Story-telling unit - 25 word pitch

Story-telling unit - 25 word pitch

"Meeting Mave"

Genre: Drama

Two lifelong friends meet after a cryptic text, following a tense silence Lucas entrusts Miley with his biggest secret.

Characters:

Lucas (Mave), 19 years old. A skinny and awkward teen who is obviously uncomfortable in his skin, he keeps a very close circle of friends and is from a working class background.

Growing up he showed interests in what his sisters were doing (eg. ballet, singing and other stereotypical feminine actives) and didn't feel he fit in with the other boys, as a result would be bullied for being different. 

He has a history of gender dysphoria (feeling as though his physical sex does not suit his psychological gender), and for many years he has known something was "wrong" with his body.

Miley, 19 years old. A bubbly and social girl who has been best friends with Lucas since they were 5, she regularly has stood up for Lucas in times where he was bullied. She often tries to include him in what she and her friends are doing. She keeps large circles of friends and enjoys meeting new people.

Miley is considered popular with everyone she meets. She cares greatly about her appearance and what other people think of her, she is also from a Christian background. 

She has previously expressed negative views towards trans people in the news.

Location(s):

Table at a local café for the main events of the meeting to take place

Possible small locations: street (will possibly be including intro scenes for Lucas getting to Miley's house)

Miley's room (where the story begins with Miley getting a text)

Inspiration:

"True Trans Soul Rebel"- Laura Jane Grace (Born Thomas Gabel) and Miley Cyrus

Interview with Laura Jane Grace about coming out as Transgender

As well as a experiences of friends coming out as trans whilst at school and facing negative and positive feedback from that.

Brief summary of story:

Lucas and Miley have been best-friends since they were 5, and have done everything together from dressing up as princesses to trying out for the school football team.

After Lucas sends Miley a mysterious text asking to meet at their regular table in the local café, Miley gets a surprise when she is met with a young girl with grazes, bruises on her face and her makeup smeared from crying. 
After a long silence Lucas finally tells Miley he is transgender and wants to live his life as Mave.

Miley is faced with a choice to follow her and her families beliefs against trans people or to stay by her friend, either way her life will never be the same again.

Contextual studies 28/09/2016 MISE-EN-SCENE

Contextual studies 28/09/2016 MISE-EN-SCENE

Objectives of the lecture: 

To get an introduction to mise-en-scene

To understand how and why it's used.

To get an understanding and to be able to interpret mise-en-scene.

What is mise-en-scene? Miss-en-scene can be defined as anything within the visual frame, it comes from the theatre and is the visual aspect of story telling (the other aspect being the written screenplay.) How mine-en-scene is interpreted depends on cultural context and personal experiences. 

Why does mise-en-scene help story telling? It's useful visual short hand in that it can show something in a 5 second clip that dialogue would take pages to describe, show not tell. It stops it being dialogue heavy. It can help to define characters, emotional states and their status in a story. It can help define relationships between characters.

Realism, Classicism and Mise-en-scene

Realism- the presentation of art as simulacrum (image) of the world as it exists, used to convey notions of authenticity, truth and representation. Miss-en-scene can affect the realism of a character.

Classicisim- the presentation of arts as a continuity with the past: especially formal notions of aesthetics, form, design and content.

Key elements of mine-en-scene are: 

Location

How they physically look e.g. body language, costume, makeup etc. 

Lighting 

Staging

Semiotics: the study of signs and their meanings 

Denotation/signifier: what the sign is showing 

Connotation/signified: what the sign means 

Star Wars and The Matrix both have taken inspiration from Asian culture (however adheres to classic western conventions such as the good wear white and the bad wear black) It adopts a culturally diverse model with asian archetypes. 

We then looked at scenes from Game of Thrones, Towie and Nanook of the North.

Game of Thrones, Tyrion and Cersei 

Setting: warm, rich, exotic

Costume and makeup: wealth and power 

Lighting: warm, soft, natural, filler light (net curtains diffusing the light)

Staging: dominant female

Comparison, Jon Snow and Sir Alister 

Setting: cold, austere, masculine

Costume and makeup: uniformity

Lighting: cold, blue, key light (on Jon's face), harsh and strong lights, light source from small windows giving minimal lighting.

