Through thorough research I have decided that I would like to enter my finished screenplay to a contest held in London. "LIFF" (London Independent Film Festival) recognises the best new screenwriters from the UK and around the world. It is held every April so I would have to enter my script towards the start of next year, however this will give me more than enough time to make all the sufficient changes to make it as good as possible. Some important requirements for this competition are;
- Cover should include title only
- Have one page with contact details and 1-3 sentence synopsis
- Fees for the contest are £25 to enter if you submit early, if not, it will be £35 after the deadline date.
I believe this would be an amazing opportunity as winning the contest would mean a superb beneficial start in my film making career. Alongside this, I would also like to enter the completed short to a short film competition that is held every year called "ASFF" (Aesthetica Short Film Festival). This year’s festival screened 400 films as part of its Official Selection and presented a number of Showcase Screenings from leading cultural institutions. The most important requirements for this contest are;
- The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2017
- The maximum running time for any submitted film is 30 minutes.
- Your entry form must include your name, address, telephone number and email so that they can contact you.
It is also qualified by BAFTA which made this contest stand out to me more than any other near my location. The prizes for winning specific competitions at the festival also result in beneficial opportunities and cash. If all goes to plan I will successfully enter my screenplay and finished short to the choices above.
Script Conventions
Short Movie Analysis
(1)
'Joy Ride'
The short, Joy Ride, is a wonderful short film that takes a narrative that could be used for a feature film, into something only 10 minutes. The dialogue is very minimal throughout as the only parts with speech can be seen during the middle of act 2 and near act 3 when the bad guy holds the man and tells the police that he will slit his throat. Although only small parts of dialogue, it really adds nicely to the story, giving you a better understanding of the story and the characters feelings, especially at the end. The last scene we hear the policeman say something about not offering him a cigarette (as he is covered in fuel), this adds a touch humour to the story because at the very end we hear the guy burn to death in flames from the sparks from the power grid. All dialogue fits nicely and makes the short overall a lot better. The characters we are introduced to are; The guy - protagonist, the 2 men - villains, and the policemen which can be seen as the helpers but mostly just extras that are added in the story. Again, the man has the most screen time which is how we can identified him as the protagonist and the others can just blatantly be identified straight away. With this short being 10 minutes and a more in-depth storyline, I was easily able to pick out the 3 act structure and plot points. In conclusion, this film definitely conveys a lot of intensity and the narrative flows really nicely into each event that happens.
Act 1
- He is leaving off work, gets in his car and starts to drive; home maybe.
Plot Point 1
- He spots a body in the middle of the road and brakes suddenly to get out and see if the man is okay. The man on the roads is perfectly fine and it turns out to be an ambush, he is then knocked unconscious with a hammer.
Act 2
- He wakes up in the boot of a car. 2 to villains are stopped by the police because of a faulty brake lot and are forced to kill the cops to not blow their cover. the guy then powers off the cars brakes by dismantling the electrics, kicking them with his feet.
Plot Point 2
- The 2 men crash the car and holds the guy hostage by the neck with a knife to his throat. The guy knocks out the one holding him and walks slowly towards the police.
Act 3
- The police take care of him and he realises he is back where he left off. Sparks fly off the power grid and engulfs the man in flames.
(2)
'Jet'
Jet is a wonderful short that is really powerful in terms of what is tells the audience, although there is no dialogue what so ever, the narrative is executed very well and easy to understand exactly what is happening. We are introduced to one man at the start who is attempting to commit suicide by putting a gun to his head. After putting the gun down he witnesses a young girl being dragged into a van just down the road, he then puts himself at risk by following the van to save the little girl. this short consists of only four characters in total - The man, 2 criminals and the girl. It is easy to recognise the man as the protagonist, the is the guy that drives the story forward and where the main focus of the audience remains. The little girl that is captured and our protagonist has to rescue would be identified as the damsel, in relation to Vladimir Propp's character theory. As for the bad guys, they would just be classed as the villains. Due to it only being 7 minutes long it is quite hard to split it up into 3 acts as some things happen so quickly, however when you properly look at it you can identify where the writer has chosen to put the acts in place to make the narrative flow like a proper movie.
Act 1
- He attempts to kill himself
Plot Point 1
- Witnesses girl being kidnapped and pulled into van
Act 2
- He follows the van and approaches the building were the girl is held hostage.
Plot Point 2
- He kills the 2 criminals
Act 3
- He finds the girl in a room in the house, the screen cuts to black.
Theme, Location, Character, Narrative.
Due to my script being fairly intense and atmospheric, it includes many different themes that relate to the character and plot of the story. The protagonist has to endure a twisted journey that tears his life apart, along the way he faces decisions that have regrettable outcomes, inducing more and more suffering and a life of hell. The most important themes I decided to focus on are;
- Adventure
- Escape
- Transformation
I wanted to add a supernatural twist onto a standard action film by using a mutation as the focal point of the movie. Using something fictional allows my imagination to flow better as I could do whatever I wanted, using this mutation as the evil presence within the film.
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The next most important location in my script is the "Hospital", or Asylum as some people like to refer to it as. There is a game I really like to play called "Outlast" and it is based around a news reporter that is sent to document an abandoned hospital that is found to be occupied by weird mutated creatures. I'd like to think the design of the hospital would be similar to my film, but psychopathic doctors and nurses instead of other mutants.
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The Robert Taylor incident is another story I have read online about a U.F.O sighting, seen above a forest in Livingston. The man claimed it was a dark metallic colour and he smelt a foul odour like "burning brakes" as the object got closer to him. He later fell unconscious and work up and it had disappeared. His truck wouldn't start and he had to walk back to his house. (8)
These weird/unusual stories are a huge inspiration to my film. Having these unknown elements is what I believe makes my story interesting.
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(11)
When reading the brief for this unit I decided I would use my old idea and adapt it so I could easily meet the grading criteria - writing a 10 minute short for "5IFTH" would have never worked as it was originally meant to last 30 minutes. This is how I am now left with the film "Mutant". The narrative flows much nicer and will fit concisely within the 10 minutes I have for this unit.
(1)
Filmman Cine Mix (2014) ‘Joyride’, Jim Gillespie, 1995. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LZouIUcOSo&t=189s (Accessed: 6 December 2016).
(2)
FILMSshort (2016) Jet | award-winning thriller short film | Jordan Chesney. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGwiOXnfnCw&t=285s (Accessed: 6 December 2016).
(3)
Media, S. (2006) Skeptoid episode guide. Available at: https://skeptoid.com/episode_guide.php?cat=8 (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(4)
Duncan, J. (2015) Locations where ’Star Wars’ was filmed. Available at: http://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Box+Office/articles/Zv2w-48V6G-/Locations+Star+Wars+Filmed (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(5)
JeffroGaming (2014) Outlast PS4 asylum lobby. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACx-gIi4-U (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(6)
FANS, O. (2014) Outlast FANS on Twitter. Available at: https://twitter.com/FANSOutlast (Accessed: 08 December 2016).
(7)
Di Drusco, F. (no date) Beardmania. Available at: http://www.vogue.it/uomo-vogue/beauty/2014/10/barbe (Accessed: 08 December 2016).
(8)
Pedia, W. (2017) ‘Robert Taylor incident’, in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_incident (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(9)
IMDB (2012) IMDB. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2040578/ (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(10)
Root, C. (2016) Chronicle. Available at: http://cinemaroot.com/watch-chronicle-full-movie/ (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
(11) - Self Reference
Liam Culham (2016) 5ifth Intro. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCfWN2DCmWg (Accessed: 8 December 2016).
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