TV Moment task

Steve gave us a small task to complete for Wednesday. Our task was to search for our favourite moment on either TV or film and talk about why we like it.

I picked a moment from the Inbetweeners as the show always makes me laugh.

This is the moment that Simon has just passed his driving test. His parents have bought him a car but unfortunately for Simon, it is not something he was expecting.

I like this moment as it is a rememberable one. You will remember this moment if you have passed your test as usually, your first car is not the best car in the world! Every time I watch this episode and this moment is shown, I remember when I passed my driving test and got my first car. It was nothing special, quite basic and a small car. Just like what happens to Simon. I also like the fact that this moment happens early in the episode (6mins in) starting the story off and hooking the audience.

Steve Coombes visit

Today we had a visit from a professional screenwriter, Steve Coombes. Steve has been a pro for over 25 years starting out in the business since 1989 but has wrote screenplays since he was young as 7years old.
Steve told us about him and what he has done. I found out he has wrote screenplays for many TV programmes such as Newtricks and Hustle. To have a professional screenwriter visit us is amazing, he is only visiting us for a few workshops so I will make sure I attend each one and take notes on what he has to say, given that he knows a lot more than me!

Today was an overview of what he has done, what is important in the industry and what we need to do to make sure our scripts work for the moving image. Steve gave us a few interesting facts and statistics like not many scripts go into production. A great fact he told us was that there was a screen writer on the list of top hollywood screenwriters for 20 years and in that time his screen plays never went actually went into production!
moments:

Steve went on to tell us about moments in screen plays, moments that we will remember for a long time. It is important to have moments in a screen play as it is the tool that the audience will come out of a cinema and talk to their friends about, they will talk to people and recommend the film. This means more money for the studio etc, but interestingly enough these moments can get cut from the film as the studio see around 17-18 draft scripts of the screen play and soon get bored and fed up of the 'moment'. It is the moment that makes the film great because it is something the audience can remember about. Steve mentioned that it is best to get 5 or 6 moments in the script.

Draft scripts:

I learn't that screen writers can write up to 16 or 17 draft scripts for a screen play that is going into production, aiming to be successful with the studio executives. Each month a screen writer can write a draft script, but when in production a script needs to be made every 2 or 3 week, meaning 30 pages a week for a hour screen play. working out around 5 pages a day!   Along with scripts a script writer needs to make a bible which is like a folder full of details like character profiles, draft scripts and treatment. Treatment is around 5 or 6 pages.
Payment:

Steve was talking to us about how incredibly difficult it is being a screen writer as not much attention is drawn to them and they are not as heard of unlike directors and actors etc. Screen writers have much more work to do as they are the brains behind a screen play, but they don't earn much money compared to other people involved. In a big budget production like a feature film maybe 1% or 2% of the money is actually gone to the screen writers. Usually the main amount a screen writer can get is between £50-60k, for each script. But this can change as the contract is for the script in production and if production is canceled or delayed it has impact on the screenwriters. A screen writer can get half of that amount, none at all if the writer is sacked.

Structure:

Steve finished off today talking briefly about how we need to structure our stories, he will talk more on Wednesday but it has already influenced my work.  Steve mentioned about how it is always best to get straight to the main part in a screen play, especially when ours is only 10page long. My idea was a build up to the meeting but after hearing Steve I am changing my structure slightly, but keeping the idea same. I don't want to have too much of a beginning or an ending. Steve said about 'acts' and how a screen play will have acts to structure each part of the story each act having a beginning, middle and end. Usually on TV in an hour programme it will have 3 acts, to split up the story for advertisement breaks. Before an advert break the act will finish on a big moment, to hook up the audience to continue watching when it returns after. it will have some kind of plot twist, having the audience wanting to know what happens next. This is a great tool. Films will have 5 acts with 3 being the 'climax' and main story plot throughout.