Staging: placing in frame= authority, status, high ranking

Mine-En-Scene and genre

Towie- 'Scripted reality' (Documentary conventions but with scripted situations)

Setting: hyper-realism, stage set (possibly like a theatre production)

Costume and makeup: glamour, possibly aspirational (trying to present a certain image of beauty)

Lighting: high key, dramatic lighting

Staging: imitates conventions of a drama

Documentary- Dispatches Channel 4

Setting: Authentic/local

Costume and Makeup: Possibly defines her social class

Lighting: natural, low-key

Staging: suggests social isolation= someone on the fringes of society.

Is Mise-en-scene natural or constructed?

Nanook of the North 1922 directed by John Flaherty

Staging: Close and intimate, possibly a family 

Lighting: Needed a lot of light for the older cameras= they therefore cut off the top of the igloo

Link to the documentary

Youtuber Philip Defranco

Setting: a bedroom (constructed to emulate the notion of a geek's bedroom), so he can identify his audience 

Character: nerd, fan of sic-fi

Costume/appearance: dressed like a 'normal person' blue collar

Link to one of his videos

Mise-en-scene in drama

Setting: Film and TV drama is classically set in film studios where everything can be controlled

Costume/Makeup: Designed as character specific 

Lighting: classically high key designed lighting even if its supposed to be natural

Staging: predetermined by director

Mise-en-scene in documentary

Setting: classically uses 'real' locations

Costume/Makeup: typically authentic, can be directed 

Lighting: traditionally 'natural' often artificial/designed

Staging: typically natural but often director specific

Afternoon seminar

In the afternoon session we mainly spoke about director's with distinctive styles such as Tim Burton. We also spoke about silent films and their use of music, we learnt that they might've played music on set with a grammar phone to provide a soundtrack on set. 

During the showings orchestras could possibly provide sound effects.

Overall from this session I learnt the importance of mine-en-scene in a production and for the characters in their appearance. It's defiantly something I will be trying to think about when I plan my film and shoot it.

Story-telling unit: Camera workshop 28/09/2016

Camera workshop with Sam and Fergus

In today's session we went through the basics of using the sony SDX cameras, this workshop means that we will be able to book kit out when we need it for filming. 

We went through how to do white balance, and about the kelvin scale (a colour temperature scale) this meant that the colours on the viewfinder were true to the colours in real life. After we found our white balance we were encouraged o experiment with the cine settings on the camera for experimentation.

We also looked at pulling focus from one subject to another (I initially found this hard but after a few attempts go the hang of it). 

We then combined keeping a subject in focus while they were moving (this was a lot harder as it required your hands to do two similar things but in the opposite way, after we were shown how to change the zoom control to the rocker on the side of the camera it became easier)

Ferg also gave us an acronym to help us remember everything before we start shooting:

S= sound

(The sound makes up the vast majority of a shoot, it's important that it's crisp and the there isn't any white noise that can detract from the audio of the shoot. We learnt about setting up boom mics and when it is and isn't necessary to use the cover over it, we were also told to double check everything is set to an external audio instead of internal so that the sound actually records.)

W= white balance

(If the white balance of a shot is off it can make skin tones and other things look off, we were shown how using a white piece of paper can be used in the lighting you're filiming in to give a true white colour for the camera to work from.)

E= exposure

(Exposure is the amount of light let in by the camera, the higher the exposure the more light is in the image this can cause them to become bleached out)

Example from the internet

F= focus

(Focus works with framing to help draw the eye of the audience watching, however focus means that you can have 2 or more characters framed and by focusing on one of them means the audience is more likely to be looking at them. This can go towards showing the importance of the character within that scene or draw attention to them in something like a conversation.)

F= framing 

(framing the shot is an important part in filming, the framing of a character can determine their status, emotion or help establish their character. Within a setting it can help establish that scene, if the framing if off even a little the audience's eye can be taken away from what you want them to focus on.)

Over all from this workshop I got a basic understanding of how the cameras work and how I can use them to my advantage when shooting. I found it to be a fun and informative afternoon.

Story-telling unit contextual research of screen writers

Story-telling unit contextual research of 4 screen writers 

Sian Heder

Sian Heder is one of 6 writers for the American TV series "Orange is the new black", the series focuses on Piper Chapman who is sent to a minimal security prison how ever episodes also feature backstories to other reoccurring characters in the series.

As a writer (she is also known as a producer, actress and director) she is known for "Tallulah", "Orange is the new black", "Dog eat dog", "Men of a certain age" and "Mother". She has won the "Grand Jury Award" at the Florida Film Festival, the "Jury Award" at the Oxford Film Festival Mississippi USA and the "Short film competition award" at the Seattle international film festival.

