Aim for a 5-minute script, including dialogue, movement, action, music and credits. As a guide scriptwriting software allocates one page to one minute of footage.

Start with a stimulus. This could be a photograph, movement, twisted fairy tale, story, Dreaming story, poem, painting, cartoon, metaphor, question, song, memory, film or concept. See ‘Turning stimulus into an idea’ for more information.

Create the logline – a one sentence summary of the film’s plot.

Decide who is your target audience. Your filmmaking decisions should keep the audience in mind and what they will relate to.

Design a storyboard (on paper or using digital tools such as KeyNote, photoshop, Word, Celtx or Boords) that maps out a plot or a sequence of drawings. Plan a dramatic arc that takes the audience on a journey. Decide when and how to introduce the main character/s.

Break the script into a few scenes. Add scene headings that tell the actors where the action takes place. If your script is based on a complex issue, Act 1 introduces the characters to build empathy, Act 2 explores the issue to build tension, and Act 3 presents the climax and resolves the issue.

If your script is based on a complex issue, Act 1 introduces the characters to build empathy, Act 2 explores the issue to build tension, and Scene 3 presents the climax and resolves the issue.

Produce the dialogue or voice-over script.

Use elements of the dialogue, voice-over, sound effects and/or setting to suggest time, place and context.