Short film script
The UmbrellaYour title here
Film card
Six lines. A short film that cannot be said in this much space is probably two films.
- Title
- The Umbrella
- Length
- About 3 minutes, 3 pages
- Logline
- A girl waits at a rainy bus stop for the one person who is coming home.
- People
- Mina, 10, in a yellow coat. Her little brother Joon, 6, with a cardboard box.
- Place
- A rural bus stop in the rain at dusk
- Ending image
- Two children under one umbrella walking away down a wet road.
Scene list
Three scenes is plenty for a short film. Each one changes something.
| Scene | Place and time | What happens | What changes | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bus stop, dusk, rain | Mina waits alone under an umbrella and checks the empty road. | We learn she is waiting for someone. | 1 min |
| 2 | Bus stop, dusk, rain | A bus arrives. Joon steps off with a cardboard box. | We learn who she has been waiting for. | 1 min |
| 3 | Bus stop, dusk, rain | Mina runs to him and they share the umbrella. | She is not waiting alone any more. | 1 min |
Script
Scene heading, action in the present tense, then character and dialogue.
EXT. RURAL BUS STOP - DUSK (RAIN)
A shelter, a bench, a long empty road. MINA (10, yellow coat) stands under a big umbrella, watching the road. She checks it again. Nothing.
Headlights through the rain. A bus stops. The doors hiss open.
JOON (6) steps down the stairs holding a cardboard box in both arms. Something in it moves.
Joon
I brought a friend.
A kitten pokes its head out of the box.
Mina
trying not to smile
Dad said no pets.
Joon
Dad is not here.
Mina laughs. She crouches, lifts the umbrella over both of them and takes one side of the box.
The bus pulls away. The two of them walk down the wet road, the umbrella between them.
The end
Check the film
Three checks before you shoot or generate.
- 1SetupIn the first scene we know who is waiting.
- 2TurnThe bus arrives and the waiting ends.
- 3Ending imageTwo children under one umbrella.
Film card
Six lines. A short film that cannot be said in this much space is probably two films.
- Title
- [Title]
- Length
- [Length. A page is about a minute.]
- Logline
- [Who wants what, and what stands in the way]
- People
- [Two or three people, one detail each]
- Place
- [One place, one time]
- Ending image
- [The last picture, written first]
Scene list
Three scenes is plenty for a short film. Each one changes something.
| Scene | Place and time | What happens | What changes | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Number] | [Where and when] | [The action] | [The difference by the end] | [About how long] |
| [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
Script
Scene heading, action in the present tense, then character and dialogue.
[INT. or EXT. PLACE - DAY or NIGHT]
[Who we see, where they are and what they want. One picture per line.]
[Something arrives or changes. A sound, a person, a message.]
[CHARACTER]
[A short line, said the way the person would say it]
[The turn: what the person does that they would not have done before]
[CHARACTER]
[how they say it]
[The reply]
[The ending image: the picture you wrote on the film card]
[The end]
Check the film
Three checks before you shoot or generate.
- 1Setup[Do we know who wants what in the first minute?]
- 2Turn[What changes the situation halfway?]
- 3Ending image[Does the last picture say what the film is about?]
