This summer, Scandar Copti, DTFF's Community Outreach Programmer and the director of the award-winning film
Ajami, asked 14 Qataris and expats to do something quite daunting:
Create a fully realized story with just one minute of film. And during the workshops, the participants, ranging in age from 16 to 40-somethings, did just that.
So what exactly does it take to tell a story in 60 seconds?
More than you might think... for starters, people, cameras, sound equipment, good stories, and a real purpose.
Beyond that, you need time to brainstorm, to push past writer's block and create a script. Copti suggests drawing on your own life story and experiences to find inspiration for the characters and plot. And it all has to fit on just one page.
Then you must spend hours, even days filming, often in the discomfort of heat, cold or fatigue. During this stage, you have to manage your time carefully, vary your shots, and ultimately, "you have to know what you want to say," Copti said.
And finally, you must edit, sit in front of a computer and move scenes around, again and again, until the story feels just right. This means selecting the best bits of acting, the clearest sound, and most fluid camera work and mixing it together, while discarding the rest.