Knitting

How to write a director's explication. Director's explication Theatrical performance. Director's explication

Most often, explication is understood as the presentation by the director of his vision of the script, synopsis or application, his concept of the content of the future picture and the presentation of the ways in which he intends to achieve the desired creative result. Based on this document, producers, pitching organizers, investors, studio managers decide how adequately the director imagines the implementation of the future film and whether their general vision of the picture coincides. On the other hand, explication helps the director establish a dialogue with the film crew and convey his idea to it. Actually, explication is the decoding of the director's intention. Moreover, its creation is not only the lot of the director. There are also camera, pictorial (from the production designer) and sound (from the sound engineer and composer) explications. This document is created at the very beginning of the preparatory period, when the director comes up with a movie in his head (as Rene Claire said: “My film is already ready - it only remains to shoot it”).

Explication format

As a rule, all explications are written in free form, however there is a certain list of points that it is desirable to reflect in the final text.


1 What is the story of your film?

This is the most important question, which can be broken down into several components: the main idea of ​​how the action will develop, what is the driving story, what is the drama of the picture, what is its super task, what is the main conflict. In fact, this is the key description of your idea (Andrei Tarkovsky v) tells about the assessment of the idea of ​​his film.


2 What genre is the film made in?

Fantastic tragicomedy, sentimental detective story, docudrama or familiar rom-com - very often the genre plays a decisive role in the producer's decision to take on your job.


3 Where does the film take place?

It is necessary to describe the intended shooting objects as fully as possible. For example, you have a declared football field - what is it? Is it a large field with a green lawn, brand new gates and freshly painted barriers, or an overgrown stadium with broken stands? Or maybe this is generally a dusty wasteland with markings drawn on the ground and two sticks instead of a gate? If this is a street, what is it: busy or empty, lit, or is it a dark dead end? The same goes for interiors, you need to be clear about what will work for your story and what is best avoided. Up to understanding what color the wallpaper will be in the main character's room, how many windows, what kind of light and what kind of furniture is in his house. It would not be superfluous to indicate the time of the film - day or night, winter or summer, as well as some specific weather conditions (pouring rain, clear sun, sunset, and so on).

4 What is the style of your film?

What are some reference films that are similar in spirit to your painting and provide a few frames for example. What will your future creation look like: ideal in composition and naive in spirit pictures, acidic in picture and frank in content films, or pseudo-documentary and ironic works of Ulrich Seidl? Maybe you are generally guided by the paintings of famous artists? With what mood will the viewer come out after watching your film (for example, with a feeling of happiness or with light sadness)?

5 The pictorial solution of your film (overlaps with the previous point)

Describe the atmosphere of the painting:

  • color scheme (cold or warm gamut, b / w or color, natural or acidic color, and so on;
  • type of camera (DSLR, Red, Alexa or even GoPro, what kind of optics will be);
  • camera movement (manual, tripod, steadicam, rails or crane);
  • working with light (absolutely natural lighting, as in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, or shooting in a laboratory in the light of fluorescent lamps);
  • features of framing and composition (perfectly aligned picture or intentional violation with displacement of objects);
  • editing features (intraframe, ragged or parallel, the nature of the transitions).

It will not be superfluous to describe what your heroes will be wearing. Especially if their clothes affect the overall color perception of the painting. Here you can also specify the cameramen and production designers whom you would like to invite to your location.

6 Sound design and musical solution

How do you plan to work with sound on-site and in post-production? Will there be any special sound effects? What kind of music would you like to use: provide the names of the artists and the title of the songs.

7 Cast

Describe the types, characters of your heroes, show their relationship and conflicts. Bring the dream-cast of your actors - which of the famous or familiar actors do you see as the performers of these roles. Attach multiple images of different actors to the same role.

Explication volume

The explications do not have any fixed amount of pages, it all depends on the conditions. At some contests or pitches, I may demand to fit everything on one or two pages, but for someone even 5-10 pages will not be enough. At one of his master classes, Nikita Mikhalkov said that his explications are usually three times larger in volume than the script, since he describes in detail everything that he would like to receive during the filming. The main task of explication, in his opinion, is to constantly refer to it, check with the plan if something goes wrong. Check if the scene will work in new conditions (for example, it is raining instead of the sun) and if this does not contradict the general concept of the film.

Examples of director's explications:

  • Director's explication of 17 scenes from the film "Burnt by the Sun 2" by Nikita Mikhalkov.
  • Director's explication of the short story "" (directed by Sergei Burov), included in the Disney almanac "Happiness is ...".
  • As a separate bonus - the director's explication of the never-staged opera Valkyrie by Lars von Trier.

Other types of explications

As mentioned at the very beginning of the article, there are other types of explications, which are being developed by the rest of the crew. As a rule, they overlap with the director's explication. So, for example, a director of photography, based on a storyboard, makes his operator's explication, in which he describes in a literary and schematic form the pictorial solution of the film (tonality, coloristic solution, type of shooting, angle, change of plans, lighting, composition). This is especially important if visual effects are planned in the film, equipment and optics are tested even at the pre-visualization stage, distance, backgrounds and sizes of objects are measured. You can read more about creating an operator's explication, working with light dramaturgy and color solutions in the book "Profession - operator" (MM Volynets, 2008).