Orange is the new black is a well known show for amplifying the voice of trans people.

Within "Orange is the new black" she has written 6 episodes one of which being "Lesbian request denied" which features a flashback for the shows transgender character (Sophia Burset).

The episode's featured flashback is of a fireman (Burset) searching a destroyed building, another comes in and tells them they're moving out. Burset is later seen changing in a stall away from the other men, while taking of his clothes he reveals the pink women's underwear.
The way this scene is written demonstrates how difficult it is for a trans person to be themselves around the people they know, Burset felt the need to hide who he was.
(This is something I would like to try and incorporate in my film as it's something many trans people go through).
Burset was written with a stereotypically hyper masculine job and as the scene transitions into Sophia doing her makeup using what ever she can to use as makeup is a strong contrast that I found really interesting.
(This is something I would like to incorporate for my lead character, I'd like to try and make their background as masculine as possible without it becoming too exaggerated. In Orange is the new black Sian Heder uses the subtle connotations of being a firefighter for a living to signify masculinity to the audience.)

Overall something I've taken from Sian Heder's writing is the subtle way of hinting at certain personality traits. The use of pink underwear isn't a hugely exaggerated way of say this character is transgender, it's something that's hidden from the other characters and is only shown to the audience (putting them in a privileged position of knowing something that the other characters don't know)

Charlie Covell

Charlie Covell is one of writers for the cross channel trilogy Cucumber, Banana, Tofu on E4, Channel 4 and 4oD. She is new to the writing industry and episode 4 of "Banana" is one of her first screenplays.
When asked what attracted her to "Banana" she specifically said "It's a rare and amazing opportunity for any writer, let alone someone who's just starting out"
Covell is an actress and a writer known for "Forget me not" (2010), "A fantastic fear of everything" (2012) and "Marcella" (2016)

Banana is an anthology series that looks at the wider LGBT spectrum. There are 8 episodes each based on a character and looks at their life and struggles in society. 
The 4th episode in the series focuses on Helen, a trans restaurant manageress who is persistently bothered by her boyfriend Eddie. Eddie not only stalks her but uploads a sex tape of her on the internet.
The episode looks at the effect that this has on Helen, Covell's written her character as any other in that she doesn't hint that they are transgender through Helen, it's subtle remarks such as her employee saying "Yes Sir" among others.
(This is something I would like to incorporate in my own work for my lead character, this goes against the usual writing conventions for trans people and could be influenced through Covell's own experiences in the LGBT community.)
As well I this the way Covell has written Helen's distress in the later half of the episode particularly as she walks down the street where everyone stares at her and she feels alienated. This is something that a lot of transgender people already feel, the writer has just emphasised it through Helen's eyes.
(This is something I am keen to include for my lead character, particularly as the audience is introduced to them after they have been beaten up)
I also enjoyed the way the writer wrote the internal struggle after the video is released on the internet. I found that especially when Helen's family arrived to help her the audience was introduced into what it's like for the family of a trans person, especially the mother. I found it interesting that the scene didn't actually revolve around Helen's family but how she handled them and their reaction to the video, the whole episode features a lot of characters but the audience is always concerned with what's going on with Helen. This is particularly refreshing as other films and TV shows that include trans characters tend to deviate from the character's plot line and goes into how other characters feel about what is happening to them.
Overall what I have taken from episode 4 of "Banana" is to write the lead character as if I'm writing any other character, to try not to focus on the fact they are transgender and therefore not to make it a big deal for them.

Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is an English screenwriter from Portchester.

He is known for writing episodes for "Babylon 5" (1998), "Lucifer" (2015-2016), "Eternals" (2014) and "Doctor Who" (2011-2013) among others.

His writing career started in journalism and then moved into books, the series "Sandman" collected multiple awards from America. 

In 1991 it became the first comic to recieve a literary award, and the 1991 World Fantasy award for the best short story.

After this Gaiman moved more into screenwriting, in 1996 he wrote the screenplay for "Neverwhere". Moving forward a few years to 2011 he also wrote 3 episode of "Doctor Who"; "Rain Gods", "Nightmare in silver" and "The Doctors Wife".

Gaiman's episode of "The Doctor's Wife" lead to him being described as "a hero" by the Times.

