Wildcat Film School
Story Telling Vocabulary

What’s your favorite movie?
Why is it your favorite movie?
 The Actors?
 Characters?
 Story?
 Overall feel of the film?
 Gives you a certain emotion when you watch?
 Music, effects, etc?
What are some classic films?
 Jaws
 Titanic
 Wizard of Oz
 King Kong (any version)
 Psycho
 The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Mood & Tone
 Mood: a feeling the movie evokes from the
audience; atmosphere
 Tone: the exchange of the characters within the
movie; how does everything relate to every other
thing in the movie?
A Good Day to Die Hard
Prince Avalanche
The Heat
Dealing With Idiots
Way of the Wicked
Plot Diagram
Plot Diagram
Story Types - Taglines
Taglines
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
Dark Knight
Jurassic Park
Alien
Dumb and Dumber
The Matrix
Armageddon
Erin Brokovich
Saving Private Ryan
The Big Lebowski
Fargo
Schindler’s List
Bourne Identity
Finding Nemo
The Terminator
The Campaign
Gravity
Tommy Boy
Christmas Vacation
Inception
The Truman Show
Clerks
Jaws
Turbo
Tagline Answers
 Yule crack up. - Christmas Vacation
 There are 3.7 trillion fish in the ocean. They're
looking for one.
- Finding Nemo
 An adventure 65 million years in the making.
- Jurassic Park
 Reality is a thing of the past.
- The Matrix
 The thing that won't die, in the nightmare that
won't end.
- The Terminator
Tagline Answers
 If at first you don't succeed, lower your standards.
- Tommy Boy
 On the air. Unaware.
- The Truman Show
 Earth. It was fun while it lasted. - Armageddon
 Her life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the
mail.
- The Big Lebowski
 Just because they serve you doesn't mean they like
you.
- Clerks
Tagline Answers
 For Harry and Lloyd, every day is a no-brainer.
- Dumb and Dumber
 She brought a small town to its feet and a huge
corporation to its knees. - Erin Brokovich
 A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere. - Fargo
 The mission is a man.
- Saving Private Ryan
 The list is life.
- Schindler’s List
Tagline Answers
 You’ll never go in the water again.
- Jaws
 In space no one can hear you scream.
- Alien
 Why so serious?
- Dark Knight
 Your mind is the scene of the crime.
 Don’t let go.
- Inception
- Gravity
Tagline Answers
 He’s fast. They’re furious.
- Turbo
 President by day, hunter by night.
- Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
 He was the perfect weapon until he became the
target.
- Bourne Identity
 May the best loser win.
- The Campaign
Disney Taglines
One sentence movies
1. He/she beat the odds and held his/her own.
 Rocky
 Hunger Games
One sentence movies
2. Their love was doomed from the beginning, but they
fought for it anyway.
 Titanic
 Romeo and Juliet
One sentence movies
3. He/she found hope in the strangest place and fought
for freedom.
 Shawshank Redemption
 Ben Hur
One sentence movies
4. They found love in someone they never expected.
 Beauty and the Beast
 Ten Things I Hate About You
One sentence movies
5. The government locked him/her away, but he/she
broke free and saved the world (or just about
anything).
 The Rock
 The Jackal
One sentence movies
6. Something is attacking the world and he/she must
stop it/them and save everyone/thing.
 War of the Worlds
 Independence Day
 Armageddon
 Men in Black
One sentence movies
7. He/she was unaware of just how important he/she
was and when he/she found out, he/she broke free.
 The Matrix
 The Truman Show
One sentence movies
8. He/she made a friend in an unusual place and
together they could do so much more than they ever
could do alone.
 Rainman
 ET
One sentence movies
9. A quiet guy/gal yearns to be so much more.
 Secret Life of Walter Mitty
 Fight Club
One sentence movies
10. They met, fell in like, had a misunderstanding and
then fell in love.
 Crazy Stupid Love
 Warm Bodies
 Forgetting Sarah Marshall
 Sweet Home Alabama
One sentence movies
11. There’s an upcoming competition and this unlikely
pair/group has to work together to win.
 Pitch Perfect
 Silver Linings Playbook
One sentence movies
12. They’re both fighting to win the love of the girl/guy
and in the end only one can win.
 The Notebook
 This Means War
Character
 Characterization: act of describing a character or
qualities about them (in a script you will need to write it
out and then in the movie show the audience who a
character is).
 Direct Characterization: the process by which you will
reveal the personality of a character (direct is done in
the script)
 Indirect Characterization: the process by which the
personality of a character is revealed through speech,
actions, appearance, etc. (how we understand a
character in a movie by seeing them – generally the first
time).
Character
Dialogue
 Diction: style of speaking dependent on choice of
words (decide how each character specifically talks
– we all talk differently through our word choice).
 Pacing: the relative speed or slowness with which a
story is told or an idea is presented.
Dialogue