Production designer creates his own pictorial explication, accompanying it with sketches of costumes, scenery and so on. He must convey in his explication the composition of the entire work, the relationship between objects and episodes, show the logic of their development. The artist's task is to emphasize the drama of the scenes, to reveal their artistic meaning and to achieve stylistic correspondence. You can read more about this in the book by L.B. Klyueva "Problems of Style in Screen Arts".

Andrey Ponkratov's sketch for the film "Leviathan" by Andrey Zvyagintsev - Living room in the House Nicholas

The sound engineer and composer can provide their own sound explications, which, like the operator's rooms, are created on the basis of storyboards and individual scenes. The sound engineer specifies for the sound engineer the nature of the noise objects that need to be recorded, in which frames they should sound and where they should be recorded (or taken from the library). The composer, in his explication, indicates the place and time of the sounding of the audio composition, its character and the composition of the orchestra.

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward!" Mikhail Schweitzer.

Today, everyone, young and old, knows that the director is one of the main figures in the theater. A new performance will not be born without a director, a regular rehearsal will not pass sensibly without a director, a sea of ​​issues concerning not only the creative process, but also theatrical and economic problems will not be resolved without a director.

It would seem that it has always been like this: there was a theater, and with it - a director. It turns out not.
Directing art and professional directors - seekers of their own original interpretation of a particular play - appeared only at the end of the 19th century. Before that, of course, the theater somehow got out of the situation: the plays were staged by the actors themselves, the whole troupe listened to the voice of the most talented and energetic of them. Such leaders were the famous Russian actor Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov (1729-1763), who worked during the time of the Russian tsars Alexei Mikhailovich and Peter I, and Volkov's friend, actor, teacher, translator Ivan Afanasevich Dmitrievsky (1734-1821).

And in earlier times, the playwrights themselves "put their hand" to the creation of this or that stage action.

Such participation was taken even in ancient times, and the productions of their own plays were also directed by playwrights of the Renaissance, for example, Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Lope de Vega (1562-1635). The great French comedian, reformer of the stage art Jean Baptiste Molière, having created his own theater, wrote plays for it, played in it and, of course, directed the general processes of the productions. Moliere's contemporary, no less great playwright Jean Racine (1639-1699) also took part in staging his plays on stage. At the Parisian theater of the Burgundy hotel, he taught the actors to recite from the voice - the art of speaking correctly, beautifully, he made them pronounce the words musically, melodiously; spared no time in teaching the actors a fluid, majestic, rounded gesture.

In many European countries, at the end of the 19th century, theater directors were associates of the theater, who brought directing to the rank of an independent type of theatrical activity. In Germany, these are the first directors of the Meiningen Theater L. Kroneck, Duke George II, in Italy - the entrepreneur L. Belloti-Bon, in France - A. Antoine, in England - the leaders of the "Independent Theater". ... ...

Surprisingly, the first document in Russia dedicated to the art of directing, a director, was written by a woman - the great Russian dramatic actress of the 18th-19th centuries Ekaterina Semyonovna Semyonova (1786-1849). Her performance was admired by A.S.

The rehearsal process in the formation of the performance

Pushkin was on good terms with the actress.

In Russia, as in a number of other European civilized countries, the directors' functions were sometimes taken over by the authors of plays. It is no coincidence that the genius of Russian literature Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852) wrote special explanations for his brilliant "Inspector General". In them, the great playwright tried to tell about how the characters and costumes of the heroes were conceived and what details the actors should pay attention to when creating a particular role.

The director's concerns also worried the great Russian playwright Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky (1823-1886), who created a realistic repertoire of a democratic nature for the Russian theater, truthfully reflecting the people's moral ideals. It was in the everyday life of the "middle class" that he showed both his vices and his beauty: kindness, loyalty, unselfishness. Ostrovsky set himself this task quite deliberately when creating a repertoire for the national Russian theater. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy illuminated Russian life from historical times ("The Snow Maiden") to the most lively, contemporary playwright of the day.

The first serious directing appeared at the end of the 19th century with the emergence of the Moscow Art Theater (1898), headed by Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (real name Alekseev, 1863-1938) and Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858-1943). The world culture will remember about Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky for as long as it will exist. It was a brilliant director.
Stanislavsky was born in a merchant family that did not live in order to accumulate more capital, but in order to live interestingly, with dignity, and intelligently on the earth. The parents of the future director adored and adored the theater. Their son Kostya also began to adore and adore the theater from an early age. At the age of fourteen, he began performing on the stage of home theater, then developed into a gifted fine actor and, with great success, participated in performances of professional theaters in Moscow.

Stanislavsky's deep, soulful performance amazed the audience. And he was unusually good-looking, the audience remembered from the first time tall, plastic, musical. By the way, a bright unusual appearance is important for an actor and is not the last in a row after talent. Stanislavsky thought a lot about how actors can become inspired creators not by chance, but whenever a performance is given.

