Unit 11 Script writing for media products

Needs and Expectations of the client for our script:

For this assignment I was asked to create a script for a short film that I will be producing. From this we have
created a script for the production of 'The Burning Candlestick' which is a 1940's inspired thriller that focuses on
the main character Peggy after she found a mysterious candlestick in the park and the strange things that occur until her
untimely death by the hands of the man she tried to help in the park (John).

The Target audience for our script would me mainly women between the ages of 30 and 45 years

of age. We have chosen this demographic because they are more mature and are more likely to

understand the theme of the film and the decade we are trying to emulate in terms of film style.
This styling of the film can be seen within the script to reflect those of the 1940's (of which we are trying to
emulate) by the changing of angles quite frequently and being mainly silent, save for a combination of Digetic and
Non digetic sounds with dialogue used to ensure understanding.

It links well to this age bracket because the target audience would fall into the age bracket 30- 45

years old. this is because the script is for a film that is based in the 1940's and is more of a

complex thriller than what would have been marketed to a younger audience (if we were to do

this it would be more straight forward ) and the Audience would fall into the ABC1 category B . This is because she has
an established career with an income that is able to cater to both her necessary spending (such as for rent and food) and
to give her a good amount of disposable income to enjoy herself by watching films and for her hobbies. Another
reason this film would be available to see, this is because it (the film) will be shown in the Showroom Cinema and this
would cost less money than in a larger commercial cinema which would make the film more accessible to people with lower income than our target audience.

This can be seen in the script with the way that Peggy moves and will eventually be seen in the

short film when it is created/ produced and will be shown in black and white (Monochrome). It

can be seen in the script with 'GFX: MONOCHROME'.

The fact that the film is geared more towards women can be seen by the fact that the main

character is female and this can also be seen in the script by her having the most screen time and the most

lines (in terms of dialogue).

The style and genre of the film appeals to the target audience because it brings a sense of nostalgia to the audience and
the appearance of the film within this genre is very different in comparison to others that are released.

Improvements and Changes to be made in the script:

From the feedback we gained from our clients from The writers group we found that one of the things that needed to be improved was pacing of certain scenes, which we rectified in

later drafts of the script, but we will re look through the script to see if there are any more pacing

issues in the script that we didn't already notice.

Another thing that needed to be improved was to state the actual music that would be played in

the narrative of the film on shooting script. We will have to add them to the script as an

improvement.

The pacing would be important to rectify in the script is to ensure that the narrative is easier to

understand and to ensure that the script does not lag/ drag along and bore the target audience.

Another reason this is important is because its sets the scene for the events in the script and causes the

audience to feel certain emotions, such as shock and confusion when the events calls for it.

We are going to check/ change this to make the script/narrative better suited for the audiences enjoyment.

Including the music that will be played is important to not only the narrative (as it adds feelings

emotions to that part of the film/ scene) but it also makes it clearer for the audience to understand

what is happening better and the feeling behind the actions. We are going to add this to make the

script better suit the clients request. An example of where the script needed to be altered for pacing reasons is when
Peggy was walking from her house to the shop. This is because this scene seemed too long in comparison to the
rest of the film. To rectify this we cut down the length and split ket parts of this scene and changed the camera
angles to make the scene seem shorter and more in synch with the rest of the film.

Strengths that were mentioned from The writing group were that the start was at an equilibrium and the plot quickly
escilates to the enigma, another strength in the script as given by The Writers Group as feedback is that the script
reflects the era that we are trying to emulate and that it works well for our target audience.

Language and content of the script:

The script is written informally, when it comes to the dialogue, but the script effects are written

formally. This juxtaposition between language styles show the difference between the characters

dialogue/ vocal work and what needs to be there to make the piece a script.

