Digital Film Project: Building a Story

Last week the script team was sent off to work on a concept that we had spoken about in class. During the last week it was suggested that we form a feasibility committee to read over the scripts as they were ready and consider any potential difficulties so that we could make some informed decisions.  I was asked to be part of this group because of my experience from last years project and because of my VFX knowledge as Michael couldn't be there.  We were a bit surprised by the scripts that were presented as the script team had decided to work individually, but we went ahead and identified some considerations- specifically potential VFX and Art department issues.  

In class we meet up with the group to look at the scripts that the script team had come up with.  The script team had had problems coming to a consensus about where to take the previous concept so each member of the group had written a different version.  This sounds like a good idea in theory but we ended up with many scripts that used the same genre and could have been further developed but contained none of the themes or character dilemmas which were appealing in the initial concept.

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We took a step back to the original idea and worked on developing the concept again.  To mix things up a bit, Michael and I were added to the script team to hopefully bring in some more ideas.  We ended up with a few variations of the concept then pulled the elements we liked together and fleshed things out some more, using thumbnails as a visual aid.

Thumbnails by Michael and Vincent

We made a beat sheet of sorts, which Kim has taken to write up into script format.

I think we have come a fair way with the concept and trying to find a compromise between visuals and story.  I think as long as we can keep the character focused on his original goal, even while he is caught up in other events, and manage to show this successfully then we can keep that human element intact.

Over the past week I've also been involved with the rough scheduling, which we got stuck into over Skype calls!  I think my role in the production schedule is over for now- but I'll be back into planning mode when it comes to getting filming schedules sorted.