1 Location, 2 Actors, 3 Minutes

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poplarparkfilms

Carbonite Member
Ok so for my technical arts project we have to use one location (a modern day industrial loft) and 2 actors and write (or find) 3 minute scripts and shoot them. I was just wondering if you guys have any ideas on what can do it on. I have a few like perhaps there's a real estate showing going on or maybe 2 guys watching the game... etc.. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas that could help me write or if someone already has a script that I could shoot.

Thanks.

JD
 
Start with the basics. A 3 min story must start fast and end fast. You start with an inciting incident, something that puts the actor(s)/protagonist already in play, usually in some situation of conflict, danger, etc. Then the actor(s) deal with obstacles, the conflict, and the resolution-- and if a surprise twist in the story or resolution all the better.

Example: A woman is being mugged by two guys in the warehouse-- starts fast, a dangerous situation. Dialog and action as they confront her, scare her, rob her. Then she turns into a monster/vampire/etc, or has a big fricken gun she pulls out and kills them (e.g. Jody Foster recent movie)--the surprise twist--she lured them into the warehouse to kill THEM; who we thought was victim and who we thought brought danger is reversed. Reversal is classic Aristotle plot technique, as is conflict.

Think of variations on the above. Put someone in the warehouse wanting to die, suicide; or two lovers in conflict, then the 3rd arrives. Or someone finds their lover cheating on them with someone else. Think of conflict. Think of a way to add a surprise reversal near the end. Always allow a short period of resolution at the end after the climax.

Dialog? Most impt thing is do not use on the nose dialog, best to use off the nose dialog, and subtext. Google those terms and learn. Or ask for help here. Crappy dialog will ruin a good story. Avoid having one character directly answer or respond to the other character's dialog.

ON THE NOSE:
"So Joe, did you bring a gun for protection from me tonight?"
"Yes Mark, I have a gun here in my pocket."

OFF THE NOSE (BETTER):
"So Joe, did you bring a gun for protection from me tonight?"
"You think I need protection?"
 
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Yah I already know those terms, it's not 3 actors though it's 2... and the loft is like a loft (apartment) I don't mean to sound like a dick but you pretty much told me everything I already know. I was like looking for something to like build off of i dunno about vampires and guns either
 
Okay. And I was just giving examples to illustrate technique. You sort of came off in your original post as not knowing anything, looking for someone here to toss you a script to film for your assignment. Best of luck on your project.

poplarparkfilms said:
Yah I already know those terms, it's not 3 actors though it's 2... and the loft is like a loft (apartment) I don't mean to sound like a dick but you pretty much told me everything I already know. I was like looking for something to like build off of i dunno about vampires and guns either
Click to expand...
 
I'm bored today, here's a few fun loglines I threw together, you do the rest...

1. A man living in a loft attempts to hang himself but is interrupted by a pizza delivery boy.

2. Two amateur crooks break into the same industrial loft at the same time.

3. A lawyer wakes to a visiting angel who demands the death of his client.

4. A gay couple in a San Francisco loft watch Proposition 8 unfold on the eve of their wedding.

5. A cable guy stumbles upon a dead body and an assailant hiding in the shadows.

6. A pregnant woman on the run carrying an un-human child forces herself through the window of an artist living a secluded life in an abandoned industrial loft.

7. A man wakes-up in an empty white loft with another waking man. They both remember unrelated scenarios where they might have died. Are they in purgatory, a dream or an elaborate ruse?

8. Paranoia consumes a man with a gun as a newspaper boy stumbles into his loft with a stirring headline.
 
Every one of Alveraz's suggestions could be a really good Twilight Zone vignette.

I'd further spin the first one: A suicidal serial killer is trying to take his own life when the pizza delivery boy knocks on the wrong door. He invites the boy in to call the restaurant and a conversation ensues. This leads to a quick and decisive struggle and the vignette ends with the boy's gym shoes swinging a few inches above the floor and the killer's reaction to taking another life. The vignette is about the conversation and the result, not the violent act; I wouldn't even show the violent act.

Bob
 
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