It’s remarkable to really delve into your work. When I write my script and truly quiet my mind, my focus only attribute to the creativity and flow of each scene. I can see it perfectly in my mind, from each perspective, each shot clearly delineated from particular angles; it’s as if I’m experiencing it right alongside the characters. The words create a visual pathway for any reader, but as I gleaned from this particular project, it may not be exactly the same.
The project had no bounds. From a different perspective, that could’ve hampered the creative process. Instead, when each week rolled around and our diverse group consisting of a director/actress, a singer/actress, a costume/set designer, and a screenwriter sat to discuss the project, each week we came up with new and crazy ideas. At first, we thought about creating a short film, but quickly realized that craziness and diversity of each person’s schedule could not settle on even a single weekend in which the shooting could take place. So we thought, hey, maybe a stop motion animation parody of a horror film using Barbies and shot in the basement of the creepy PE building on campus would do. Again, time became an issue. I immediately began to question the creative team that could come together from so many different backgrounds. But then, it dawned on me.
Somebody had to take the first initial step in order to get the process moving. Screenwriting has often been referred to as the “blueprint” of the filmmaking process. It’s a jumping point in which any other artist on a film, including the director, producer, cinematographer, and even the actor can work with to contribute their own art form. So I stepped forward, bearing my soul in taking a scene from a feature film that I had been writing this entire semester, and giving it to them. We sat together and read it, and I basically asked them to describe to me the visuals within the scene that stuck the most. It came as no surprise that the graphic imagery of the scene had a special staying power with each of them, so we decided from there that we would delve into one of many pre-production processes: developing a shot list.
At first, we began drawing each scene, but quickly realized we didn’t have the capability to really show what we meant. After all, most directors create a shot list that means something to them, but if others were looking at it, would look like a bunch of jibberish. The costume designer was able to conceive a few, but for all of us to contribute, we pulled shots from different horror movies/tv shows in order to convey to the class the true angles and imagery used. What surprised me the most, however, was how different each person saw it.