Influence:

Steve has influenced me already with my story. I want to make sure I have it in a reasonable sequence as we only have 10 pages. With my screen writing Steve has made me think about how I should tell the story. I.E Timescale, time-lapse, flash backs etc.  After hearing Steve talk about time scales it has made me think about my screen writing and how to tell my story. It would be difficult to tell the story over a time scale of years, but it is possible to use flash backs and make it as months and days rather than the usually time of minutes. With my idea I am considering having a time scale of a few days rather than my initial idea of just a day or a few hours.  I was planning on using a voice-over just as Steve mentioned however, with this approach I must be careful not to say too much. Steve told us a very inspiring quote "To never say it, but to show it". Meaning to always show the story as much as possible and let the audience work out what is happening, rather than telling them. Telling the audience what is happening is only going to make them less interested. With this in mind, I am thinking a lot on whether to use a V/O, this is something I will come back to later once I finalise my idea. Steve talked to us about single strand and multiple strand narratives. A story that can just have a simple single storyline to focus on or multiple story's linked up.  Going back to the brief and our limitations on what we can do, I will be sticking to a single strand narrative. Multiple would be difficult to achieve.  Lastly Steve told us that we can't write a script if we don't know how it will end, always know the ending! This is the most crucial point said today, I don't have a chosen ending yet. I have a few different endings that I have thought off. I have not decided on how to end my story just yet. But it is clear that I won't be able to write my story as I don't have a complete ending, once I do I can then write.

We will see Steve again and learn more on Wednesday. Looking forward to that!

Memento research

On Friday we watched a feature film called memento (2000).  Directed by Christopher Nolan. A film I have never seen before.
Memento is a story about Leonard who suffers from short term memory loss, meaning he can't build new memories. After a few minutes of talking to someone he won't remember it ever happened. He is searching for the murderer of his wife, the last memory he has before he got attacked. Leonard has to take photos and write notes about each person and have tattoos all over his body.

I enjoyed watching the film, it is difficult to understand until you watch it to the very end. It feels quite long and repetitive as part of the scenes repeat giving you an insight story to how he is thinking. When watching the film I felt as though I was in his shoes, trying to work out who the murderer was. The film is a good way to keep the brain active as you are actually working out what is happening along with the character. Christopher Nolan himself explains how he wanted to tell the story in first person. (video below) I like the fact that Memento is not in a chronological order, the film is played backwards and starts at the end, finishes at the beginning. Simon told us that one of the DVD features on the limited edition pack allows to view the film in chronological order, but Simon says it would be too simple to watch and unappealing. I agree based on watching the film as we did, I rather watch it like that instead.
Such a simple but very unique idea, made into a complex feature.

Christopher Nolan:

Here is a video I found of Christopher Nolan explaining about his analysis on the story. I really liked watching this as I have a better understanding of why he did the film like he did.

screenshot of video

It is a great video that I recommend watching all of it but my favourite part is when Christopher draws out his meaning of how the scenes alternate between the colour and the b&w scenes.

I had a browse on Imdb to find out more about him and his other work. I knew he did a lot of work for The Dark Night Trilogy. I found out he wrote Interstella (2014). I know Interstella had a lot of coverage in the media for its release but I never went to watch it. I may consider watching his other films after seeing Memento.  Memento was his second feature after he debut Following in 1998. Most of his films are around the same concept of memory, personal identity. Like Memento his other work has non-linear narrative such as The Prestige (2006). He co-writes work with his brother, Jonathan Nolan.

Draft script for Memento

I also found the draft script for Memento (dated 04/10/99) using Scriptorama, it was recommended we use this site by Simon. It is a decent site that takes some time to find scripts but still a good resource for researching them.

I enjoyed this task and the film itself. I think it is quite inspiring but complex. Simon doesn't expect us to come up with a feature film like Memento. It is really looking down at the story and ideas that we can work from to come up with a fantastic short film. 

My idea - The Meeting

After much thought and techniques to try and gather ideas I have now got a firm idea of a story to be put into screenwriting and moving image.

