One Man Short?

Semiazas

Semiazas

Hey, just wondering how people would do a short with one person in it.
I have the idea of it simply being a man in a room as his solitude turns into madness (or some form of premise like that).
Anyone got tips on how to do something like that?
 
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There is just 1 tip:
you will need a good story ;)

There is no trick for 'one man shorts'.
How people will handle this is depending on the story and the chosen style.

But you could try to project the madness to the public:terrorize your viewers with loooong shots and boredom and then shock them with a twist :P


Remember: film is about showing what happens (or doesn't happen).
So how do you visualise the boredom?
How does the madness creep into his mind? (How do you show it?)
Why is he alone?
Where does the story end?
Is there a real psychological story behind it or is the movie about atmosphere?

You don't have to anwser these questions here, but you will need to know the anwsers.

The difficulty with one man shorts is relating to this 'one man'.
Interaction between humans shows a lot about a character, without this interaction the 'man' needs to show his character through action only without interacting with other individuals.


I hope this is helpfull.
Good luck!
 
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I had an idea that he talks to different parts of himself at different points. Like, it's one actor playing all these different parts of one character.
So, it'd show him saying something then cut to another part of him (dressed differently or even dressed the same but with different mannerisms) talking and it'd work like that.
 
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I have made three.

When I was in high school I tried it for the first time.
A kid falls asleep at his desk during class and when he
wakes up the whole place is empty.

A few years later I did one about a man being followed
by a hooded figure who is chased through a series of
ever stranger events and confrontations. All characters
were played by the same actor.

And then I did one that won several awards. A man in
a closet - and something is out there.

You should make yours. When do you think you will shoot?
 
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I'm not sure, I've not had a chance to write it yet and I have an exam next week so writing will have to wait until after that.
Any advice on writing it? That seems like it'd be the most difficult thing.
 
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Writing isn't the most difficult thing - but it's difficult, no
doubt about it.

The most difficult part about writing is putting off writing.
Exams get in the way, work gets in the way, personal
responsibilities get in the way, life gets in the way. The more
you put off the writing, the harder it is to make a movie. Imagine
how many things will get in the way of shooting...

My advice is to write every day. Even when you have an exam coming
up, even when you have school, even when you have work, even when
you have all the personal responsibilities we all have. Set aside
one hour of each day - if you have to get up one hour earlier that
what you have to do. If you have to drop one hour of TV then
that's what you have to do.

I know that isn't the advice you were hoping for; you wanted
advice on what to put down on paper. But I can't offer that. I
know that once you set aside a specific writing time and put aside
your reasons for NOT writing and write every day, your script will
come together.

So here's my advice in a nut shell:

Even with an exam next week, you need to write for one hour TODAY
on this script. Then tomorrow you need to find one hour and write.
Then you do that every day for the next week.

Difficult to do, isn't it?

If you wait until it's easy to do, you may have a very long wait.
 
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I've done it three times. You can do it, too.

Writing a script with only one character in it is no
different than writing a script with a dozen. You
write what happens in the movie.

How much did you write on this script today?
 
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I think a big choice in the writing is does the character talk to himself or not. Narration?
Me I talk to my self on the way home from work, In a closet for a month? Id be having full on conversations!
 
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Well if the man is talking to different "parts" of himself, then these other parts have to be something that relates to him. Like these parts could be feelings, memories, or even alternate personalities. Or they might be "masks" that the character puts on in front of people to make him look like someone he's not. Maybe the character goes through all the memories that he went through with all these "masks" and how they helped and how they screwed him up. Just a few ideas.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
I think a big choice in the writing is does the character talk to himself or not. Narration?
Me I talk to my self on the way home from work, In a closet for a month? Id be having full on conversations!
Click to expand...

You could twist things a little... play with the audience a bit.

Maybe he's talking on the phone, but in the end, there's no one there.

Perhaps you shoot it as though he's talking to someone, but when you pull back, there's nobody there... or perhaps he's talking to a dead person?

As others have said, this will need a strong story line and really good dialog, well monologue I guess, but it never hurts to keep a little surprise for the end.

Good luck with it.
 
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I don't know if it's been considered, but a short film called One Man Short has so much potential. Could also be One Man, Short or even One Man... Short, but One Man Short gets the point across. There's additional meanings in the title. Could be fun. Would have to be a comedy.
 
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