If you’ve ever tried to bring a creative idea to life , then you’ll know it’s not an easy task. 

Big creative ideas usually take a team to execute. And your team needs to literally “SEE” your vision in order to bring in to life.

So how do creatives communicate their ideas so everyone involved knows what direction to run in?How can we create a clear and concise insight into the original vision? 

In film production, the common pre production tool is the DIRECTORS TREATMENT:

This is a collage of ideas, references and carefully organized concepts that help us visualize our ideas on paper.

In this 5 minute read, we will look at what is a director’s treatment in regards to filmmaking, what makes a good one, software we recommend, as well as what all creatives can gain by using the same principles in all types of creative projects. 

Although treatments are commonly used in film, the same principles can apply to enhance any creative body of work and make it easier to bring to life. Read on to see how.

What Is a Director’s Treatment?

Traditionally, a treatment is a written pitch of a story intended to be dramatized for film or television. It’s a document that allows you to present the story idea of your film, music video, TV pilot, or commercial before writing the entire script.

A treatment is a narrative screenwriting tool that helps you flesh out your story and develop your characters. There are two primary uses for a director’s treatment:

• As a diagnostic tool, treatments allow you to see and rectify the faults in your story. This way, you can identify plot holes or parts of your story that are missing.
• It’s a selling pitch that gets people interested enough to invest in your story. A treatment lays out the structure of your whole story and allows you to communicate your passion.

How long should a director’s treatment be?

There’s no direct or definite answer to this question. A treatment can be as short as one page or as long as forty or fifty pages. That said, you want to keep your reader engaged, and few people are likely to browse through forty to fifty pages of work if they’re unfamiliar with you or the quality of your work. It’s best to communicate the most pertinent information as briefly and efficiently as possible.

What Elements Does a Treatment Need?  

Treatments essentially contain detailed descriptions of the setting, theme, plot, and character roles. As such, there are four main elements of a great treatment: Project Title, Logline, Synopsis, and Reference shots.

• Logline

A logline is a one-sentence summary or description of a movie. It can sell someone on your idea and make them want to read your script. A poorly crafted logline can also make the most intriguing premise sound dull and tedious, thereby turning away potential readers. 

• Synopsis

How long your plot summary should be depends on you and your story. That said, it might be a good idea to start off with a one-page summary ‘aka a synopsis’. Be sure to break down key characters and storylines, including how they develop.

• Reference shots

Your goal is to share your vision with the client or collaborators. You want them to envision what you see so clearly in your mind and to understand what you feel. Pairing vivid language with beautiful reference shots or imagery can help you achieve just that. 

You may want to cleverly reference frames, films, archive footage, illustrations, photographs, or other visual art forms to capture your thought processes. 

What Software Can You Make a Treatment With? 

Even though a director’s treatment is fundamentally a written description of your project, it’s the visuals that help sell your story. Treatments need to be visually beautiful experiences. 

Here are some of the software that can help you create such an experience. 

1.Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a key tool for creative professionals. It’s an image-editing program that allows you to create visual art. Photoshop is useful for more than just retouching. It’s an incredibly versatile platform that enables you to build a scene from separate images and even create digital paintings from scratch.

2. InDesign

Need to create beautiful layouts for print or digital media? This is the software for you. With InDesign, the options, tools, and techniques you can implement are practically endless, giving you a limitless scope of creative potential.

3.Illustrator

Today, artwork needs to be both versatile and functional. Adobe Illustrator is the tool that lets you scale down your digital creations for mobile screens or scale them up to billboard size.

4.Video editing software

Video references are a great way to show more inspirations in motion. Premiere Pro, Davinci, and Final cut are great programs that  allow you to edit all kinds of footage. Basically, if you can dream it, you can bring it to life.

What Video Projects Are Treatments Best For?

 A director’s treatment functions as a substitute for a live pitch. So treatments are good for any project that you’ll need collaboration with other people.

• Commercials

Utilize a treatment to show clients and advertising agencies your vision behind the product. It’s your chance to describe exactly how you’ll execute your idea. 

• Short films

A short film is defined first and foremost by its brevity, and you want your treatment to reflect this clearly. The goal is to create a concentrated piece of storytelling that ignites a certain emotion, be it awe, love, horror, or disbelief.

• Feature films

Writing a script takes a lot of preparation, time, and dedication. Even great screenwriters have problems fully fleshing out their ideas. And this is where a director’s treatment comes in. It allows you to explore various storylines and fully develop your characters. 

• Instagram content 

Looking to refresh your brand identity? Instagram helps creators craft a strong visual identity, and a treatment can help you lay out the process to achieve this objective. 

• Video advertisements

Digital video advertisements aim to tell a story, reignite interest in a brand or product, create buzz and convey information concisely. A series of captivating video ads is all you need to capture and engage an audience. For this reason, it’s important to craft a treatment that allows you to break down every aspect of the project.

Importance of a Director’s Treatment

Treatments do a lot of the heavy lifting when you’re trying to figure out the tone, general direction, and organization of your project.

A director’s treatment can help you find your creative projects storyline. It can be part of your process that enables you to break down all elements of your story and why it will connect with audiences. In principle, it consists of the vision for the story, communicating important scenes and storylines, and ultimately bringing your characters to life. 

Most ideas start out more complicated than they need to be. It helps to break down your vision to its most fundamental form. By figuring out how to communicate your vision on paper, you can better understand how your story needs to be told on the screen.

The great thing about director’s treatments is that people are willing to read a treatment when they won’t read a script. For this reason, treatments are an important pre-production tool that gives you and, ultimately, your potential clients and financiers a roadmap on what to expect from the final video. More importantly, the director’s treatment can help you seal the deal in your pitches and lock in the necessary financing.

Need help crafting a compelling director’s treatment? We can help. Get in touch to see how we can bring your dreams and visions to reality.

How a Treatment can help all Creatives

If you look beyond the medium of film , you’ll see that a treatment can also help with many other creative projects. It’s merely a great way to organize your thoughts creatively , so that others can see your vision clearly.

Treatments can be used to create brand storylines, Marketing campaigns, and social media content with deep focus and organization.

If you preplan your ideas with a treatment, you’ll find it easier to communicate your idea with others and your production process will go much smoother.

If you need help writing a treatment, we offer strategy services that can help you put it together in a professional manner.