In the end, Konstantin Sergeevich created a doctrine (system), which he called "the art of experiencing." This became an event of global significance, the same as Newton's Law of Gravitation or the discovery of America by Columbus. Until now, Stanislavsky's system has not become obsolete, it is constantly gaining more and more admirers and successors. Behind the mighty figure of Stanislavsky the director in Russia appeared a number of brilliant directors, such as V.E. Meyerhold, E. B. Vakhtangov, N. P. Okhlopkov, G. A. Tovstonogov, Yu. A. Zavadsky, O. N Efremov, VN Pluchek, MA Zakharov and many, many others. ... ...
The director does not just relax in the hall and at rehearsals. He not only guides which performer where to go, what to do, how to sneeze, and where to make his speech louder or quieter. The director has his own idea for each play he fosters. The director's intention always includes the original interpretation of the play, one's own understanding and vision of the characters of the dramatic work, careful thought over and solution of mise-en-scenes.

But the main creative task of the director at all times and in all countries is the following: to create a performance that would make the audience worry, that would be modern, in tune with their thoughts, moods, life. Only then will the performance begin to influence the personality, the character of everyone sitting in the hall, and only then will it become a memorable art phenomenon.

Theatrical performance. Director's explication

1. Motivation and justification for the choice of the theme of the theatrical performance

This section indicates the motives for choosing the theme of the scenario, gives its justification, reveals its socio-pedagogical significance for the predicted audience.

2. Ideological and thematic content of the script

2.1. Script theme. (The topic is the subject of the author's artistic research.) The definition of the topic should be short, specific and contain answers to the questions: What? Where? When?

2.2. The idea of ​​the script. (The idea is the main conclusion that follows from the script, containing the moral attitude of the author to the events depicted).

2.3. The genre of the script. (Genre is the ideological and evaluative mood of the author in relation to the subject of artistic research, realized through a system of certain expressive means). The definition of the genre in the staging plan also includes the form of theatrical performance.

2.4. Conflict. (A conflict is a confrontation, a clash of the acting forces depicted in the work). The carriers of the conflict are determined, as well as their aspirations.

3. Effective content of the script.

3.1. Overarching task of presentation. (The super task of presentation is the ultimate goal for the sake of which the setting is carried out, the idea is revealed).

3.2. End-to-end action or script-directing move.

3.3. Event series or episodic construction of the script.

3.3.1. Determined event series if there is a pronounced plot in the script (An event is an effective fact that changes the stage tasks of performers and puts them in updated proposed circumstances. An event series is a line of effective facts from the beginning to the end of the theatrical performance).

3.3.2. If there is no plot, then it is determined episode construction script, then the artistic name of the episode and its content are written. An artistic name is given to each event or episode. The functional load is determined.

3.4. Stage tasks for performers events(in case of episodic construction of a scenario, stage tasks are not determined). The stage task includes three elements:

- action (what am I doing?);

- the purpose of the action (why am I doing it?);

- devices (how do I do?).

The action and the goal are of a conscious nature, adaptations arise in the process of live communication with a partner. Therefore, when fixing a stage task in the staging plan, only two of its elements are determined: action and purpose. The number of stage tasks is determined by the number of main events.

3.5. Main mise-en-scenes. (Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of the characters on the stage in certain physical relations to each other and to the material environment surrounding them). A legend system is defined and one or two major mise-en-scenes are graphically depicted in each episode or event.

3.6. Real heroes, their role and place in revealing the main idea of ​​the performance.

3.7. Spectator activation techniques (real, ceremonial and playful actions).

4. Editing sheet or sound and light score of the performance.

The worksheet in the form of a table consists of twelve columns:

1) number in order;

2) episode, its name exactly corresponds to the script and director's plan;

3) the name of the number and its nature, the author and title of the work are indicated;

4) performers are discharged: soloists, collectives;

5) who is entrusted with the accompaniment of this number, if the number goes with a phonogram, then you need to give the serial number of the phonograms.

6) all the texts performed on the stage, sounding on the radio, are entered, the voice-overs' texts are entered here;

7) the need for film material is recorded, indicating the nature of the tape and the format;

8) it is indicated in which stage design the number is performed;

9) the lighting solution of each room is filled in, staging effects are also recorded here;

10) costumes for performers, all costume accessories;

11) props and props;

12) notes.

The sound and light score is made according to the following scheme:

5. Scenographic solution of the performance

5.1. Figurative solution of the presentation. (A figurative solution is a set of expressive means with which the director reveals his concept of the work, his artistic thought).

5.2. Layout of the scenery. (The layout of the scenery is a drawing of the location on the stage of the scenery, various structures, furniture and other elements of the material environment).

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THEATER

The stage is viewed from above.

5.3. A sketch or mock-up of the stage decoration.

5.4. Costumes sketches.

5.5. Sketches of a poster, program, invitation card.

6. Plan for the preparation of theatrical performance

The preparation plan should reflect the main stages of work on the theatrical performance: work on the script, the drinking period, rehearsals in the enclosure, run-through, assembly and dress rehearsals, the premiere, work with the composer, artist, musicians and with all auxiliary services.

7. Plan of the holiday or program of theatrical performance.

8. Cost estimate(for the celebration) (see Appendix No. 9): rent and technical support; space design, participants in a theatrical and concert program; organizational and creative group; printing costs; fare; payroll charges; unforeseen expenses, etc.

