FADE IN

INT. ANIMATION STUDIO – NIGHT

An experimental animator posts a final blog update about writing a script in one month for something called Script Frenzy. A printed copy of his final script sits nearby waiting to be read. Empty stage sets from some unfinished stopmotion projects hug the nearby walls. Puppet parts huddle together on a smaller worktable nearby waiting to come to life in some future animated project.

GRANT
(typing)

Hooray! On Friday April 27, 2012 I completed the Script Frenzy at 100 pages! Is it a script? Yes. Is it a GOOD script? Well…that’s another story.

It was a fun exercise and the process is what I enjoyed the most. When I wrote my final pages I was glad to be done but also a little sad that I might not be visiting my characters or their world as much now. I may have just really begun to know them. Anyway, I’m printing the script and will do a fresh read through to prep for any further re-writes.

I’ll probably let the script set for some time and then read it fresh months from now and see if anything about it holds up. Right now I’m too close to it, seeing all the flaws or pieces I really like in spite of the whole. I started with a very crude idea and ended up with a first draft including and a few scenes and sequences that I did not envision before writing! To be writing and have totally new scenes and outcomes come into existence organically was exciting.

The look of the film is something that kept coming up in my mind. I kept imagining it in black and white like a 1940’s horror flick and wanted to stop writing and get to storyboarding. But, pressing on with the writing left me with a 100 page draft of raw material which presumably would make for a better storyboard anyway.

Thanks to everyone that gave words/tweets/posts of encouragement along the way. I appreciate it!

The animator posts the update on his blog, gets up, and heads to another room to eat Oreo’s  and watch a movie!

FADE OUT

Seventy-six pages done!

I continue to write my script non-linearly. As one scene is written, the dialogue or descriptions will spark ideas that are incorporated into other scenes. Celtx has an index card view that lets you drag-and-drop scenes anywhere in the script. It is a great feature and is similar to moving video clips around in an editing timeline.

This week, I caught up on twitter and the screnzy forums since other scriptfrenzy writers are sharing their experiences online. It’s comforting to know that other writers in the screnzy have those “brick-wall” moments that I’ve had. The moments when the script feels like it has stalled.

I usually start a writing session by skimming over everything in the script so far and looking for the parts that interest me at the time and need more work. I just jump in the script and start building it out further, whether it is page 2, 20 or 40. Still, I spent time through the week thinking of specific scenes but also the overall screenplay to see what was coming together and where the holes (and there are lots of them) are located!

I may have found an organizing concept to help inform the overall structure of the screenplay. I really like to build internal rules in my experimental animations that help synthesize form and content. For example, one of the principles I’m toying with in the script is “vibration”. Therefore, a lot of scenes, details and dialogue will incorporate vibratory elements. I’ll also attempt to incorporate vibration into the formalistic aspects of the “film” via sound effects, camera work, and other editing or pacing instructions. I suppose a pure script wouldn’t have directorial details, but I feel adherence to the internal rules are important for the integrity of the work.