"The Doctor's Wife"= While travelling with his companions the Doctor hears a knock at the door from a distress signal supposedly from an old friend. After following the signal he lands on a junk planet/asteroid with 4 inhabitants; Auntie, Uncle, Nephew and Idris, a woman who claims to be the T.A.R.D.I.S.

This episode in particular focuses on the Doctor's ability to control his emotions when he is pushed to the very edge (being taunted with false cries for help from fake Timelords), it looks at the lengths he will go in order to protect his friends as well as exploring morality within Amy and Rory's relationship when the antagonist (House) has trapped them.
However Amy and Rory are not his only friends, in this episode the audience is introduced to the idea that the T.A.R.D.I.S. is a sentient being and that she/it does view the Doctor as a dear friend.
I particularly like this episode because of the way Gaiman created his own character from essentially and inanimate object, through this he was able to explore the relationship between the Doctor and the T.A.R.D.I.S further. The way Idris' character is written as an enthusiastic yet also slightly mad character I think works really well with the Doctor's character (he is described as a mad man in a blue box). While Amy, Rory, Auntie and Uncle are more subdued, the duo's chemistry therefore tells the audience that their is a long history between the two of them because they are so similar. 
Overall from this episode I learnt how easily a long term friendship can be shown subtle uses of dialogue or actions (Gaiman does this in lines like: "Hello I'm sexy", this is a well known nickname the Doctor has for the T.A.R.D.I.S. and has at least been used the length of the revival series) when the two characters are around each other the audience can see there is a history between them without one of the characters having to say it (show don't tell). This is something I'd like to try with my lead characters to establish their friendship with each other.

Neil Gaiman about "The Doctor's Wife" BBC America

Mark Gatiss

Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screen-writer and author. 

His work includes; episodes from "Sherlock", "Doctor Who", "An Adventure In Space and Time", "Agatha Christie's Poirot" and "The League of Gentlemen" among others. He's won the 2016 Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Television Movie: Sherlock", 2011 BAFTA "Best Drama Series: Sherlock" as well as 8 other awards for Sherlock.

Gatiss is one of 3 credited writers for the "Sign of three" episode of the TV series "Sherlock", in the episode Mary and John are finally getting married while Sherlock is put under pressure to save his friends wedding and solve a crime that appears to have no relation to it. It looks at the friendship between Sherlock and Watson as well as the effect the marriage will have on it (it's because of this look at friendship the episode has that I decided to look at it). 

Sherlock and Watson's friendship is one of the most well known parts of the Sherlock series ever, when ever the story gets rewritten in a cartoon or live action piece the pair are essentially always best friends.

Gatiss' "Sign of three" episode is one that in my opinion looks at how dependent Sherlock's side of the friendship is. The episode starts with Sherlock (SH) being caught dancing by Miss Hudson (MH), people who are regular viewers of the show or even people who just know the general SH character will know that this would be considered embarrassing for him to be seen dong (it shows he is caring for another person), this is connoting to the audience that he is pushing himself out of his comfort zone for John's wedding indicating he cares about him. Later in a wide shot of Mary, John and Sherlock outside the church the dialogue asks for  "A shot of the newly weds", while he still stands with them this is connoting that Sherlock considers himself family to John and by default to Mary.

Further into the episode Sherlock is introduced to Major Sholto (MS), his sarcastic way of saying his name and attempt to downplay MS and John's friendship (If they're such good friends why does he barely even mention him) indicates jealously further implying SH is more dependent on John in their friendship then John is on him. Another indicator of their friendship in a far more subtle way is when SH uses "Vatican Cameo" as a precursor to danger that, this was originally used in an earlier episode where SH assumes John knows it from his army days and bringing it back here reaffirms their friendship more.

Finally in the last sequence of events where SH solves the murder John essentially mocks him as encouragement, this is something other characters don't do again connoting that John isn't any other character and that he is important to SH. 

Overall from this episode I've seen how variations of friendship can be shown through subtle indications, something I'd like to try to incorporate in my script is the sense of dependence of one character on another especially since my character Matt is dependent on Lucy to look out for him. I picked this episode as I found it particularly interesting how Gatiss decided to write the interactions between SH and John. SH speaks to everyone within the main storyline about John before finally being encouraged by John to solve the crime (The edit implies that this conversation between them 'jogged' something in SH's mind), it's through this interaction that the crime is solved and the audience sees how important John is in helping to solve crimes.

