References

Written by Emma Taylor

On one of my earlier posts about script writing I stated the following text from a book called 'On Film Making'. In this post I will explain how I have used this advice into the planning for this production.

Director's Notes

As a director, 'On Film Making...' suggests that for any film that we're planning to make, there are some key questions we must be able to answer.

1. How many characters are there in your story? - Select three 'principles', remember that drama and tension is easily created through characters reacting to each other on screen, so try and stay away from 'there is only one main character'. Often it is most effective to have three main characters as there is then a triangular relationship, perhaps a central character who is being pulled in opposite directions by the others. Note - that in films with dramatic scenes where there is only one character present, these tend to be the scenes where the environment itself plays the part of the protagonist, and makes the central character react to their surroundings, horror movies is an obvious example.

2. Who is your point of view character? Sometimes it can be difficult to decide between who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist. Ask yourself: by the end of the story, what does your character hope to achieve? And what is required to make this achievable whilst creating a visible result on screen? But there also has to be a negative objective - to try and prevent the end goal from happening - but this too should be a result of an action.' For Example - A girl wants a boy to be her boyfriend (the achievement). But the boy isn't interested, due to the fact that he has a date with the girl's horrible half sister (negative objective), but only because the half sister has found out the girl likes this boy, and wants to spite her (the result of an action).

3. How does the conflict lead to crisis? What is at stake for the main characters? Is there a confrontation scene? In a well constructed story the audience is held in expectation of what is called a obligatory scene brought about by a reversal (or series of reversals). The obligatory scene (the scene that the audience expects and looks forward to), classically expresses the theme and the story's central moral.

1. Whist Grace is our focus in the film and it's her journey we're following, we actually have 3 main characters; Grace, Zara and Joe. Whilst they are friends, enigmas and conflicts are made when Grace goes missing and both friends become increasingly worried, anxious and on age, creating yet more tension eg. Zara becomes quite psychotic as she can't quite cope with her emotions, and throws chairs across the school classroom. 

2. We follow to separate stories (the journey of Grace, and the journey of her friends trying to find her), but fundamentally, Grace is the story, so the film follows her emotions, her thoughts and her feelings, making the audience relate and feel sympathy for Grace. It is also true in our film that when there is only one character, the environment is the cause of tension. For example, there is a scene where there is an explosion behind Grace when she's running and she gets caught by the blast. There are no other characters, but the environment is the source of tension here. 

3. The conflict here certainly leads to a crisis. But as this is a trailer, we don't want to give too many plot twists away, so we will miss out the confrontation scene where Grace's friends find her locked in an MI5 agency prison. This would be the obligatory scene here, but this would not be expected in a trailer.