Planning - Finalizing the Script

Planning - Finalizing the Script

This is the final version of the script for my coursework piece and shall be what I use for my actors and the filming, some slight alterations may be made while on set due to limitations or finding better ideas on set.

Scene 1 – The Setup

This scene will contain no dialogue; it will be devoted to setting the scene of the opening, which is a school. Shot 1 will be an extreme long shot of the main Thomas Deacon Academy building, in the morning so that it looks cold, wet and depressing. The camera will follow our main character at first as he walks towards the building, the camera will stay stationary panning to follow (name here), and when he gets perpendicular to the camera it will begin to pan north-east until he is out of shot (or only his head is in shot) and the school building can be seen. It will then quickly pan to the right as a cross-dissolve takes place to just outside the school, it will follow our main character, (name here), as he walks into the school building , the camera should be to his side, a quick shot of his other side, his back and then where he walks towards and facing the camera. When he gets close to the camera, a quick downwards pan to a cross-dissolve to a long shot of the atrium area of the school which should be shot in between lessons to show the hustle bustle of the school, the time between period 1 and 2 would be best as it would be very similar lighting to the first shot. The camera should start as zoomed in on (name here) and he will look up at the camera which starts to zoom out to show the atrium and the students. This is where the title will be shown. A Pan downwards will transition into the next scene.

Scene 2 – Character Establishment

The camera will pan down to show (name here) looking up. The camera should be at the side of (name here). The next shot should be of a female character walking across the bridge with books in hand, the scene should follow her across, in a POV shot. It should start zoomed out but as she walks should straight edit to a close-up of her face. A straight edit should cut to the side of (name here). His head will turn away from the camera and then towards it, like he’s looking for someone. When he turns towards the camera he will turn away but quickly turn back, like a double take,

Suraj: “Hey” (walk past the camera),

A straight edit will cut to a two-shot of Suraj and Calvin in which Calvin is lent against the wall and on his phone, when Suraj walks into shot he turns and says

Calvin: Ignores him

Suraj: “Hey, uhh, I was wandering if you knew where the Safety Patrol Office was?”

Straight edit to over Suraj’s shoulder

Calvin: Looks over “Ha, the safety patrol?! The nerd gatherings up the stairs and down the hall, room at the end”

Suraj: “oh um, ok”

Calvin: “Hey, I've not seen you round school before”

Over Calvin’s Shoulder

Suraj: “Yeah, I transferred from across town, our patrol ran pretty smoothly there”

Reverse Shot

Calvin: “Yeah well, good luck, you’ll need it your joining the Geek Guardians”

Suraj thanks him then walks out of shot

Cut to Suraj entering a room labelled Safety Patrol

Cut to a low angled shot showing Chris at a table as Suraj walks over and sits down.

Cuts to a closer shot as Suraj sits down.

Chris: “Suraj I presume?”

Suraj: “Yes sir!”

Chris: “Great! Hope your transfer was smooth and efficient, just like I hope you will be.”

Suraj: "Of course sir, I'm really excited to help fight crime"

Pauses and bends down to get Props

Chris: “I've got your ID badge here, proving your authority above everyone else, Here I have your Handbook, it contains the rules we abide by and detention slips, it’s your weapon against the enemy, so if you're ready, I'm ready.

They shake hands.

Cuts to Suraj walking out the room and looking at his card, then cuts to Misha walking along the corridor

Two-shot of them bumping into each other and talking

Suraj: "Sorry, I didn't see you there"

Misha: "It's ok, Hey, I haven't seen you around before"

Suraj: "Yeah I recently transferred here," Picks up his card "See, I'm already making a name for myself"

Misha: "Oooo, safety patrol, how courageous"

Suraj: "Yeah we sure are, back home I faced many difficulties so hopefully this one will keep 

me on my toes, will I see you around?"

Misha: "Maybe"

Misha taps Suraj on the shoulder and leaves as Suraj watches.

The End

With the script finalised I started filming on the 16th March 2016, with the actors;

Surajkumar Patel - Male lead/Main Protagonist

Misha Folkner - Female Lead

Christopher Chalk - Safety Patrol Leader

Calvin Weston - Assist Role

Unfortunately due to a lack of actors which was out of my control, I was required to act as the safety patrol leader providing complications during the recording, which I worked around by using a tri-pod or changing the scenes so an actor would be spare to record the scene. This was the cause of many re-records. The main casting issues was the lack of willing actors, I had begun asking people on Monday 9th March, but had Surajkumar and Misha for actors since the filming of my preliminary task during late February/early March so it was not the issue of late notice that caused the lack of actors.