Story-telling Unit review of 3 short dramas

Contextual research 3 short dramas watched, reviewed and contextualised.

"Boy" Link to video

"Boy" is a 16 minute long film directed by Lucas Helth Postma and the screen play is by Olivia Karoline Fløe Lyng & Lucas Helth Postma. Among many awards it has received "Winner of the Jury Prize at Seoul International Youth Film Festival" and "Winner of best international short film at fresh film festival".

I chose this film as it closely relates to my idea for my film, I was particularly interested in the relationship between the mother and her daughter as I wanted to explore how someone who is close to a person transitioning would react. I wanted to see how other people wrote a character going against what was normal for them and showing such distain for someone they loved, this is because the relationship between my two characters will be similar to a family one instead of just friends (people who are family tend to have a much stronger relationship then that of friends, my characters are friends who consider each other family).

It's about a young girl and her struggles to make her mother realise she wants to become a man, it looks at both positive an negative reactions to transitioning. Positive reactions coming from her brother "Simon" who is the person she runs to after she and her mother have a fight (showing the audience that she feels safe in his company), negative reactions coming from her mother who calls her weird and insists "Emilie" needs professional help.

The girls mother goes through the biggest change in the film her and Emilie start the film by butting heads over clothing choices and Emilie's behaviour eg. binding (a common practice for women transitioning to try and flatten their chests). 

The film builds up to a confrontation between the two characters over dinner where Emilie has cut her hair and changed her clothes, after a fight between them and Emilie's brother intervening we see the change in their mothers behaviour when she puts Simon's tie on Emilie.

The film only uses a soundtrack at two points, when Emilie has bound her chest and when the credits are rolling. I found this interesting as it allows for dialogue and general noises such as plates and cutlery to be heard more intensely, I felt this added to the tense relationship between mother and child. This something I will be seeking to be including in my film. 

As well as this the way Emilie's character was written to be a quiet and timid person allowed for her later outburst to be that more out of character, this really emphasised to the audience that she had reached breaking point.

The film also played with the audience's expectations of the mother, looking through comments on the video it's a varied reaction of people hating the mother and how she handles everything, or people are happy that she accepted Emilie. Personally I was not expecting her to accept everything, I thought she would resent her and Emilie would go to live with her brother. I was pleasantly surprised that she welcomed her new son.

This film has allowed me understand how I can show the strain on both sides of the friendship (this is something not commonly done in mainstream films and TV shows). It has also given me ideas for how my lead character can come out, in this film Emilie disassociates herself from her mother and this seems to make things easier for her which is something I could consider using in my own work.

"Love and other mental illnesses" Link to video

"Love and other mental illnesses" is a 14 minute long short film, it was written and directed by Jim Del Brocco and was produced by; Alex Griffin, Dave Mack and Kate Riccio.

The film follows Jack in his video diary for his group therapy sessions, Jack has anxiety and the video diary is supposed to help he deal with his anxiety. Jack has a list of "Rom Com Clichés" that he aims to complete.

I chose this film as I liked the fourth wall break between Jack and the audience, however unlike more traditional uses of this technique "Love and other mental illnesses" actually allows its other characters to know that Jack is talking to what seems to be nothing and react to that. As well as this many people who are transgendered suffer from anxiety and other mental illnesses and need to take medication for it.

I found the character of Sally particularly interesting and liked how the writer had the two characters work so well together even though at first glance they seem to be complete opposites. Sally's behaviour became a point of interest for me because the audience isn't told 'what's wrong' with her as they are with Jack and yet through subtle behaviour choices in the writing process it's clear she isn't fully at ease socially. 

(This subtle writing style is something I'd like to try and use for my characters so my film doesn't become a cliché transgender film where everything about the lead is glaringly obvious for the audience, I'd like to make who ever watches my film to think about the character instead of having the thinking done for them in the description of the character.)

In the film both characters arguably go through a change (although because it's Jack's diary it focuses on him), Jack's change through out the film is that he learns to stand up for himself (through Sally's influence) he also expands his socialising abilities through his time with Sally (after he tells her that "It's obvious you're like crazy whatever, you know maybe you should just get used to the fact now that no one is going to want to spend time with you once they spend more then a minute with you." he recognises he needs to go an apologise to her.) he learns how to deal with her overbearing personality.

