Script - The List

Draft 1



Final Script

Research Dossier

1. Submission of work

These our two uk based screenwriting competitions that aspiring writers can enter and often have prizes linked to them

UK Film Festival London.



The Final Deadline is January 9 2020. There is an administration and reading fee of £65.





https://www.ukfilmfestival.com/feature-script-competition/



BlueCat Screenplays













https://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/

These are UK based commissioning bodies that accept unsolicited scripts to possibly make a production.

In basics they run workshops which help you create a one hour drama script which then ‘Channel 4’ and ‘Shelley Productions’ gain rights too for six months with the possibility of them producing the script.

There's workshops with leading industry professionals and have lectures from directors, writers and producers.this is part of the first weekend, also as part of the first weekend you will come up with an idea for the script. Your script idea is then due as part next weekend activity where you develop and produce a second draft of the script. Actors will also look through the script to make sure that it's something they would like and another workshop in the requirements that channel 4 have.

https://careers.channel4.com/4talent/industry-talent-schemes/4screenwriting









The scheme tries to develop the best drama writing, it also gives encouragement that their drama could be used. It also helps them gain to producers and the BBC. “We can only promote opportunities which are free for writers to enter and don't ask for payment from writers at any stage.” Their is often opening times for the competitions that are run.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/about/drama-room

2. Background material (for concept / ideas generation)

Screenplay Format

This is a standard screenplay layout with each scene starting with a slug line (location and time of day) which then can be followed by some scene directions and then Dialogue with the characters cue above it. Every scene starts with a slug line and each scene isn't stuck to having just one slug line as it depends on what is being shown. Some scripts will have actor directions but its normal for these to be very minimal as an actor should know what their character is like.

Inspiration for narratives and story's can come from many different examples below our a few examples of the most common ways story's our made.

The King's Speech (2010)- real story - Budget 15million dollars , Box office takings - $414,242,458








https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/

The King's Speech was based on the real life story that came about around 1925 and was about George VI and his stammer. Taking experiences and things that have happened in real life can help and spring board ideas for a screenplay.




Deadpool - comic book - Budget, 58 million USD - Box office takings 783.1 million USD






When having a reference from a book, it sometimes makes it easier to plot the different story points but can also make it hard because you want to stay true to the book but sometimes for films budget reasons they can't.This could have been an avenue that I could have taken in adapting a book but sometimes it makes it harder to get the correct rights for characters and well for superhero films they are often made by the people that make the comic books. In the actual deadpool movie the only massive difference to the comics is vanessa who doesn't portray the powers that she has in the comics.



An imagination movie



Toy Story is a pixar film that didn't originally come from anywhere else with only details being taken from real life, it was also groundbreaking as it was the first feature length computer animated film.Toy Story's story was made just for the film and this was finished before any animation had started.




Films that are future telling (scifi)

The crazies is a film about a chemical weapon that has landed in the wrong place and has infected the water supply that starts making everyone go crazy. I talk in more detail in a post that I did about the crazies on my blog - https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7426523929368221263#editor/target=post;postID=2246740094371286821;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname

3. Research (for an idea, once conceived)

3 forms of primary research.

Questionnaire

One to one conversation

Talking to groups about their thoughts and other ideas.


Test screening our often used in the Film industry as its a quick way of gaging how an audience feels about each bit of a film.
E.T for example changed the ending to please the people more.

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/51-movies-and-how-they-were-affected-by-test-screenings/

Primary research I have conducted.

Thoughts on bucket lists and reasons why from a 17 year old and an 18 year old respectively.

3 forms of secondary research.

Articles - News

Interviews - With people from specific issues

Video - Documentaries, how to's and visual information


Research that goes into making a war film such as '1917'
some links that talk about the film and some of its processes.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-history-behind-1917-movie-180973800/

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sam-mendes-1917-world-war-i-hollywood-1203453950/


Secondary research is often also used to see how much other similar films in the same genre have made and they will look at the box office takings of each film they decide our similar in style to theres. Places that show box office takings our readily found online like box office mojo and imdb.
So on a film like '1917' they could have looked at a selction of simular movies and made an estimate of how much they would expect to earn.

Secondary research I looked into for my script idea.

Articles about Bucket lists.

https://www.oddee.com/item_99343.aspx


Interviews with journalists about journalism.

https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/career-path-guides/journalism-publishing/first-steps-journalism/a-day-in-life-journalism/


Video about journalists job roles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOynrI2eTM

4. Prepare material (for your own idea, once conceived)

Advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary research.

