Script Writing

Week 1 - 21/09/2022

This week, we began to look at the process of Script writing, particularly focussing on the idea of character development. Over the next few weeks, we will be developing our own characters and forming a plot around them, leading to a finished script. In order to help us start to think about who our protagonist might be, we were given a set of questions to answer which made us think about several aspects of our characters attributes and personality.

What’s their name?

How old are they?

Where are they from?

What’s their job?

Where are they now? Town? Room? (put them in an environment)

Do they feel comfortable in their surroundings?

What time is it?

What’s the weather like?

What can they hear?

What can they see?

How do they feel?

What do they need most at this moment in their life?

What trouble might they be in?

Who’s their best friend?

Do they have siblings?

Are their parents still alive?

What sort of an education did they have?

Who was their best friend at school?

When did they first get drunk? (if they ever have)

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to them?

The best thing that’s ever happened to them?

When did they last cry?

Who did they last kiss?

When did they last get really angry?

Who do they live with? Do they live alone?

What do they like most about themselves?

What’s their worst habit?

What are they most ashamed of?

What makes them happiest?

What was the best time of their life?

Do they own a pet?

What was their New Year’s resolution?

What’s their favourite band or piece of music?

If you gave them £100, what shop would they spend it in?

What’s their most treasured possession?

What’s their biggest ambition?

What’s their biggest fear?

What is the secret they’ve never told anyone?

Are they in a relationship? A happy one?

Are they a parent?

If money was no object, where would they live?

How do they feel about where they live now?

What’s their biggest regret?

What are they most proud of?

What is the worst thing that could happen to them?

What would be the best thing that could happen?

Boris

London

Bus Driver

Kitchen

No, they are not comfortable

8am

Raining

They hear cars

They see a door

They feel frustrated

They need a Key

Lose their job

Best friend is his Parrot

No siblings

Yes, they do have parents

No education

Jeff was their childhood friend

They got drunk when they were 16

They were trampled by a horse

They won the lottery

Last cried this morning

Never kissed anyone

Last got angry yesterday

They live alone, with only his parrot

They like their hair

Losing things is their worst habit

Most ashamed of losing things

Driving his bus makes him the happiest

Best time of their life was winning the lottery

Yes, they do have a pet

New Years resolution to save money rather than spend it

Favourite music is Classical

They would spend a hundred pounds in a hat shop

Most treasured possession is their lucky socks

Biggest ambition is to win Bus Driver of the year prize

Biggest fear is his parrot dying

Their biggest secret is that they own a stolen clock

They are not in a relationship

They are not a parent

They would like to live on a country estate

They dislike where they are living

Their biggest regret is spending all their money

They are most proud of their service to the community

The worst thing that could happen is that they could end up homeless

The best thing that could happen is that they find their keys

I found this task to be very useful as it allowed me to think about questions I had not previously thought about, whilst also encouraging me to think ahead about how this character could fit into a plot and how they would speak and act depending on the situation.

Week 2 - 28/09/2022

This week, we began to at how to write a synopsis for a plot idea. When studying this in more depth, we discovered that there are several key elements when it comes to writing a synopsis. Some of these include, writing a log line, which will give a brief idea of the premise of your story, establish your characters and their intentions, explain the meaning behind the plot and what it will eventually aim to achieve, think about how the idea can be portrayed in a cinematic context, and finally, how will the story end and how does it leave the viewer feeling. These are all important factors to remember and will allow you to write a clear, in-depth synopsis. With this in mind, I have attempted to write a synopsis below for a possible idea which includes the character which I began to develop last week.

Boris, a lonely bus driver who leads a boring, less than average life, is thrown into chaos when he can't find his house keys and is locked inside his house. He has never been late for a work in his life, and he doesn't intend to start today - The clock is ticking for Boris to find his keys and make it to work on time. Often prone to losing things of some valuable, Boris has little faith in himself and is constantly afraid of letting others down. Other than Elvis, his pet parrot, Boris lives alone and only ever interacts with the passengers on his bus. He enjoys bringing a smile to peoples faces, however, finds this increasingly difficult in the modern days of technology with everyone too focussed on their mobile phones. Despite the ever-changing modern trends, Boris seems to be stuck in the mid-70s era, having not decorated his home for over 40 decades. Although Boris has never been interested in finding a life partner, he often gets caught in conversation with his next door neighbour, Susan. Susan is a bold lady in her late 70s and is keen to impress Boris. Could this situation be her opportunity to help Boris and get him to work on time? Although for many, this situation would seem merely inconvenient, for Boris, this feels like the world is coming to an end. The question is, will he find his keys in time, or will his life come crashing down around him?

Whilst this idea is perhaps still underdeveloped at this stage, this task allowed me to start to think about a possible route that I COULD TAKE. I will continue to build on this idea next week when thinking in more depth about the structure of the story, and its underlying meaning.

Week 3 - 12/10/2022

In our script writing sessions this week, we were looking at the basic skills needed to write a short script, including the 'show don't Tell' technique. We discovered that it is extremely important to gain an equal balance of dialogue and action when writing script, as many scripts often become too wordy an do not successfully explain the visual aspect.

Our first task today was to watch several short films of different genres, including comedy, animation and romance, and identify the common short film conventions below. After making a few brief notes whilst watching the video, we discussed the videos in more depth as a class. I have included my notes from the short films below.

