Research Dossier

My screenplay needs to be a 10 minute short film, the marks are largely based around the quality of the written work.


Existing Script

This is the opening page of the screenplay for 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World', I've annotated the main sections to illustrate my understanding of Screenplay conventions. The script starts with the juxtaposing image of a calm suburban house and loud rock music. The opening line is yelled loudly as the music quietens, this exclamation is what leads into the dialogue which is fast paced, with multiple questions being asked by different people.

The stage directions here are entertaining, despite never being seen outside of filming, with additions such as what coffee everyone is drinking. This links to the comedic and slightly ridiculous tone of the film itself.

Short Films 

I watched two short films that influenced my research, the first was 'What Cheer?', This 2013 short films features a man that finds himself inexplicably accompanied by a 20 piece musical group after a family death.  Something I like about this film is that it takes two ordinary things, grieving and celebration, and combines them into a surreal plot line. From a screenplay perspective, I like the cuts between scenes here, the juxtaposition of the grieving man and the energetic music band.  It creates a comedic effect, particularly when it is least expected, such as after the dream sequence. 

The second is 'Mythopolis', This film is what originally gave me the inspiration for my film idea
It's an animated 10 minute short that shows a simple and cute look at the lives of mythical characters. There aren't many spoken words, relying more on the character designs and plot. Although this one is an animation, in terms of screenplay, i like how they show the storyline without speech. It has characters that everyone recognises like the Minotaur and cyclops so that the story can be easily understood.

Inspiration

The main characters in my short film are based around the story of Medusa in Greek Mythology. In any version of this story, both in film and stories, Medusa herself is shown to be a cold and evil character, usually the main villain. A film that I watched as part of my research was 'Percy Jackson', a film that shows gods and monsters in a modern day setting. Medusa is featured in 'The Lightning Thief'  as a minor antagonist. The character is portrayed as an older woman wearing a veil who maintains her garden with stone sculptures. This helped me to develop my idea of this character in a modern day society and how she would behave.

Medusa in 'Percy Jackson' 

In the original myth, she is defeated by the hero Perseus. In my script, I have named one of the characters 'Percy' in reference to this, though the characters aren't similar. Also, her main cause of death is seeing her reflection in a mirror, in this it is a relection in a glass eye.


(https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V8R5B8F)

Audience Research

For audience research, I have created a survey asking about favourite genres and how people feel about short films. I feel like the responses to this will give me a better idea of which direction I should take the film.

Some of the questions asked about why people enjoyed particular short films, most referred to the style of it. Most seemed to enjoy films that were slightly unusual or different. I will keep this in mind during my planning.

Target Audience

The target audience for my film would be teenagers aged 16-19, likely female. A teenage audience would be more likely to understand the mythological aspects of the story, and a 'romance driven' plot would attract a female audience. A secondary audience would be older women or teenage boys.



Bibliography

Websites used:
Shortoftheweek
English Illinois
(http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm)
http://screenplayexplorer.com/wp-content/scripts/Scott-Pilgrim-vs.-the-World.pdf