PowerPoint-Pr

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Brigitta Manthey
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successful
RUN, LOLA RUN by Tom Tykwer (1998)
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successful
GOOD BYE, LENIN! by Wolfgang Becker (2003)
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successful
THE LIVES OF OTHERS by Florian Henkel von
Donnersmarck (2006)
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successful
RABBIT WITHOUT EARS by Til Schweiger (2007)
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successful
THE WHITE RIBBON by Michael Haneke (2009)
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Wanna be successful?
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but what is a good script?
there are three rules to a good script - but
nobody knows one of them (Paul Schrader)

• nobody knows anything ! ?
• everything is subject to individual taste ! ?
• a good story is an original story ! ?
• dramaturgical craftsmanship or anti-structure ?
• identity or meaning ?
• and what is it about the communication with an
  audience???

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8 reasons for rejection

1. beginning is unclear, complicated does not get
   you into the story
2. protagonist is too passiv
3. sagging second act does not advance to the third
   act
4. ending is too sudden or too explicative or still
   open
5. facts are lacking research
6. story is too complex, overcharged, wants to
   please everybody everyone
7.  dialogues too many / too bad
8.  nothing new - we had it all before!

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nobody knows anything
with lack of competence waiver of quality
check . what do we get?

•  misconceptions or pseudo-communication about
  filmprojects
• absence of talks about optimization of a script
• wrong diagnosis of a script with financial risk
• a product left to mere chance

lets get the opinion of funders
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so what is a good script?
a good script is not everything, but without a
good script everything is nothing! (unknown
author)
is emotional is locigal knows its rules works
with people!
a good script
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some facts in business

• filmstories are
• the raw-material the key currency of the film
  business
• a promise to a latter film
• not exclusively artistic, but also an economic
  product

• no product is offered to a market without a
  quality-check!
• products with quality-check sell better!

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and some more facts

• there is no routine in the filmbusiness
• filmmaking is teamwork, but business-peoples
  know-how is heterogenious
• the relation of scripwriter producer is
  important
• there is a interlocking of development
  production processes

• money is the foodstuff of film ? lets think
  strategically!
• what is quality? - it can be planed!

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here we have a nice script!

• is it a good idea a strong concept for a
  filmstory?
• is the story logical emotional?
• does it follow rules?
• is it standard or something else?
• does it communicate?
• can it be summarized it in two or three
  sentences?
• potential for cinema or television or both?
• potential for larger or smaller audiences? (best
  represented by the theme)
• is it a good script?

? the quality of a script can not be
objectively measured or ultimately prooved
? to determine the quality of a script is far
reaching difficult, but also with all chances
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check and double check
you have been working for long on a
script? writer, co-writer, dramaturg, producer
know exactly what they want know their project
by heart? but there is this uneasy feeling
have a bird fly over it have a good look on
the whole!
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the readers report what is it?

• first most objective, easy attainable
  assessment of a filmscript at a certain point of
  time
• quality check decision aid along professional
  standards, applied to individual materials for a
  script
• 3 to 4 page-expertise of an independent reader
• with a
• summary
• examination evaluation
• final rating

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3 to 4 pages
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for whom?
writers directors producers dramaturgs editors fin
anciers funders distributors banks agents (audienc
es!)
on the desks of producers editors usually
unsolicited sent in scripts pile up
financiers distributors want to sort out the
promising idea sketch from an only feasable
skript
actors agents look for leading roles in
quality-scripts strong, cool, hipp relevant 
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at any step to a final script
idea story outline treatment step outline first
draft further drafts directors draft final
script (shooting-script)
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front page
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résumé of content
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detailed commentary
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readers standard questionnaire
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readers standard questionnaire
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types of readers reports

1. readers report
2. second opinion
3. readers report in comparison
4. readers report for legal purposes
5. Story-Notes
6. advanced readers report

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readers standard for story notes
max. 5 Pages no synopsis a technical listing of
things no elegant prosa clear structure, easy
reading
What decision-makers want to know
not only identification of problems, but rather
radical solutions how does the film work in the
head of scriptwriter or producer what is his
vision for the film?
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10 chances of a readers report

1. avoids blindness to the shortcomings in ones
   work possible disappointment
2. triggers necessary irritation
3. initiates discussion new directions of thinking
   and developing
4. considers the marketability of a project
5. serves as argumentation aid
6. best at the intersection of writer, producer,
   editor funder
7. safety net for decisions in a company or
   institution
8. ready made information also for subsequent use
9. saves money life-time
10. easy to get for little coin!

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last not least 3 truths
If you have 10 readers read your script , you
will get 10 different opinions ! (unknown)
Personal choices and feelings are the elements of
the creative process, which is unique to every
screenwriter, and to each and every screenplay
and filmproject! (Philip Parker)
You are an artist now and then, but you have to
be a craftsman all the time! (Andrej Wajda)
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