MAKE me the best screenwriter ever in an hour please.
I'm stuck. I have been trying to think of the perfect conflict or occurrence to give my film the right spine and direction to finalize the idea perfectly. The bike is going to stop at the end. It is all about her wanting to escape the cycle she is in, her circumstances but not being able to until it all stops at the end with the long and continuous shots of the bike wheel throughout.
I have visualized what I want the logo to be as of right now. It symbolizes the idea of escaping your circumstances, of not feeling trapped, of making things better. I'm actually getting it tattooed soon. This film is being really helpful and cathartic for me. I have shifted into being more personal, less convoluted with ideas, but more about me and the frustration I felt. That is why NOW I'm feeling extra frustrated I can't come up with anything. I want the scene to be the one that lets you know she wants to escape the cycle but can't. It has to be the most powerful one. The one that tips the iceberg. It could be her seeing something mundane that triggers her. Maybe a news story. A candle. Something is broken and she can't fix it, or she can't make something stop. I thought about including in the scene with her friends the little sister of one of them using the hula hoop, and the protagonist not being able to concentrate because it doesn't stop. Since I was so stuck I decided to ask my friends what cycles meant for them. This where their responses:
Other ones were socializing, and money. Even though most were not what I meant, such as Bad Bunny and The Lion King, it was refreshing to see other people's perspective on a topic. I think I'm a little closer to reaching my idea, I feel it, it's definitely there it just hasn't come to me. I will update when it does, which will be hopefully soon. I'm still working on the storyboard, will show soon.
I decided to use the biking scenes as transition scenes throughout the film. The film will be carried through the shots, rather than the content or dialogue really. I decided to start the color grading really blue and warm it up throughout until it is almost purely red to symbolize her exploding and letting go. She will be pretty much emotionless until the very end where she finally lets everything that has bottle up go. I think I'm either going to go the really choppy editing and hand held route, or the extremely perfect and symmetrical but still choppy route, kinda like Wes Anderson. I'm just missing one scene. The climax of the story. I'm still thinking on it but it's all coming together. I'll start storyboarding soon to later do the screen play after, since it'll all be about the shots and their composition. The mise en scene is going to have to be on point. I also spoke to my cousin who produces music about him creating a track for my film, or rather many, that go to the storyline. I have to send him sample tracks and the storyboard ASAP, but he says he needs about three days to get it done, he just needs a draft from the content, that's still a long way from now but still. Everything is starting to catch up to me and I need to get it together pretty soon because I feel super behind. But it's okay. As long as I still shoot and edit in spring break, which is in a week basically, it'll all be according to schedule. I will be posting the storyboard and screen play next week, as well as the last case study of coming of age films. st!
ME is SO grateful to have seen this show. If you haven't done so, go watch Fleabag RIGHT NOW. Seriously, stop reading this and go Im telling you there WILL be spoilers so..... just sayin' Okay, now that you've seen it lets take a deeper look into what makes FLEABAG so good, and what I took away from it.
First, I want to start by saying I haven't finished it, because I literally don't want it to end. BUT, I have noticed a few little things that I wanted to document because they are so well done, and I would love for my short film to be a little as good. The breaking of the fourth wall is simply perfect. Especially how towards the second season they acknowledge it with the Father, as if it makes up part of Fleabag's personality. It is amazingly well done, and brings so much to the story. One of the most powerful ways they handle it is when she starts confusing the audience with her world when speaking, to symbolize her convoluted and confused self, and the fact that she is not fully in control. I saw this video on Youtube and it's worth to check out.
Another thing that really inspired me when thinking about my story was the character idiosyncrasies, that aid the audience and the story in seeing the character development and personality. I think the best example of how well done this is done, is the Dad. The dad goes through a major loss in the series, and he is quite an abstract character in the beginning of the show. He has detached himself from dealing with his emotions, and therefore his daughters since the death of his wife, and this is shown by the lack of clarity when he speaks. He struggles to formulate a sentence that makes sense and is saying everything he actually means. He speaks in few words, relying on his listener to catch up on to what he actually trying to say. The only time he does not do this is in the Sexhibition scene when Fleabag throws the champagne. Here he WANTS to be clear, he wants to tell her exactly why she should stop behaving as such. But the most curious part is in the first episode of the 2nd season. We see godmother controlling almost everything the dad says. Filtering and censoring what he says and how he says it, highlighting the dynamic of their relationship.
The last thing I want to mention, is how beautifully Boo's story was introduced. The show started out all fun and games. Maybe they fought, or maybe we will see her best friend later. Everything is teased and slowly revealed through choppy introductions of throwbacks, and an occasional full on throwback scene. The repetitiveness of the Boo standing in the street scene, makes it even more powerful when we realize it was Fleabag the one that also betrayed her friend. We realize our narrator hasn't been entirely honest, and so we hear from it when Claire says it. This story arc is completely perfect, and it carries so many more little stories with it.
This are all things that I want my film to be influenced by. They make up some of the most brilliant aspects of the series that I want to take something away from. As I continue watching I'll see what else I can find.