The conflict in this film is built up through out the film, staring with Sally taking Jack's pills because he doesn't think he needs them, that they'll make him a "zombie". Ultimately this builds to Jack saying that no one will want to hang around Sally and that she is crazy, the conflict is resolved through the completion of Jacks "Rom Com Clichés" by kissing Sally.

This film has allowed me to understand how effective subtle writing for a character can be, it's also allowed me to see one way a conflict can be resolved between two characters.

"Sam"  Link to video

"Sam" is a 10 minute film written and directed by Sam Bardo (an award winning director and writer whose films as well as music videos often tackle issues affecting the gay and LGBT communities), it's about a young girl who's come home from school after being bullied for dressing as a boy and her eventual decision in who she wants to be.

Synopsis straight from video- "After being bullied at school for dressing as a boy, Sam escapes into the fields surrounding her house, where she's forced to choose between who she is and who society thinks she should be."

I chose this film for a few reasons one being it closely relates to my own film idea, the other being I found it an interesting way to tell the story of a child who is confused about their identity.

The films use of dialogue or lack there of I found made the visual signifiers more powerful, for example Sam's blue dress is seem with a blood stain connotes to the audience that Sam's famine way of dressing has metaphorically died.  As well as this the actions of Sam crumpling up the note that her guardian left her denotes to the audience she angry with them for some unknown reason.

(I'd like to use subtle signifiers like this for my lead)

As well as this I found the meeting between Sam as her famine self and Sam as dressed in a more masculine way was an interesting and unique way of showing the internal mental struggle between how she wants to dress as to how society thinks she should dress.

This film had helped me realise that a film about these issues could be just as if not more powerful through visual imagery rather then a lot of dialogue.  It follows the rule of show not tell for the audience.

26/09/2016 Story Telling Unit: Screen Writing 1 (Intro and Structure)

Morning Session:

In the morning my group was with Simon, we began by watching "Soft" a short film by director Simon Ellis.
"Soft" on Vimeo by Simon Ellis  After the viewing as a class group we made a pitch for the film.

Genre: 
Drama/Suspense/Short film

Setting: 
Modern day, Urban

Characters: 
Protagonists= Father+Son (the son is the one who goes through the biggest change)
Subsidiary characters= Threat (gang of boys in hoody) 

Conflict:
The father has the biggest emotional conflict, internally he is torn between protecting his son and house but, he is also fearful of the threat and possibly wants to set an example for his son not to rise to the antagonisation from the threat.

Change:
Son: change in his moral compass, goes through a role reversal with his father and in the process loses respect for his father.

Theme:
Coming of age, Father and son relationship, Karma, Masculinity

Tone:
Gritty/real


25 Word pitch (elevator pitch)
After the group pitch we were then told to come up with a 25 word or under pitch for the film. Myself and a classmate came up with two.

Our original: Son reaches breaking point after father fails to protect him from violent gang
Our final: After his demorsalizing run in with a hostile gang a father fails to protect his son pushing events to breaking point.

We choose that last one because it wasn't as vague and we felt would be more interesting for a audience to read.

We also watched another Simon Ellis film "Stew and Punch", I personally enjoyed the comedic value of this film but preferred "Soft" as I like the way its ending was a flip on what I personally expected to happen. (I expected the father to defend his son in the end).

From the morning session I learnt the proper structure of a long pitch and what was needed, I learnt you don't have to be 100% honest in a pitch because you still want there to be an element of mystery that intrigues who ever you're pitching to. 

Afternoon session:

In the afternoon my group had a session with Steve Coombes.

He gave us an analogy that the writer is like the CIA and the audience is the President and the writer (CIA) only tells the audience (President) things on a need to know basis.
A screenplay is a series of information and how/when it's told to the audience is the art of story telling, therefore you need to use time effectively and jump straight into the interesting parts of a story otherwise the audience can become bored.

We were also given general guidelines of how many words certain lengths of television have: 1hour is around 12,000 words and 30 minuets of TV is around 6,000 words. Therefore our screenplay should be around 2,000 for the finale draft, as well as this Steve suggested we stick to using verbs and doing words over adjectives as verbs are the most interesting for the audience.