Similar information:

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SIMPLE SENTENCE

LESSON number 19

Theme. Minor members of the proposal

Purpose: to restore in the memory of students the material studied about the secondary members of the sentence; improve the ability to highlight minor members in a sentence, determine their type, ways of expression; develop logical thinking; foster a culture of speech. 76

Equipment: textbook, handouts and didactic material, table.

DURING THE CLASSES

The mind grows by what it feeds on.

D. Holland

I. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE TOPIC AND PURPOSE OF THE LESSON

II. MOTIVATION OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES OF PUPILS

Reading the epigraph, working with it.

III. UPDATING THE REFERENCE KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS

1. Checking homework.

(Students read proverbs prepared at home, explain the setting in them with a dash.)

2. Work on cards.

(Two students work at the blackboard.)

Card 1

Completely parse the sentence. Determine how the subject is expressed, indicate the type of predicate.

In the western part of the taiga, the climate is warmer.

Card 2

Completely parse the sentence.

Determine how the subject is expressed, indicate the type of predicate.

The bread, filled with solar and earthly power, looks at us appetizingly.

3. Vocabulary dictation with grammar assignment.

Write down phrases, determine the type of connection in them.

Using phrases, make three sentences - simple, complete, and general.

Parse the sentence.

Give an interpretation of the words "congress", "conference".

Director's talent, play rehearsal, performing arts, amaze the audience, prepare for a conference, biologists' congress, festive illumination, carnival night, hurricane wind, embodied idea, diligently execute, the majority of those present, the electoral commission.

IV. STUDYING NEW MATERIAL

1. Working with the textbook.

(Students study theoretical material from the textbook by answering questions.)

Questions for students

3) What is a subject?

4) What is a predicate? What types of predicates do you know?

5) What are the secondary members of the proposal?

6) What is an add-on?

7) What is the definition?

8) What is a circumstance?

2. Explanation of the teacher based on the diagram.

Minor members of the sentence explain the main or other minor members of the sentence. They are divided according to their grammatical meanings into additions, definitions and circumstances.

Director in the theater

These values ​​are recognized by questions. For example, in the sentence Hunters of wolves lying in the thicket carefully bypass: (bypass whom?) Wolves - addition; (get around how?) carefully - a circumstance; (what wolves?) Lying down - definition; (lying where?) in the thicket - a circumstance.

V. ASSIGNMENT OF THE STUDIED MATERIAL

1. Teamwork.

Write down the sentences. Parse them.

2) The sweetish scent of water lilies is mixed with the scent of water.

3) Twenty years is an absolutely insignificant period in the life of a people.

4) That night little Dimka could not sleep for a long time.

2. Practical work.

Using phrases from the dictation, make one simple sentence with an addition, one simple sentence with a definition, and one simple sentence with a circumstance.

Parse these sentences.

3. Linguistic problem.

Read the sentences.

Make diagrams of the first, sixth and seventh sentences.

Solve the problem.

Students from different faculties of the Pedagogical University organized a pop quartet. Mikhail plays the saxophone in it. The pianist studies at the Faculty of Physics. The drummer's name is not Valery, and the student of the Faculty of Geography is not Leonid. Mikhail is studying at the Faculty of History. Andrey is not a pianist or a biologist. Valery is not studying at the physics department, and the drummer is not at the history department, and Leonid does not play the double bass.

What instrument does Valery play and what faculty does he study at?

(Answer: Valery plays the double bass and studies at the Faculty of Biology.)

Vi. SUMMARIZING THE LESSON

1. Assessment of educational achievements of students.

2. Concluding conversation.

1) What groups are the members of the proposal divided into?

2) What are the main members of the proposal?

3) What are the secondary members of the proposals?

4) What is an add-on?

5) What is the definition?

6) What is a circumstance?

Output. There are major and minor members in the proposal. The main members are the subject and the predicate, the minor ones are the addition, definition, circumstance.

Vii. HOMEWORK

1. Learn theoretical material.

2. Complete an exercise from the textbook (at the teacher's choice).

3. High-level assignment: using common sentences, write a miniature essay “Who I want to be”.

SOCIOLOGY

1. The idea that has been taken up by natural science sociologists is the idea that ... ( that social development is subject to the laws of determinism )

2. The conflictological direction in sociology was developed by ... ( R. Darrendorf )

3. The standard of comparison in the experiment is the _____ group. ( control )

4. Two types of expert survey are ... ( Delphi method and Forecast scenario method )

5. Ideal types of social action in M. Weber's theory include ... ( affective action and purposeful rational action )

6. The fleeting nature and short duration of existence are essential signs of social ... ( contact )

7. Social deviation is defined as ... ( deviation from generally accepted behavioral norms )

8. At the group level, social stereotypes perform the following two functions ( The function of forming and maintaining group ideology and The function of creating and maintaining a positive "We-image")

9. Society is considered like an English park, where you can clearly distinguish the structure and positions in ... ( within the structural-functionalist paradigm )

10. According to E. Durkheim, the following two features are characteristic of a pre-industrial society ... ( The individual merges with others like him in the same collective type e and The individual has no personality of his own. )

