Weeks 1-4 BLOG 1 - FLM215 (SAE STUDIO)

SCRIPT WORKSHOPS

My first script this trimester was absolute trash, a vomit draft in its purest form. However that feedback from that first week is what sculpted my next draft which was infinitely times better. That feedback consisted of the bits the script that people liked or thought would be cool if expanded upon. Steph had some great points and suggestions for character motivation and the story world environment. I took on all of that feedback and completely rewrote the script into what I should have brought into the first week. The positive feedback I got from that second week was great and really made me feel like I was onto something with this story. Again , I took on the feedback given and tried a few different things for the next week. Some worked and some didn't, I adapted and found ways to improve the script.

I found listening and working according to feedback extremely easy. I am glad that I have developed this ability to completely separate myself from my work when it came down to these sessions. I was never reluctant to hear feedback and I think the end product of my script proves this.

Each week I would note down all the points of feedback that were given and I would go home and start testing the points. If I agreed with the point I would change it immediately and if I didn't I would still try it but then make the decision to either ditch the change or keep it.

Adapting to feedback I think was my biggest strength this trimester, I completely rewrote my entire script in 4 hours to have it chosen to be made. Which was stressful but also extremely honoring. I just hoped that what I had changed it to would be at a quality equal or greater to the other scripts chosen. Most of the feedback given to me after that point was largely positive, which made me feel a bit better about it.

I had a basic understanding of script-writing before this class, however after these workshops my knowledge has grown exponentially. I absolutely loved the class and it reminded me of one of the main reasons why I was at SAE which was to make stories. I will definitely keep on writing into the future and hopefully class myself as a writer. I enjoyed learning about appropriate film structure and formatting of scripts. I intend to start reading much more scripts into the future and continue to learn different styles of writing and eventually develop my own.

EXERCISE 1:

Character Biography - DALE:

Medium Build - Seems to be in good shape, he has taken care of himself in the past but not since the virus began.

Before the quarantine Dale was an aspiring architect. However he never got much attention in that aspect of his life. His failings at work would often follow him home and provide confrontation for him and his wife, Camilla. Dale's relationship with his Daughter, Abby (9), was nice but he knows he could have been there more for her. As whenever he did have work, it was often out of town.

After the quarantine struck, Dale struggled to confront the fact that his daughter was dying. His hope for the future fading with every weak breath she took. He would often try to ignore the fact that Abby was sick, and he would distract himself and her from the reality that has set in around them.

This environment and situation only further deteriorates the bond between Dale and Camilla, until they are essentially broken. The life of their child and the strict quarantine keeping them together.

Thus with Abby on her death bed and the news of a vaccine being distributed further in to town. Dale is desperate to repair the damage done to his family both internally and externally. He sees the vaccine as a 'fix all' wonder.

Dale is just an ordinary person who has to make an incredibly hard moral decision. In our world similar decisions are made every day across the globe.

EXERCISE 2:

Character Traits - DALE:

Kind

Loving

Honest

Loyal

Selfish

Dominant

Stubborn

Relentless

Single-minded

Desperate

DIRECTORS TREATMENT

Here's a brief Director's treatment from me:

Quarantined is a ONE SHOT short film that deals with the moral dilemma of having to choose between two lives. Set in a modern dystopia where the buildings are run down and dirty, however free of graffiti due to the illness affects the current youth.

We follow Dale, a desperate father figure as he attempts to gain possession of the cure that could save his dying daughter. With the town discovering there are not enough vaccinations to go around, tension builds and the stakes are raised.

This film is stylistically raw and unkempt, built into a town in survival mode with little time and resources to invest into ordinary care. Quarantined explores the themes of friendship, family and the value of a single life. Morally driven, we watch an ordinary man have to make the choice to live with the guilt of a horrific act to do something for someone he loves. Building the premise there are times where impossible situations are thrown at us and how much would you sacrifice to help the ones you love.

INCITING INCIDENT:

A man (Dale) comes across the path of a distressed woman, she trips and drops various small supplies she was carried, one of which is a strange syringe that scatters a few feet in front of her.

Mid Point:

There are not enough cures to go around. A unkempt and distressed male within the crowd has been seen to be hiding something behind his back. Now, he slowly draws his hand out and catches Dale's eye-line. A gun is pulled and with a menacing yet depressing cry the man fires upon the military force. Hell breaks through the crowd and people start to scatter and start to drop under the return fire. Dale must find his friend Jasmine amongst the chaos.

