This week (last week) was focused on script writing and WIP assignment working. This reflection post is late as I was busy over the weekend with Mother’s Day.
I was absent Monday due to illness but worked from home. I worked on writing a “vomit draft”, which was more vomit than draft. In my writing (and I think in the group members’) it became quite apparent that we had an understanding of our start and end points narrative-wise. The start was a first introduction to our central character and some genre conventions. My (secondary) “BOSS” character was quite straightforward, a get-the-job-done kind of boss. Meanwhile my central character, “AGENT WHYTE” was a very self-reliant and organised spy. Other group members wrote a determined Boss, but a more childish or innocent Agent Whyte; a sort of spin on the “rookie cop saves the day!” trope.
The end, meanwhile, was a confrontation of sorts. Another member of the group wrote scene reminiscent of a breakup scene in romance-comedies. Adopting this approach, I shifted through some movies and got to “She’s the Man” with Channing Tatum and Amanda Bynes and utilised the broad structure of a confrontation scene as well as some lines. Upon further review, both online and on Wednesday, we came to more of a consensus and combined elements of each other’s work. This was the collaborative side to this work. Utilising Google Docs’ comment/suggestion feature we were able to infuse the script with more comedy. It was also clear that others had done some work in developing the middle of the narrative, which is in a way, a “road trip” sequence where our central character can experience this new world she’s been put in (i.e. some 60 years in the future).
As for our work in progress assignment, Bradley clarified some questions we had as a group. Though I didn’t actually add much apart from some quotes that could’ve been used to strengthen the presentation. Essentially, we’re using mostly visual comedy and twisting tropes through camera movements, techniques, and editing in order to convey comedy. Additionally, we’re using incongruity and relief to parody and slightly satirise genre cliches to create a genre hybridisation. We may use dolly zoom/Vertigo effect techniques or a western stand-off framing to produce these tropes and bend genre conventions.
Ultimately, I thought it was a rather productive week and brought us much closer to being prepared to film in the next couple weeks.