Sebastian's Voodoo

Use of Hard/Harsh lighting to represent tense atmosphere
Suspenseful music keeping the viewer engaged
Clear narrative structure with beginning and end
Main character went on physical journey from start to finish

Apricot

Good use of lighting (Dark at beginning, Light at end)
Presents different story to the real story
Use of flashbacks to give viewer a backstory

The Lunch Date

Heavily focussed on movement over dialogue
Plot twist at the peak of the plot
Has an unpredictable ending
Made use of interesting location which helped to move the narrative forward

After this, we were tasked with demonstrating our 'show don't tell' skills when we were given a series of sentences which we had to adjust to make them more interesting. We were challenged to write the new sentences in a script form in order to help us build and practise our knowledge of script writing. I have included the original and the improved sentences below.

George was anxious.

George, who is biting his fingernails, sits and stares at the door in anticipation.

Alice was sad.

Having tried her best, Alice gazes out of the window as a tear trickles down from her eye.

They were both scared.

Gripping on to each other’s arms, they cautiously lifted the lid of the box.

Fern was an amazing musician.

As Fern taps the last key on the piano, the audience rise to their feet, applauding her.

Overall, I found this weeks tasks very useful as it allowed me to gain a greater understanding on the common conventions of script writing, the importance of including visual descriptions in a script, and how to effectively use the 'show don't tell' method. I will keep all of this in mind when beginning to draft a script next week, and when working on script writing in the future.

Week 4 - 19/10/2022

This week, we continued to watch some short films before revisiting ideas about our own short script. In small groups, we looked back at our previous thoughts and ideas and attempted to build on them. We discussed the possibility of each idea and analysed the practicalities of filming in the spaces available to us. After some thought, we decided on one idea and wrote a short synopsis, giving us an overall idea of how we would like our short film to look, feel and sound. I have included the synopsis below.

'A man from the 1920s mysteriously wakes up in the present day, confused and distorted. He wakes up in a dark and empty room with no light as he struggles to find a way out. He sees a bright light shining under the door and heads towards it. He opens it to discover a modern-day person, standing against the wall, looking at their phone. He stares at them in confusion before asking them what it is that they are holding. They have a conversation about the phone and how it is different to the phone that he has, before being told that the year is 2022 and he is 100 years in the future.

The modern-day person shows the 1920s man some of the modern technology and describes how different things have changed since 100 years ago. Some of the things that he shows him are computers, TVs, fast food, cars, and the Apollo 11 Mission. At the end of the film, the man has a tough decision about whether to return to his past life, or to stay and create a new life in the future. He talks to his wife and family on the phone about his options and is left with a difficult choice to make.'

I found it very beneficial to write a brief synopsis on our idea as it gives us an overall idea of how our film might be structured and how we can convey this in our short scripts. I will continue to develop this idea before starting the first draft script.

Week 5 - 02/11/2022

This week, we watched several short comedy sketches and analysed the Common Characteristics that can be seen throughout them. Although many comedies have varying styles, most have some key aspects that are vital when writing a humorous script.

Common Characteristics of Comedy Sketches

- Exaggeration

- Victim and Frustration

- Repetition

- Single Location

- Use of Props

- Conflict/Misunderstanding

- Worst possible person in scenario

- Awkward and uncomfortable situation

- Limited amount of characters

After watching several short sketches, in groups, we talked about possible ideas for our own short comedy scripts. When discussing our options, I was particularly interested in the idea of having the worst possible person in a given situation. As proven in some of the sketches that we watched, this scenario can provide a timeless feeling of comedy and is something that the viewer is familiar with and feels they can relate to. The concept of this idea is quite simple, as it requires you to think of a location and then consider who the worst person could be in that particular scenario. For example, if the scene was set in a theme park, one of the worst people in that situation would be someone who is scared of rollercoasters. There are several locations and characters that can be explored using this method and will definitely be something that I will explore further.

When thinking about this idea in further depth, we also looked at the practicalities of filming a scene like this. In many scenes with this type of comedy, there are often two characters - the worst possible person (Protagonist), and a rational person (Foil). By having these two contrasting character types, it helps to move the plot and the action forward, increasingly highlighting the absurdness of the worst possible person. However, in some cases, there can be more than two characters, yet it is necessary to have two juxtaposing points of view to cause the comedic conflict.

With all of these points in mind, I will continue to develop my own ideas over the coming weeks when writing my own short comedy script.

Week 6 - 09/11/2022

This week, I focussed particularly on creating a first draft script for the comedy ideas that we began to develop last week. Over the past week, I thought in more depth about my ideas and considered which would be the most interesting route to take. After some thought, I decided to move with the idea of a strange and unconventional conversation between two people. Albert and Rose, two seemingly opposing characters can be seen engaging in a slightly bizarre conversation. As the script continues, the context begins to become even more unnatural. Whilst writing the first draft, I was concise of whether the viewer would realise that Albert is actually speaking on the phone through his earphones before the reveal at the end, however, I then thought that this would be just as funny as the end point. Even though the script is not filled with jokes as such, the situation is funny and abnormal; something that we had previously learnt when looking at the common conventions of comedic script writing. I have included a copy of the first draft script below and will gain some feedback from my lecturers and peers before reworking some elements of the script next week.