11. He was the first to introduce the term "social institution" into scientific circulation ... (G. Spencer )

12. The type of marriage, when the future husband or wife is chosen only from among the representatives of their group (ethnic, territorial, etc.), is called _____. ( endogamous )

13. The United Nations advocates ... ( governing body of the world community and an organization representing the global community )

14. Factors of the globalization process include ... ( distribution of electronic communications and shaping global technologies )

15. Oppose the modern world order ... ( antiglobalists and extremists )

16. According to experts, the most capacious markets in the near future will have countries ... ( BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China )

17. A specific feature of the basic heading is that ... ( relationships between group members are informal )

18. A small social group differs from a large one ... ( stability and duration of functioning )

19. Attending a concert by satirist M. Zadornov, a person is a member of ... (audience )

20. Are the following judgments correct: A) Presentation of the certificate of honor is an example of a formal sanction; B) Presentation of the certificate of honor is an example of a positive sanction. ( Both judgments are correct )

REHEARSHIP THEATER

The basis of social inequality in R. Darrendorff's theory of conflict is the struggle for ... ( power )

22. In modern sociology, the following two professional groups do not belong to the category of "blue collars": ( top managers and show business stars )

24. The types of social mobility include __________ mobility. ( intergenerational )

25. Social revolution ... ( represents a radical change in the social system as a whole )

26. The development of society goes from the primitive communal system through slavery, feudalism and capitalism to communism, he believed .... (K. Marx )

27. The type of culture, characterized by the production of cultural values ​​and samples, which, due to their exclusivity, are calculated and accessible mainly to a narrow circle of people, is called ... ( elite culture )

28. The physical factors of social change include (are) ... ( natural disasters )

29. The set of features that distinguish one individual from another is called ... ( individuality )

30. The process of socialization of the individual excludes ... ( isolation of personality )

31. The concepts of "social status" and "social role" are in the following relationship ( social role is the expected behavior due to the social status of an individual )

32. The most important economic condition for the formation and consideration of public opinion by the government is ___ ( market)

How to write a director's explication

(c) Evgeny Belov
http://tvkinoradio.ru
Brief instructions for compiling a director's explication with tips and illustrative examples

What is explication?

Most often, explication is understood as the presentation by the director of his vision of the script, synopsis or application, his concept of the content of the future picture and the presentation of the ways in which he intends to achieve the desired creative result. Based on this document, producers, pitching organizers, investors, studio managers decide how adequately the director imagines the implementation of the future film and whether their general vision of the picture coincides. On the other hand, explication helps the director establish a dialogue with the film crew and convey his idea to it. Actually, explication is the decoding of the director's intention. Moreover, its creation is not only the lot of the director. There are also camera, pictorial (from the production designer) and sound (from the sound engineer and composer) explications. This document is created at the very beginning of the preparatory period, when the director comes up with a movie in his head (as Rene Claire said: “My film is already ready - it only remains to shoot it”).

Explication format

As a rule, all explications are written in free form, however there is a certain list of points that it is desirable to reflect in the final text.

1. What is the story of your film?

This is the most important question, which can be broken down into several components: the main idea of ​​how the action will develop, what is the driving story, what is the drama of the picture, what is its super task, what is the main conflict. In fact, this is the key description of your idea (Andrei Tarkovsky speaks well about assessing the idea of ​​his film in his "Directing Lessons").

2. In what genre is the film shot?

Fantastic tragicomedy, sentimental detective story, docudrama or familiar rom-com - very often the genre plays a decisive role in the producer's decision to take on your job.

3. Where does the film take place?

It is necessary to describe the intended shooting objects as fully as possible. For example, you have a declared football field - what is it? Is it a large field with a green lawn, brand new gates and freshly painted barriers, or an overgrown stadium with broken stands? Or maybe this is generally a dusty wasteland with markings drawn on the ground and two sticks instead of a gate? If this is a street, what is it: busy or empty, lit, or is it a dark dead end?

ROLE DISTRIBUTION. ORGANIZATION OF REHEARS

The same goes for interiors, you need to be clear about what will work for your story and what is best avoided. Up to understanding what color the wallpaper will be in the main character's room, how many windows, what kind of light and what kind of furniture is in his house. It would not be superfluous to indicate the time of the film's action - day or night, winter or summer, as well as some specific weather conditions (pouring rain, clear sun, sunset, and so on)

Materials for the film "Elena" by Andrey Zvyagintsev - Vladimir's House, Nature

Sketch by Alena Shkermontova for the film "The Return" by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Sketch by Alena Shkermontova for the film "The Return" by Andrey Zvyagintsev

4. What is the style of your film?

What are some reference films that are similar in spirit to your painting and provide a few frames for example. What will your future creation look like: ideal in composition and naive in spirit paintings by Wes Anderson, acidic in the picture and frank in content films of Gaspar Noe, or pseudo-documentary and ironic works of Ulrich Seidl? Maybe you are generally guided by the paintings of famous artists? With what mood will the viewer come out after watching your film (for example, with a feeling of happiness or with light sadness)?

