Film Production Essentials: Screenplays, Shots, and Camera Techniques

Film Production Fundamentals

The Screenplay Document

The Screenplay is a document containing the planning of the film, from the start of filming until the completion of editing/post-production. It is divided into two main parts:

Literary Screenplay

A literary narrative that details both the actions seen on screen and the characters' dialogues. It also specifies the time and space of the action.

Technical Screenplay (Shooting Script)

The technical planning of the film, written with all kinds of details regarding what the viewer sees and hears. Before shooting, the storyboard (a technical illustrated screenplay) is also elaborated.

Structural Elements of the Screenplay

Scene

An action that runs in the same space and time, and involves the same characters.

Sequence

A narrative unit comprising a set of shots that identifies the core narrative content. Sequences are composed of the following parts:

• Title or numbering.
• Stage Directions (Lacotació): Indicating the time and place where the events occur.
• Character Name: Written in direct style.
• Action/Interpretation Notes: Showing the actors what to do and how.

Technical Screenplay Structure

The information starts with the shot number and is then divided into different columns detailing what is seen and what is heard.

Visual and Technical Resources

Types of Shots (Plans)

A shot (or plan) presents an image space defined by the elements that appear within it.

Camera Angles

The angle is the position where the camera is placed for filming; it varies the view that is offered of the action. There are three main types of angles.

Camera Movements

Camera movements are used to provide realism to the narrative discourse. These include:

• Panning Shot: A rotating camera movement on a tripod.
• Tracking Shot (Traveling): The displacement of a camera on rails to follow the movements of the characters.
• Zoom: Achieved by manipulating the lens, which allows figures to appear closer or farther away.
• Crane Shot: The camera is positioned on a crane that can shoot from many different places and heights.

Analysis of Tirant lo Blanc

Structure and Key Sections

The novel Tirant lo Blanc is divided into several parts:

1. Part in England: The protagonist, very young, receives instruction on the laws of chivalry from the Count-Hermit.
2. Part in Sicily and Rhodes: Accompanied by a son of the King of France, Tirant participates in the defense of Rhodes.
3. Part in the Greek Empire: This is the most extensive and interesting part of the work, where Tirant defends Constantinople against the Turks as a captain serving the Emperor. He falls in love with Princess Carmesina and lives with her through delicious erotic stories.
4. Part in North Africa: Tirant struggles with the Saracens.
5. Part in the Free Empire: As Caesar of the Empire and married to Carmesina, Tirant dies of illness. The Princess and the Emperor also die. Hippolytus marries the Empress widow and becomes the heir of the empire.