Of Celluloid, Scripts and Structure

Well, some of ya'll might know, and some of ya'll might not, but, in addition to being a writer, I do a great deal of dabbling in directing. As of right now, I am one credits song and some cg shots away from finishing my current movie (which I happen to have been working on for two years now), so it's time to start a new one!

I will actually not be directing this particular one, my good friend Breggo will, (He's the one who cowrote the Soldier's Words song with me), so I fall into my common role of Producer. Which basically means I'm responsible for making sure everything gets done and can be done. We don't have a castle? We'll build one! We don't have a waterfall? Switch it to a quiet pond.

However, I also happen to be the scriptwriter on this one. Which is tricky. Why? Because I am not a scriptwriter. I am a novel writer. Script formatting annoys me. In fact, even though I am writing in the script in a slightly organized way, I am absconding the usual formatting for my own invention, which basically reads like parts of the Old English Pilgrim's Progress. You know, where they have:

Christian: bla bla bla

Faithful: bla bla bla

Chris: bla bla bla

Faith: bla bla bla

Anyways... that's pretty close to how I'm doing it. Because, in the end, it really doesn't matter how the paper is set up, as long as the story is told well and comes across the right way. So, before I can even set about writing the script, we have to have a good story. But before we get that, we have to have a structure. Because not only does it have to be a good story, but we have to be able to tell it well. And that means we get a few practical limitations.

1. We have to be able to film most (if not all), in camera. Special effects and computer graphics can be done, but for a no-budget film... yea. It becomes hard to find free stuff there.

2. We have to have enough actors. When your extras are under twenty, you can't do a full-scale battle. Well, you can... but it won't look good. (Trust me, I speak from experience)

3. We have to have good locations. We don't have the luxury of Peter Jackson to be able to go to New Zealand. Which means any locations 1) need to be close and 2) have to look semi-realistic without too much modification. We can't exactly build Helm's Deep in the back woods.

4. We have to keep the time requirements down. Most of our actors are at least in high school if not college, probably have a part time job, and definitely have a family who takes first precedence. If we can do it just as well in a shorter time, then don't do it

So, what are we left with? A short movie, with minimal actors, minimal locations, and nothing too spectacular. And after much debate and discussion, me and Breggo think we have the answer. A series of short episodes focusing around four or five main characters, all set out in the woods. And because we can, and we love to, it's set in a middle ages period. Bring out the swords, baby!

What's next? The story! But that's coming next post. Hold onto your seats till then, folks!

Farjag, Producer/Scriptwriter