From the explication to the film "Elena" by Andrey Zvyagintsev - painting by Edward Hopper "Hotel Room", 1931

5. The pictorial solution of your film (overlaps with the previous point)

Describe the atmosphere of the painting:

  • color scheme (cold or warm gamut, b / w or color, natural or acidic color, and so on;
  • type of camera (DSLR, Red, Alexa or even GoPro, what kind of optics will be);
  • camera movement (manual, tripod, steadicam, rails or crane);
  • working with light (absolutely natural lighting, as in "The Survivor" by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, or shooting in a laboratory in the light of fluorescent lamps);
  • features of framing and composition (perfectly aligned picture or intentional violation with displacement of objects);
  • editing features (intraframe, ragged or parallel, the nature of the transitions).

It will not be superfluous to describe what your heroes will be wearing. Especially if their clothes affect the overall color perception of the painting. Here you can also specify the cameramen and production designers whom you would like to invite to your location.

6. Sound design and musical solution

How do you plan to work with sound on-site and in post-production? Will there be any special sound effects? What kind of music would you like to use: provide the names of the artists and the title of the songs.

7. Cast

Describe the types, characters of your heroes, show their relationship and conflicts. Bring the dream-cast of your actors - which of the famous or familiar actors do you see as the performers of these roles. Attach multiple images of different actors to the same role.


Photo tests for the film "Elena" by Andrey Zvyagintsev - Nadezhda Markina

Explication volume

The explications do not have any fixed amount of pages, it all depends on the conditions. At some contests or pitches, I may demand to fit everything on one or two pages, but for someone even 5-10 pages will not be enough. At one of his master classes, Nikita Mikhalkov said that his explications are usually three times larger in volume than the script, since he describes in detail everything that he would like to receive during the filming. The main task of explication, in his opinion, is to constantly refer to it, check with the plan if something goes wrong. Check if the scene will work in new conditions (for example, it is raining instead of the sun) and if this does not contradict the general concept of the film.

Examples of director's explications:

Director's explication of 17 scenes from the film "Burnt by the Sun 2" by Nikita Mikhalkov.

Director's explication of the short story "Cupid of the First Category" (directed by Sergei Burov), included in the Disney almanac "Happiness is ...".

As a separate bonus - the director's explication of the never-staged opera Valkyrie by Lars von Trier.

Other types of explications

As mentioned at the very beginning of the article, there are other types of explications, which are being developed by the rest of the crew. As a rule, they overlap with the director's explication. So, for example, a director of photography, on the basis of a storyboard, makes his own operator's explication, in which he describes in a literary and schematic form the visual solution of the film (tonality, color scheme, type of shooting, angle, change of plans, lighting, composition). This is especially important if visual effects are planned in the film, equipment and optics are tested even at the pre-visualization stage, distance, backgrounds and sizes of objects are measured. You can read more about creating an operator's explication, working with light dramaturgy and color solutions in the book "Profession - operator" (MM Volynets, 2008).


An example of an operator's explication
The production designer creates his own pictorial explication, accompanying it with sketches of costumes, scenery, and so on. He must convey in his explication the composition of the entire work, the relationship between objects and episodes, show the logic of their development. The artist's task is to emphasize the drama of the scenes, to reveal their artistic meaning and to achieve stylistic correspondence. You can read more about this in the book by L.B. Klyueva "Problems of Style in Screen Arts".


Andrey Ponkratov's sketch for the film "Leviathan" by Andrey Zvyagintsev - Living room in Nikolai's House

The sound engineer and composer can provide their own sound explications for the director, which, like the camera ones, are created based on the storyboard and individual scenes. The sound engineer specifies for the sound engineer the nature of the noise objects that need to be recorded, in which frames they should sound and where they should be recorded (or taken from the library). The composer, in his explication, indicates the place and time of the sounding of the audio composition, its character and the composition of the orchestra.

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward!" Mikhail Schweitzer.

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward"

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward"

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward"

Sound explication for the film "Time Forward"

Specific event basis and local material in the structure of the TP and P.

Event development is the most important part of a director's concept. An event is the basic structural unit of stage life, an indivisible atom of an effective process. Action is the basic law of drama.

Stanislavsky wrote about the technique of the so-called "intelligence with the mind" and "intelligence with the body." This technique is based on the ability of theater artists to perceive reality in an eventful manner. At the stage of “intelligence intelligence”, the director forms an idea of ​​how the play will develop - from the initial event, through the main, central, final - to the main event. The chain of events selected by the director at the stage of "intelligence with the mind" is the path to the staged solution of the performance.

Stanislavsky proposed to identify in the analysis the most important events that determine the process of the play's movement.

- the initial event - the origin of the conflict;

- the main event - its essence;

- the main event is the resolution of the conflict.

Tovstonogov believed that the play in its development is based on five such events:

1. The initial event is the emotional "inception" of the performance. It begins outside the performance and ends before the eyes of the viewer; reflects the original proposed circumstance.

2. The main event - here the struggle for the through action begins, the leading proposed circumstance of the play comes into force.

3. The central event is the culminating peak in the performance of the struggle in terms of end-to-end action.

4. The final event - here the struggle for end-to-end action ends, the leading proposed circumstance is exhausted.

5. The main event is the very last event of the performance, which contains the "seed" of the super task; the idea of ​​the work in it becomes clear; here the fate of the original proposed circumstance is decided (it either changes or remains the same).