Here is some notes I made, a map exploring my idea and character profiles.

mind map

character profiles

I started out with the character profiles thinking of two people and then continuing from there.
Neal:

• Male
• 22 years old
• Smart/casual dressed 
• working in an office job, doing well but lonely.
• Has a everyday routine that he wants to stick to. 
• Easy to talk to, friendly gentleman but not that confident in helping out other people.

Linda:

• Female
• 20years old
• Casual dressed
• She is a full time student with part time employment. She is over working, failing and underachieving
• very busy and stressed
• Nervous around others, not that sociable. Also lonely.  

 Location:

• River Medway (main location)
• House/flat 

My idea:  Romantic Drama with a working title 'Weak'

The story is about Neal, a young man in an office job doing well at his job. He wants to live his life in the same routine being quite simple. One day his routine has broken. Neal is running late for work, he has missed the bus so he decides to walk. Walking past the river he notices a woman acting really strange, realising she is attempting to jump off the bridge. Neal tries to take control of the situation and after much determination she is calm and able to talk. Already late for work Neal offers to comfort the woman and stay with her. They both chat and have a coffee. Both Linda and Neal realise they are lonely and Neal asks the awkward question of going out together. But with Linda's busy schedule and already stressed she declines. They never see each other again. 

I feel quite strong in my idea and believe it will work brilliantly, I keep changing parts of the story but this is the main idea. It has a boy meets girl theme to it.  I have covered the important parts ensuring the story has goal, change and conflict.

• Goal- Neal to find love, get to work, live with normal routine and grow confidence.
• Change- Neal changes his routine and battles his nerves in helping Linda. 
• Conflict- Linda too busy for relationship. Neal has work too.

The Meeting research

After watching the short films with everyone in class I decided to have a look at other drama pieces and find where the key elements are formed.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who has just returned with a new series and the first episode is very different to what I have seen before. Usually the main characters are the doctor and his companion, Clara. In the first episode 'The Magicians Apprentice' we see someone called Missy who is featured throughout the episode. Clara is the protagonist while Missy is the antagonist.

The meeting -    

Clara is at her day job teaching when she notices that the planes have stopped in the sky. She goes to the lab to find out more information and find out what is stopping the planes. Clara is asked to meet up with Missy. Clara learns that the doctor is soon going to die and Missy needs her help. She explains to Clara how she knows the doctor and is best friends with him. Clara dons't believe it and Missy starts shooting the armed responses surrounding Clara. Clara wants to believe what Missy is saying and demands Missy to release the planes. They then search for the doctor together.

I feel this is a good example as i can see the goal, conflict and change.

Goal-  Clara wants to find the doctor and help him. To work with Missy and show she cares for him.

Conflict-  Missy starts shooting around Clara, Clara needs to believe what Missy is trying to tell her.

Change-  Clara wants to help Missy and find the Doctor.  They both work together and search for him.

Ideas Workshop

This week we have had a couple of sessions on story telling and so far I have learn't how to gather ideas.

A story won't work without an idea and ideas are difficult to generate. It takes time to have an idea but it wont come when just sitting at a desk.

In the workshops we looked at the different sources of how to get an idea. A source could be from a newspaper, social media, scouting, witnessing something happen or just personal experience.  I found this interesting as I did not realise how many places you could get ideas from. I am thinking of using multiple sources for an idea for my story and link them up together. It might work but it might not. I am confident in trying this and putting it towards my work. I learn't that using these sources don't just have to be an idea but for part of the story, even if the idea has not been made yet. Elements like dialogue, a setting or location for example.  If I am on the bus and I go past a location that I feel might be best for my story then I should try that and note it down. Hearing someone say something on the phone or in a shop etc. note that down.  Soon I can build up these elements and link them see what my idea could be about.  I am still new to the area but already have locations that I want to try and use.  All I need to do now is continue scouting and finding a link then I will have an idea ready to put into a story.

On Wednesday we watched a couple of short films directed by Simon Ellis. We first watched Soft.

