Here is our completed shooting scripts and storyboard for Maurice Shakespeare and Craig ahead of our planned shooting for next week. These are very rough versions and as you can see our drawings aren’t exactly accurate. The purpose of doing this is to prevent confusion during our shoot and ensure that we achieve the most optimal product that we can using the limited time gap.
Maurice Shakespeare Shooting
Script Craig Shooting Script
[Untitled] – Maurice Shakespeare Storyboard
Award winning director Steven Spielberg is a house hold name when it comes to cinema, and whilst critics are divided upon Spielberg’s artistic approach to cinema one thing is for certain, he has became a master of the ‘Invisible One Shot’. The One Shot (also known as Long Take/Oner) is a word used to describe 
when a film scene is shown through the use of only one continuos shot. This is an old technique used throughout American cinema and is often achieved with camera movements such as panning and dolly shots, however, where Spielberg attempts to differentiate himself is the limited use of camera movement or subtle movement. This video wonderfully depicts various works of Spielberg and how he wields the Oner throughout to create iconic and impacting cinematic scenes.
To pull off a successful Oner, especially one with limited to no camera movement requires a masterful control of your actors and their blocking. Both director and actor should be aware of all of the available space in the shot and where they can and can’t move to. There are many benefits to this as evident throughout most of Spielberg’s films, but none more so than Jaws. This style of shooting allows actors a certain amount of freedom with the confines of the shot that creates a much more dynamic scene with characters moving in foreground and background. The use of Spielberg’s blocking techniques is carefully observed in this video that analyses Jaws shot by shot and breaks it down into a masterclass of the Oner.
It is certainly a unique style of telling the story of a scene and not one that is easy to pull off, but when done well it can be effective and stick in an audiences mind for a long time. Where as it was a commonly employed practice in old American cinema, in our modern era of film directors are very divided in their approaches to film. Some prefer quick flashing edits such as blockbusters as Star Trek, Avengers and other high budget action films, whilst others films persevere to use the One Shot and some even attempt to make the entire film in this style such as the recently release Birdman.
I think it would be really interesting to try and make a short film solely using a One Shot, as challenging as that would be I’m sure it could be achieved with plenty of planning. Another of my favourites that only uses One Shot is the short film Tick Tock by Ien Chi. Not only is this entirely done with one shot but it also transitions through several locations and themes and is played in reverse.
The Journey Begins 