Working with punches

I was planning on filming over Spring Break - however, the setting of the school/its elevator is what I need, and it's locked and closed during break. In addition, one of my main actors informed me that she can't act anymore (Kiara Pomeroy), so I'm working on finding a replacement.

My original actor that I wrote the script for - Kiara Pomeroy - informed me today that she can't act in the project anymore because she's really pressed for time and can't dedicate quality time/performance for me. I'm kind of insanely nervous now??? Because I didn't only have her as my actress, I literally wrote the script for her. So now I'm going to do my best to find a replacement that can pull off her role ... I hope I can.

---- LATER ----

So I managed to find four different options to be Kiara's replacement: my friend Megan, who is really exuberant and funny and outspoken; my friend Melissa, who's really witty and sort of strange and who I think would be able to pull off being comedic; my friend Sofia, who is super eccentric and capable of pulling off the character; and, more idealistically, Cassie, who's best friends with Kiara and extremely similar to her - to the point where they've picked up the same mannerisms and way of speaking. I've asked everyone so far but I've only gotten commitment from Melissa, so we'll see who it ends up being.

---- EVEN LATER ----

Cassie got back to me! (Which, thank god, because neither Sofia nor Megan could commit and Melissa was my last choice). She was shockingly really eager to be involved, and I didn't feel bad at asking her at all. Plus, she seems really excited about it, so I have no doubt she's going to give it her all and do great with the part.

Final script thoughts

I may or may not be beating a dead horse here, but I'm quite frankly slightly obsessing over the script. I feel as though the script may not be necessarily as important as the other aspects of the production process for this project (i.e. shots/angles/composition, editing, sounds, etc.), but it's a personal passion of mine and so I'm putting extra effort into it anyways. In addition, I have a feeling my production is going to be very different from most people's. I'm not sure if this is better or worse - or neither, and just different on its own - but in order to draw viewers in with a majorly simplistic/minimalistic plot and overall production in general, the script needs to be spot on. Not to mention I'm more than contemplating fully pursuing the production of this short film on my own after the conclusion of the project.

In addition to all those technical reasons as to why the script is important, it's important to always - ALWAYS - keep both genre and target audience in mind. I feel as though in addition to this project being a platform to exemplify and showcase technical skills, it's also a prime opportunity to prove your understanding of marketing and representation. For example, I chose my actors very wisely - the contrast between a snarky white male and a quirky black female was entirely intentional. Usually, the people who watch/enjoy/understand/appreciate satires are intellectuals who understand the implications of representation. More specifically, my specific themes/particular criticisms of the education system are very liberal leaning ideals - and liberal individuals are very critical of diversity through representation in media.

All that being said, the specific and well-thought-out content of my script is all for my genre and target audience. It's no secret that satire is hard to pull off, and I didn't take the challenge I signed up for lightly. I wasn't going to plow through the script and focus on pretty shots when I know that that's not what the audience that would eventually buy tickets for this film is looking for or expecting from a film marketed for its social commentary. I believe that, as long as I put in an equally well-thought-out process during the making of my shot list, and take cinematography as seriously as I took the script, that my production can be just as visually/technically pleasing as - if not even more than - a project that consisted of planning/taking shots through ninety percent of their production process. Shots aren't just meant to be pretty - they're meant to express meaning. And my film is all about meaning.

Adding onto the seriousness of my script, the absurdity is also a huge part of both the comedy of the film as well as contributing to one of the most important aspects of the genre. It's imperative that all satires are even just a little bit absurd. The entire point of satirical commentary is to point out and criticize the ridiculousness of some aspect of society. Absurdity is ridiculous. It works. That's why the genre is so successful. It also adds a huge comical element to the film, as well as alerting viewers that they shouldn't take the content too seriously.

Script draft! Part 2

After being unhappy with the first draft of my script, I not only had to scrap everything and start over to change the style/flow of dialogue, but also continue to brainstorm and expand my ideas because I scrapped my first draft before I was able to arrive at a conclusion. So, while re-writing the beginning portion of the script, it was also time to brainstorm.

First thing was first, and that was me deciding which ideas were imperative to hit. I decided on the "pointless skills" point that I had already touched upon with scuba diving, and the idea that public schools are a "factory" that produce the same type of cookie-cutter students - an idea that I got from a friend of mind named Adri while talking about the elevator setting, as well as a teacher of mine during my interview with them (they asked to remain anonymous).

With these points in mind, I also came up with the idea to throw in some dialogue about taking a driving test. This was, quite frankly, because while I was writing the script I was also preparing to take my driving test for my license that same week. I was really nervous about it, but everyone told me to relax and that I would be fine - I knew how to drive, and so I would know how to pass. Despite this mentality, I was still explicitly nervous, and it only took minimal contemplation to draw the connection between my anxious feelings and the commentary within the themes of my project: the education system doesn't value skills themselves, it values your ability to pass a test.

Through several drafts, numerous read-throughs, and extensive feedback from intellectual/respectable friends of mine, I finally finished drafting my full script. All in all, these are the points that I hit:

• Learning pointless skills (scuba diving)
• Correlation between financial income and academic success (scuba diving)
• Learning for a test rather than learning the skill itself (driving test)
• Schools' similarities to factories/replicating the same type of student (getting a job)

[LAST 4 SCRIPT DRAFTS]

Script draft! Part 1

I've begun writing the script for the introduction, but I found that as I was writing it that I didn't know by heart which particular problems plagued the people I interviewed. So, I went back and listened to them all and took notes on the specific points they brought up. Here's a picture of my notes that I jotted, with check marks next to the points I ended up hitting during my script:

I knew, before I had any concrete ideas, that the gist of the dialogue would be metaphorical, and those metaphors would in turn stand for the commentary/message of the piece. This sounds confusing ... But it's not! I hope.

