Story-telling Unit: Film Research

I wanted to research what the opening 2 minutes were like in films that I like, short films that are similar films to my own. By doing this I was hoping to get a clearer picture of what is expected and also the style they filmed in.

One of my favourite films is Bridesmaids as Kirsten Wiig, who wrote and stars in it, is a massive inspiration for me. I re-watched the film to see how it had been filmed and how they started it. Obviously this a much longer film than mine but it's a film that I've seen so many times without really thinking about the production side of things so for me it's a good place to start.

One of the first things I noticed it how during most scenes they have an establishing shot of some sort. Whether this be the outside of a building or a wide/long shot that includes the main characters for this scene. When the dialogue begins the wide shot focuses on the 2 characters having them both be in shot. Then the next shots are over the shoulder ones from the character who isn't talking showing the one who is. This seems to be a simple method and one I will keep in mind whilst shooting. However as my characters will be sitting next to each other it might be difficult to get this to work so I want to talks look at other options. Here is a scene from the film where this is used effectively. 

The opening 2 minutes of films usually tend to introduce the main character(s). For example in Bridesmaids, the scene begins with an establishing shot of the location of a house at night, with the voices of the characters being heard from off screen (inside the location). The next shot is from inside the house. the camera moves slowly towards a door. Due to the noises the characters are making we can assume this is the bedroom. The main character, Annie, is then visually introduced to us where she is having 'sweaty sex' with the character of Ted, in his bedroom. The next few shots are all showing the various positions the characters are in and either close ups, long shots or mid shots. Then to show the next scene they have another establishing shot of the location. This time the house is in daylight so the audience will know time has past. Then another long shot of the character Annie, in the bathroom putting on make up in the same clothes as the previous scene. Again this helps to reinforce the time scale for the audience - it's the morning after. Then there are more mid shots and close ups during the dialogue.

In the opening 2 minutes of the short film Love is all you need? it starts with the screen black and the sound of a crying baby can be heard. Then a voice over begins and the first shot we see is a close up of a Doctor who has just delivered a baby. The screen cuts to black again and then a mid shot of 2 females, looking straight into the camera. One has hospital gown on and the other a scrub jacket - they are the parents of the newborn. Cut to black again and a blur effect this time when we have a close up of one of the mothers feeding food into the camera. The camera is set as the eyes of the child. The Voice of the mother is slowed slightly. Then we see the child through a close up. More voice over and close ups of the parents and child. The voice over is a young girl - the baby we have just seen being born. Fade to black again - the camera follows a child with a gift. she hands it to a blonde child of a similar ages. A wide shot reveals the parents from the previous scene sitting with the now older child. Then more close ups of various characters and guests at the party. Fade to black again and we are at a wedding. Close ups and mid shots of characters throughout the voice over tell the story as does an establishing shot to reaffirm the location we are seeing. Fade to black again. A group of children come into shot with their bikes and scooters. The camera starts low on the long shot into a more central view followed by some over the shoulder shots and close ups of the characters as they are speaking.

My housemate pointed out a scene in One Tree Hill where 2 characters are sat next to each other during a lecture. The camera uses the depth of field to switch focus from one character to another. This might be a more effective tool for during my filming of my scene but it would depend on the space available.



All this research has been really useful for my filming and has helped me with creating my storyboard. I now am more aware of what shots I should be including when I go on set. For me this is a major difference as when i did media studies i just put the camera down and filmed the whole scene. This time i'm paying closer attention to how it should be done.

Now to finish the storyboard.

Stay Safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Shot list

I made a shot list to help Roxanne out for when she's filming. Obviously as she's the director and can see the scene differently to what I'm able to she's probably going to make changes as the filming goes on, but I wanted to give her an idea of what I had visioned for the scenes.

Below is my shot list:

I can't wait to see it now. 

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Storyboard 2

Here is my 2nd updated storyboard. Again excuse the pictures. It's really helped me to visualize the scenes more and get a better idea of what I want from filming.

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Initial Script Feedback

I've had my script back and I'm really pleased with the feedback I've received. Script writing is something I really enjoy and something I would love to do as a career if I'm good enough. Simon was really pleased with the draft I gave him and had some really constructive things to say so I can improve on it.

