Planning - Script

Planning - Script

The first thing I had to consider is how I wanted to start my film, how I wanted the audience to be introduced to the film. Using my research I decided I wanted to have an opening shot of my male protagonist walking towards the school building then for it to cross-dissolve into the camera following his side, switching to his other side, following behind him then him walking towards the camera and the cam to pan downwards into a cross-dissolve into the main building's atrium, with him walking in while looking up and for it to zoom out and show a title card.

It will then cut to a shot of my female protagonist walking across a bridge, then a cut to him looking around, seeing the antagonist in the act, chasing after him saying a line or two, a short chase scene will then occur and the female protagonist will interfere somehow, letting the antagonist get away. They will then go back to the scene of the crime and see what was up.

There will then be a big 'Safety Patrol' Meeting with like 4 people other than the protagonists where they discuss the crime, and the suspects with quite a bit of dialogue, setting up the rest of the would-be film introducing the antagonist and establishing the main characters.

To end I will probably use something as dramatic effect such as everyone leaving the room and the room name to be displayed as the door shuts.

The first draft for the script can be seen below.

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 (or oi)!” walk past the camera,

A straight edit will cut to a POV shot should walk towards him, in the view of (name here) in a corridor where a person can be seen trying to close a door silently, as if they have just left and don’t want to alert people off it. This person will then turn to face the camera, as they do this a straight edit should cut to a close up to their face hidden under a cap. A straight edit to a mid shot of (name here),

Suraj: “Hey man, I know we all want to sneak a peek at those test answers but-“

A straight edit to behind (name here)’s shoulders, the other person should run away from (name here) and turn the corner, (name here) should follow him.

A straight edit to around the corner shows the person running past with (name here) following, when (name here) goes past the camera should turn and follow him.

A straight edit to in front of the culprit, hiding his face and running with the camera staying in front of him, the camera is allowed to be a little shaky. A straight edit to the same thing but with (name here) instead.

Suraj: “Slow down! The refectory isn’t going anywhere”

A POV shot should be shown near stairs where the girl from earlier appears, the culprit grabs her and shoves her into the camera.

A mid shot should be shown of (name here) where the girl knocks into him, stopping him and dropping a folder with paper coming loose.

Girl: “Oh my god, im so sorry, he just came out of-“

Suraj: “Its fine, just,” Looks over her shoulder

POV shot looking over girl’s shoulder, suspect keeps running, gets knocked by an unimportant character who knocks his cap off, suspect will look at the camera, straight edit to a close up of their face, straight edit to a mid shot of him picking up the cap and running.

Straight edit to mid shot of (name here)

Suraj: “hmm,” Turns back he way he came “wonder what he was doing”

Girl: “Sorry again, he came out of no where and just shoved me” as she says this, she should bend down to pick up her papers

Suraj: “That’s fine, I mean what example am I giving the younger years, running through the school and such”

Girl: “Yeah” Looks up, camera does a straight edit to her looking up, from the side “So, you gonna help or gawk like you did this morning”

Straight edit to (name here)’s side

Suraj: “Oh, uhhh, yeah sure” camera will stay still as he bends down.

Straight edit to the corridor where they were earlier, camera should be facing away from the door, facing the entrance to the building. Both (name here) and the girl will pop up as if they have just stood up from picking up the papers.

Suraj: “Your really bad at holding onto these papers, like seriously that’s the second time I’ve had to help you pick them up”

Girl: “Maybe I just enjoy bending down”

A pause between lines

Suraj: "Right.... just wait there a sec"

Misha should wait as Suraj walks past the camera, a straight edit to the camera being in the same position but rotated 180 degrees. Suraj should walk past, as he does the camera slowly follows him, open the door and say after a short pause, looking worried as the classroom has been wrecked.

Suraj: "Well, seems like he really turned the room upside down looking for those answers....literally."

Suraj should turn to the camera, but looking past it at misha or where she would be.

Scene 3 - Plot Establishment and Antagonist Establishment

A transition (straight edit or otherwise decided) shall come to Suraj walking to a room with people walking past. The scene should start behind suraj's left shoulder looking over it and to the right slightly, there should be a pair of people who walk by, A straight edit to the first pair, mid shot.

Person 1 Pair 1: "Hey, did you hear about S03?"

Person 2 Pair 1: "Yeah I heard from Suraj that it had been trashed and he chased him down but lost him-"

Both act as if they are walking past Suraj, should fake smile and then go back to their conversation

Straight edit to behind suraj as they walk past, he should turn to watch them walk and sigh, then turn back, continue to walk and go into a room as the camera follows

Suraj: "Right everyone sit down!"

Door should be pushed closed (because school doors shut too slowly) and there should be a sign saying 'TDA Safety Patrol'

Straight edit to a mid shot of the room, showing the people inside, should include Misha and others.

Suraj: "Right, so the issue today is this vandalism, its delayed classes while its being sorted"

There should be a yay from the crowd. Straight edit to be a mid shot of Suraj, to the right/left of the projector board, by the computer

Suraj: "Let's not be too enthusiastic Jerry, we wouldn't want your lesson to be moved off site because someone didn't want their valuable education compromised"

Jerry: "Aww come on"

Suraj: "Right, so we need to solve this and quick, we know little about the main suspect, so"

A slide will come up on the bored, straight edit to suraj's side displaying the bored

Suraj: "We know the suspect is white, male and owns a cap with CAT on it, any ideas on what CAT is guys?"

Long silence

Suraj: Mutters "Damn idiots," Speaks up "It's a machine manufacturer, more specifically, construction machines, and the hat is given out to employees, who then most likely give them to the kids, thanks to the school Head we know 3 people with parents who work for CAT,  so, we'll get them in and ask them some questions, objections? (short pause) No? Good, now stop sitting around like unimportant characters in a terrible student film and get to work!"

The End

With the first draft complete I can now storyboard how the scenes should combine together and their inner-workings as well as casting my actors. This draft of the script was abandoned because I changed the idea for the majority of the film therefore it required an overhaul and this shall be seen in my finalizing stage. The storyboard will reflect the newer version of the script instead of this one which is the cause of inconsistencies.