An event is a complex long-term continuous process, which, in addition to physical living, also has a mental one. An event can change the goal of the hero, his line of behavior, and be a catalyst for action.

There is a kind of scheme by which the process of unfolding an event can be traced: 1) perception; 2) assessment; 3) direct action. Or otherwise - as Stanislavsky said: "I saw - I got scared - I ran."

Event series as a reflection of cross-cutting action

An event is the main structural unit of stage life, an indivisible part of an effective process. Just as substances are formed from particles, an event series is formed from events. As Tovstonogov noted in Conversations with Colleagues: “Events are strung on the core of the conflict, forming a kind of barbecue”.

Rehearsals of the play: where to start, how to carry it out?

A skewer, or a rod, on which pieces are strung - events - through action (as well as counter-action). Cross-cutting action is a path of struggle aimed at achieving a super-task, and counter-action is the force that resists solving the problem.

An event is always a process that is happening now, before our very eyes, in time and space. Each event can only have one action and one counter-action. Thus, an event is a sum of circumstances with one action.

When an action becomes accomplished - it exhausts itself in time and space, the event also ends; the next action begins - the next stage of stage life, and therefore a new event is born. As a director, she and an actor, it is necessary to be able to think event-procedurally. Mastering this way of thinking contributes to the "construction" of a cross-cutting action.

The event structure of the play is the main pivot of the method of effective analysis. The event contains both an objective and a subjective side, therefore the plot, based on the artist's individual point of view, brings it closer to the play's overarching goal, through action, understanding its main conflict, the initial and leading proposed circumstances. However, not every event in the play is part of its end-to-end action. The end-to-end action starts only in the main event and ends in the final one. In the main event of the play, its super task is enlightened, the fate of the original proposed circumstance is decided, and this is the very last event of the play.

The whole performance should be based on one large-scale event - for example, a holiday. This large-scale event is the foundation of the show. Its ideological and thematic concept directly determines the nature and content of the events included in the script.

The script is always divided into episodes or blocks. Each episode is a plot move in the development of the general action, which, in accordance with the idea of ​​the script author, contains a certain meaning. Each episode is to some extent independent, autonomous in relation to other blocks. It has its own internal structure. Each block, in order to be considered implemented within the script, must have a tie, development, denouement. The change of episodes is accompanied by a change - a change of scenery, a switch of light, the appearance of a new character, a change in musical accompaniment, etc. - some new solution. In other words, the scenario should develop - evolve from block to block. Episodes must undergo changes, subject to the general concept, the style of the entire performance, and its main genre characteristics.

The appearance of each new episode must become an event.The event, first of all, is designed to interest the viewer, switch attention in time and always keep him in an active state. Each subsequent event should be an order of magnitude higher in emotional intensity than the previous one, and so on up to the maximum emotional point of presentation. The entire series of events is built according to this principle.

When developing a script, it is necessary to remember about such concepts as a pre-event and post-event series. Pre-event series - the proposed circumstances preceding the event, and post-event series, accordingly, - the circumstances following the event. On the stage, nothing arises out of nowhere - it is always conditioned by previous events, nothing disappears into nowhere - for this there is a post-event series. The latter contains in addition the function of a catalyst, namely the post-event series, provides new proposed circumstances for another event within the framework of the design.

Theatrical performance is almost always staged on the occasion of some historical and socially significant major event. The construction of a theatrical concert is built according to the laws of drama, dictated by the internal spring of the development of the original event or events.

Events have dual spatial and temporal characteristics. Consider duality in terms of time. It means that the real event, which was the basis (or is an element) of the holiday, has already happened in the past. Those. having certain "Historical roots" in the past, the event unfolds in the present - on the stage. The duality of the event in the spatial sense lies in the separation of the real space - in which the event took place in fact, and the stage space - the space of this holiday ... Thus, it is necessary to observe two nuances. The first concerns the elimination of temporary duality. It is necessary to match costumes, dances, songs, manner of speaking, household items, etc. elements of the era in which the event occurred. And the second nuance concerns spatial ambivalence. This or that space in which this or that event takes place should be reflected in the director's decision and in the scenography.

TICKET number 10

Finale in the scenario of theatrical performance and holiday. Its value for embodiment

Ideological and artistic conception and for the composition of the script.

Allegorical means of expression in the scenario of a holiday, theatrical performance.

“My brother was in America, and Coppola I gave him a piece of paper from the script (or he pulled it out, I don't know) with the explication of The Godfather. This is a pretty interesting document.

It breaks down into five graph. And at the top is the title, and not the episode, because it can be long, but the real one, the main thing in this piece of the episode. An episode may be seven minutes long, but there are several central, peak moments that are important to you. Therefore, you call the episode in quotation marks "NO". Let's say the heroine or hero says this word in response to a key question. This is not the name of the object, but the formulation of the essence. And you can split the episode into two chunks. One might be four minutes long and the other thirty seconds, but it's so important that you make it stand out.

My explications are three times larger in volume than the script itself, they describe in detail what I would like to receive. This is my message to the group.

