Assignment 22: Pass the Time

[Filmmaking 101 overview]

Purpose: To learn how to better communicate visually.

Basis: With written words it’s easy to say, “Two weeks later...” or, “The next morning...” or, “Ten years later...” but because film is a visual medium, that idea is much harder to get across without a lame title card. Properly done, the audience will know just as quickly that you’ve jumped through some time, but mastering this skill takes practice and thought. Once you get it down, you will not need to fall into the temptation of slapping words on the screen in the middle of your movie: Ten years later...

Directions: In ten seconds or less per year (or day), jump through a few years (or days) of a story. This will likely require that you create a montage of events or visually shift the elements around your characters to keep things moving. Think about how you can creatively--and visually--tell the audience what’s happening without resorting to dialog or title cards.

Looking Forward: Now that you’ve jumped through time, you need to learn to capture the important moments as events unfold in front of you.

What to Watch: Pixar’s "Married Life" from Up [G] One of the best short passage of time stories ever shown.

Watch Samples:


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