Tag: writing

Pitch Experiment

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These are my findings to this week’s screenwriting exercise:

Andy, 20

  • Male, half Filipino and half Maltese
  • Born of a middle class immigrant family in the Western Suburbs
  • University student studying Public Relations with a casual job in a music store
  • He has olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes. He is tall and lean with a swimmer’s build but has no interest in sports
  • Andy enjoys watching films and has an extensive knowledge of its history. He also has a liking towards jazz music. He is a homosexual and is currently single.
  • He used to have a strong relationship with his mother, until she couldn’t accept her sexuality. He has always been distant from his father who used to travel a lot for work. He is an only child.
  • The most important thing for him in the world is to escape the suburbs and to make a career for himself in the city. He dreams of being a ‘suit’ and socialising with other upper-middle class singles who are on top of their careers.
  • He loathes the idea of being a mixed race and always neglects to mention his Asian heritage. The idea of being an immigrant irritates him, when all he wants is to fit in.

Bec, 28

  • Female, Australian
  • Born of a wealthy upper class family based in Brighton, currently located in Windsor
  • Working as a bartender at a Cabaret bar in Fitzroy
  • She has rose blonde hair that has been cut harshly close to the roots and piercing blue eyes that are the first thing anyone notices about her. She is pale, heavily freckled and of average height
  • She is brash and uncaring for what other people think of her, all she truly cares about is fulfilling the idea of being “herself” even though most of what makes her who she is, is to spite her parent’s privilege. She hates anything remotely political (her parents were in media and politics) and her only true passion is diving.
  • She’s always been in a terrible relationship with her absentee parents, but is always in contact with her little brother, whom she adores terribly.
  • Even though her birth name is Rebecca, she refuses to be called so.

“A man and a woman are sitting across from each other at a small table in a dimly lit restaurant.”

BEC is having dinner with her mother at a cheap Chinese restaurant. She hadn’t seen her mum for at least two months and it is going terribly. Her mother, as soon as they sat themselves, begins asking her about her work and plans for the future and if she was in a relationship. To Bec’s agony, her mother claims that she should find herself a partner, as she is already twenty-eight and one night stands would not cut it. Bec spies a nervous looking man on the other side of the room sitting on his own. To spite her mother, Bec leaves the table to approach the man, and sits across from him with intentions of picking him up.

ANDY, surprised at Bec’s appearance begins to question her when his father arrives at the restaurant, late to their dinner. His father assumes that Bec is Andy’s girlfriend. With kicks under the table and invisible finger jabs, Andy introduces her as Sasha, his long time partner, and makes up stories about their past. Bec goes along with it, amused. Andy’s father stands up to order his meal and Bec questions Andy. He confesses that he fears he was summoned by his dad to confront him about his sexuality and how Bec must continue pretending to be Sasha. Andy claims that his father would excommunicate him if the pastor found out he’s gay and his dying mother’s heart would break. Andy’s dad returns to the table and asks Bec about her childhood. At this moment, Bec’s mother stands up, throwing cash at the table and approaches the company. She exclaims that “she’s had enough of this childish pettiness, Bec!” and leaves the restaurant. Confused, Andy’s dad asks her who the woman was and why she had called her Bec. Bec is speechless, unable to reason and Andy proclaims that he has news to share to distract his dad. Stumped, Andy reveals that Sasha and he were engaged. Andy’s dad stands up, exclaiming that his wife should meet their future daughter-in-law, he and Bec leaving the restaurant arm in arm.

Writing for Film, Filming for Writing

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This semester, and coincidentally also the final semester of my course, I’ve chosen to take a class in screenwriting. The idea behind this class and the play on words for its name, is that those who are in Media 4 (like me) would be tasked with the writing aspect of production, which the students from the Creative Writing course would be in charge of. This is, in a way, ironic considering my background in making short films that stems from my days in high school. But my motive behind choosing this class is not to take the easy route (if there’s such a thing in university), but to correct any wrong practices I have when it comes to writing, as well as to perfect my craft in the best way possible. Even though I may not necessarily see a path in front of me towards the direction of a film career, I believe that this is an exceptional method for me to hone my skills in subtlety and emotive expression through writing. By utilising the references that I have through my tutors, Paul and Jasmine, I can hopefully increase my capacity to write against constraints like time and client demand, whereas my past written work have all just been for me. 

The prospect of collaboration with both people in my class as well as students from the Creative Writing field also sounds appealing. This is certainly something to look forward to in the real world (or for us Media 6 students, in a couple of months), particularly within the creative field. Hopefully, in conjunction with my Media 6 course, I would be able to open up to my colleagues and make connections that I can count on in the near future.

Evolving the Pen

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Possibly amongst the most intriguing pieces of reading I have had to do, the writer takes on the action of writing, which I would say has always been taken for granted, as a technology within itself. Bolter does not relegate this technological aspect to that of the printing press or the computer, but rather as writing being the catalyst for the development of other technological potential and the two mentioned as catalysts for writing potential. Did that even make sense, or am I not so articulate with this technology?

He goes on to mention the Ancient Greeks and the science they were invested in to successfully express abstract thoughts onto space, which we now consider as art and outdated. On the other hand, he criticises the invention of the press (and especially the computer) as “the first uniformly repeatable commodity, the first assembly line and the first mass-production.” The implication is that despite all this advancement, the writer is then pushed further away from the writing, making it more quantitative than qualitative. The machine permits duplication, efficient printing, as well as rapid editing without the writer having to exercise the same mental and physical processes as that of the Greeks.

But what really touched me is the commentary on the advantages of literate men (and women), specifically white, in the long tradition of literacy. One could not deny the fact that white people brought up in a Westernised environment, surrounded by English-speaking people, do have the advantage of having that base upbringing to further their literary skills. Being born in the Philippines does not give me the natural autonomy nor the wider vocabulary of my colleagues and indeed provides barriers in my expression at times.

The question I posed above is not the first time that I may have posed it. It is more challenging for immigrants like me when having to translate thoughts in our own foreign languages to that of English. And I am not speaking about immigrants with broken English either, though of course they are a part of this category. I must make my own way of reaching that same level of understanding through activities such as further reading. Just as it is easier for me to speak in Filipino-English (mixed), which my colleagues would not appreciate, writing is a state of mind that “is not possible to put away.”

Image from David.