ASSINGMENT BLURB
For this assignment I chose to base it off the characters from my first assignment and see ways I could enhance the vison I created then through this script. I chose Johnso as the main protagonist as I explore how to humanise the villain of the story. To do this I focused on his interaction on his grandmother and the community. I drew inspiration from my life experiences and drawing on themes I would've liked to see explored.
MODULE A
1. First, write down a list of things you would like to see in a film.
- Character development. Where learning more about the character as the movie progesses or we're seeing them in different situations
- Consistency in how the story is being told. If its going to be chaotic let it be maintained throughout the film.
- I like movies to have a point a central theme and a point to be taken away.
- Not leaving the me the feeling of 'why did I just watch that?'.
- Clean editing. I like it when I can't see the editing for example as camera angles change or obvious product placement.
- Cast for the character not modelling the actor to the character. Also when diversity doesn't feel forced as if filling in a quota.
- When writers try to be authentic to their story not making the character saying things they think the audience will relate to. Like a teenage hating their parent and being glued their phone using common slang terms like 'lol' continually.
- Plot twists
2. Second, write a story or character brief you might never have seen before on the screen, maybe because they’re specific, or because you have studied them well.
Amidst the whirlwind of jubilation, Arturo stood captivated. The colours were enchanting, the sounds exhilarating. The air crackled with electricity as he joined the frantic celebrations. People danced marrabenta in the streets, tossing aprons, caps, and other pieces of uniforms into the air. Amidst more aggressive displays, some stomped on the colonial flag while others set it ablaze in the open road. "VIVA MOZAMBIQUE! VIVA FRELIMO!" It had been 48 hours since Guebuza had announced that the Portuguese had only 24 hours to leave the country. They had also been given a 20kg baggage restriction. Thus now the common people rushed into their homes to see what they could claim from what was left behind. It was manic. It was mayhem. It was freedom. Amidst it all, Arturo felt the hope. He looked up at the sky and vowed never to forget that moment.
3. Write a description of a vivid memory, a fragment from your childhood
Lock it. I said with the spirt of a true dare devil. She wheeled me around the house. But when it came to opening it, the combination failed to work and this large plastic suitcase was soon going to be my coffin.
4. Now, write a fictional memory, a fragment from your childhood or adolescence that NEVER happened, but to the listener seems as authentic as the actual memory. Again, set it in a time frame of roughly 10 minutes.
Smash! The glass was shattered all into the flower pots. My attempts at reviving 1980's Swallow victory. Why had she held her stick in that angle! Why had I unleashed my full power.
**Note the 1980 Swallows were the Zimbabwean national hockey team who won the gold medal at the 1980 olympics.
Module B
8. According to Celine Sciamma’s process, write a Global list of things you would like to achieve with your script, they may be political, personal, social, or production ambitions for the sort of film you would like to see made.
"The first step is identifying and locating your global desires for a film, understanding them, and being honest about them. This takes time because there are several impacts on different zones; political desire, aesthetic desire, production desire—you have to locate them and trust them enough to deconstruct them.
1.Accurate representation of teenage relationships: Show the sweet and sour of a high school romance. Often teenage relationships are portrayed as the perfect story of young love without any possible negative impacts. This serves to remind the audience of certain consequences and that not everyone gets a happy ending like in Netflix film 13 Reasons
2. Ethical Debates and Discussions: Prompt ethical debates among the audience by presenting Johnso's actions as morally ambiguous, encouraging viewers to question their own beliefs and judgments.
3. Production desire: Challenging Narratives. Show Zimbabwe authentically but not under the trope that Africa is a symbol of poverty and lack of educational resources. Highlight the beauty of the land and that people can love their life even if it is simple and ‘backward’.
4.Empowerment through Education: Through the story of Chonkilo’s family show how important education is to a growing society and the hope it can add to people’s lives.
• Write two Local Lists of scenes or images you desire to write, (you may include these because they feel arresting, unique. or somehow perfectly connected to the film you want to make).
List one WEALTH
I want wealth to be clear in this film
- Kingstone College looks as good as any world class school
- Arrogant rich kids
- Multicultural
- Chonkilo family home
- Chonkilo her way of thinking, dress, life experience.
List two
Love
- Gogo urging Johnso to leave Chonkilo seemingly a charcater change but shows her family commitment
- Johnso's ambition his determination to work hard and care for Gogo
- The communities love for Johnso
Now write a second Local list of scenes you’re less excited by, but you feel you need them to tell the story.
- Chonkilo's family problems
- Chonkilo having to face the consequences of her decision alone
- Discrimination in terms of use of the Shona language is viewed as for low class people