11 – 10- 10
In our second workshop we began with a brief explanation of the broadcast lab and its Youtube channel which hosts the BSU student films. Mike recommended we watch Every Four Years in particular, and a book titled On Directing by David Mamet.
We then moved on to watching a collection of short films by Futureshorts on DVD.
After watching each of the selected short films we were told to create a log line for each film, and to ensure that it was catchy, not too long and would make an audience want to watch.
Here are some examples of the log lines I came up with:
- “An aspiring actress intrudes upon a man sat unhappily in a French cafe, asking him simply to help her with her lines. He does so, and shows the girl how to spark some real emotion in her performance.”
- “The trials and tribulations of a young couple pre-break up.”
- “A scientist revolutionises human freedom by creating a gene-mutating drug called K9. He and many others discover a life altering new world which changes the way they live forever.”
We then discussed key features in short films and the sort of things all short film should include. This included few locations and few characters, as there is usually limited budget and time. Also, a key storyline with a clear interest in its audience and where the story is going; in a short film there is no time to waste and the story must be achieved and the audience intrigued throughout. Repetition and particularly rules of three are also common in short films.
After watching these films we discussed the first assessment and each person had to write down their availably in order for the groups to be organised. We were each given a copy of the script Choices which we will be creating. We were told to read through the script, create a tagline and to mark the beats.
After the workshop.
Choices is a script which I feel would be fairly simple to create on a low budget. It uses few locations, all of which are easily accessible (a house, an office, university grounds) and a handful of characters. However there are several things I would like to change. I do not really like the ending, I think it is too cheesy and because of this, uninteresting. I would also make it clearer which choice the protagonist Dan made and make focus emphasis on the results of his decision.
The script is written with certain scenes being split across the scene, with one scene playing on the left side and another on the right. This was done to represent the two directions Dan could follow. These are acted out side by side, followed by an imagination scene of what could have been. We then see the actual ending. I found this to be a confusing and fairly boring way of showing the choices. I feel that it would be better to play out the two options in full, that way we would be able to make the most of the visual and sound effects. I think it would also be much clearer to play out one option, and then cut back to Dan contemplating this idea and dismissing it. Then I would play out the second option which is the path Dan decides to take. This would make the first option appear as thought and the second option as action. I would delete the imagination scene as it would then be unnecessary.
By doing this I think the ending would be clearer, as it will be more distinctive which choice Dan made. I would then rewrite the final scene to work around this idea. In our workshop next week I will discuss these ideas with my group, and I look forward to hearing their ideas and opinions on the script.
The log line I created for this script is;
“A lazy student discovers he has the ability to open the door to any location he desires. With great power come many opportunities.”
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