Primary research

Advantages

More useful as it is completed by yourself.

based more on what you actually need the information for.


Disadvantages

Takes longer to complete as you have to do it all yourself.

Can be more expensive.

Secondary research

Advantages

Is quicker and cheaper because it has already been completed.

Can be more extensive and thorough as others may have had more of a budget and time to get the information.

Disadvantages

You can never tell if it's real and not biased.

Won't necessarily relate the information that you need.

Useful information for my script.

I watched some films like 'our souls at night' and 'it's complicated' plus remembered things that I have seen in films before to help build up an ideas and concepts . I also used some first hand observations of the older people that I see regularly and the small things that they live for in life, for example one asked for a Mcdonalds because the other half was out and they loved it but he hated it, so it was only a real treat. I had also been talking to friends about ideas and one of them was coming up with bucket list for themselves and it made sense to try and incorporate it into an idea.

Disregarding some of the information I found out.

Some of the concepts in some of the romcoms I watched have two people that have either divorced or our widows. I didn't want to take this route as often the previous love stories can be complicated to explain or not explained at all. I chose to still go the fact that a love bond is found but in a more of a first love route.

My method of storing work.

I used Google Docs because it's easy to access from any device, which I then move it over onto my blog. I also have a USB that I store any photocopied or lose extra documents on.

Script Proposal.

Script proposal from appbox9

^- V1 -^




^-V2-^

Narrative Structure: The Crazies (Eisner 2010)

Give two examples of events that cause latter events in the film but occur before the start of the film?

We know that the infections of the waterways will have taken place before the start of the film, we know this because of the plane that was carrying the infection was shown to have crashed in the nearby creek instead of being incinerated in Texas

Another event that happened before the start was Judy getting pregnant. We find out she is pregnant when the government is checking for high temperatures and David shouting that the reason she had a temperature was because she is pregnant. This ends up being a blessing as if David had not gone back to save her. He would have been killed along with all the other non infected people that we see at the end in incinerated trucks.




Two events that happen in a different time frame to the main film (off camera)

We know that Russel tried to escape the city when he found out about all the wrong that was going on but was stopped after his tyres were spiked by the army and was then taken to the quarantine area on the same bus as David. We can also assume that he was cleared of not having the disease as he knew about the red truck crashing into the quarantined zone.

We also know that the people who were deemed safe and taken to the dinner (green wristbands) were all killed. We infer this when Judy is seen holding a bunch of bullets with more scattered around, with the trucks being filled with everyones bodies after being burned and we see that the bodies are also wearing the green wristbands that signify safety.







Sort the hole of the film into 3 acts ( 3 main plot points )

Act 1 - Normality and setting the scene
Act 2 - Disruption
Act 3 - some form of normality regained

In act one we get indications of to what life was like in ogden marsh, seeing some of the jobs and see Becca being let off work to go watch a baseball game that her boyfriend is playing in.The baseball game is the part where things switch over to act two as this is the point where David shots Rory.

After Rory has been killed the towns calm nature turns more concerned and we slowly see more and more crazies start to appear causing more death as the sheriffs can't stop them.This is when the army appears to try and contain the virus to one spot. But that fails and the army tries other techniques to try and stop it from spreading.

Act 3 is a little while later towards the end of the film, we see Judy and David get into a truck after fighting off some crazies and start to drive towards the nearby city. But this is when we see the big explosion behind them which takes out ogden marsh, the explosion causes their truck to crash but luckily they both appear unscathed and continue walking to the nearby city but the only bit you could say could make it so it isn't normality is the fact that now the city is also starting the quarantine situation.

Narrative Structure: Battle Royale (Fukasaku, 2000)

Q1)




Synopsis of Battle Royale




Class 3-B is on a supposed field trip but they are gassed and wake up on a remote island where they meet their old teacher Kitano and a lot of JDSF soldiers, Kitano explains that their class has been chosen to take part in the battle royale (the battle royal is an act that the Japanese government passed to shrink the amount of bad youths in the system) each student is given a bag of supplies with one weapon each, some weapons are good and some are seemingly useless, these weapons spanned from standard guns to a pot lid. Three days is the time limit to the completion and if there isn’t a winner by the end everyone dies, to speed things up a bit they all wear collars that can be exploded if they are either in a danger zone which are added at different times throughout the day or if you have done something to annoy Kitano. One by one each member of class 3-B consisting of 40 students plus the two new exchange students Kazuo Kiriyama and Shogo Kawada.




Logline of Battle Royale




Students plotted against each other by the Japanese government.




Last alive gets to leave the island.