The house style of the script is that it is quite spaced out with heavy scene description and stage directions for the actors in comparison to dialogue that is actually spoken. The font that is used throughout he script is courier font in size 12. This is because the script was produced to industry standard.

c. Layout of the script:
The script we have created meets the needs of a short film script based on others that have been researched because it shows the location of the scene and has an in depth description of the scene and what was going to happen in the shots This can be seen best in the script for the silent film 'The artist' That was very in depth of what was going to happen in each scene, which we took al good deal of inspiration from in terms of descriptions and time period out film would be set in. This can be seen in both scripts with'

When PEGGY gets to the tale she stands still and stares at the candle curiously, looking for signs that the candle has been lit recently. Finding none, she slowly backs away to the telephone, on the windowsill with a worried expression.

She then turns around and looks at the phone, picks up the phone and dials the number of a friend and begins talking to them about the candlestick.

From our script

'and

from the script from 'The Artist'.

Another way our script compares to other scripts is the dialogue being short and informal, which reflects what we saw in the radio script. This is because the language used in both is chatty (like what would be seen in everyday life) and informal so it gives the script and film verisimilitude.

This can be seen in both scripts with 'my script' of

SHOP OWNER

Thanks for shopping here, have a nice day.

PEGGY

You too, see you later.

and 'An example Radio Script' which shows this by.

MR PERKINS (OFF- Pitching)

Hello...?!

SAMANTHA (Groans)

Oh no. What does he want now?

JASON (Whispers)

Who is he?

d. What is the mode of address

The mode of address in the script is peer to peer. This is because the language is informal and does not seem to talk down to the audience (like one would expect with parent to child/ teacher to pupil) and speaks to the audience like one friend would to another.

e. What have you missed off?

One thing that I have missed off of the script in the reference to what music will be played at which time in the film when produced. This will need to be changed as it is important to the pacing of the scene and the creation of tension within the audience.

Another thing that I had missed in the shooting script is that I need to add more shooting conventions/ camera angles. This is to make the filming process easier and to make it clearer for the film crew to understand what shots are needed to actually shoot the film.

Legal and Ethical requirements:

We have missed adding the music selection in the script but will be adding it to the script and add more camera directions/ location Information. This is so the script can be used for shooting later on.

This film is appropriate to be seen by people under the age of 18 , even though they are not in the target audience, because there is no overtly foul language, overly gory scenes (although there is some gore at the end) and there is no sexual scenes (all of which under the BBFC constitute an 18/ R rated film).

But the film would be rated as a 15 by the BBFC. This is because of the dramatic death of our main actress and the easily accessible weapon that is unsuitable to be seen by people below this age category as can be seen on the BBFC website where on the 12/12a rating it says:

" Imitable behaviour: No promotion of potentially dangerous behaviour which children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons such as knives. No endorsement of anti-social behaviour. ".

b) Appropriate for Pre- watershed scheduling

Our short film would not be able to be viewed before 9pm in the UK. This is because of the violent death scene at the end that may scare younger children (below 15 years of age)

This is because of the aspects of violence and gore, which can be seen in this scene of the script"

' JOHN hits PEGGY on the side of the head with the candlestick violently, knocking her to floor. PEGGY Lays serenely with a bloody bruise forming on the side of her head. '

The fact that the bruise is bloody (showing gore) may offend or frighten people, which is why it is unsuitable to be shown before the 9pm scheduling time for more grown up audience.

c) Copyright

When we are looking for soundtracks for or film, we would look out for is anything that may cause copyright infringement. This is because if they break a copyright law we could either taken to court and sued or prison. To avoid this, the company would have to contact the copyright holder and seek to gain permission to use the idea through a fee or royalties.

Another way we could get past this is to use royalty free music from the creative commons and reference the owner for the use of the music, which is free and doesn’t infringe any Copyright laws. An example of a track we would like to use is 'Zetauri_DarkThrillerLoop_J8.wav' from freesound. This is because this track creates suspense in the film and tension in the audience. This track also falls under the creative commons so to use this track we would only have to reference where we got the sound from in the end credits.

When it comes to graphics used in a short film we would gain permissions in the same ways as if for the soundtracks/ music we were going to use. To bypass this we would try to create as many graphics as possible on our own to avoid copyright infringement.