Below is the feedback sheet I received:

 

I agree with everything he's said and I can already see ideas that I can use to change the ending. The thing I may struggle with the most is the voices of the characters. I can visualise them as people and know how they think but at the moment their voices do seem very similar. 

The idea of coming straight in on the meeting was one of the problems that came up when I first pitched the idea. No one understood it and thought it didn't work. But as this story is one which slowly unravels it would waste valuable time having a scene where a girls walks to her friends house. It just didn't have the same sort of vibe as smack bang in the middle of the argument so I'm really pleased Simon liked it. 

I'm going to get straight on and write another draft up I think. While I'm full of ideas.

Stay safe, 

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Camera Workshops

Over the last 2 Tuesdays I attended camera workshops with Fergus. I've not used a video camera since school so I was excited and nervous to learn all about the cameras we would be using on the course. It's probably my weakest area along with editing and, although I am really visual with my ideas and what i want to achieve through filming, I don't feel confident at the moment that I can achieve what I'm expecting.

I really enjoyed the workshops and learned a lot about using the cameras and SWEFF. Something that I took on board and will be using on all my shoots in the future is having the eye piece visual set to black and white as it really helps to see things like shadows and lighting. All the important little details are much easier to spot in mono rather than colour. 

I worked with Sophie and Roxanne on the first day and Shanelle joined us for the second day. I enjoyed working with different people for a change and they were all really easy to work with. One thing my group had problems with on both days was audio. I was being filmed so didn't could help the guys with the camera but the little mistakes we made in the workshops have helped us to not make them again and we all understood what we had done wrong so atleast we can learn from it. We had problems with a radio mic as it was set to a different frequency and Fergus couldn't get it to work for us so I think when I do my filming I would be more comfortable using a mic on a rod. 

The things we improved on from the first to second workshop were the quality of the sound and of the footage. Although the sound was still too quiet on the 2nd day, listening to audio back through headphones we could hear the difference from the 2 shoots so I'm glad we were improving.

I'm excited to get out and film my opening 2 minutes and hopefully make something I'm proud of.

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Research on daydreams and arguments

I wanted to research daydreaming sequences and arguments as my opening 2 minutes is a mix of both. The reason behind the whole blur effect is because the character of Sophie has 'zoned out' of the conversation and is in a world of her own. This is also the reason the voice of the character Leah is muffled. So because it's a big part of the scene I wanted to see how other films and TV shows have gone about portraying the sound and visuals.

A clip that I knew used this sort of effect was a domestic abuse advert where a young girl is being pressured by her boyfriend into having sex. The camera then pans out and we see one of the characters from the scene watching themselves and shouting for themselves to do something to stop it. The audio is portrayed as being through a glass wall so it's slightly muffled and distorted - a similar effect to what I was hoping to use. Below is the clip:

Another show that uses a lot of daydreaming is Glee. The character of Finn is often seen 'checking out ' of conversations with his girlfriend Rachel as she does tend to talk a lot. Usually during these scenes the character of Finn does a voice over of what he is thinking in his head whilst Rachel is talking to him. Therefore her voice is still faintly audible but toned down so as to show he isn't paying full attention to what is happening. 

I also re-watched the short film 'Love is all you need?' as their is a scene in the film where the parents are arguing while the child is in her bedroom. The audio is distorted to sound like it is coming from another room although it was probably filmed infront of the actors and then layed over the visuals for the film. I want my audio to similar to this but as Sophie is in such a daydream I would probably have it sound more muffled than this. The scene for this starts at 13.11 if anyone is interested enough to check it out.

I have an app on my phone called Traktor DJ where you can lay effects over songs which is mainly for people interested in djing. The effect I found on the app which seems perfect for what I would like is called low pass filter and essentially what it does is stop the high frequency sounds from being let through. It's a pretty cool effect so I'm hoping to use something similar.

I did some reading on the sort of effects that Final Cut Pro x has and their is an muffled audio one so I'm hoping I can get it just right after having a mess about with the audio. 

I'm excited to get my filming done now and get editing!

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: New Location set up

So after getting the camera today I checked out the lighting at my location. I realized having the window behind the actors on the sofa would make it difficult to get the ideal lighting. After moving around the chairs in the living room myself and my friend found a much better layout and also kept the same feel for the scene. Below is an update location layout:

I'm excited to start my filming on Sunday.

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Filming Prop and Wardrobe list

I went through the first 2-3 pages of my script to see what I needed before I begin filming and came up with a list of things.

