Day 6

I'm excited about screenwriting. In class we went over the basics of the process of writing a screenplay (complete with character dialogue, camera notes, and action) and it actually didn't seem all too complicated. The only thing that kinda makes me nervous is how we must know exactly how each scene will play out (with the camera notes). I know the director will "man" the exact set up of the shots but still, it's the screenwriter's job first to pen the film.

I wonder how the screenwriter comes up with ideas about the way a scene will play out. Does she see the film play out as a finished movie in her head or use her "mind's eye" to record the film? I find intriguing how people can envision something in their head and then just record it (whether on paper, film, canvas, etc.). Film especially strikes me as a terribly demanding form of expression in that you must create a whole situation for the viewer with dialogue, camera movement, plot, conflict, action…and all this starts with the screenplay.

After all our workshops and movie-making discussions we are now at the stage in class where we must put our new knowledge to use in creating our own short film. The class is split into six groups with about four or five people in each group (and each with a different job). The assignment is to create a five minute film based on an assigned genre. And of course, there are some other fun requirements such as the film must include a mime/clown, skull, cheese grater, a guitar, and the lines "Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that." I'm not worried about these requirements too much, it'll be fun.

I can’t decide whether my film group was blessed or cursed with the genre of comedy. On one hand, there are so many different forms of “funny” which can help us in that we’ll have a lot from which to choose. However, so many different types of humor could make deciding on a specific idea difficult. I’m up for the challenge, don’t get me wrong, but I am very indecisive. Hopefully with five people in our film group we can come up with a really good idea that we all feel comfortable with. Also, I hope everyone can find a middle ground on an idea that we think everyone will find funny, since people have very different ideas of what is and is not funny.

During our short discussion in class, we tried to list a few things that are funny in every situation and to nearly everyone. We came up with people falling (nothing too serious though, no one wants to see something fall do their death from a cliff…or I don’t), people farting (you can’t deny that that noise is funny, maybe it’s the child in us), and butts (yeah). Granted this is JUST A START. I've been stewing over some ideas the past few days, writing down what makes me laugh (which probably looks interesting to people around me because every time I write down something funny I end up laughing to myself, again) and any other particularly interesting ideas.

I think the main decision our group has to make is deciding the source of the humor in our film, that is, if the comedy will be character driven (we'll need to recruit some funny actors...or funny looking HA), situation driven, a little bit of both, or maybe "off the wall" random (which I kinda like from time to time, but it can get a little risky). Personally, I'm leaning away from the character driven comedy just because our pool of established comedic actors may not be as accessible as creating a funny situation. We're in funny situations every day right? I can usually find something to laugh at anyway. We'll see. Maybe I'll run into Steve Carell on my way to class and he'll agree to be the lead in our film for the price of a Hot Pocket. It could happen.

Until then, I plan on rewatching all of my favorite funny skits and movies…to get ideas of course.