Struggling, Hustling, Script-writing

Currently the whole gang is working together on our film-to-be Friend of the Night. As the script writer of the crew I feel like my job is mostly done. I learned that you have to be very flexible about your script. You cannot just assume everything is going to be according your script or plan. Things change and problems occur.

In my case just when I thought my script is going to be good and soon to be recorded I had to make changes in the characters as the cast was not suiting the description that we wished for. Rob Hardy suggests that :

“Keep an open mind in the casting process. Rarely will you find exactly what you’re looking for. Sometimes, however, you may find something better. But you have to be open to seeing it.”

And that was exactly the case for me. I had a mother-daughter relationship in mind but soon came to realisation that this combination is not going to work due to time reasons and availability of actors for casting. We found actors that were really talented in acting but they did not fit the description. I came to the conclusion that the actors should not change but rather the script, as it is easier to adjust a text than an entire human being.

Luckily the script is not really character heavy and the mother-daughter relationship could be changed to a father-daughter story. Obviously I had to adjust the dialogue according to a controlling father rather than a distrusting mother.

Although it was hard for me to separate myself from the text I managed to find different aspects to adjust the text without losing meaning or to write an entire new script (nobody has time for that anyway).

Resource:

https://filmmakerfreedom.com/blog/casting-mistakes

Drama is such a Drama

Currently I am making my first baby-steps towards writing a short film script. Usually, I would park my bottom in front of a drama regardless if film or novel and just let it entertain me and my emotions. Now that I am on the other side of the water I will list a few things that I did not expected to be so difficult and how I will try to tackle it.

Separate yourself

Coming up with the general idea was not as hard, as destroying your character’s life. I put a lot of personal experience in my story from true happenings and how a lot of people around me were treated by their family and how they dealt with it. And of course I cannot just put their life story into a short film but while I was developing my character I had a hard time to put this fictional person into misery. Basically I had to think about what is the worst that can happen to a person like that and what she/he is struggling with to solve their fictional issue.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that I needed to learn to distant myself from the character, story and the personal history that I associated it with. Unfortunately, I could not find any academic resource to help me with this issue but I think that is something you need to cope on your own. I believe this feeling of mine (in hope anybody can relate) hopefully will fade with more experience and knowledge about screenwriting and creating drama pieces.

Use your imagination / Climax doesn’t only exist in bed

When I was over-writing my script I did not think about how I can let thinks explain themselves. I thought about the conversations and settings but did not think about to give anything a deeper meaning that interprets itself. Kim Garland gives a great example of what I was missing in my progress as a screenwriter

“As you develop your short film script, look for the themes, motifs, and symbols that naturally crop up, and embellish and repeat those that enhance your story. Don’t underestimate your audience’s intuition and their desire to use their own powers of deduction to help piece together your tale. A story told through subtext, in addition to text, is often a more satisfying experience for the viewer.” (Garland, 2015)

I tried to take that advice and embedded it in my story.  Unfortunately, I did not concentrate on my climax in the text which did not blow my lecturer out of his socks, instead resulted in a not fully developed story. While working on the script I will bare in mind what the climax stands for and how it affects your script.

“Climax is the term used to refer to the part of story or play where the tension or action reaches its highest part. Sometimes, the climax is a “crisis” point in the plot. Sometimes, it is just where things “come to a head” and something happens or the main character must make a decision that will lead to one outcome or another.” (Softschools, n.d.)

I will keep on developing the script and try to get as much feedback from lecturers and team members as possible to fully develop this script.

Resource

WRITE, DIRECT, REPEAT: Write a Compelling Short Film Script By: Kim Garland | August 12, 2015

www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/climax_examples/147/”>Climax Examples</a>

The Cross-Cut and Parallel Action

Remember the Godfather? Well, it is hard to forget, with the horse head in bed and the chill that Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is exuding in this top performance. But, I believe the movie is not as good as it is, just because the actors did their job good. No, the way they cut the scenes and the movement of the camera is extraordinary.

Let’s examine the Baptism scene in the Godfather with a fine tooth-comb

You can not ignore, the cutting from the church to prepare the gun. Back to church then other action is going on and back to church etc. This kind of film editing is called Cross-Cut or Parallel Action.

This sort of film editing is used to give a scene, which would be boring on its own (a Baptism in church), a thrilling and exciting effect. It is used to build up excitement.(GABE MOURA 2014)

To clarify the definition of each term, I found Reisz book Technique of Film Editing, 2nd Edition:

“CROSS-CUT. To intermingle the shots of two or more scenes in the course of editing so that fragments of each scene will be presented to the spectator’s attention alternately.

PARALLEL ACTION. Device of narrative construction in which the development of two pieces of action is represented simultaneously by showing first a fragment of one, then a fragment of the other, and so on alternately.” (Reisz 2009)

The previous Godfather scene is one out of the four basic techniques of the Cross-Cut in Gaudreault’s Journal Article Detours in Film Narrative: The Development of Cross-Cutting. Cinema Journal.

“Cross-cutting of simultaneous actions: By the sustained intercutting of

two actions, A and B, presented successively but alternately on the

screen, as: A-B-A-B-A-B, etc.” (Gaudreault 1979)

To compare other ways of Cross-cutting, we have a different scene of the Godfather

You see what they did there?

Instead of just talking about, who Sollozzo is and what he is capable of, he is getting introduced visually beforehand and the cross-cutting goes on until they meet face to face. Felt the excitement?

If you’re thinking about making a movie and want to make rather boring scenes more exciting, then this is one out of many ways to do it.

 References

GABE MOURA, 2014. Parallel Editing [viewed 21.02. 2018]. Available from: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/parallel-editing/

GAUDREAULT, A., 1979. Detours in Film Narrative: The Development of Cross-Cutting. Cinema Journal, 19(1), 39-59

REISZ, K., 2009. Technique of Film Editing, Reissue of 2nd Edition. 2nd ed. Burlington: Taylor & Francis