Pre- production planning: Intro to script writing

Intro to script writing

Before I began creating the script for our film, I wanted to get more insight on the basic elements of a film script and its anatomy. 

                            Basic Elements of a Film Script for BEGINNERS! - Makayla Lysiak

This video simply break downs every aspect of a script, making it very effective to create our script while going through the video. 

First, I wanted to create a real rough draft of the script. Then, after analyzing the script with the rest of my crew, we can decide if anything needs any revision. Hence where trials come in play.

Trial 1: on my own

I've came to a dead end, halfway into my script. I had to make a decision between two different scenes that would be used in that moment. In order to decide, I attempted a voice over of what I had so far; just to see how many seconds that took and how much I had left over. That would determine if I would take the scene that occupies more screen time or the scene that does not. During the voice over, I acted like how the actor should do it to decrease variables. Unfortunately, it seems this trial would over extend our limit, which is NOT what we want. Fortunately, this is just the planning phase, so trials are necessary. I have made plans to meet with my crew and discuss revisions, because we definitely need it.

Moreover, deciding which scene I ended up using also came down to the location. Because the plaza is not an actually school, it only looks like one, it wouldn't make sense to film the introduction of the other characters there. Therefore, I went with the scene that would have the introduction be set at Barnes & Nobles, a public bookstore, which will stand as the school's library. This also would've been easier cinematography wise as it is an interior shot, so every aspect will change but be more easier to control. 

                                                  Screenshot of script rough draft 1

This is the complete rough rough draft, may be the first of many but I hope not. I will continue updating revisions that I have made with the script during further trials. So far the run down voice over took 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Big issue, but I feel that it is better to have more and cut down from it to get down to 2 minutes rather than to not have enough for the story. The parts that i have emphasized in red highlight are specific details that I need to discuss with the rest of my crew in order to decide, like the camera transitions for each shot.