Two Questions About Showing the Passage of Time?

M

Mariella

Member
Important to my historical fiction script is to SHOW how and why a peasant child is taken when she is 3 or 4 years old. Story moves to when she is 14 to 16 years of age. She's been tutored and socially trained by the affluent family who took her.

Would it work to post the year(s) with on-screen tag and refer to intervening events in action and dialogue? How do I indicate posting the tag in the script?
 
It wouldn't be inappropriate to tag a cross dissolve and then show her at an older age and have a family member call her name off screen. You could also write a montage.
 
vcassel said:
It wouldn't be inappropriate to tag a cross dissolve and then show her at an older age and have a family member call her name off screen. You could also write a montage.
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That's a good technique. I'd also have her doing a repetitive action, like going to the well for water, then repeat the scene exactly (perhaps 2 or 3 times) having her get older each time.
This (and the calling of her name off screen) avoids the "10 years later" title.
 
Yes, if you're filming this yourself, definitely set up similar blocking/staging and composition on both sides of the dissolve so that the edit translates well.
 
The poor casting director may not thank you - finding three or four actors to look like the same person at different ages can be a lot of work - but yes, the mini-montage of time passing can work really well.

But plenty of big budget movies just do the '10 years later' subtitile, and with good reason - it's quick, simple, and it works :) Some sort of visual/audio/dialog link is still vital to immediately identify that the person on screen is the older version of the person in the previous scene, otherwise the audience will be confused.
 
Heres one I like and its very simple.

You add an element that people can associate with the character. For example a girl - she can wear a necklace at all ages that people see as hers. To transition you could for example dolly into the necklace on her neck, cross dissolve to the necklace on the character now older and she steps away from cam and we see her older. But the necklace ties it all together.

If used wisely the item can also be worked into the story to link more than just age transitions.
 
Thanks for the excellent advice. All the responses are useful. And, led me to a new possibility - if I can think of a distinctive birth mark that will grow appropriately with the character. Really appreciate the help.
 
A problem that gets worse. Nearly everything related to it.

A problem that gets worse. Nearly everything related to it.

You don't need to show/do anything. If you have a scene where shes young, and another scene where shes old, the passage of time is stated; that's what cinema does- it leaps across time and space. The audience doesn't need some kind of trick to know it the same character, especially if its the main character (although a dissolve is customary). Admittedly, linking the scenes by an action or a prop isn't a bad idea, but you don't need to show her aging four times- once is enough. Tell it visually as much as possible. Props are good tools.

Cinema= shot + shot= idea.

person young + person old= person grew.

If you do give her a birthmark you will make me sad unless you embed it to the story, for example she is recognized by someone she doesnt want to be recognized by. Your pet ideas are best if you can relate them to the central story problem- ( the crisis that the story is about), usually by making them complications to the main problem.

Indy is only scared of snakes so we can see him meet them later, Brody is only scared of water so that we can see him go on the boat and fight Jaws, and Batman is only dark and mysterious so we can watch Gotham distrust him and make it harder for him to stop the Joker.
 
Agreed.

The cross dissolve works especially well if you end with a shot of the little girl and open with a shot of the older girl (I don't mean just having them look straight into the camera and cross dissolve, but just have them as the subjects in the shot). If she has something recognizable it'll make the effect more believable, more so than a prop or necklace, if you can give the character something like big blue eyes, it'll be instantly recognizable.
 
Thanks for breaking it down. Just finished Mamet's "On Directing Film" suggested under another thread. If I can't do it now, its all on me.
 
another expressionist being born bruhahhahahahaah

another expressionist being born bruhahhahahahaah

Keep in mind its a particular point of view you're adopting, in opposition to the "shoot everything and sort it out in editing later" school (tho you can kind of blend the two a bit).

Make sure you get some cutaways.

you're in the cult now bruahahahahahahahah

CINEMA=SHOT PLUS SHOT CREATES THE IDEA!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4

sorry i get excited about film theory....
 
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