Ideas Development
3. Short Story Paraphrase
Short stories tend to translate to film well as the narrative restrictions are similar. In class, take an existing short story and sum it up in three lines. This one is developed from a Frank O’Connor story:
A priest witnesses a small boy and girl kissing. As a joke, he ‘marries’ the two. The boy takes his ‘marriage’ very seriously and sets out, in a panic, to find a job to support his wife. The boys father becomes involved and goes to see the priest. Masking their amusement, they concoct a way to declare the marriage ‘null and void’.
Now, sum the story up in one line:
A joke has unexpected consequences for a trusting child.
Now take this line and ‘flesh out’ a short film idea (or two) from it:
A grand parent tells a child about a special monster who comes at night. The child is determined to photograph it, if only they could steal their parent’s camera.