In the explication, the film is “filmed” under laboratory conditions. Coming to the site, you can find a completely different picture. Because there may be a situation when - that's it, we won't shoot today, because it's raining, and there should be sun in this scene. "Because of which?!" - they ask you. That is, this scene may be in the rain, but - a stuck shirt, wet shoes ... The scene will go in a different direction, and, therefore, it is necessary to rebuild the accents of the acting character's movement. And so you, comparing what is with what was, decide whether this will not change what you wanted. Maybe it will, and maybe it's for the better. Because all the same, the actor drags the picture behind him, its movement, the relationship of characters. You can rape him as much as you want, but if you live in a living picture, then a good artist can always give a new intonation, and the scene can go the other way. And you again turn to the explication: is it good that it went the other way? Because it may be so, only for this moment it is wonderful, but for the general it is a disaster. On the "Slave of Love" I had such a case.

The point "possible mistakes" is important because when you, in these new conditions, which have been divinely created for you on the site, begin to follow the situation that has developed, you need to look at this point and understand that you - you! - it says, for example: "In episode N ... it is important not to get carried away by emotion." For the episode itself, in its dramatic path, is so emotional and powerful that if you overwhelm what is happening in the episode in terms of emotions, rise to too high a temperature level, you may not have enough for "episode N ..." five episodes after that and rhymes with this episode.

Again, as you write all this, you are once again convinced of whether the script is strong or not. This is the first thing for which explication is needed.

Second. By creating an explication, you deprive yourself of the heavy need to communicate with everyone who leads the various divisions of the group. Let's say it seems to me that the heroine should be dressed like this. I do not mean the cut of the dress. But it seems to me that the shoes should be too tight for her. Or that she's wearing an oversized cloak that gets confused all the time. Or, on the contrary, she likes him, and she flirts with this cloak all the time, wrapping herself in it, provoking him to ask where she got this cloak, in order to answer that another person bought this cloak for her. I do not give advice on how to dress an actress, but explain what I would like. In this way, I penetrate into everyone's realm.

Another conversation that the artist can tell me: “It seems to me that this should not be a cloak, but a man's shirt, which is fastened to the other side, if she needs to tease him that she is wearing a different thing, revealing that she has a connection with someone else. " To which I can say: “No, this is rude. Because if your woman is wearing someone else's shirt, it immediately catches your eye. " Etc; this is where the inner work begins, which, as it were, eats up and straightens out a huge amount of extra time that you would spend if there were no explication. Gritting your teeth, like taking castor oil, you have to sit and write and write ... Not only does this not clip the wings of all the other creative departments that work with you, but vice versa, you give them atmosphere, smell, color, sensations - what the viewer should experience from what he sees. "

Mikhalkov N.S., Reflection is stronger than a ray / Profession - cinematographer: Higher courses for scriptwriters and directors for 40 years / Comp. P.D. Volkova, A.N. Gerasimov, V.I. Sumenova, Yekaterinburg, "U-Factory", 2004, p. 632-635.

For explication, you choose any piece from the world repertoire, it is desirable that it be familiar to the examiners so that they understand what it is about and do not fall out of the discussion. But most importantly, she should delight you. You must really love her.

1. Relevance of the play. (to argue why I chose it, why it needs to be installed now, and so on).
2. Style and genre characteristics of the play.
3. Characteristics of the scene of the play. (the historical period of writing the play; social and political situation in the world / country / city when writing the play; characteristics of the place and time within the play itself, i.e. in which city, under what circumstances it happens; characteristics of a specific place of action, where everything is it happens).
4. The atmosphere of the performance and the atmosphere in which the characters live and act.
5. Characteristics of the main characters. What motivates each of them, what leads. What are they like. Their personal conflicts. Personal super tasks. Proposed Circumstances.
6. Ideal distribution of roles - on the example of famous actors. Determination from roles (major minor). The role of the character in this situation, that is, in every scene, in every action.
7. The grouping of forces (for example, by ideology).
8. Brief retelling / synopsis, if necessary.
9. Major events of each act.
10. Analysis of the play into actions. those. where you count, the action begins and ends (this may not coincide with the acts and scenes of the play itself, there can be five actions in one scene. Or maybe five scenes be one action).
11. Interpretation of the plot.
12. Idea - about what.
13. The overriding task is what I am setting for.
14. Dir. the idea - as I put it.
15. Audience - for whom I am staging.
16. Whole Piece: Initial Event; key event; main event; final event; leading circumstance.
17. Introduction, outset, twists and turns, climax, denouement.
18. Action and counter action.
19. You can find one phrase (or come up with one) that will characterize the entire play. Ie, not so much a play as your vision.
_______________
Scenography - or the idea of ​​stage design.
20. Decorations must be artistically and ideologically justified. From the category of "black curtain, because it conveys the dark mood of the soul of the protagonist." Or “a circle in the center of the stage that is spinning. In order for the hero to run along it in the opposite direction of his movement. And thus the appearance of dynamics and so on was created.
21. The decoration in githis must be supported by the LAYOUT of the scene. Seriously. The scale is at your discretion, the material is the same.
22. Whoever of the artists, scenographers worked on this play. In what thin. direction.
23. Costumes - sketches are desirable.
24. Musical arrangement (composer, mood or genre).
25. Light, color.