Firstly, see below a link to my google drive folder containing the creative works that make up my final research project.

In this folder should be: A screenplay for a pilot episode of a 22 minute television show entitled ‘Seasmith’ and a 1 minute and 44 second short film entitled ‘Leon’s Confrontation’ that is a direct product of Seasmith’s Scene 7 . 

In a folder within this folder is my groups week 8 studio update.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_WRUiJ9iJqkRlNRTDh1Uk55Yk0

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.

 

Brydan Meredith, s3547569

Final Reflection

Another World studio emphasises the importance of good creative practice when looking to create a variety of Media forms. The idea of a Screenworld was something completely foreign to me before this course began, however I now deem it essential before undertaking any screen based project.

But why? Thanks for asking, what a great question!

The first ideas explored in this course were centred around  essential conventions that must be thought about when creating interesting, idiosyncratic screenworlds. These conventions were broad ones such as: The setting, the time period and the characters who comprise it. Anyone who watches a film can put a label on these things; they’re all relatively obvious, however, as the course progressed we narrowed in on the specifics. We no longer referred to simply ‘the setting’ – the term had become far too vague, instead we asked questions of the climate (How did if effect the characters? Would it influence living conditions?), the culture (Does the internet exist? Is there any education?) and internal Logic (What is coded in the world? Are there any morals? Are people religious? Do they trust the government? Do the characters have any concept of government? At 1:28pm everyday do dogs sneeze?). Then, after mulling over these questions, skimming the surfaces of the infinite possibilities, we began exploring how these specific codes interact with all the other specific codes. And through this melting pot of time, space, characters and rules, our worlds began to grow.

For some of you this may sound like a constraint, and in many ways, it is. It may seem easier to simply just write. Jump the hurdles as you go. I’ve done that before and in the past struggled to maintain focus (and interest) long enough to follow the writing through to its end. For me world building is about creative endurance.  Its ‘constraints’  gave me a lot of focus, which allowed me to stay interested in my idea, and ultimately produce something with undoubted longevity and (hopefully) substance.

When reading through and watching my submitted content I noted a consistency that can be attributed entirely to this creative process. Nothing was out of place because every scene/media piece shared a common ground – its world. This consistency can be tied to the fact that the media I created came from the same place, every scene was innately linked to the next, even over two mediums.

Time helped this consistency: Because I had given so much time and energy into thinking up my world (7 weeks), its people, its culture, its rules, its geography – all meant something to me, and as a consequence I felt convicted to obey it. Last night when I was looking through my screenplay, trying to tie up loose ends and grammatical errors, I scoured through some old notes from my oral presentation. One of the guest assessors wrote that my worlds relationship with the internet was quite interesting. It made me a little bit sad to think that I made no allusions to it in my final product. However, it also demonstrates the depth of which we all made our worlds, the fact that something as significant as the internet doesn’t even get a look in (because there are so many other interesting conventions and relationships between world and story) highlights the importance of taking your time with and dedicating yourself to seminal ideas.

Because ultimately it is these fledgling ideas that are the building blocks to larger, more significant works. Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood after seeing a three line news story wedged in the corner of the New York Times. Screen works are no different. My initial idea (going into the studio) was to create an idyllic, sun kissed beach world inspired by Australian Indie Rock from the 80’s. It’s funny to think that the melancholy short film I made had no music at all, its tone couldn’t be further separated from the music of The Go-Betweens or The Triffids. The shift of my idea is symptomatic of this creative process, without it I would have created something less special, less unique. Mainstream adverts exploit our concept of the beach to sell cheeseburgers, so to have subverted this and created a seaside world marred by collectivist thought, cold weather and substance abuse is significant, and ultimately far more interesting.

Lastly, I would like to thank Stayci and the class for being deadset legends and creating a fantastic, free-thinking, creative environment. It was an absolute pleasure from start to finish!