Eleven: Changing the Script

There have been many changes in our final script. Our first idea which contributed to Blake's love of music, was his passion for Duke Ellington. The idea of having Duke Ellington play in the car with his father driving started to become a theme which we loved. Blake's witness over the 'affair' has changed dramatically. It started out as a big mistake. Blake saw his father giving Sophie (piano teacher) a hug which didn't tell the audience anything of suspicion. Blake took this hug and immediately saw it as an affair. When Blake revealed all to his mother the twist would be that Sophie was a piano teacher, meaning that Blake had got the complete wrong end of the stick. These were the two biggest changes in our script. Looking back now we realise that both ideas would have been extremely difficult to achieve through the camera and convince the audience that it was a believable narrative. Here is the opening of my very first draft:

Eleven: Writing The Script

After finishing our treatment we are finally ready to start writing our first draft of the script. I am already half way through scriptwriting which is a good step towards filming near the Christmas period. Having the first draft ready as soon as possible is key to giving our actors an idea of what their character is like. Recently me and my partner Jacob realised that their was far too much dialogue. We decided that we wanted our film to tell the story through the camera. We sat down and cut a majority of the dialogue. I have been using Celtx which is a great scriptwriting freeware. It provides a scene heading, action for a character, dialogue etc.  Here is the opening of our film:

Eleven: Location Hunt

Family Home

This is the house where we will be shooting the majority of our interior shots. We wanted to find a modern family home that portrayed a middle class lifestyle. Already establishing where we are shooting gives us a head start on planning scenes and where actors will be placed in the film. Here are some examples of where we are going to shoot:

Blake's piano

The Living Room 

The TV Room

The Garden

Eleven: Our Posters

Billboard

Poster

We are aware that the other cast and crew members have not been included however we will make sure that they are with our final poster. The distributor will also feature on our poster. This will give a more professional look to our overall film.

Alternate poster

Here are a few potential posters for Eleven. We took over two hundred photos and these were the best three. Based on audience feedback the first two seemed to be the most popular. We haven't yet showed the alternate poster to any audiences yet. We were very keen to show our main actor Blake in the foreground of the poster. This is to show that he is the main focus point of the film. Each photo shows a different expression but all with the same meaning. Clearly he is confused or upset about something or someone. We wanted the poster to portray a story all about Blake. The slogan 'Family Is Everything' summarises the main theme and symbolism in our film. Blake's confusion and disbelief leads him to behave in a very different way. The love for his family is shown through the fact that all of the images are taking place in the "sanction" of his own home. 

Our film's story is similar to 'What Maisie Knew'. The focus of the girl at the front immediately tells the audience that she is the main character. We have also used this to make sure that Blake is the centre of attention on the poster. The font is angular in block capitals that shows the name of the film without sacrificing the mood. We have used the same type of font on our poster. 

Ted Talks: Writing A Story

Ted Talks Notes: Writing A Story 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3-Kl4BDUQ

• Story is about the audience not the writer
• Writers have to be unfaithful
• Why we write
• Egotism
• Wanting to change the world
• Getting vengeance
• 3 act structure
• B M E
• Aristotle
• Pity (Undeserved Misfortune [Creates Audience Connection]) -> Fear (Worse and worse situation)-> Catharsis (Release of Fear [PEA -> Happiness Drug])
• Rehearse our fears -> to enable the audience to feel for the story
• Only we are the story tellers, only we can give you immortality