Research Dossier

Script taken from BBC Writers Room: This script is from Series 2 Episode 1 of 'Rev'.

1. SLUGLINES: These can also be known as scene headings, these basically describe where about the scene is going to take place and what time the scenes take place.

For example in this example script the slug-line says 'EXT. NUNNERY. DAY 1 (1203) - DAY'
'EXT' stands for exterior, therefore we can tell that this scene is taking place on the exterior of a nunnery during the day. 

In the second slug-line we can see that instead of 'EXT' there is 'INT' this simply means interior, so the second scene in this script is taking place on the interior of a nunnery during the day.

This script that I chose is known as a shooting script, this means that the script is going to be made into a film/TV series etc. so the numbers you can see in brackets eg. (1203) are scene number which are used by the directors and film team. 

Slug-lines must always be written is capitals.  

2. ACTION LINES: Action lines come straight after slug-lines, these basically set the scene and describe what is happening within that scene. Action lines must only describe something visual which can be seen in a film, you wouldn't put a characters feelings or thoughts into these because they can not be seen. 

For example in my example script  the first action line explains about a nun tending to a garden, as you can see this action line really shows what we would be seeing on screen at this time. 

3 + 4  CHARACTERS AND DIALOGUE : Character names are for when they are about to talk they help to show what character is saying what. The character names are shown in the middle of the page and always follow with dialogue. 

As you can see above when Adam is about to speak his name is written above his dialogue, then whatever he says is written in the dialogue section.

The (PRAYER V.O) shows that whatever is being said is a voice over (the v.o stands for voice over) so you cannot see the person saying this. 

Characters names, unless they are being said in dialogue must always be written in capitals. 

5. OFF SCREEN CHARACTERS: If a character is talking in the scene but is not on screen when writing their dialogue we write (OS) next to their name.  

6. PARENTHESES: When you want to show how a character is saying something you would write how you wish them to say it, for example if JAKE says something happily you would write it like this; 

JAKE

(Happily)

Yes I'm very excited 

As you can see I wrote the character name followed by the parentheses then followed by the dialogue.

Inner and Outer Presence

Inner Presence is what is explained in a script about peoples thoughts or feeling, things which when the script is eventually made you wont see but feel through the characters actions or movements. Outer presence is what you see in a script such as clothing, actions etc. 

Here is a script which I got from BBC Writer's Room called 'Restless' (Ep 1).

In this script Inner presence is shown when it mentions the young woman as being 'a clever person'. Outer presence in this script is shown when they mention what the Young woman is wearing i.e. 'Wearing sunglasses. Long thick blonde hair. Beads. Tie dye shirt. Hippy-dippy style.' 

Screenwriting Competitions

If I was going to enter my screenplay to a competition I would choose 'BlueCat', a list of their requirements for uploading a screenplay are below.

10 Minute Shorts

The first ten minute short I chose was 'Forklift Driver Klaus', I like this short because it makes a sort of dark comedy out of an instructional video/documentary, the way it was made is good and some of the shots used made certain parts even funnier. There is not much talking in it, only the narrator who talks over the entire video, but I think this helps to emphasize certain actions within it and makes it feel like an actual spoof of an instructional video. Overall, a funny short which has been well made.

My second ten minute short is named 'When The Day Breaks', This short is one of my favorite of most I've seen, to start with I find the animation very interesting, it appears to all of been hand drawn and painted in certain parts. This is a seemingly happy/upbeat video to start with but ends up feeling very dark and down, some of the shots used have really increased the eerie feel to it. Certain parts appeared to be real filming instead of animation but it was hard to tell. Overall a great short, keeps you interested.

Theme, Location and Character

My theme for my 10 minute short is based around thriller and horror genre, I wanted it to be set in a large yet empty feeling house, but this house must be in a remote area so that nothing can be accessed for a good mile or two to make the suspense even more. My friend has a perfect house for this, it is set out in the middle of Blofield and is very remote apart from a small house near by, the house is very big and is within large grounds, this would be my ideal set for my short. 

"Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears" Wikipedia. This is what I was trying to achieve with my script, for example getting trapped is a common fear.

Loss is an underlying theme in my script, even though I have made a horror from the fact that a father has lost his child, he effectively has gone made because of it. 
Below is link to how an increase of mental illness could occur when a child is lost:  
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20050323/losing-child-increases-risk-of-mental-illness   

My character Walter is set on George Harvey from The Lovely Bones, and my overall feel of the 10 minute is set on this film. A link below to the IMDb of the film:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380510/ 

Audience Research

My main audience gap for my short is around 18-30 years old, I asked my media classmates if they would be interested in watching a horror on this subject, 80% of them answered 'yes', this is a good high percentage, although it may be higher because media students would be more interested in horror films than others. I also asked a higher age group of my parents friends and some of my family, their ages ranged from 30-55, and surprisingly 75% of these said that they would also want to watch my horror short idea.

Existing Media Text

My main influence for my 10 minute short is the film 'The Lovely Bones', it is basically about a young girl who has been murdered by her seemingly normal neighbor and the  young girls family eventually find out. There is one specific scene which I took most of my inspiration from, There is a link to it below:

Another example of a media text would be 'Babysitter Wanted' even though it doesn't follow the exact same story line or idea as my short it still has certain elements to it that mine would, below is it's IMDb: 

'Scream' would be annother good example of someone trapped inside a house with a killer after them, once again although it not the same sort of story line it still relates to the horror theme. below is it's IMDb:

Bibliography:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/restless-part-1.pdf

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/Rev-Series-2-Episode1.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y719xX1I5U

http://shortsbay.com/film/forklift-driver-klaus-the-first-day-on-the-job

http://shortsbay.com/film/when-the-day-breaks

http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/submit/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film 26/03/2015

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20050323/losing-child-increases-risk-of-mental-illness


Jack Hunts Research: http://huntjbtec.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/research-dossier.html