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You Have Characters and Scenes But No Film
By Raymond Karsten · Published · Last updated
You have more material than most people ever get. Characters you know well, scenes you can see, a world with rules. What you don't have is a film, and it's not for lack of imagination.
You have the parts, not the spine
Scenes are moments. A film is a sequence where each moment causes the next. If your scenes could be shuffled without anything breaking, they aren't connected yet — they're a collection.
Find the want
Pick your strongest character and answer one question: what do they want, right now, badly enough to act on? That answer is the spine. Scenes that serve it stay. Scenes that don't go in a folder for later, and there will be a later. These are the six steps that turn scenes into a short.
Order beats invention
You probably don't need new material. You need to choose which three of the scenes you already have come first, second and last — and cut the rest for this film.
Nothing is wasted. It just isn't in this film.
Raymond Karsten
Thirty years in film. Storyboards, commercials, music videos. Story sequences for Netflix. Ten years teaching story development at Høyskolen Kristiania.
Artificial tool. Analog director.