One of the key concerns of The Plot Thickens studio was to identify the main plot within a story, but also the structure within the plot. This led to us studying multiple models of plot development that map out an entire story from start to end, with everything in between. This was the first time I was exposed to the nuts and bolts of how a film’s script and story is meant to be structured. Before having any exposure to this, I always wondered how to incorporate a twist or coincidence within a script. Every film has a primary end goal set from the start, but it’s the supplementary levers that need to be pulled in the right direction throughout to engage an audience – this is the thickening of the plot. I am hoping that my work exhibited this technique of twist, it was rewarding for me personally to conjure up a coincidence within my treatment, and I hope that of my multiple attempts throughout, that at least one or two of these were able to elicit a shocked or surprised response from the reader.

It’s great that I can now come away from this course with an idea that has been expanded into a full-length story. When writing my treatment, I often got caught in the trap of wanting my characters to speak directly to the screen. Now, with my treatment which I think has adhered to its strict guidelines, I can take the next step in investigating the development and transformation of various scenes into screenplay form and inject some real-life conversational experiences into the narrative structure. Eventually I would like to return to this treatment and polish it off as an official industry ready passion piece. Although we’ve done the treatment first, for me it’s been a good exercise in creating a start to end piece. I think now it could benefit us in having a base but detailed structure to follow when getting into the script.

Sarah’s treatment Brother, was one with many intersecting plot points which at time were hard to grasp, but with her guidance on the plot intricacies within the workshop it was one of the most enjoyable treatments to read in our studio in terms of nailing what was required when writing a treatment. One of my biggest difficulties in writing a treatment was finding the right way to describe an action without spoken words, this is something that was done well throughout Sarah’s treatment. On page 1 for example – ‘Duke thumbs a picture’ when taking his wallet out. A simple but powerful line when it comes to provoking an image in the reader’s mind.

Lauren’s treatment Falling Into Peter, did a great job of taking the reader into the mind of her protagonist Daphne. In essence, it was a sad story, but from a character arc perspective it was very satisfying. About halfway through I was wondering what the twist would be in this love story, and when it came I was mind blown. The plot twist was Shutter Island-esque but had a greater effect on me in terms of putting myself in the shoes of the protagonist who is struggling to come to terms with reality. In a way, whether by intention or not, it was an insight into the mind of someone who is mentally unstable after experiencing a traumatic event. The first and second act, however, makes us empathise with Daphne in the third act, as for the majority of the treatment we thought her version of reality, was reality too.

I took an interest in the Art and Impact studio. This studio had a focus on ‘impact documentary’ which I assumed was like any documentary, however, when I read through some of the posts and watched their final documentaries, I realised that these documentaries are made to provide a lasting impact and inspire a social change. I took a particular interest in the Concrete Jungle documentary. This centred around pigeons and seagulls within the Melbourne CBD. As a student of RMIT, I am very familiar with these birds of the city, but it was change in musical tone, and narration, that really shifted my mindset to acknowledging the responsibility I have as a human in trying to keep these birds safe in the big city they called home long before it was any city at all.