Blog #13

• When we first talked about this project, I was skeptical, I have never been a fan of writing, merely reading what others have written for me! I am also not a very creative, and I was worried about coming up with a worthwhile plot/story. I was not excited about it to say the least.
• I feel like it has widened my horizons. I did not particularly like working on the same thing for so long, but I can say that I have written a script now! I have given it a try, and it has helped me to at least appreciate the movies that I watch more! i have used script writing software as well, which I found very interesting.
• The part of the script frenzy workbook that I found most helpful was the section where the writer was supposed to flesh out the characters an give then character traits! Authors often describe how the characters in their stories take over the writing, and they are merely recording their actions on a page. This really began to happen to me a few pages into the story, and this would not have been possible if I had not though long and hard about my characters. I did not find the climax and falling action page to be helpful. I already knew the climax that I was going to employ, and the falling action was to far in the future to worry about. I wasnt sure who I was going to kill off, and I didn't know who I wanted to end up with who, I was intending to figure that out once I had actually reached the falling action.
• I learned that I am a procrastinator, and that if I have a month to do something, it seems like forever! Having so many distractions so close at hand..it was difficult to focus, which is why I had to get the program at home, when I could work on the project on my own time, at the time of day I wanted ( NOT 7:30 in the morning). Big projects are meant for home, that is what my brain is wired to think.
• My final script was 30 pages. I did manage my time to fit in at least that much (I wasn't cramming on the last night) but my goal was 75 pages. So I did not budget my time correctly, though it was budgeted. I finished my story in the 30 pages I wrote, so that tells me that my story must need a lot of revisions, or should just be a digital short instead of a full length feature film. I could have had a set page limit per day to make sure such a page goal was achieves, while I was writing my goal was really just to put at least a paragraph on the page per day. This approach was clearly not strict enough to keep me on track an achieve 75 pages. I should calculate it out exactly next time.
• The strength of my script was definitely the humor. My strategy was to distract everyone from the horribleness of my plot with witty banter between the characters. even though I did end up liking my plot, it was a moment of brilliance that came out of nowhere, and the fact that I actually cared about the content of the script made it that much better.
• my script was a tad short, which was definitely a weakness. Since I finished my plot in a mere 30 pages, I could clearly have elaborated on the scene, and dialogue. The climax was also rather short. I could have built up the tension, and extended Malificent's monologue. Bad guys always monologue right?
• I would focus most of my time on improving the relationship/dialogue between Phil and Rose. I feel like there is not enough substance there to really believe that the two are in love. I would also improve upon the scene where Rose confronts Malificent. It is over too quickly for a moment that Rose has been training and preparing for her entire life.