How One Pager Can Help During Film Production?

I make a One Pager for every scene in my shooting script.

M. Olchawska
Indie Filmmaking School

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On the set of my short film “The Man With The Spying Glass”

One Pager is for the director’s eyes only to remind the director of the most important things that need to take place in the scene. It’s like a cheat sheet for directors during the production.

One Pager consists of:

  1. The scene in a nutshell (one line, what the scene is about).
  2. How did the previous scene end? (precise ending of the last scene and how that will impact the current scene).

3. What are the beats in the scene and where are they (on which line, movement, gesture)?

4. What is each characters’ objective/s in the scene?

5. Are the characters going to reach their scene objectives or not?

6. What is the stage direction for each character (what I have imagined and would like to try out with the actors)?

7. How is the scene going to end (what frame, movement, or gesture)?

8. What are the characters wearing (I know that this is the costume department, but I like making a note or two about the costumes, especially when/if the character is wearing something very distinctive that emphasise the character)?

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M. Olchawska
Indie Filmmaking School

Award-Winning Filmmaker | Sustainability & FI Writer | Screenwriter | Content Producer & Creator | magdaolchawska.com ecotopiauniverse.com | schoolruns.eu