Altering the Script and Shot List
Throughout production, a lot of changes were made to the script and shot list as me and my cinematographer thought of new ideas that best fit our film. I had to make a few adjustments to the script while she made creative changes to the shot list, mainly changing camera angle and movement. In this blog I will be focusing on the changes I made in the script while my cinematographer will be discussing the changes to the shot list, you can see her blog @ https://underc0verspy.blogspot.com/.
Script:
The first change I made to the script was to accommodate our main talent, Shaunae, who plays Dariah. The original script shows a major conflict between Dariah and Natalia, who is played by Tatiana; I have mentioned before, is not in friendly terms with Shaunae in reality. The specific stage direction of the original script tells Natalia to drop a book on Dariah's head as she verbally insults her.
Screen shot of script that states Natalia dropping the book on Dariah's head
My main talent expressed to me that she was not completely comfortable to get a book dropped on her head by this person in specific and I completely understood. At first she assured me that she would be fine and but I understand that she wanted to change her mind. After speaking with the rest of my crew, I decided to just have Natalia drop the book next to Dariah rather than on her head, Dariah would then flinch in response. This was script change #1
Screenshot of script change #1
While filming scene 4, we ran a few test runs of Tatiana dropping the book next to her and I ultimately came to the decision that it would be best to remove it completely. I did this for the main reason that it just did not end up looking right during filming and didn't make sense with the previous shots. We ended up just leaving the book on the floor as it was in the previous shots and leaving out that part of the shot. This would be script change #2
Screenshot of script change #2
The next change I made to the script was in scene 2, where Dariah speaks on her past and ends up talking about the traumatic event that led her to switch schools. At first we planned to do a still of her houseparty scene, but after a few contemplations s of the entire film and envisioning how it would look like after the mall montage, I decided that doing a full scene would work better with the montage stills that occurred beforehand. After discussing that idea with my cinematographer, I created stage directions for Shaunae to follow while we film the houseparty scene. This would be script change #3
Screenshot of script change #3
I am so glad that I decided to change the still to an actual shot as it adds more to the narrative. We added sound in the background to add the affect of an actual party, and even added a bystander to film her so that the audience can make the inference that the video taken will be posted to the public, ruining her families reputation.
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