This week we’re going to be breaking down the elements required for your EPOC. These are dependent to some extent on the nature of your project and you should chat to Stayci and I (Kim) to see whether what you are planning to do is relevant for your individual idea.
TASK: read through the following requirements and research the elements that are relevant to you. We will spend the tutorial breaking this down a bit further, addressing any questions and workshopping in your groups.
The EPOC task is modelled on an industry market, so really think about what makes your proposal unique, marketable and relevant. Why do you think it should it be made and what will help to sell your idea?
You should also start to schedule any shoot times for what you need for your EPOC.
You will produce a final proposal document and electronic proof of concept for your digital narrative. This is a template to follow.
OVERVIEW: ALL PROJECTS
Working title: this should be distinctive, relevant to the target market, and memorable.
Form and medium: What form will it take? What software and/or social media will you use? How long do you estimate?
Premise: 1-2 sentences outlining the basic premise, philosophy and purpose of the work
Market: short summary describing who the narrative is aimed at, where they will watch it and why. This Screen Australia Marketing Guide is a useful resource to guide you.
- Outline innovative and/or original promotional strategies that you will adopt for your project. How will you promote your narrative to your target market? How will you communicate and promote the project’s high concept and unique selling points? How will you attract attention to your narrative? How will you develop a community for your narrative? What distribution platforms will you use and when will each component be published?Your marketing strategy is essentially a plan for communicating your narrative’s unique selling points to your target demographic. We are all familiar with launches, advertising, point-of sale materials, teasers, publicity, and reviews. Which of these, or other, communication techniques will you use to tell your audience about your narrative and its benefits, and persuade them to look at it?Tactics to consider:
- prizes – competitions, festivals
- crowdfunding – Pozible, Kickstarter, Patreon
- social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr
- online presence – bespoke website, guest posts on popular blogs, posts on relevant forums
- transmedia – a co-ordinated expansion of your narrative over multiple channels
If you’re making a non-fiction project, you might want to look at this guide to Impact Producing.
FICTION
Main characters: briefly describe the characters that play an important role in the narrative, particularly the protagonist/s and antagonist/s.
Story world: briefly describe the settings for your narrative.
Narrative outline: 1-2 pages describing the narrative in simple, non-technical language (ie. no camera angles, transitions, etc.). Write in the active-voice in present tense. Tell the reader what they will see and hear on the screen, from the beginning to the end of the narrative.
Main characters: please ensure all character names appear in this section of the document with their names in bold type. If the user can choose the name of the character, choose a default name for the purposes of this document (it is harder to a story if the main character is variously referred to as ‘our protagonist’ or ‘our hero’).
Images can convey a lot about a character. Can you make a sketch or find an image to illustrate your character/s?
Narrative world: what is the look, sound and feel of the narrative environments? Is the narrative set in the past, present or future? Is it set in the city/country/wilderness? Is it a realistic or fantasy setting?
Images can convey a lot about a world – can you make a sketch or take a photo of your location/s?
Narrative Outline:
- Write in the present tense.
- Check for sections written in the past tense – these may be examples of ‘backstory’. They don’t belong in your narrative. Find a way of bringing backstory into the present.
- Remove sections that describe character thoughts. Convert these thoughts to action.
- Write in an active voice. Don’t write “Panic ensues”, write “Ordinary people start to smash shop windows to get food and water.”
- Be specific and descriptive. Don’t use generic terms like monster, car and boat. Use descriptive terms like minotaur, ferrari and catamaran.
- Your narrative will raise questions in the minds of the audience – this is a good thing, as questions keep the audience interested. For instance, there will be questions about causality (what caused the character to do that?) and about temporality (what will happen next?). Try to answer these questions within your narrative, unless you are aiming for a David Lynch style mystery.
- Will the story be told in cut scenes (linear sequences) or through gameplay or choices? Signpost any choices the player or user can make that will alter the narrative. Outline the effect of these choices – will have direct, delayed or cumulative effects on the narrative?
- If there is an endpoint to the narrative, describe all possible outcomes or endings.
Images can convey a lot about a narrative – can you make a flowchart of your narrative describing audience choices?
or
NONFICTION
This template gives useful points to brainstorm documentary proposal ideas. Use this as a guideline for writing out your outline, characters, motivation, style and approach.
Main participants: briefly describe the participants and what they contribute to the project
Setting: briefly describe your locations
Narrative outline: 1-2 pages describing the narrative in simple, non-technical language (ie. no camera angles, transitions, etc.). Write in the active-voice in present tense. Tell the reader what they might expect to see and hear on the screen, from the beginning to the end of the narrative.
PARTICIPATION/INTERACTIVITY: ALL PROJECTS
User interaction:
Describe how the user participates in the narrative and/or interacts with and/or contributes to the narrative?
How does the user navigate through the narrative? Write a walk-through if the interaction is particularly complex (a walk-through evokes how the user will experience the narrative on the screen.
Write in the active-voice in present tense. Tell the reader what they will see and hear on the screen).
If you’re relying on users to contribute content to your project, be clear on how you will attract and collect this participatory content. Refer to literature and examples to explicate this.
AUDIOVISUAL
Visualisation: describe any key stylistic elements in filming, photography, animation, editing, SFX, music, narration, sound effects or audio composition. The visualisation described in this section should fit with the form you’re working with, and be demonstrated in your EPOC.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competition: identify any media work that has already been produced on the same subject, or using the same participatory/interactive approach. If so, what is new, different, interesting, engaging about your approach?
RESEARCH
Summarise any research you have done about the subject matter.
MARKETING AND RELEASE PLAN
Describe the marketing strategies you will adopt to promote your narrative to your target audience. Outline how and when you will distribute or publish your work. The Screen Australia Marketing Guide is a good place to start for this research.
PRODUCTION PLAN
Production timeline, with appropriate milestones, including marketing/release dates:
Crew list: All crew you will need to complete this project
Proposed location list: Start scouting real locations and look at how you will secure these locations. This checklist helps you to consider some of the aspects of location scouting.
Proposed cast (optional): Look through online casting sites and pull some example images of potential cast members.
EPOC: Electronic Proof of Concept
The EPOC should be relevant to the type of project proposed.
For FICTION (including GAMING) choose one or more of the following:
- a ripomatic: screen grabs, audio or video from existing projects may help to explain your concept. For instance, movie stills, movie clips, audio tracks. This should be cut together like a trailer with a voice-over.
- a storyboard and script: storyboards should be in the correct aspect ration that you will shoot in – so check your template
- a production design lookbook: could include original artwork for the project, photographs, storyboards, maps, interface designs, flowcharts, art, paintings, photos or drawings (remember to provide references). You could also link to relevant audio or video clips on Google Drive.
- an animatic
- An animatic is an animated storyboard with soundtrack that indicates shots, action, pacing, and audio. The animatic should convey a key moment in your drama, documentary or game.Animatic (Futurama), Gravity Falls Intro (Animatic), Gorillaz – Dirty Harry (Animatic), The Price – The Original Animatic
- a shot and edited sample scene
- an audio file (podcast, music clip)
- a screen design (website/app – PC/mobile device)
- a moodboard (that shows references to similar projects)
- a game prototype
- a website
For NONFICTION choose one or more of the following:
- an interactive wireframe (website – PC/mobile device)
- a location lookbook
- a shot and edited sample scene with action/observation
- a sample interview video with your participant/s
- test footage that shows style and approach
- a moodboard (that shows references to similar projects)
- a website
- an audio file (podcast, music clip)