Welcome back to the blog! With the plot for my film completely devised, I now want to take a look at the script and what makes one effective. Though I intend to include not as many lines of dialogue, it is still important for me to look into this; additionally, I plan to take this opportunity to more deeply detail camera movements used for certain shots.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, what makes a script "good"? There are many elements that go into this, though the ones that can best be applied in film noir involve the main character and the story's central conflict. In terms of the protagonist, the script must answer who the character is, what do they want, and how they are going to get it. Their motivations have to be clear, and should be driven by feelings or desires, as they are the ones who advance the story and ultimately solve the conflict. As for the conflict itself, it typically has to hold high external life stakes, should be exceedingly difficult to overcome, and should build and complicate throughout the script.
As I have said many times, while the brief states to focus on the opening of my film, the problem being introduced right at the start allows me to set these stakes as well as reveal a little about the protagonist towards the end of the clip.
After taking some time to reviewing the plot and storyboard for the opening, there was one more thing that I had to finally put in place before I can start typing my script, that being the opening's title and character names/positions. I began first with the victim, who I decided to make mayor of the unnamed city. The identity behind the antagonists impersonation is what I went to next. Seeing as the mayor and officer fall for the disguise, it is only right to give the true identity a role in the city government, that being a member of the council. I wanted to give identity's name some sort of meaning, so I opted for giving him the last name "Guise", as his identity is being used as a disguise for the antagonist.
I wanted to do something similar with the name of the protagonist, though on a deeper level, as his last name would also be the title of the production. Wanting to reflect on his semi-mysterious presence and the overall mystery elements of the plot, I opted for naming him Detective Opacus. Opacus is a Latin root meaning "shaded, in the shade, shady, dark, darkened, obscure" perfect for what I wanted to do with the name.
With all these features established, here is the script I will be following:
One smaller change in particular is sticking with going for one officer ground patrolling instead of the two I displayed in the storyboard. This makes their presence more realistic as I cannot access a police car for filming, which is typically where two cops patrol together.
As for the script itself, I loosely followed a guide online on how to make a more professional screenplay, though I decided to add camera shots, movements, and some types of cuts that I plan to use so that I do not have to choose on which to use on the spot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite mostly recapping from past posts, making the script today, combined with the storyboard and plot planning now gives me the clearest outline of my brief, which will hopefully help make the filming process quick and efficient. The time I took into fleshing out more of the characters for this project also helped me give deeper meaning to the overall production, giving it even more life despite only being an opening.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources used for information:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are just a few more steps I have to plan before I can confidently say that I am fully prepared for production. Next time, I will be planning for the physical elements of mis-en-scene of the opening, those being the wardrobe for each character alongside the props used by each.
No comments:
Post a Comment