Translating personal experiences into film

Translate your short film idea to a treatment for pitching

“You did it! You have reached the end of this course. Thank you so much for taking part. I hope you enjoyed it and that you are inspired and motivated to make your own films. Now you know how to translate your story into a visual document, and that is an essential step to get there! Here are the main steps you should follow to complete your project and a few tips to create a successful and unique treatment for your short film: Find an authentic story that only you should tell To make your short authentic, it's important to make it personal, so people feel a connection when they see it. An idea for a film often starts with an overwhelming feeling you get inspired with. You feel attached to a situation or emotion, and you have the feeling you need to share this with the world.

Get inspired by doing online and offline research Research makes your story more grounded and triggering, and through that, you will find your signature as a filmmaker. Online research could be, for example, image research, and offline research could be interviewing people in real life. Start already with doing some image research. Every time you see something that appeals to you, save it to find out what your visual identity is. Write your motivation, logline, synopsis, and script Once you have your story and theme, write the logline and synopsis. Remember to keep it relatively short. For writing a script, you can follow the traditional rules and guidelines, but the fun thing about making your short film is that you can also create your own rules. Set up the treatment for your film The next step is to translate the story and visual identity of the future film into a presentation to pitch your idea. A good treatment should be a representation of your vision. There are different designs and ways to create this document, depending on who you are presenting it to. Is it a client, a crew member, an artist, or a personal project? However, it should consist of the following sections: introduction, longline, synopsis or script, and look and feel. Take some time to think about the design of your treatment. Choose the right font, colors, and pictures, considering the style and period of time in which the film is set. Create a color palette that will be the leitmotif throughout your treatment and film. Every section has a conceptual approach and is connected with each other. When writing the text for each one, be specific about what you want and how you see it, but stay clear. What is the most important you want to say? Pick your images wisely so that the treatment shows and tells straight away the right style and look and feel of your idea. There are many ways! You can choose a very minimalistic design or one with lots of images. It depends on your story and to who you're pitching. Share your treatment with your crew or production companies Once it's ready, you can use this visual document as a selling tool. Send it to production companies, artists, crew members or other people you would like to work with on your project. And don't forget to share it in the forum! You can do so by clicking on "Create your project". You can also add an explanation about the decisions you made in each step and tell us about the challenges you faced along the way. I can't wait to see the project you come up with! Last but not least, remember that Domestika has a great community where we are all looking to grow and learn. So join in, share your process, ideas, and doubts, and comment on others' work. I will be there as well and will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Good luck! ”

Partial transcription of the video

“How to make a short authentic with a visual document with Anneke van der Valk Yes, you did it! You just finished your course and you're ready to translate your story into a treatment or visual document. How to make a short authentic Here are some last points for you to remember. To make your short authentic, it's important to make it personal, It's important not to copy others, but to create your own unique style by finding your signature as a filmmaker. Each treatment is different and unique. It depends on who or what you're pitching for. Your style and signature can also be your leitmotif...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Translating personal experiences into film

• Level: Beginner
• 100% positive reviews (16)
• 2072 students
• 4 units
• 14 lessons (1h 26m)
• 5 downloads

• Category

  Photography & Video

• Areas

  Art Direction, Film, Film, Video & TV, Filmmaking, Video