My first impressions was wow, such an intense film and so unexpected. We see a father and son relationship, the father coming home from work dressed with shirt and tie. There is no milk left so he goes out to get some. Coming out of the shop he is faced with thugs and is hit, but does not react other than to walk away back home. It is not till the end of the film that we see so much change happen. The son tells his dad that one of the thugs outside the house is the one that hit him. The father steps out to the thugs vandalising his car but seems to be afraid and unsure of what to do, his personality is show of being quiet and just wanting to get on with life. It is a shocked unexpected moment that follows when the son comes out armed with his cricket bat and whacks the thugs in self defence. In a real father and son relationship we would usually see the father being superior and a role model. In Soft the son is much superior and takes control, once he has defended him and his father he drops the cricket bat in front of his father in disgust, losing respect for his father.

The second film we watched was Stew and Punch. This was similar to Soft with the idea of middle aged characters in an urban setting. The film was much different with camera work and editing, the scenes had longer duration of shots instead of a cut every few seconds. The film was upbeat and energetic with the idea of friends gathered around a house having a meal together and drinks. They soon become drunk but the main character, Alex, gets out of control and acts rudely, angered by the fact he lost an arm wrestling competition to a woman. Conflict is seen with him and the neighbour complaining of the loud noise.  - I enjoyed watching this film as it had much more action in the scenes, the shots used felt like I was in the film. It was hard to understand at first and did not have much of a serious relationship between characters compared to Soft. Both films made me realise the importance of an idea and the other ingredients like characters, goal, conflict and change.

I will use what I have learn't and put it into my project as I feel it is helpful and important!

Ideas task

Our task was to work in a pair and come up with a pitch for an idea.

I paired up with Nicki and got on with the task straight away.

We was selected with 2 characters

Character 1 (Protagonist)  -Retired Navel officer
Character 2 - Plumber.

Location - A country lane.

Nicki and I developed these elements into a story and then worked on the pitch.

The Pitch:

Short comedy. Suzanne, a retired navel officer, arrives at a closed road at which is Bob, a plumber. They argue until Suzanne relaxes more and enjoys life.

Here is some photos that best describe the characters and the location.

Suzanne an American retired Navel officer

Road closed on a country lane

Bob the plumber

Suzanne's big SUV

Story:

Suzanne is a former American Navel officer. She is now retired and living in Plymouth, UK. She is going back to America to see family and friends for a few weeks, with her bags packed Suzanne was ready to go. She goes out and drives towards the airport in her comfy SUV.  Stretched for time she needs to make it to the Airport without any obstructions. Unfortunately It is not her day today as she is now met with Bob, a plumber. Problems with the pipes means Bob has to close of the country lane to fix the pipes deep in the ground, although when he is met by Suzanne, Bob is actually sat at the side of the road having a cup of tea. Suzanne approaches the road closure soon getting stressed and mad, she gets out and starts yelling at Bob, arguing why the road is shut and more importantly why he is not fixing the pipes. After releasing her anger Suzanne is asked by Bob if she would like to join him with a cup of tea. She calms down and explains that she just wants to go to the airport, She realises that getting angry wasn't going to ease the situation and that she should just be happy. Bob gives her directions that divert around the road closure. Suzanne gets back into her car and follows the route, she arrives to the airport just on time. Once checked-in she boards the plane and is off to America.

The task:
The task was to ensure we have an idea that had the goal, conflict between the main characters and change.  I have now added more to the story as originally we just had a pitch.  The story was difficult to come up with at first with the idea of 2 random selected characters and a location it was tough trying to put it all into a story.
The goal was to show how the characters interact with each other. Suzanne being stressed as she is obstructed and Bob being calm and relaxed, getting on with his job. The conflict being the argument from Suzanne and how she is not able to get past the road closure. The change was to show how Suzanne gets calmer, she is retired and should not get upset so easily. Bob helps by being relaxed and helping her with directions. This then concludes to her getting to the airport on time, for her flight.

Summer Project

This is my summer project, introduction video on who I am.

Enjoy.