For example: the first idea I came up with was scuba diving. I'm not entirely sure where the idea came from, only that it popped into my head when I was trying to figure out where to start. In this case, scuba diving is a metaphor for the pointless skills that we learn in school (i.e. the mitochondria being the powerhouse of the cell, or the quadratic formula).

When I first formulated the idea for a satirical script, I was drawing my inspiration from the book Catch-22. In Catch-22, the dialogue is explicitly satirical - or "not serious" - by the way it's written. It's written in circles, making it seem as though you (the viewer) never get to the point, and adds to absurdity of the situation (one of the primary elements of satire). To exemplify how this style of dialogue both contributes to satirical meaning and adds comedy, my AP Lang teacher showed us a stand up comedy video that utilizes the same style of dialogue:

[VIDEO]

However, while writing my script, I decided that I didn't like this style of dialogue at all. I'm not quite sure whether or not it didn't fit with my story, or if I'm just not skilled at writing that kind of dialogue, but I did not like how it came out at all. Before I even finished my first draft, I scrap it, rewrite and start over.

Research! Part 2

Satire is scary because if you're going to be putting forth a radical idea, you want to make sure that there's, at the very least, a niche audience that's going to be receptive to your ideology you're arguing for. Ideally, you want to put forth an idea that's soundlessly accepted by a majority of people but isn't enforced. This is one of the reasons that I chose the American education system as my victim of criticism, because it seemed almost universally accepted that the education system, at the very least, needs to be improved upon. What I feel to be my most powerful form of research is the information that I sought out on my own: I went around school asking students (and one teacher) what their opinion of the education system is. The ultimate goal is to use their collective opinions to formulate the argument that I put forth in the introduction of this film. Luckily for me, I made a solid choice with the education system: everyone I talked to had passionate, similar faults to discuss in the system (with the exception of one student). Below is a sound clip of the best interviews I conducted (by request, names aren't included).



Audio and voice recording >>

Research! Part 1

The first thing I set out to research is satire. Before I can focus on anything else I need to ensure that my thought process/ideas coincide with the genre I'm setting out to exemplify. I immediately set off to the first source we all jump to: Google. Upon my search I stumbled across a PowerPoint and a PDF that talk about the elements/purpose/audience of satire. In addition, I've talked about/learned about/taken notes on satire in my current AP Language class, and have that firsthand research and experience to aid my understanding of the methodology of the genre. Through this genre research, the consensus was that there are a a handful of important elements of satire that should be utilized in order to convey meaning: hyperbole, irony, sarcasm, and understatement. "Satirists are dissatisfied with the way things are and want to make them better ... Satirists perform an important role in society when they expose errors and absurdities that we no longer notice because of custom or familiarity" (Elements of Satire) is exactly the mentality I have going into making this project, and the goal of exposing an idea is the ultimate end goal.

Another source that I used during my genre research is a list of popular satirical films. I've seen one film from the list - "Network" - and I plan on re-watching it, as well as the number one movie on the list, "The Great Dictator."

Formulating an idea ...

Every good film needs substance and a good story behind it. Without a point - or a "so what?" - why bother making a film? My idea, then, and my "so what?", is to point out and criticize the vices and flaws of the American education system through the genre of satire. I came to the decision to move forward with this idea for a few main reasons:

1. First and foremost, I decided that I wanted my film opening to be dialogue-heavy. While I'm fully aware of the difficulty of this task and it's intricacy, I'm going to attempt to feat it anyways because that's my personal passion as a filmmaker. My strong suit in all subjects is writing, and when it comes to film I love writing screenplay. Over the summer, I pitched my short film idea with a read through of its script, and it was chosen by the film program class to be developed into our film. Because of this, I have confidence in my ability to create engaging dialogue exchange between characters in a minimal setting.
2. Second, I decided on the setting. This is because one of the ultimate downfalls of young/inexperienced filmmakers is attempting to bite off more than they can chew. That being said, I know that my area of strength is screenplay, and that should be the focus of what I develop. This lends itself to a minimal setting that doesn't require anything not feasible to create throughout production. In addition, minimal distracting elements narrows and focuses viewers' attention on the dialogue and material being presented. With all of this in mind, I decided on an elevator as the setting for the dialogue exchange.
3. Next came deciding on a genre, and, in the end, I chose satire. I'm a bit nervous about pursuing this genre because I know it's not only difficult to create as a writer, but there's also no guarantee people who watch will understand the underlying message. Unfortunately for me, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, and despite the obstacles and confusion I'm bound to face upon developing this project, I'm going to go for it anyways. I came across my spurt of inspiration to write a satire while reading the novel Catch-22 in my AP Language class - I'm beyond fond of the novel and find the writing/dialogue/rhetoric/themes of it to be absolutely genius. My goal is to replicate its essence in my screenplay and convey a powerful message through the use of comedy.
4. When writing satire, you have to have something to satirize. Excuse my side tangent here, I promise it's relevant - I'm not good at the Twitter thing. I created it about a month ago to feel more included in the culture of my fellow hip peers, but the subculture still confounds me to an extent. However, there are two tweets of mine that seemed to garner a good amount of attention and appreciation, and both were about the same subject: the education system (tweet 1, tweet 2). With this observation in mind, I casually mentioned the subject around my peers, and found a common thread of opinion: there are very, very few students who genuinely have an appreciation for our education system. With target audience in mind and a personal passion for education reform, I decided to satirize the eduction system.