Project by: Miles and Jagger (11th Grade)

Faculty Advisor: Stephen MacGillivray

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

This trimester we are looking to create a comedic short film that represents the struggle that goes into creating a short film (So a comedy film, about making a film). This will be a scripted/improvised film shot in the same style as NBC’s television series, The Office. We would like to work with Stephen hoping he can guide us through this process during the trimester, helping guide us towards learning scriptwriting and directing.

PROCESS NOTES:

As we began our project, we initially started brainstorming ideas for a comedy. We came up with different characters, scenes, and situations we thought would be funny or entertaining, but none of them ever felt quite right. Eventually, we found that our hearts weren’t into the idea of comedy, as we had initially proposed. The decision to change the trajectory of our project was a scary one, and at first, we weren’t sure if it was wise. However, we deemed that it was better to change and do something we actually learned from and enjoyed rather than pursuing what we had initially proposed.

Now that we had branched away from our original idea, we had to decide what it was that we wanted to do. Jagger and I both decided that our primary goal, first and foremost, was to learn and better equip ourselves with the skill of screenwriting. We both agreed that we were fairly good at writing in general and that we had a multitude ideas that we would want to eventually work on, however, neither of us had the skill to translate these ideas into a screenplay. With this in mind, Jagger proposed the idea of re-creating a short film he had seen previously that he enjoyed. We decided to watch, “The Lunch Date,” a short film by Adam Davidson. We were both struck by not only it’s simplicity, but the powerful message in the end. We together decided that this would be the film re-created. We met with Stephen at this point and he told us that not only had he known the director, but he expressed the difficulty of the project despite its simplicity. With this in mind, Jagger and I acknowledged the difficulty and prioritized our goal to create the script, and then if time permitted, filming the short film.

As we began our writing, Jagger and I both encountered creative differences we had. Jagger expressed that he wanted there to be absolutely no dialogue within the film. He felt that it would convey the overall message in a more powerful, visual state. I, on the other hand, wanted minimal dialogue, but enough that I thought the story was more easily understood. We decided that we would include dialogue only when absolutely necessary and the rest we would leave up to the description. The outlining idea of the script came together reasonably quickly. By the third week, we had about half written and we met with Stephen again to see what he thought of what we had had so far. Stephen expressed that he thought we were on the right track and he confirmed we were using the correct vocabulary and formatting as a proper screenplay would. We took the script home and continued working on it. When we ultimately finished, we once again checked in with Stephen to see what our next step should be. Stephen proposed that we see if we could get together and film what we had written. We both agreed that it would be a great addition to our script, and so we added parts and potential actors to the characters we had written. After this, our next step was to find a shooting location that worked with our film. This meant a restaurant or cafe of sorts.

We together (Stephen included), thought that Gee Whiz down in TriBeCa would be the perfect spot. We understood that this was unlikely, but Jagger mentioned that he could stop by the restaurant on his way home and inquire. In an unlikely turn of events, Gee Whiz actually agreed to meet with us and settle on a date we could film. They said they actually had done something like this before and all we had to do was go in and set up a date and time to film. We were not only incredibly surprised but incredibly excited as well! Unfortunately, we discovered quickly that the dates Gee Whiz had open for us to film didn’t match up with our own schedules during our winter break. We will continue to talk together about possibly filming in the future, but as of now we are both proud with ourselves no only for how much we learned, but the fact that we were actually able to talk with a real restaurant about filming on location. For us, it felt like step past what we ever thought we could do and we are both excited to continue our exploration of the film world and industry.

OUR SCRIPT:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/195tVx2wQikdelM3735VcEfccS1GIkxaGF5yi_aaJmKs/edit

 

LINKS WE USED: 

http://www.indiewire.com/2014/01/the-baby-writers-cheat-sheet-tips-from-screenwriting-instructor-hilliard-guess-2-162366/

https://www.filmsourcing.com/film-industry-cheat-sheet

https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Screenplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Vg8kH1fYU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unjqt5TMTPQ

The Lunch Date:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8&t=265s

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Project by: Miles and Jagger (11th Grade)

Faculty Advisor: Stephen Macgillivary

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

This trimester we are looking to create a comedic short film that represents the struggle that goes into creating a short film (So a comedy film, about making a film). This will be a scripted/improvised film shot in the same style as NBC’s television series, The Office. We would like to work with Stephen hoping he can guide us through this process during the trimester, helping guide us towards learning scriptwriting and directing.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project?

We hope that our project at the very least will help us maintain a better understanding of script writing, editing, and directing film. The best way to see our success would be a fully produced and edited short, but even more than that, a full written and solid script.