A blank page turned back toward you. Real dread exists. Directors are familiar with this fight to persuade a producer, customer, or agency you are the one with vision. If you have never created a directors treatment template, you could find it to be some big scale industrial magic. But no. Your lifeboat in wild waves is a good template.
One uses a treatment template that alternates between blueprint and Mood Board. Structure rules, yet sloppiness has no place here. First make an opening statement, the project’s elevator pitch. Something like “Picture Wes Anderson meets Mad Max, but with puppies,” seems sharp. Get their eyes fixed on you. Capture their interest, momentarily.
Your concealed weapon is visual references. Mood boards, color swatches, odd film frames go crazy. There is no rule book stating you cannot chuck in a Krispy Kreme logo if it fits the tone you are trying to convey. It gets more difficult for your competition to copy paste the more particular you are.
Descriptions of tone and style merit their own section of your paper. No snooze text. There are no overcooking academic wrestling contests. Keep it fast while you’re showing your relative, a non-filmmaker. “Camera stings like Ali in round five and floats like a butterfly.” That’s golden. Allow their sparkle to be felt.
Use headers to break up your therapy. “Visual Mood”. “casting vibrances.” “Camera Travels.” Every part should be clear, succinct, maybe even a bit showy, like a billboard on the road. Wall-of- text marathons neither award points. Pepper in stills from pertinent movies, or if you draw like a kid, scribbled thumbnails (that strange, frenzied energy occasionally lands).
Music and sound also merit some of the attention. Consider playlists, sample tracks, perhaps a reference to that eerie Icelandic band the client has never heard but will enjoy. Just why? Sounds really important. It highlights your taste, generates excitement, and stirs feeling.
One mistake many directors make is forgetting the endeavor is a cooperation rather than a one-person march. Your template should subtly suggest transparency. Try saying, “I see the protagonist this way, but I’m excited to explore ideas,” instead of stamping your foot. Set aside breadcrumbs for a discussion.
Do not cut corners in logistics. Shot lists, locations, FX notes, clothing ideas – these demonstrate you have thought ahead. Beside your pictures, toss brief explanations. “We’ll shoot at dawn; the ethereal silhouette of our lead comes from the fog rolling in”. They swiftly visualize it.
Finish with your bio but avoid the grandstanding. Just taste the reason you view the world via this prism. Possibly a simple one-liner: “I survived to tell the tale after filming ads in sub-zero ice rinks.” Makes them happy and keeps it light.
All things considered, what is most important? clarity coupled with arrogance. a template providing the story first that winks at the customer. Draft, modify, then draft once more. You will acquire your own taste. Winning the pitch will be next stop. Then, leave. With every therapy, rewrite the rules.