He taught us the 6 rules of Screenplay (a screenplay is any visual narrative that isn't improvised) structure:

1. A screenplay doesn't tell a story at the audience's pace, the audience finds your pace.
2. What cannot be said should not be said. In other words show don't tell, seeing is believing for the audience. The most interesting parts of a character is the stuff you can't see eg. their personality, so it needs to be shown through the way they act not said in general conversation.
3. A screenplay is like a joke with it's structure= setup, distract, punchline. This goes for scenes character arches etc.
4. Know your ending.
5. Count your moments. (The points of a show or film that the audience finds memorable)
6. Use actors that can actually act, a screenplay can survive a bad director and producer but not a bad actor.

After our break we looked at two versions of a screenplay (The first 5 pages of "American Beauty"), one was a first draft the other was the actual shoot script. Start of "American Beauty"
We looked at the shots and the characters, as well as looking at how Alan Ball (Writer) went to using a voice over in the shooting script.

From the afternoon session I learnt a lot about structure and how a screenplay should look as well as what it should contain, there should be no wasted words everything in it needs to go towards creating characters (how they speak, walk etc.) 
The analogy helped me to understand what should actually be shown to the audience and when.

21/09/16 Speed pitching

We were given 3 guidelines and were asked to write a 25 word synopsis of the film (using a newspaper as inspiration) we would create in those guidelines.

Thriller staring a celebrity

 Verdict

Leonardo Dicaprio on trial pleading his innocence after being accused for brutally murdering an elderly man and stealing a safe that's still not been found. (24 words)

Original story about a man and his wife who were burgled, the events ended in the man being killed and their money being stolen. We used this story as it had potential to be a fast paced and interesting however we wrote it from the murders side (Leo Dicap) as it would make it easier for us to add twists and make the story more complex if we wanted. 

British comedy series late night Channel 4

Antics

First time on drugs, the youngest, most disappointing son is in trouble again after attacking a beefeater guard in his underwear (21 words)

Original story of a American man who attacked police officers in his underwear. 

We picked this story as Channel 4 has a remit of breaking boundaries and therefore being risky, therefore a story line that included things such as drugs and outrageous behaviour would fit with the channel and the time of showing.

Low budget short film set on a council estate

Loose change

A fortunate young girl from Chelsea dreams of an independent life away from her rule binding Parents by moving across country (21 words)

Our original story featured a poor girl rising up and achieving her dreams, however Simon helped us realise that this had been used multiple times and would therefore be more interesting if we swapped it to a privileged person choosing to be in a poorer environment.

From this task I learnt both how to pick out a develop stories from other sources and how to work with another person and their ideas. We actually had more then one on many occasions and this allowed us to pick the idea that was the best.

Because of this our synopsis' were the combination of both our ideas and were therefore better then what they would have been had it been one of us or if we didn't go through the process of developing our ideas.

21/09/16 Story telling: Short project

The Trainee 

We were given 2 characters and 1 location to make a short film idea from.
Characters= Unemployed teenager and Bouncer
Location= Café

Unemployed teen: 19 year old Sophie who is shy and short. Her parents have threatened to kick her out therefore she is now looking for her first job.

Bouncer: 58 year old Dave, who has a tall/imposing stance as well as being bald. He has been a bouncer for his entire working life.

Café: A nightclub called "Café", based in Liverpool and is often quiet but also has its regulars.

Sophie goes to the "Café" in search for a job such as a bartender or waitress but is told that the only available role is as a bouncer.
She takes the job for the extra money until another opportunity comes along.
On her first day she is trained by Dave (the veteran bouncer for the club), immediately Dave is against Sophie working as a bouncer because she is a woman. 2 weeks into the role Sophie is left to deal with an intense bar fight alone, she sorts out the situation well but Dave is unhappy with the way she dealt with it and feels he knows best, he goes on to make it clear that because Sophie is a woman she couldn't deal with the fight the way a man could have.
Sophie begins to fall in love with the job however she feels as though Dave is trying to get her fired, through out the film Dave makes snide comments about Sophie being female. Sophie has finally had enough and goes into Dave's office to hand in her resignation, however Dave confesses that he is retiring and he was only testing her to see if she could handle the job.


Andreya, Jemma, Victoria

19/09/16 Story Telling Briefing Lecture

During our lecture yesterday I was not only able to see and understand what was expected of my project but also realised that the ideas I already had weren't suitable to what was wanted.
Primarily because there is no change to any characters.
Because of this I will be looking at more source material (eg. people around me, things on TV or magazines) and most likely use them as inspiration as well as trying think of a change that one of the characters can go through.
Overall the lecture reinforced my understanding of story structure and gave me ideas for my project.

Summer Project "A Bit About Me"