• Picture of a male couple in a frame
• 2 glasses of juice
• Fake Newspaper/magazine from page
• iPhone 
• Leah - dress, looking fashionable/ girly, heels, full make up, hair curled or straightened
• Sophie - hoody, trackie bottoms, trainers, no make up, hair tied back

After making the list I knew I needed to start searching for 2 older male actors to photograph to play Sophie's parents. However as 2 of my friends parents are gay I may just ask them if they wouldn't mind me using a picture of the 2 of them together instead as they are of the age Sophie's parents would be.

I also needed to get to work on creating the front page for my newspaper or magazine article. If I can't make a newspaper front page I may just have a newsletter and have Sophie turn that over instead. Obviously this will involve changing the script slightly but if it will mean I can create a better finished article I'll be happy to do this. It will probably be easier to do the latter than anything else but I'm going to explore both options as I would really like to have a newspaper for authenticity purposes. 

Best get creating,

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Storyboard

I made a storyboard after I decided I would be filming the first 2 minutes of the script. I thought this would help me to visually picture each shot. When I am filming I think this will help me to keep my ideas on track and be a good reference for everyone on set. This is only my first storyboard and I am sure as the script changes I will be making more but I thought I would post the first one as it was my original vision for the film. Excuse the drawings. Art isn't my strongest point.

Back to more rewriting I think.

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling unit: Location layout

I managed to get a floor plan for the location I will be filming at. I also created a layout of an idea I have for the layout for the living room using the app 'shot designer' on the ipad. It was useful as I am able to see where to have the sofa and where to have the camera and what space I will be working in.

Below are the plans.

 

I was even able to include lighting, the actors and even where the mic would be. It's a useful app to have as I can use it to see where my props need to be and what lighting is available on location. 

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Location Search

I have been searching for a location to film 'The Meeting'. I wanted to have a lot of space in the living room to film and also be able to move around furniture and be able to remove things to make it more a place that Sophie and her family would live in.

Here are the pictures I took of location 1:

 

And here is location 2:

 

 

 

In the end I have decided that due to space and scheduling issues with location 1, I will film at location 2. 

Now just to pick a date for filming and get casting.

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Draft 2 of Script

So i've just handed in my 2nd Draft of the script deadline. I'm really pleased with the changes i've made since the 1st draft. Obviously there is still some work to be done on it but I'm looking forward to the feedback I get and can use this to point me in the right direction when I go on to do a 3rd draft.
Here is the 2nd Draft:

The Meeting 2nd Draft



Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Coming out Research

I hadn't posted any research I had done on Coming Out stories which I did when doing the prewriting for my script. This was a big part of my research and I tried to find varied experiences. On YouTube there is a lot of Coming Out videos that people post rather than tell people face to face and also, due to the 'it gets better' campaign, people have posted their stories of what happened when they came out and how their life is now. This is to give people hope and also to share their experience as their is no typical response or good way to come out.

Below are some of the videos I found.

The last video is part of a series so if you wanna catch the other videos check it out on her channel (yourharto).

I contemplated the idea of having Sophie 'come out' on YouTube and have Leah find out by accident after watching the video. The short film begins with the reaction when they meet after this event. However one of my friends told me his experience of coming out over the phone after a long process of trying to work up the courage to tell his friend and accidentally blurting it out. I liked this idea and after speaking to him about it, he agreed to let me use this as the starting point for my idea. 

It has been a really useful experience to research this aspect of my story as i really want to get it right and take a realistic approach. 

As I have decided to film the first 2 minutes of my script rather than a trailer I am now off to research the opening 2 minutes of short films I like and are in a similar style to mine, and also to look at the opening sequence of my script and how other day dream sequences go about filming. 

Stay safe,

Helen

Media World: Raindance Sceenwriting Course update.

Yesterday I spent the day at the Old Cinema at Westminster University, Regent street for my Introduction to Screenwriting course with Raindance film festival. 

I found the day incredibly useful and was given plenty of information about the world of Screenwriting. 

The day started with the compere for the event, a comedian called Dan March, welcoming all 160 of us and explaining that if anyone had a project they wanted to network then to speak to him and he would do a shout out during the intervals. 