Q2)






Shuya Nanahara

Male

15 years old

One of the main characters

He is motivated by protecting noriko and getting revenge for Yoshitoki Kuninobu who was the second kid to die and was best friends with Nanahara.






Noriko Nakagawa

Female

15 years old

One of the main characters

She has a crush on nanahara and also feels a connection with kitano







Shogo Kawada

Male

Around 18 years old (took place in battle royal 3 years prior)

Side kick to the two main characters

The main reason he came back in was to find out what the last words of his girlfriend meant (“Thank you”)






Kazuo Kiriyama

Male

Around 18 years old

Killer (kills 12)

He signed up voluntarily showing a crazy side and just sees people as targets.






Kitano

Male

Age unknown but above 45 years of age on guess

Host

He is the administrator of the battle royal programme and got stabbed in the leg at Shiroiwa Junior High School.






Q3)

I would say that it is a thriller with aspects of a thriller thrown in. The reason I would call it a thriller and not a horror is due to the fact that we are told early on to what will happen and can anticipate the ways people are going to die to a point. The film also causes a lot of suspense as there is quiet points and busy points that keep the audience anxious and on the edge.




Q4)




In the first part of the film we meet the school pupils who end up on a bus on route to what they think is a standard school trip, they all seem to be really excited. (this would be the initial equilibrium). The second part of the film the students find themselves on an island after being gassed on the bus and are told about the battle royal that forces them into a different part of their life (This would be the Disequilibrium of the narrative). By the end the two (Nanahara and Noriko) find themselves getting off the island and living a different but a normal life where they don't have to kill (this would be the New equilibrium of the narrative).






Q5)


The film in its basics follows the narrative structure of a traditional Hollywood film as early on the problem is given to the main characters and then they work to sort it out by taking some sacrifices and then the main characters end up getting away but with some life changing problems. But this is hidden and you cant really tell who is really the bad and the good throughout, and flashbacks can really take you out of the real time narrative of the film.

The Commissioning Process.

Job roles in the commissioning process.

Commissioning Editors:

Commissioning editors are involved in every stage, they make sure that one it would sell in
the current market and they also can find ideas and add to stories, they are basically a
adviser for a project
They should be able to spot the difference between something that looks bad and what
looks good. Decent research skills to check facts. Negotiation could be required.
Knowledge of subject that are worked on is helpful.
Some knowledge of the industry and how it works.
They wouldn't be that involved but would most likely see an almost final version to make
sure its viable to be commissioned


(https://www.screenskills.com/) (06/01/2020)



Producer:

A producer develops ideas and sometimes can write a basic script or screenwriters or a
director can bring a script to a producer.a producer will once a script and idea is almost
finished and has plot points, they will go out looking for grants (money) to actually make
the film. A producer is with the film from start to finish.
A producer has to be strong and passionate about everything they do, as if not it could
affect if they get money to make the film or not.Producers have to be open and clear to
their staff to make sure they come across as honest and trustful.
Useful Subjects to aid becoming a producer.
A-levels or Higher in drama and theater, English, film studies or media studies.
The producer has a fairly big role in the script as they are the ones that need to make
sure that the script is actually possible to make as they know how much money is free
to be spent on the making of the film and sometimes.




(https://www.screenskills.com/) (06/01/2020)



James Cameron

"James Francis Cameron^[1] CC (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, artist, and environmentalist, who is best known for making science fiction and epic films for the Hollywood mainstream. Cameron first gained recognition for directing The Terminator (1984). He found further critical and commercial success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and True Lies (1994). His greatest big-budget productions have been Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), the former earning him Academy Awards in Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. Avatar, filmed in 3D technology, also garnered him nominations in the same categories."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cameron)


Director

The director brings a strong creative look at to what the final outcome of the film will
actually be. They normally will also have a strong bond with the team that they build around
them. They are the people that will turn the script into reality.
They have to be a good leader whilst being kind and trustful. They have to be a good guide
as its their version of the film not the actors. A director does have to have an eye on the budget
of the film.
Their is courses that would lead to you being able to be a director like English , film studies
and many vocational courses. But one of the best ways is to just work your way up the ladder
from being an assistant / shadow to a role near the director to start to learn the trade.
The director is one of the big 3 (director, producer and the writer) influences on the script
because they are the ones that will possibly slightly adapt a script to actually make it a reality
and so its suits the ideas they have for the film.





