BSA204 W15 : Short Film Checklist

We got given a short film checklist that we can use, putting here for future ref.

BSA204 SHORT FILM WRITING CHECKLIST

• Who is your main character/protagonist?

• What is their objective?

• What is the inciting incident or "game changing" obstacle that throws their plans awry and is preventing them from achieving their objective?  (This can be another character – i.e. an antagonist – with a counter objective.)

• How does your protagonist react to overcome the obstacle and remain on course to achieve their objective?  Do they take a different path??  Ideally, a high-stakes choice should be involved to force your protagonist into a dilemma.

• Are there other obstacles to further complicate the situation?

• Character arc: what does the protagonist have to concede/give up/sacrifice in the final push to achieve their objective?  (Ideally, can you reincorporate a device/element that you seeded earlier in the story – maybe to help your protagonist achieve their goal?)  Ultimately, your protagonist does not need to succeed in their objective, but should have at least grown in some way – i.e. learnt some kind of lesson, changed in their outlook and/or redeemed themselves – as a result of this experience.

• Is there a surprise stinger/twist that you can add to the end of your story as a punchline or to help subvert audience expectation?  (Alternatively, you might decide to reincorporate an earlier seeded device/story element in this stinger.)