Question 1.
In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester.
I honestly haven’t thought of being a filmmaker since I am still quite new to all these film-making process and productions. I hope to develop further skills of the camera techniques and editing software, not only basic knowledge. This course gives me an opportunity to present my own stuff, run my idea and make it real. I suppose I will learn about scriptwriting and get familiar with different roles in the production of the short film. I hope to overcome my weakness in creativity and analysis. I just can’t tell the right or wrong, good or bad things from others work. I hope to improve my critical thinking. I also hope that there is that one piece of work I participate in production can make me feel proud of in this semester.
Question 2.
Consider Jasmine’s lecture on Screenwriting and briefly describe one point that you have taken from it. A point that excites you, something that was completely new to you, perplexes you or even one you take issue with.
NO WALLFLOWERS, NO INTROVERTS, NO “NICE GUYS”
I enjoyed the point Jasmine made of thinking film characters larger than life. Jasmine reminded us how boring real life is and how we have to create a real but unusual character out of the ordinary life. The characters should be made bold then they can act out. I reckon myself haven’t put much focus on characters before. Jasmine mentioned about the generalization of film characters and we should avoid wallflowers, introverts and nice guys because they are usually boring. I wonder if there is always a nice guy in a story. These types of quiet characters balance the story, don’t they? They solve problems; brings out the ugly truths, and sometimes as the secret keepers. My mind related this to the movie “The Perks of being a Wallflower”. The protagonist Charlie is a loner; the type of characters tends to be boring. But he, being extremely observant, makes the story interesting. The way Charlie living in his head and on the other hand trying to figure out the reality is what makes the film so compelling. I guess film characters work better not only to be bold enough to save the world, to me sometimes I am happy to know that there is a character out there just like me, someone I can make connections with.
Question 3.
Select from one of the readings from week 1 or 2 and briefly describe two points that you have taken from that reading. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.
Slogans for the Screenwriter’s Wall
This reading has very much outlined all the rules to follow and mistakes we always make in screenwriting. I am confused with the point “passivity is a capital crime in drama”. I guess it refers to passive characters. the ‘absorbers’ of an action, witness the drama happening itself. Being a watcher won’t bring about any change. There should be deep down inside the characters an instinctive, spontaneous desire to participate. But I think sometimes making the character passive is like making them more human, like every other man. They do things which are more likely to happen in real life rather than in stories. Not only active characters are the heart in dramas. Perhaps, the story may not be exciting as with all those active characters, yet somehow passivity creates a sense of reality. The character is feature passive because they are trapped in some dilemma? If the drama begins with passivity, it surely won’t end with it.
“Comedy is hard”. It is said that in the reading comic structure is simply dramatic structure but more so: neater, shorter, faster. I have watched a lot comedies, of the physical humour as well as the verbal jokes. Yes it is not easy. It is hard to intentionally think of a funny story compared to see a funny thing just happen in front of you. I guess that sense of humour is coming from the experience of everyday events.