Then Elliot Grove, Founder of Raindance, explained his background and went on to talk about Characters and inciting incidents. He said that first and foremost you need good characters. Story and plot can come after. He then told us about a group of people in America that meet every weekend and make a short film. They start by having each person write down 2 characters and their job and a couple of traits. Then they all write down an inciting incident. Elliot explained this can be something as big as a car crash (macroscopic) or something as small as dropping a coin on the floor (microscopic). Then the group put each category in hats and have someone pull out 2 character and 1 incident and then they come up with a story and make it into a short film. When it's all finished and edited they watch it back - if it's good they put it up on YouTube or send it to festivals, if not they delete it. 

Here is one of their films featuring Naomi Watts called 'Never date an Actress'

I thought it was really funny and a really good low budget short and it just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it. This year almost half of the entries for short films to Raindance film festival were shot on mobile devices and some were good enough to be shown during the festival itself. It goes to show it doesn't matter what you shoot with, as long as you have good characters and story it can be successful. 

Here are 2 other short films that we watched on the day that i enjoyed. The first is called 'Blonde in a Library' which takes 2 stereotypes and puts them together.

The second is a film which was commissioned by Robbie Williams when he wanted to promote his new album. It is called 'Goodbye to the Normals'.

We were then given the opportunity to come up with our own characters and inciting incident and put them on 3 small pieces of paper. Then we had to pass one character to the person on our left and our inciting incident to the person on our right. We then had to think of a news story that might be on TV or in a newspaper that came from the 3 pieces of paper we now held. Some people were selected to read their idea out loud to the group and asked if they found it a useful experience. I found it a great idea and will be using it when I am struggling for ideas. Elliot said it is good to keep your writing skills on top form so this is an idea that we can all do every day if we want. 

After a break, we then went onto learn about different structures. variations of them and the social stages. Obviously I already knew about the 2 and 3 act structures from Uni but it was interesting to hear about other structure ideas because there is no set style for writers to follow and how your story unfolds is down to you and how you want to tell it.
I had never heard about the social stages before and how each stage has a different hero. 

The Wilderness - Super hero: always male, receives divine inspiration and new set of rules for people to follow. E.g Moses and the 10 commandments 

The Village - Classic hero: usually male, expert in martial arts, not from village, usually summoned as village needs helps or arrives and is mistaken for a barbarian, the villagers change not the hero, hero rides into sunset.

The City - Average hero: Male or female, does ordinary things, sees injustice so seeks justice. 

Oppressive city - Anti-hero or Bumbling hero: the city is controlled by the powerful and the rules have been changed to serve them, male or female, just wants to live life and stay out of everyone's way, Witnesses an injustice by the powerful, they know anti-hero has seen, powerful try and exterminate the anti-hero.

Elliot talked about 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and how in that film they move from one stage to another. When this happens they have to change to fit in with the stage or perish. As they refuse to change when confronted with a different type of enemy they indeed perish. 

Below are some relevant pictures from the handout I received.

After lunch, we learnt about low budget film making and directing. The handout we had for low budgets was really good as it gave us links and contacts for people who are always looking to collaborate and how to make things yourself such as fake blood and other make up effects. 

The directing bit was really helpful and has given me a lot more confidence for when I start shooting for 'The Meeting'. I've loads of tips and tricks too so will be interesting to see if I can put them into practice. 

The last speech was about copyriting your scripts, how to get influential people to read your scripts and pitching. He told us a very cunning tip on getting producers, directors and actors to see your script and hopefully want to be part of the project. The pitching tips were invaluable and when I get the opportunity to pitch to professionals about my projects in the future ill be way more prepared than I have been before.

Unfortunately there were only 18 spaces to pitch to the panel and I wasn't able to pitch but I did enjoy hearing the feedback other people got for their ideas. 

After the course most people went for drinks at a nearby bar to network. It was a really good idea and I made lots of new contacts that I can hopefully utilize in the future. I even met a lady who's background was in dealing with young gang members and when I told her about my 'Bigger than Banksy' project she agreed to help me with my research and has given me a lot of other contacts and even an area of East London to visit (in daylight with a big group, not particularly a safe area) where gangs and graffiti art is a big part of the culture. The most exciting contact I made was with a producer called Darren who has just beaten Josh Whedon (Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to an award in America. He was working his way around the room when he approached my group and asked us about ourselves and our projects. I told him about my work for uni on 'The Meeting' and my basic idea for 'Bigger than Banksy'. He was really interested in both ideas and has asked me to copyright my scripts when I get a chance and send him a copy for him to read through. He said if the script was right he may be interested in working with me in the future on both projects. I was so shocked but I'm really excited and hopefully he will be a great contact to have. 