Turning Point/Climax:

Having escaped the recent battlefield, Jasmine screams in pain. Her leg is bleeding profusely and her color is drained. She clutches onto the cure with all her strength. Dale knows now that his friend will not survive this wound, and she too is slowly coming to this conclusion. She is holding the one chance his daughter will have at life but he must now force himself to betray this friend.

Character Arc - Dale:

Dale is an honest man who loves his family and his daughter more than anything. He is a good and genuine human being. The first act of the film you see him stop and attempt to help a young woman who has tripped and fallen. Supplies she was carrying scattering along the ground. He is tentative and caring until he spots the cure by her side. He does not make a move for it but rather asks if that is indeed the cure. Mistaking his intentions the woman snatches it up and sprints away in a panic, leaving everything else behind.

After the chaos of act 2 within the crowd. Dale now realises that there is not going to be another shot at a cure. Pushing his desperation, he is now faced with the same situation before where the cure is presented in front of him. This time in the possession of a friend. In this impossible situation Dale must force himself to betray his friend and sacrifice her son to save his daughter. Dale does not learn anything from this other than the brutality of human nature.

Casting:

All actors and extras will need to look older than 25. There will be a strenuous rehearsing cycle as the film will be taking place within real-time and within one shot. Meaning there will be weeks of rehearsal. I also would like build the relationship between the two friends Dale and Jasmine, which further add to the betrayal in scene 3.

Visual Approach:

As stated I would like to shoot this within one shot in a 2.35.1 aspect ratio. The one shot will bring a real-time aspect and let the audience feel like they are in the story with the characters. Building huge amounts of stress within the crowd scenes and made to feel as an uncomfortable third party when witnessing Dale steal the cure from Jasmine. The 2.35.1 gives a more cinematic look to the film and also boxes in the characters within the frame. Cropping out the sky and the ground, leaving a wide area to be filled with the chaos of the crowd.

Initially I want the framing to be at MLS of Dale as he runs through the deserted space towards the center of town. The frame will be dirtied through multiple objects passing across the frame as we move past. Moving into scene two, again the framing will be quite dirty through OTS of Dale and with multiple extras being placed within frame in the background, similar to in Children of Men where the protagonist is pushing himself through the crowd of refugees/foreigners in the third act of the film. The camera will become more and more erratic as the chaos builds and the crowd starts to flee. Constantly losing Dale and finding him again within the scene.

The final act of the film will be much more still and stable, settling in to a slightly uncomfortable position watching the interaction between Dale and Jasmine. The camera then ultimately stays by Jasmine's side as she dies while Dale runs away with the cure in bloodied hand.

Editing (Pacing):

In terms of cutting, the film is being done in one shot. However we can build the pacing through the camera movement and sound design. Where both will be somewhat smooth in the beginning of the film, then builds into act 2 with the crowd and military. This will be where the score will build and camera becomes more distressed. We then come into act 3 and we start to slow once again, however slightly uncomfortable. Giving only slight camera movement but the score once again starts to well as Dale tries to free the cure from Jasmine's grasp.

SCRIPT PITCH

I thought my pitch went okay. Could of definitely been better and I think that came down to me not leaving myself much time to develop the pitch. The pitch I gave was a little longer than sixty seconds but I did get all of my main points across.

I'm not quite sure on how I should feel about this pitch however, since straight after it, I was taken into a meeting with Steph and Rikki who wanted to discuss some things about the film. Ultimately resulting in me rewriting the script so it may get chosen in the next hour. Having to rewrite it changed some of what was in my initial script pitch. I managed to keep the same themes and messages but the story was now slightly different. And the premise was different too, as the film changed to be being set in real-time.

In the future I will give myself more time to develop the pitch and practice some more to kill the nerves going into the presentation.

CREW PITCH

As a producer I did not pitch for a role, however I did get picked as a first assistant camera for Beth's Bleeding Low which I am happy with.

Once I got home after forming the crew for Quarantined, I immediately emailed everyone involved and set up the Google drive and a weekly meeting to get everyone together to sign crew release documents. I didn't receive the task allocation sheet until later, but once we got it I had already completed some of the items on there.

Written by

Aedan Bruitzman