The Script - The Call

For the project to start. A script had to be chosen. In the first meeting of the group it was decided that each member would find 2 scripts which they would bring to the next meeting. Here are a few of the scripts and why they were then rejected.

The Empty, written by James Megitt

The story has a low feel about it and the group felt that it didn't fit the style of films that our group wanted to make. It was also decided that there was a better option.

There was also a discussion over the idea of doing a script which followed a man who falls in love with a car parking pay machine, the group felt that this wasn't striking enough.

After a 4 hour meeting it was finally decided between the team that the script which would be used was "The Call" written by Kevin Li.

Original Script

Above is a copy of the script which was debated by the team and then Kathryn Pogue took it on as she had the most experience within celtx as she had used it previously and felt most confident to re-write the script this was done both independently and then the team had skype calls in which they updated Kathryn with the ideas they wanted putting into the script and the adaptations they had thought of. This was then agreed after a week of editing and re-writing. Below is a link to the script adaptation.

The First Draft

Here is a copy of the first script after the production team had worked on it. As can be shown in the images there were many changes which the group felt were necessary to make the film both more stimulating and succinct as the team felt they didn't want to bore the audience. They had also been told by the Executive Producers, Tim Dunning and Bill Bell who wanted the pieces to show in a theatre. In order for all the films to be shown there was a cap on five minutes, this similar to the Television industry where the shows are programmed to run for an exact time so that they can be shown within the time slots available. This was a useful technique for the entire crew to acquire, thinking about how the show had to fit to the stations requirements and making necessary changes to ensure it fits the brief given.

The script was originally 12 pages and this was when we cut it down to 11, the group felt it would be satisfactory once it had reached below 6 pages. There was much debate on which parts of dialogue would be cut out and how this would impact on the story's narrative structure. The team felt the script was strong as it was relatable and  simple the story was. By using a simple script it would allow for more concentration on the cinematography and the style of the film that the director had planned for the production.

Breakdown

 

Above is a (Black and white copy) of the script. This was where the team broke down the script into the different sections. Underlining the dialogue in red pen, highlighting sections different colours indicating whether the scene is internal or external and whether it is day or night. It also outlined through circling aspects of the script which were related to props and costume. 

Script Schedule

Below is a copy of the production, made by Kathryn in her room. Using the script breakdown she cut the script into eighths. By doing this, it allows for both the Director and Cinematographer often will refer to script a lot. Each eighth of a page is equivalent to 20 minutes of filming in terms of scheduling actors and call sheets.

After 9 re writes the production team felt the script was workable and was a correct length to reach the limit of under 5 minutes as instructed by our commissioning brief set by Staffordshire University. Below is a hyperlink which takes you to the PDF version of the final script which was used on set.

Script Adapted Version

Photograph of Niamh, Chenice and Kathryn at one of several script editing meetings, 

the photograph was taken by Zen Quinn.