Be Mine
When a bookish young woman becomes infatuated with a Latin lover, she soon comes to realise that love isn’t always as perfect as it is shown in her favourite romance novels.
Process
The feedback we received in each reading, from Alan, the class, and the panel guests, was a bountiful source of how this script could be improved upon and how we could potentially change its direction. Thus, Be Mine took many re-writes to to achieve this final product, almost too many to count. We originally planned for the film to go through the different seasons of a year, and accordingly a whole relationship. However, we found that this was limiting at times and decided to stick with depicting a relationship purely from beginning to end. Initially there was also a primary focus on the character ‘Adam’, who now is known as Adán. However, this has shifted towards a focus on the character of Evelyn and her perspective as a book buff who falls for a Latin man and how their relationship ensues.
Through this script we learnt how to create two very distinct characters and how to present their dynamic and evolving relationship. The feedback we received along the way will help us to create believable characters and relationship dynamics in similar films in the future.
Experience
Our biggest lessons from Be Mine, was how to approach writing big text and dialogue to ensure that we do not repeat information in the script multiple times. Especially in our first scene rewrite found ourselves using dialogue and character action to emphasise the same ideas too often. Through our pitch, and additional scene rewrites we have come to realise this can become repetitive and is unnecessary as the audience easily picks up on subtle nuances.
There was also a strong learning curve in terms of which details we should include within in the big text to describe location, and a character’s actions or intentions. Once again, we found that being succinct and purposeful with details was the way to go.
Finally, writing a script from a personal story that almost everyone experiences in their lifetime (love & the loss of it) ended up being a great challenge. There was an endless array of different possibilities for this story, which ultimately made it more difficult for us to have a clear direction for the final product. However, through multiple re-writes, and trial and error, we have arrived at a product that tells a strong story about these two protagonists.
Skin Deep
Taking strides towards changing her life and appearance forever, a young and impressionable social media influencer must discover whether her insecurities can be cured beyond the waiting room.
Process
Our idea for Skin Deep came from us sharing our experiences with self-esteem and body image. In this script we depict a character’s struggle to accept themselves as they are, whilst also struggling with ideas about permanently changing these insecurities through plastic surgery. Through this story we aimed to show empowerment in ones choice, as well as feeling comfortable within your own skin and morals. With this in mind we tried to write Skin Deep in a way which allows the audience to come to their own interpretation of moments within the film, as well as the ending, being whether or not the protagonist actually undergoes the cosmetic surgery. We believed this was powerful as it made the audience an active participant in the possible arguments which we present about plastic surgery.
To create a balance in our script, we began by writing a list of potential scenes which are in favour of, and against plastic surgery. This allowed us to keep track of the meanings which could potentially be drawn from certain moments, whilst also ensuring that our discussion was not skewed in one direction.
Experience
With a lot of the film being placed in the waiting room, as we anticipate the protagonists final choice, we were able to test our world and character building by writing slice of life moments in and outside of this setting. Our goal within this script was always to create an authentic character and to create the ‘tip of the iceberg’ which we have discussed through out the semester. Exploring Lisa’s character through two vastly different settings allowed us to explore different facets of her personality. For example, how she interacts with her family members and strangers, her hobbies and of course her fears about plastic surgery.
Through this script we also learnt that writing characters and events based on ourselves, people in our lives, or from experience, has its advantages. These moments and characters within the script were much easier to write, and eventually began to feel authentic. Acknowledging this helped us steer this script into the right direction and ultimately achieve what we have set out to do, and once struggled with.
Skin Deep Visual Treatment Final
