Film Narrative 2 (GROUP UPDATE BLOG POST)
Idea:
The idea takes place in an AA meeting between 2 characters: Cameron (early 20’s) and Fergus (50s-60s). Cameron, a wealthy, reckless man turns up to an AA meeting late and sits beside Fergus, a quiet ex-con. Cameron makes conversation to Fergus quietly while the AA meeting leader speaks in the background. Fergus generally keeps silent and gives him a heavy side-eye. The meeting finishes shortly after and as Cameron puts away his chair Fergus approaches him. He confronts him about how he knows Cameron gave him a fake number (as the two are sponsors who had to exchange numbers to stay in contact). Cameron takes his jokingly and Fergus interrogates him about why he isn’t taking the meeting seriously. By the end of a conversation its clear Cameron see’s Fergus as a parental figure and gains respect for him as a person. They go from basically strangers to having mutual respect and understanding of their characters.
We were possibly thinking of developing the idea to take place outside the AA meeting with Fergus smoking a cigarette in front of an “AA meeting this way” sign. Cameron walks out the meeting after him with a flask and Fergus confronts him with the same conflict as the previous idea.
Roles for the group:
Cayla Ferguson – Director
Kushal Dhingra – DoP
Alana Robertson – Sound production/Editing
Abbie George – Screenwriter
Sophie Brownlow – Producer/Script supervisor
Pre-vis:
We gathered inspiration from watching AA meetings in different movies to help establish the content we want to create while also the style we want to shoot in. The scene has a lot of different tones we could go for. As screenwriter my plan is to start the first draft of the script very quickly so we can decide where we eventually want to take the film tone-wise.
Here’s some links to some of inspiration we’ve looked at so far:
- https://youtu.be/OyO3Kmx-bEk
- https://youtu.be/7fm5BARTjiY
- https://youtu.be/7ooDX1NOzEM
Location:
For location, we originally planned for the Chapel but upon reflection of sound quality and how many groups seem to be using it, we decided to steer clear of it and go for a classroom in Craiglockhart instead. Since many AA meetings take place is community halls etc. we feel this would be a good fit for the vibe. If we decide to set the scene outside, we will need to scout out a location, which we plan to do next time we are on campus.
The group have had a few online and in-person meetings so far to which we all agree we are entirely happy with. Everyone has contributed well, and we all feel the dynamic works well and is one we are very comfortable with.
Pre-production:
We have also started to plan out our pre-production materials and who will be doing what: - The logline & synopsis (Abbie) - Moodboard(s) (Kushal) - marked up copy of the script (Alana, Cayla) - shot list (Kushal, Cayla) - story board / lighting plan (Sophie, Kushal)