4. Beats

In class we learnt that "Beating" is a term used in Hollywood film making for beating out n idea - a beat is when something happens. In a 5 minute short film, there are usually around 8-12 beats.

Here is an example of how to break a short film don't into beats

Beat 1 – Introduce the world the film will be in

Beat 2 – Introduce the character

Beat 3 – Introduce the problem

Beat 4 – How the character chooses to solve the problem

Beat 5 – The character experiences a major set back

Beat 6 – The character is almost defeated

Beat 7 – The character rejects a solution

Beat 8 – The character discovers a solution

Here is a short film I watched and analyzed the beats.

Beat 1- Introduces the man and woman driving in their cars, shows that they are average people.

Beat 2- Introduction to the female character, find out that she has a lot of her possessions in her car, connotes that she does not have much money.

Beat 3- The woman goes on a date with a man.

Beat 4- They get on really well and have a good date.

Beat 5- Neither of them want to go back to their apartments because they are small and messy.

Beat 6- They both try and convince each other to go to each others apartments

Beat 7- The woman refuses to go to her apartment and the man refuses to go to his.

Beat 8 - They spend the night sitting on benches in various places and talking to each other.

Here are the beats my film:

Beat 1: Ava’s first day at school
Beat 2: Ava is alone at school
Beat 3: She meets Josie
Beat 4: Josie starts peer pressuring Ava
Beat 5: Ava starts to avoid Josie as she feels bullied
Beat 6: Josie tries to fight Ava but the teachers catch her
Beat 7: Josie isn’t allowed back to school
Beat 8: Ava make new friends and starts to settle into her new school