talk about certain camera shots, effects, movements, etc. if you don't explain why they are important or what they

Having taught screenwriting for UCLA's Writing Program as well as being a working screenwriter for the past 20 years I've always been asked what separates a professional screenplay from the thousands of amateur screenplays out there. One of the things aspiring writers lack is what we call "getting your chops", a term borrowed from musicians. Meaning real, live experience that simply can't be taught. And usually, the only way to get it is by having your material produced. Jennifer Van Sijll's book CINEMATIC STORYTELLING, is the first book I've read to take an intensive look at what takes years and lots of produced credits to learn. By using written scenes from movies, coupled with actual film scenes printed alongside, Jennifer teaches visual storytelling in a way few books have done. What I learned early on in this business is that there are several drafts after the one you sell. Many of us refer to them as the producer's draft, the director's draft, the actor's draft and the crew's draft. And you will make changes in all of those areas for reasons of character development, budget, schedule, location and ego. Do writers really need to know about how films are shot and edited, even how sound can enhance a screenplay? The answer is yes and Jennifer's book, very appropriately titled provides invaluable information, something all writers whether aspiring ones or seasoned pros like myself need to consider. What she illustrates are the various parts of a movie and how they relate to the screenplay. The book is divided into chapters with topics like framing, locations, sound effects, transitions, camera motion and lenses, lighting, props and many more. Each chapter has many specific written scenes and still photo clips from well-known movies Consider transitions, difficult for aspiring writers and even some pros. Learning to write good transitions between scenes rarely is taught in writing courses, and often left to the director, producer or editor. CINEMATIC STORYTELLING presents the reader written scenes from Citizen Kane, Fatal Attraction and many more movies, illustrating how sound and visual transitions are used in a finished film. A good writer can add smooth transitions into their screenplay and make their screenplay read more like a movie and more likely to be read. I've always been told my screenplays are easy reads, meaning that the reader is quickly engaged in the story, and this is directly due to my knowledge of visuals including transitions, close-ups, wide shots and sound cues. The secret here is writing it like it's part of the natural organic form of the screenplay rather than clumsy, noticeable descriptions. You don't have to write CLOSE UP, to indicate one. Experience teaches the working writer and Jennifer's book is a solid attempt at dealing with this interconnected world of writing and making movies using many classic movies like Citizen Kane, Chinatown, The Searchers (my personal favorite), as well as contemporary movies

Years ago I placed two stickers on my computer monitor. One sticker said: "You are a storyteller." And the other sticker said: "Think Visually." The first sticker was to remind me that, in my simplest form, all I wanted to do was tell stories to move and entertain people. The second sticker was to remind me to not be so clinical in my writing and think visually as to how I want the scene to look; to look at other approaches, VISUAL approaches, so I don't become a static writer writing just the basic words to get the scene across. Years later, those stickers are gone but the core ideas are not. It is the most common thing I write on a script that I am editing: "How do you show?" The character is angry. "How do you show?" The character wears a t-shirt. "Does it say anything?" The character drives up in a car. "What kind of car is it?" And, more often than not, the writer looks at me with a blank look on their face to say: "You expect me to put that in?" "OF COURSE I EXPECT YOU TO PUT THAT IN! AREN'T YOU A WRITER?" Then the argument comes back to me: "I've heard that Producers don't want lots of detail." "I've heard that Producers look at how much white space there is before they'll read the script." "I'm trying to keep it as basic as possible." Which tells me they want to keep it BORING! You are a WRITER. WRITE! "Cinematic Storytelling" is a book that rubber stamps my continued arguments with writers. It breaks down, by explanation, script examples and photos, how a scene is put together visually - and all the different combinations there-in. The subtitle to the book is: "The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know" Jennifer Van Sijll, using examples from the silent film "Metropolis" to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill 1" (and everything in between) explores those 100 Powerful Film Conventions in great detail. The book is broken up in 17 chapters, each with an introduction and then within those chapters she breaks down each convention. For instance, Chapter 5 deals with "Time" while Chapter 9 deals with "Lenses." As you read through this book she provides you with an explanation to the convention, she will often provide the bit of the script that refers to that convention, and then photographs from the scene to reinforce the convention. In the chapter on "Lighting" (Chapter 12) she breaks down "Motion Lighting" showing how the opening scenes of ET used lights in motion to heighten the suspense of ET running through the forest. First, with the truck head-lights and then, secondly, with the flashlights the pursuers use. She also re-prints the part of the script where this scene is described to show you, the writer, how it translated from the page to the screen. There are quite a number of "script segments" that are, of course, different from the draft or shooting script to what was actually shot, printed and shown. Did you know the opening to the film "Adaptation" was actually in the 2nd Act o

The language of cinema gets full exposure in this comprehensive reference guide that takes a look at 100 years of film history and technique, focusing on elements such as lighting, editing, sound and direction as key tools for powerful storytelling. Most of us think of visual effects and dialog as the most obvious tools of communication when it comes to film, but a deeper examination of what makes a good film great reveals true artistry that goes beyond what is being said and done on the screen. Author Jennifer Van Sijll, a screenwriting teacher at San Francisco State with an MFA from USC's Dept. of Cinema-Television, has undertaken a huge task here, compiling dozens upon dozens of examples of how the use of sound, camera motion, angles and picture quality all serve to enhance the magic of cinema. Chapters cover the gamut from screenwriting and directing technique to the use of space and dimension, frame composition, editing, using the expansion and contraction of time, sound effects, scene transitions (both audio and visual), lighting, use of color, props, camera motion, differing camera lenses, where to position the camera, wardrobe and locations and so much more. In fact, if it isn't included in this virtual encyclopedia of film technique and artistry, it must not exist. Each chapter includes plenty of film grabs from the most memorable films in history, from "The Graduate" to ""Pulp Fiction" to "Citizen Kane," as well as photographs that compliment the description and give the reader a more visual sense of the technique's effect. There are also descriptions of the dramatic value achieved with each technique, as well as actual pages from the screenplays that drive the point home. Sijll also includes suggested reading and additional films to view that compliment the elements being discussed, so filmmakers can continue to explore the concepts and techniques outside of the content of this book. Making films is all about telling a story and that is not just done with words on a page, or even pictures on a screen. There are so many elements involved in the creation of a film, and understanding how to use those elements can truly make the difference between a movie and a masterpiece. For anyone interested in a career in film, "Cinematic Storytelling" is a priceless guide to creating memories on screen that will last a lifetime and beyond.