11.09.09 - Initial Script Discussions

Introduction

Despite having several conversations and ideas this was our first point where we all sat down. These meeting are important as it means firstly that we are all working to the same point, it means everything is coherent, creating a consistent piece of media. It also means we do not retread old ground.
This entry is to document the introduction evolution and opinions on all ideas proposed.

The Starting Point

We started with the starting point, of three people standing next to a dead body, then the film would be how to dispose of it.
Firstly we discussed whether the body should be the result of a murder, an accident or suicide. Whilst murder was the original concept we all agreed it would not work. Firstly because it makes our three characters instantly unlikeable. This went against the prima facie appeal we had to the idea, what would you do in this position? The audience needs to relate to at least one of these characters.
The idea of it being an accident then came up. The appeal to this was is that it was simple to explain, ridding us of much explanation. However it does seem to then make it dificukt to explain why they would hide the body.
This then lead to the suggestion that it was a suicide, this means the last wish could be to hide the body, this idea has yet to be finalised, as we will have to discuss a strong reason why someone would want this and then why three people would comply.

Casting

We have a flexible casting process to accommodate to our situation.
A comparison could be the ‘ABC’ Drama ‘Lost’ they had a rough idea of the type of characters they wanted, the auditioned. Based on these auditions they would adapt characters or even create whole new characters.
We are trying that technique but for different reasons. With no budget, or opportunities to talk to professionals, we have to base the characters on people we think are both available and able to give a convincing performance.
This kept the main characters from those within our own school, this technique worked well last year due to opportunities to constantly inform those involved in the project. This meant, the three who find the body to be students (we decided the characters shall be playing university students to give them a slight independence to carry out their plans whilst no enough experience to deal with this experience responsibly)
We originally thought the characters, this would carry an on-screen tradition of exploring the brotherly bond but also the animosity and aggressive nature of men stereotypically.
We are still considering casting as it will strongly dictate where we can take the characters or what type of characters we’ll have. A suggestion might be to have three of us play the characters. A positive is that this worked well last year, a drawback is that the scenes (by their nature) or much more complex this year. By having us juggle between working between being in front of and behind the camera, will it affect the end-product.
However we soon decided that by making the body a girl, we have an opportunity to make one of the three a boyfriend and follow his grief.
We approached a girl called Holly Brooks, we decided this because she has been in other media videos and is used to the process. We proposed the idea and she has agreed.

Characters

We have decided that the four main characters (including the dead body) will be played by people in our own year playing two years older. All otter additional characters will be avoided but if necessary will be played by older actors.
This is because media videos tend to have a full cast of people of their age but no adults, it stretches believability that no adults would be around in most of the situations portrayed.

The Viewpoint Character

This character will create empathy for the situation and keep it grounded. He isn’t necessarily in control fo the situation.
It was then suggested that (due to a short film seen by Peter, this film will discussed as an influence elsewhere in the blog) this character never says anything but his thoughts are subtitled. This would emphasise the two points in the above paragraph undoubtedly. However it creates difficulties in actualising the idea.
Has the character always been like this, or is it a result of seeing the body, would that then need further setting up? Is this apart of the fictional world so that all the characters are aware he never talks, or are they oblivious to it making it a forth-wall breaking technique.
Would the latter break away from the empathy required to engage with the plot or can it be justified by creativity and story-telling.

The Body

We have discussed main elements of this character, yet as we are still unsure whether to flashback to when this character was alive they may become arbitrary.
She must have a darker element to her past (which would tie into her not wanting her body to be found if we think the suicide element would be the most dramatically effective plot device). This could be family related, this would have to be told swiftly but respectively to these sensitive issues.

The Calculated Character

This character originated form the need to have a character that could take control and work out how to dispose of the body. As a result this character would most likely be quite cold, able to detach himself from emotions. We all stressed that this needn’t mean he is a “bad-person” merely numb to the situation.
It allows us to deliver exposition, and explore what drives this character. It also means he can simply state anybody’s state of mind, it’s effectively a shortcut to drama. Techniques like this will be useful in telling a story in such a short amount of time.

The Angry Character

Whilst not an antagonist certainly putting a spanner in the works, causing tension and aggression. His blinkered vision will push on the plot, as he can be used to push the plot forward by taking ridiculous risks. This will make him appeal to the audience.
He can also push other characters far past breaking point, especially in this trying circumstance.

Location

We have discusssed vague areas to work at, it will require at least one interior loction, then over 2 other exterior locations. We plan to show the details of all loctaion scoutign in other areas of the blog.

Style

The style iss varyign aat the moment, but shall be finaised bfor shooting. The mixture is fantasitical elemnts with girtty realism, the most obvious coomparison woudl be Danny Boyle's 'Trainspotting'. Ideas are obvioussly all ttheoritcal at teh mement and will be challenged and altered as we eneter production. Yet colour shceme wise we plan to have a monochrome like effect of all interiior scenes, this will be contratsed against wildly coloured exterior scenes.

Tim McNiven