Dear all! Today, you will work on your movie. At the end of this lesson, you will know what ingredients a good movie plot has, and you will know how to write the 'skeleton' of your movie.
SYNOPSIS
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Question 1
1.
After this lesson, you will hand in, among other items, your movie synopsis. A synopsis is a very brief summary of the plot (verhaallijn) of your movie. Read the synopses below and match them to the correct movie!
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This Disney animated feature follows the adventures of the young lion Simba, the heir of his father, Mufasa. Simba's wicked uncle, Scar, plots to usurp Mufasa's throne by luring father and son into a stampede of wildebeests. But Simba escapes, and only Mufasa is killed. Simba returns as an adult to take back his homeland from Scar with the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa .
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Spiderman
Nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love. Among the characters explored are David, the handsome newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer, Sarah, a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, and Harry, a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary.
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Titanic
The Grimm fairy tale gets a Technicolor treatment in Disney's first animated feature. Jealous of the princess' beauty, the wicked queen orders the murder of her innocent stepdaughter, but later discovers that the she is still alive and hiding in a cottage with seven friendly little miners. Disguising herself as a hag, the queen brings a poisoned apple to her stepdaughter, who falls into a death-like sleep that can be broken only by a kiss from the prince.
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Lion King
In this romance, an upper-class woman, Rose, falls in love with a poor artist. The story takes place aboard a ship that is struck by an iceberg and sunk. In the end, Rose survives but the poor artist dies.
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Snow White
This is an action film starring Tobey Maguire. He plays a superhero who has to stop the evil genius Dr. Octopus. Unfortunately, his real-life problems as college student Peter Parker cause him to temporarily give up being the superhero.
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Love Actually
CHARACTERS
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Question 2
2.
During the Stone Cold project, we talked about the protagonist (the main 'good guy', so Link in the book), and the antagonist (the bad guy, so Shelter in the book). Your movie will need these as well! An antagonist does not necessarily have to be a person: it can also be an event or concept that prevents the protagonist from achieving their goal.
Match the protagonists to their correct antagonist
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Juno
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A disaster at sea
Harry Potter
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Voldemort
Shrek
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Scar
Simba
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Lord Farquad
Rose
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Teen pregnancy
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Question 3
3.
A very important part of writing your movie, is coming up with your characters. You will have to write a brief character description later. Match the character to the correct description below!
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The beautiful princess of Far Far Away is under a curse that transforms her into an ogre every night when the sun sets. Rescued by Shrek from the tower where she is imprisoned, she eventually falls in love with him. Quirky, blunt, and multi-talented, she is not an ordinary princess.
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Harry Potter
From the outside, she looks poised, regal and reserved, but in reality, she lives in fear as she wrestles with a mighty secret—she was born with the power to create ice and snow. It’s a beautiful ability, but also extremely dangerous. Haunted by the moment her magic nearly killed her younger sister Anna, she has isolated herself, spending every waking minute trying to suppress her growing powers. Her mounting emotions trigger the magic, accidentally setting off an eternal winter that she can’t stop. She fears she’s becoming a monster and that no one, not even her sister, can help her.
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Elsa (Frozen)
As a king and leader, he holds a deep understanding of the forces that make the Pride Lands balanced and healthy. His duties as King of Pride Rock include managing the hunting by his own pride and other creatures, and resolving disputes over feeding and watering grounds, to ensure the land's resources are not exhausted; he also must patrol the boundaries to drive out interlopers and prevent such crimes as killing for sport. Of course, he's also responsible for raising his son Simba to be a wise king like himself—a responsibility that Simba may not yet be ready for.
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Princess Fiona (Shrek)
The protagonist of the story, who is gradually transformed from timid weakling to powerful hero by the end. Marked on the forehead with a lightning-shaped scar, he is marked also by the confrontation between good and bad magic that caused that scar: the standoff between the evil Voldemort and his parents who died to save their son. As he matures, he shows himself to be caring and shrewd, a loyal friend, and an excellent Quidditch player.
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Mufasa (Lion King)
PLOT
A plot is, basically, all the important things that happen in your movie. It is the sequence (series, order) of events inside a story which, in turn, affect other events of the story.
A plot follows the following structure:
1. exposition --> beginning of the story. The setting and characters are introduced
2. conflict --> the conflict is the thing that goes wrong and prevents the protagonist from achieving their goal / being happy. Some plots have several conflicts.
3. rising action --> The conflict(s) become increasingly intense/problematic
4. climax --> The conflict(s) reaches their most intense point, the most exciting part of the story, and we learn the outcome of the conflict(s)
5. falling action --> events leading to the end of the story
6. resolution --> end of the story
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Question 4
4.
Let's practice with the plot of the Lion King! Match the plot elements with the right description of the events.
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Scar allows Mufasa to fall off a cliff.
Simba runs away to the jungle and grows up with Timon and Pumbaa.
Simba meets Nala, who urges him to come back and solve the problems at Pride Rock.
Simba talks to his father’s ghost and decides to return to Pride Rock, where he meets Scar, who admits he killed his father.
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Exposition
Scar realizes that he is no longer first in line for the throne, and decides to come up with a plan to kill both Mufasa and Simba
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Conflict
The birth of Simba is celebrated on Pride Rock. The setting is Africa and we meet the main characters like the King Mufasa, the queen Sarabi, the uncle Scar, the guard Zazu, the friend/spiritual guide Rafiki, and of course the prince Simba.
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Rising action
Simba fights Scar for the throne.
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Climax
Simba and Nala have a baby and all is well
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Falling action
The hyenas realize Scar isn’t great, turn against him and kill him. Scar’s mess is cleaned up by a rain storm.
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Resolution
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Question 5
5.
You now have seen which elements are essential to start writing a movie script. Click the elements you need to have considered BEFORE writing the script. There are three elements which are not necessary just yet!