(https://www.screenskills.com/) (06/01/2020)



Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg (/ˈspiːlbɜːrɡ/; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era and one of the most popular directors and producers in film history.^[2] Spielberg started in Hollywood directing television and several minor theatrical releases. He became a household name as the director of Jaws (1975), which was critically and commercially successful and is considered the first summer blockbuster.^[3] His subsequent releases focused typically on science fiction/adventure films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993), which became archetypes of modern Hollywood escapist filmmaking.^[4]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg)

Script editor

They work alongside the camera department to make sure that the visuals match what is in the script.
they also have to have a good eye to spot any continuity errors that could occur in the final piece.
They have to be able to communicate a point clearly so that people understand.
You would have to be good at English. They should have a high understanding of the media
and film industry.
They follow the script and make sure that the filming follows it. And will note down any
changes during filming.

Agents

They manage people in the creative industry and are the people that are looking out for
work that their clients can do.
Agents need to have good communication skills to be able to talk to their clients and the
people that make the jobs available to them (producers and directors)
a bachelor's degree in theater arts, drama, acting and performing can be useful for the
Commissioning Editors knowledge of the industry. But just experience is the main thing you need.
Agents might read a script to see if it fits any of these actors but won't have much if any
power to change things.




(https://www.screenskills.com/) (06/01/2020)


Writers

They write and develop screenplays for films and TV. Can be an original idea or an
adaptation of a book.
Understanding of screenplays, creativity and understanding of the context of what they write about.
Good English skills are needed to make their work high quality. A Lot of practice and development
is also well appreciated.
The writer is often the main contributor to the script and will come up with the initial ideas that form
the basic story.




(https://www.screenskills.com/) (17/09/19)



Christopher Nolan

Christopher Edward Nolan CBE (/ˈnoʊlən/; born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker known for making personal, distinctive films within the Hollywood mainstream. His ten films have grossed over US$4.7 billion worldwide and garnered a total of 34 Oscar nominations and ten wins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan

Sometimes writers walk away from a job if 'creative differences' cant be overcome, Danny Boyle famously walked away from directing a Bond film because of 'creative differences' and has widely been reported that this was down to the want to kill of Bond
https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/26/danny-boyle-quit-james-bond-movie-over-plans-to-kill-him-off-7883996/

What is commissioning?

Commissioning is when a commissioning body reads your screenplay and can give you the opportunity to pitch your idea but it is hard to even get recognised at all. If successful your product could be made into an actual product.



What is optioning?

Optioning is when a person or a company likes and wants to make your story but maybe cant straight away so they buy some rights to it which means the original screenwriter can't sell the story onto a different company, often the script will be held for a year with a real intention of it being produced.



Carrie Pilby

'Carrie pilby' was optioned twice for around £5,000 for a year and then had a 3rd optioning years later which lead to a Netflix film. More in the article linked below.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/how-my-first-novel-became-a-movie/539430/


What is a commissioning body?

They pick what screenplays should actually be commissioned and possibly produced. They could just be sent scripts from aspiring writers or they could be running a competition that people submit work into.



What a literary agent?

A literary agents is someone who will do all of the work for you except writing the script. This often makes it easier for writers to get their work commissioned as the agencies have all different kinds of contacts in different areas.

What to do to get agent representation with knight hall?

First you need to email knight hall telling them a little bit about yourself with some brief description of your work but don't add any attachments. But wait until they respond to the initial email before sending in your actual script but only one script and preferably in the post.

http://www.knighthallagency.com/

Three things not to do to an agent?

Constantly phoning to find things out when you have been told to just be patience.
Sending things in a more fancy way thinking they will be recognised more.
Submitting scripts that clearly have copyright infringements involved without already seeing the relevant documents.



BBC writers room , what do they do and what they look for?

The BBC writers room is all about helping new and existing writers in many genres. They don't accept all kinds of scripts all year round and instead have set windows where they look at scripts. They look for actual scripts not just some basic ideas as to what the idea would entail. They advise people to give in the best script they can and not just early drafts.They look for more brand new ideas and not just remakes of another idea.

( https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/ )

Independent production company?

They are good for unknown writers because know it will be cheaper for them. Script editing is often done in house making the process a bit similar. Sometimes funding will be sourced from larger corporations to help the process this often does come with the large corporation taking some revenue from the final product.



Why is it easier for an independent director to produce their screenplay?

When you produce your own work you have all the power to take that script where you want it to be. You can get all the people you want. There are difficult parts to producing their own work and its mostly down to money as it's a hard job to get a good amount of funds to actually make the script come to life.their is also the problem where when you have the power to do what you want, there is no one who will tell you no.



Independent producers?

