May
2019
ASSIGNMENT 2: SKETCH DRAFTS AND REFLECTION
These are the script drafts for our second script: not the script I speak about in the reflection.
The development of the sketch came from brainstorming different ideas that would make a fun sketch whilst also being a message or making a point for feminism.
Together we came up with some great smaller ideas, some of them were really good initially but lacked the meatiness of a great sketch because we couldn’t quite get the story to unfold. We did have one solid sketch idea, the premise of it was to make feminism a horror movie. The sketch would be set in the 1950s where the notion of modern day feminism (modern day 2019), would be a shock to the system for anyone in the 1950s let alone a man who couldn’t understand what feminism even was, he would be terrified of it. The notions of a women resembling a man and doing the things that he did would be the horror of the film. Throughout the development of this idea, Daisy the female character in this sketch was ‘born’ and would play the transforming role in the sketch. She would begin in as a women of her time period frightened of the notion of feminism too, however she would faint and be transported to a modernised world where she experiences feminism as a good thing. Her character upon waking up in the 1950s would have changed entirely and made her feminist. This character arc would push the male character John (her boyfriend) to faint as the ketch conclusion. The ending would showcase the complete1 role reversal of the two characters.Daisy’s vision of a feminist world makes her stronger and as a result of this John is weakened and made more feminine.
Together Georgia and I wrote the first draft of this script over various FaceTime sessions. We were so excited about the idea of this script and we were able to smash out the first draft quickly as we worked together really well, I found that our humour was somewhat similar and we were both good with communication when it came to being respectful of each others creative ideas. I have to admit that without Georgia I wouldn’t have been able to complete this assignment, she has been at the forefront of getting things done and been such a reliable person to work with, I am so grateful to have been paired up with such a smart person and I don’t think we would have gotten the results or incredible ideas without her input.
The first draft feedback I found to be a valuable experience that helped redevelop the script in a positive way. From the feedback we understood that our script was more of a short story and needed to jump right into the premise and stay on the premise. What I mean about this is that the Sketch was predominately about feminism being a horror movie, however with the vision that Daisy has transporting her to all these different places and locations the sketch became too long and sort of lost its humour along with it. We understood that the ending needed to have more of a bang element, either a good solid twist or one liner. With that we understood that honing in on the beginning and extending it would make the premise more pronounced. Creating a conversation between the two characters regarding what they had watched ‘the feminist horror’ would create content and make the sketch meatier in both humour and in relation to the theme feminism rather than jumping into Daisy’s vision which made the sketch to long.
When redeveloping our final script we chopped and changed to incorporate the feedback we had received. We took away the vision, we extended their conversation making it more about their reactions to feminism as a horror story which was the premise. We extended the fist bit adding in imagery that showcased feminism in the horror of it all instead of just using words. At the very end we used a punch line that we thought women wood resinate Wirth and find humour in to create our finishing off joke. We were able to create a sketch that held its premise wasn’t too lengthy, had meatier jokes and was able to get a message about feminism across.
Specifically we used exaggeration in our language and exaggerated gender stereotypes to enhance and develop the comedy itself. Ferguson offers the idea that exaggeration (Ferguson, 2010) is used as a device in comedy to accentuate certain ideas or create absurdities that the viewers will recognise as funny. Further I was watching a Buzzfeed video (If Women’s Roles In Movies Were Played By Men, Buzzfeed 2014) that replaced female characters with male characters in famous films. This showed me the value in role reversal as a technique for our sketch.
The sketch we developed focused specifically on gender roles prominent in the 1950s as well as in 2019. Through the concept of flipping gender roles or even exaggerating gender roles the sketch was able to make a point for feminism. Using gender roles as well as time period and showing the difference between the 1950s to our modern day and age we were able to create something that showcased the positives of what feminism has done for women. Through humour we were able to address these themes in a way that addressed feminism and the issues that women faced in the past. Our script taps into the psyche of a man and a women in the 1950s as well as showing truisms of what feminism was both then and now. Our ending for the script allows the audience t understand that although Daisy’s character was conditioned by her time and place she was no different to the women of today her line about holding in her fart allows us as an audience and me as a women too to resinate with her character and understand her on a feminist level.
Comedy is used in the script as a way to express our intended feminist message that, women then (the 1950s) and now in our modern age were not all that different and that we as a collective want the same things. By showing that feminism is a ‘ horror movie’ in the script we have been able to play on the notion that feminism is a huge wave of change and that it’s scary for the people ‘men’ it takes something away from. I think through comedy we have brushed on a topic that mostly society tries not to talk about and that is what happens to men if women can do all the same things just as well… No longer do we need men to pay the bills, do the handy work, run a country or even to an extent make families. I think through this sketch we touch on two ideas: one that women have really always wanted the same things, that is their own sense of self, power, independence and worth. Secondly, that men are afraid of this equality that it might be shockingly taking something away from them and that once it is gone what are they left with? The intended feminist message of the script is to showcase these two ideas and emphasise their impact on society through comedy as comedy is easy to digest when it grapples with such heavy worldly issues.
Ferguson, T. (2013). The cheeky monkey. Strawberry Hills, N.S.W.: Currency Press, p.9.
Buzzfeed Celeb, (2014). If Women’s Roles In Movies Were Played By Men. Youtube.