Overall it was a really great day and I would definitely do another course like this again. 

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Project update

Well thats the 2nd draft of the script for 'The Meeting' complete! I think i'll leave it for a few days now and take another look at it on Sunday before i hand it in on Monday. But here is the 1st draft with some of the edits i made on it to work on for when i did the 2nd draft.

        

        

        

        

        

        

Not bad for a 1st draft but i think with the improvements i've made its much better. Hopefully after i get feedback on it from Simon i can really take it onboard and create something really good.

Stay Safe,

Helen

 

 

Media World - Raindance Screenwriting Course

So I'm very excited because this Saturday I will be off to Westminster to attend Raindance's Introduction to Screenwriting course. Thanks to the wonder that is Groupon the course only cost £39 compared to its usual price of £119 so I managed to convince my lovely sister that it would be a worthwhile Christmas present - only slightly early.

Basically the course has 5 parts to it:

Writing the screenplay

Writing for low budgets

Story structure and marketing your screenplay

Live!Ammunition! - Pitch your Idea to a panel of industry professionals with instant feedback, a chance to win £100 and potential interest in your project. 

Networking drinks

The course sounds perfect for some further development and information about screenwriting, especially as it's something I would like to pursue a career in. I'll be posting an update with how it all went so keep an eye out for it.

I should probably go work on my pitching skills then. Not my most confident area so want to do myself justice Atleast.

Stay safe,

Helen

Own Project Idea

So I've just thought of an idea that I think could possibly be worth working on, on the side. It came to me when I was looking back through old pictures on my phone of places I had been this year since coming to Kent. One of those pictures was this - taken on Southbank, London.

Now I loved this place at the time but looking back at the picture all I could think was this would be a perfect location for something. It just screams potential at me. So I got thinking and I had a brain wave. What if a young lad who was absolutely shocking at drawing decided he wanted to be the next big grafitti artist. And that was the starting point of what I would now like to introduce to you all as "Bigger than Banksy".

 

The next few paragraphs are basically all I've wrote about it at the moment and the tiny bit of research I did just because I got slightly overenthusiatic when I was writing and kept getting annoyed that i didn't know the proper grafitti slang words for things.

 

Bigger than Banksy: 

The original idea - A hapless young guy's dream is to be the next big graffiti artist - the only problem is - he's possibly the worst 'writer' in the world. But that's not going to stop him.

Plot: George and his friends aren't what you would normally associate with the word gang. Well that's just what they attempt to become when they hatch a plan to survive 6th form. The misfits team up and take it to the streets to earn some stripes and win the heart of the school hottie. But when they inadvertently tag and claim a graffiti artwork that belongs to big time gang member and graffiti artist "Rix", the lads find that school is the least of their worries. 

George - Earns the nickname Toy after inadvertently passing off someone else's grafitti as his own. A chubby, 16 year old virgin who comes up with the plan. Cannot draw to save his life. Massive fan of Banksy's work and one of his dreams is to meet him (possibly could be a side plot) and another is to be bigger than him - hence the title. 

Kyle - Often referred to as Kylie by the school bullies and later the graffiti artists. He is a geeky 16 year old. A whizz on computers. A complete wimp. Has a lot of allergies.

Lad 3 (As of yet unnamed)- likes to consider himself the "looks" of the group, average boy, comes from a rough upbringing - doesn't know his mum, his brothers are all carpenters, electricians etc, average in every sense of the word - doesn't like to be forgotten about but often is - people at school don't really remember his name - he hates this and always reminds them which never ends well, his dad is a bit of a nutcase.

Obviously all characters and plot are probably going to go through a massive development throughout the pre-writing stage, so I'll keep posting updates on this when it's worth doing so. 

In my head at the moment, I see it 100% a comedy series (probably a 30 minute, 6 episode scenario) but definitely one with a heart. I wouldn't want to make something out and out funny and forget about the characters. I always want people to connect with them and feel their pain and triumphs. Possibly a cross between the Inbetweeners and Gavin and Stacey if I had to compare it, right at this moment, to programs that have gone before. 

