The research i have been doing for my short film 'The Meeting' is to find out what films are already out there with a similar topic and how they tell their story.
The first video i thought i should post is the one that inspired me to create this story for this unit. It's called 'Love is all you need?' and shows a young girl called Ashley, growing up in a world where she realises she is "different" to other people and her parents. The Director and Creator of this film K.Rocco Shields wrote:
"Teen bulling and teen suicide based on someone's sexual preference is ridiculous - and this film turns the tables on modern society. What if the shoe was on the other foot?"
I found this film to be both upsetting and incredibly powerful. At times it was uncomfortable to watch as the actors were very young playing the roles and the level of bullying was unbearable. However if the actors had been older it may not have been as powerful and hard-hitting as it is now. Overall i found it a very clever and well written piece. It got me thinking about how in the world we live you do not have to come out and tell your parents, friends, co workers e.t.c that you are straight. It is automatically assumed.
I really liked the idea of the world in this video and that is why i chose to look at one coming out story set in that world - Where gay is 'normal' and straight is 'sinful'. However the twist in my story is that i am not going to show this world up front. I am going to slowly drip feed clues, that this 'coming out' story might not be about what the audience first thought it was, throughout the film. I like the idea that they would perhaps have to watch it again to see it through different eyes. Obviously i know that I'm only making the first 2 minutes of this film but the script will have the whole story.
Anyway, After Tuesday's lesson i had a look at videos that were already out there about coming out as straight. I found a video called 'Coming Out Straight' by Greenlight Films. It looks at a teenage boy coming out as straight to his gay parents. Its a comedy and is completely different from the previous video. This film is "a satire on the parental ignorance teens face when coming out". The fact it is out an out comedy slightly takes away from the message that i think the film is trying to send out but it was interesting to watch and useful to know what else is on YouTube.
Simon reminded me about an episode of Friends which as a similar scenario to the angle I'm going for where a character is portrayed as gay and later comes out as straight. The episode is 'The one with Phoebe's Husband'. As a big Friends fan i have seen the episode before but re-watched it so i could see how they told the story. The character of Duncan is Phoebe's husband and comes out to her as straight after years of denial about his sexuality.
"Well I guess on some level I always knew I was straight. I thought I was supposed to be something else, you know, I'm an ice dancer, all my friends are gay, I was just tryin' to fit in."
The bit about the episode that i found most useful was actually the dialogue between Monica and Phoebe when discussing Phoebe's Marriage that she has kept a secret from her friends.
Joey: This is unbelievable Phoebs, how can you be married?
Phoebe: Well, I mean, I'm not married, married, ya know, he's just a friend and he's gay and he's from Canada. He needed a green card.
Monica: I can't believe you married Duncan. I mean how could you not tell me? We lived together, we told each other everything.
Phoebe: I'm sorry Monica but I knew if I told you, you'd get really, like, judgemental and you would not approve.
Monica: Of course I wouldn't approve, I mean, you were totally in love with this guy who, hello, was gay. I mean, what the hell were you thinking?
Ross: You see, and you thought she'd be judgemental.
Phoebe: OK, I wasn't in love with him and I was just helping out a friend.
Monica: Please, when he left town you stayed in your pajamas for a month and I saw you eat a cheeseburger.
All: Huuh.
Monica: Well, didn't you?
Phoebe: I might have.
Monica: I can't believe you didn't tell me.
Phoebe: Oh, c'mon, like you tell me everything.
Monica: What have I not told you?
Phoebe: Oh, I don't know. Umm, how about the fact that the underwear out there on the telephone pole is yours from when you were having sex with Fun Bobby out on the terrace.
Rachel: What!
I know this is a comedy but this is the sort of dialogue that will go on between my characters. One of Leah's main arguments in my idea is that she cant believe that Sophie hasn't told her before and that she feels lied to. It was great to see the dynamic between the friends in this particular part of the show and i might like to work on slowly creating the friendship back to some sort of banter level as the script went on. after all they are friends and for Leah to suddenly have a change of heart would be unrealistic. She needs to grow!
I also found a couple of websites that had some good articles about coming out and one that was about a boy who's parents were so liberal he felt he needed to come out as straight. Here are the links below:
http://www.salon.com/2001/07/25/coming_out/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-duron/what-happened-when-my-son-came-out-as-straight_b_3870006.html
http://www.gayyouth.org.uk/info/coming-out
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/coming_out/default.asp
http://gaylife.about.com/od/comingout/a/Coming-Out.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_4487770_support-gay-friend-coming-out.html
All in all a good couple of days research has given me lots of new things I've been adding to the story and ideas for character dialogue that I've been noting down.
Stay Safe,
Helen :)
No comments:
Post a Comment