They have all the freedom and all of the powers to find and finance a screenplay. All of their decisions on where to take the screenplay but they have to make sure that it does make a profit otherwise they are the ones that have to answer to the financiers. Having complete control over something can be good for certain people but sometimes people can try and do to much which can ruin a hole production. The work involved is also a lot more as cost savings mean they often work more than one role in a production.


The script factories goal was to celebrate great screenwriting craft. They had masterclasses / workshops with established screenwriters to try and develop screenwriters skills.

Bluecat is an organisation that runs competitions that gives aspiring writers to get their work written and given feedback.





( https://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/competition/prizes/ ) (30/09/2019)



Every script submitted to Bluecat will get a written assessment which then is also allowed to be resubmitted once you have made changes. If you win one of the prizes it should enable writers to go on and hopefully get their ideas commissioned.



Changes to a script

Sometimes companies would want amendments and changes done to the script. If you make the changes they want their is a high chance you get commissioned but sometimes if you don't agree with what they want you might have to walk away or explain to them why. Sometimes changes are made to the budget that is available or it can be to fully avoid any plagiarism of other texts.



Whats a shooting script?

A shooting script is the script that is used during production, it will include scene and page numbers. There are certain guidelines that have to be followed if changes are made during production to avoid disruption. Page lock-down is a vital part to make sure shooting is effective. Locking a page down means that any changes or revisions to the script are coded specifically to certain pages/scenes and are sent around as an individual page, this avoids having to print the whole script and enables cast and crew to keep their notes.



Script coverage?

This is an analysis of a screenplay that is done by a script reader.often these are done for small fees, the script will be assessed, marked and graded based on some set guidelines.

Working as a Writer

Agent representation

Having an agent will make you look more professional. An agents boosts the chance of your work being seen by a producer. Agents can be independent or part of a major corporation for example knight hall who represent screenwriter.

( http://theagency.co.uk/the-company/ )

Professional presentation

Time management

The amount of time you can spend on a screenplay depends on one thing if its commissioned or if it's just for yourself. Once your work is commissioned you are given a set deadline of when the screenplay is needed, if missed the production company will just move to someone else to write the idea. If its just for you the only deadline that are present are the ones that you personally set.

Legal and ethical considerations

Copyright

If your idea has been copyrighted it means that no one else can use that same idea for them self. Copyright often is often for a limited time and then you have to apply again. Copyright often doesn't fully cover you from all angles as someone can still take your idea change enough things like characters and settings and it is seen as fine.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright#/media/File:Copyright.svg )

Bias

Bias is all about pushing a one sided opinion in a film or TV show. Bias is most recognisable in documentaries with arguments often being one sided, the side taken depends on what director/producer is working on the project.

Censorship

Censorship consists of the things that you are allowed to see and hear and the other half is the things that you are not meant to know. This can include Protecting a person's privacy and graphical content.
Different countries have different levels of censorship as often it is the government that decides what can and cant be seen so things that might be visible in the UK might then not be visible in a different country like china.

Examples of the Most Famous Films that Were Banned in China

• Christopher Robin (the United States, 2018) - The film was banned after the case when the Chinese leader Xi Jinping had been compared to the Pooh, associating the character with political opposition.
• Deadpool (the United States, 2016) – The film was banned because of violent scenes, nakedness, and graphic language.

• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (Multinational coproduction, 2013) – The film was banned due to improper representation of China, as the country was depicted as the one without government and controlled by secret societies.                    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_censorship_in_China)

Some films can fall in the trap of copyright infringement, where they steal someones idea or at least take parts or characters and this can cause huge fines.

( http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/20-famous-movies-accused-of-copyright-infringement/ )

Watershed

The watershed is specific to TV. The watershed hours are after 9pm and this is when gradually more adult content is allowed to be shown as their is less chance a child will see it. This doesn't give the TV industry free will on what they can show but opens up more options of what can be shown.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/advice-for-consumers/television/what-is-the-watershed



Libel

Libel is when someone makes up a false story about someone which then can ruin certain reputations that people have spent years working towards. Some people will take you to court if they feel it has affected them a lot.

Borat by Larry Charles (Director), this mockumentary has been hit by a few lawsuits, most notably being one from students who claimed alcohol was given to the to act more strange that they would have naturally. the outcome of the lawsuit was that the film maker was in the right and wasn't charged 
https://theclearancelab.com/film-lawsuits-profile-borat/



Plagiarism

Plagiarism is if someone steals someone else's idea / concept without any permission or acknowledge the original creator. This is not looked on well by the professional industry.