I've never had a moment of genius before but this idea.... I don't think I've ever been more excited about working on something. So in my spare time I'm going to do bits on this and really try and immerse myself in a world that, let's be honest here, I know pretty little about. A bit like my main character George really....

Stay safe,

Helen 

Story-telling Unit: Synopsis

I wanted to post an update on my Synopsis as I have now finished my first draft for my script and have been working on the second draft. I feel I am now in a better place to describe the story with a clearer picture in mind and also discuss the possible themes. The picture at the side is a little logo i thought of the other day. It's pretty simple at the moment but thought i'd post it up on the blog anyway.

Synopsis
 

Sophie is a 20 year old girl with a Secret. A Secret about her sexuality that she's blurted out to her best friend Leah, who isn't prepared for it. All the while a mystery caller is eagerly trying to get hold of Sophie. Leah ultimately feels betrayed by Sophie for not telling her this information sooner and jealous that she has told others before her. As the girls try and work through their issues a neighbouring couple are seen dealing with their own. They are the victims of a hate crime. Slowly it becomes clear that something about this world is different. This is a world where gay is the "norm" while straight is a "sin". As they clean up their garden with a little bit of help from Sophie, it's the first glimps of Leah's realisation that her attitude needs to change. With Leah now slightly more inquisitive about Sophie's secret, she starts to open her mind and become more understanding. A News update about anti straight riots is the final straw for Leah, she never wants to see her friend have to go through anything like this for just being herself. She even vows to help her friend with speaking to Sam - the mystery caller who, himself worried about what the world will think of his sexuality, has ended his relationship with a text. The girls, with a newfound appreciation for each other, then leave to try and sort things out with Sam.

Themes

One of the themes of the story is to not judge a book by its cover. The audience will assume that Sophie is gay and as they discover more about the world they will slowly begin to realise that things are not what they originally perceived. I've really struggled to nail down other themes in my story. I know there are some but I've found it really difficult to pin point the exact words for them. It might take another set of eyes to help me out but at the moment I'm a bit stuck in this one.

I guess another theme would be ignorance is bliss. Plenty of people walk past, turn their heads or pretend they haven't seen bad things everyday. I'm almost 100% sure that at some point in everyone's life they have done this. Whether it's because your tired or have no time or because you don't want to get involved. People often will ignore something bad if it doesn't affect them. And in this story that's Leah. She knows all these things happen in the world everyday. She's seen these things before but now she's looking at them it's a lot more personal. What if that was your best friend who was the victim of a attack or caught up in a riot when they were just celebrating who they are? She is looking at the situation through different eyes now. And she doesn't like what she sees. She possibly didn't before but now she's more motivated to stop it. I want to make this film relatable to everyone. It doesn't have to be homophobia (or in this case hetrophobia) it could be about race, religion, bullying... the list goes on. There are plenty of things that people are persecuted for.

Now to finish the 2nd draft before I hand it in on Monday. 

Stay safe,

Helen

Story-telling Unit: Project update

I've just finished the first draft of my script! It's 10 pages but there's still work to be done on it think. I'm going to re read through it again tomorrow and see what improvements I can make and give it to a couple of friends and see what they think it needs.

It has a fair few peaks and troughs in it so I'm pleased with that. All the research it did really helped when writing and as I'd never really done any pre-writing before I'd say it's all come together quite nicely for a first attempt. I won't post my first draft just yet because I want to get it checked over for the predictable problems that come with my dyslexia. But I imagine after it's been worked up on final draft tomorrow it'll be up. 

I ransacked the library on a couple of occasions just to get a bit of reassurance and so I could have a good read of how different screenwriters go about preparation. I found a really useful chapter on character development in "Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect" and it used a character checklist. In "Developing Story Ideas" I found a similar but more detailed version of the checklist.

Now they are on the blog I can keep coming back and finding it when I get stuck with a character in the future.

Writing the script has really given me a vision for how I see the filming going. I could really picture how it might look when I read the script back. I decided as I was pre-writing that I would prefer to film the first 2 minutes of my script rather make a trailer. I think that if i was to make a trailer for this it wouldn't do the script justice. Showing little clips of what would happen would also potentially ruin the twists. I want to make a really good first 2 minutes and hopefully one day make the whole thing - if it's good enough that is. 

Now to reward myself on a good days hardwork!

Stay safe,

Helen