The Flash Has Hit The Ground Running

Personal Journal

We are now at the penultimate episode of the hit TV show called The Flash, a part of the CW universe and well what an incredible journey it has been. For us as viewers and for Barry Allen as The Flash.

I can’t say enough good things about this show; it has everything I could possibly ask for in a TV show. It has action, brilliant effects, great choreography, an amazing story throughout the series and right at the centre, the heart of the show. This small group that consists of The Flash and those who help The Flash, we have taken these in as family and we both experience the twists each week together. Through all the fantastic fight scenes and running faster than a speeding bullet, this show thrives off 1 to 1 scenes between main characters.

We also have one of the best villains to grace television in the form of the Reverse Flash who constantly brings plot twists and shocks every week. Another plus for this show is the fact it’s in a shared universe with the other popular DC show, Arrow. You get constant references to those over in Starling City and quite a few cameo’s too. One of which led to an awesome crossover episode where the Flash went up against Arrow.

I have to say my personal favourite episode would be ‘Out Of Time’ because the events of the episode felt enough to be a season finale, all thrown together with a twist at the end.
Overall this show is nothing short of phenomenal, the amount The Flash has crammed into its first season is just impressive and I think any other show wouldn’t have been able to handle it; But the Flash has done it all so perfectly to leave us with simply brilliant episodes week in week out. It has sped its way right to the top as one of my favourite TV shows and I cannot wait for Season 2. Props to all involved in the making of this show as they have all done a stunning job, I can’t recommend this enough, 10 out of 10 for the Scarlet Speedster.

By Ben Maddison

Editing a Narrative

162MC

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, tress, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows… Authenticity is invaluable’ originality is nonexistent” – Jim Jarmusch

For our 162MC project we had to write a script and then film it following the conventions of a specific film movement, below is a list of some film movements that we could explore when making our film.
Film Movements:

American New Wave (1968 – 1977) example: Easy Rider (1969)
Soviet Intellectual Montage (1920 – 1930) example: Strike (1925)
Dogme 95 (1995 – 2005) example: Festen (1998)
French New Wave (1958 – 1968) example: Breathless (1960)
Italian Neo Realism (1944 – 1952) example: Bicycle Thieves (1948)
American No Wave Film (1976 – 1985) example: Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Surrealist Cinema (1920- Onwards) example: Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Hong Kong Cinema (1978 – 1995) example: Chungking Express (1994)
Slow Cinema example: Stalker (1979)

Fiasco!

162MC, Inspiration

Whilst working on my 162MC at university has been an interesting eye opener into the world of a screenwriter, the lectures themselves were not designed to give you that gift of being a writer but rather train you to channel that skill in a useful manner. A friend of mine, of whom I showed you The Noose music video he made a few posts back, came to me with an interesting roleplaying game named Fiasco and sent me a few videos done by Wil Wheaton. I was instantly hooked by the concept of this co-operative storytelling game and really wanted to test its usefulness to a screenplay writer. What I found having just played a game tonight (a later post will be dedicated to this) was that it essentially gives your brain a practice ground. It challenges you to find links between characters and objects and story plots that are generated seemingly at random and create a rounded story that really could be made into a movie. Take a look at the videos by Wil Wheaton and his friends and see what you think.

The Treatment: Film Noir

162MC

For 162MC this week we had to take our Outline and develop it into the Treatment level. I decided to develop my second Noir story a little further this time because I felt that not only would it be the most simple to shoot but also it had the best potential for developing interesting dialogue since the majority of it takes place within a room sat round a table of few characters.

Film Noir Treatment

The Pitch and Outline: My Personal Thoughts

162MC

Before I move on to presenting my Treatment in the step-by-step creation of my short script for 162MC I thought i’d take some time to analyse how I have found the first two steps; The Pitch and The Outline.

The Pitch
Out of the first two steps I found the Pitch to be the easiest to write. I think I have always had an affinity for writing short snappy descriptions of a story that sound appealing. I would have liked to have presented my pitch verbally to someone as a test to see how well I could verbally deliver it since this would be the practice in the media industry. I produced a number of Pitches, some of which were not suitable to be developed into scripts as they did not contain enough depth, those that did I published onto my blog.

The Outline
I found the Outline to be really quite challenging. When I have come up with stories in the past, it has always been the ending that comes to me first. I thought this was probably common practice but during lecture it was stated that the middle of your story is usually the story ‘that you really want to tell’. Developing my pitches into outlines was complicated especially my film noir story which I had to begin to plot out a clever mystery for. I think what I need to start doing for practice is developing my pitch once the story is in mind rather than the other way around.

Overall, I have enjoyed the script writing process and I can see how each stage is tailored towards developing that story. It is an area that I am actually really interested in perfecting.

The Outline: Film Noir Two

162MC

America 1948, four mobsters meet at their usual place, club Glamorous, for an after hours poker game. Present at the table are: the gangs boss and first in line, a wise cracking slim jim, an ex-naval man with a scarred face and a quick to temper man. Two of them are running late for the game and when they enter they find the others playing a little light hearted poker with a young lad, they request that he is allowed to join the game.

The group begins playing their poker game with high stakes of money flying around and alcohol all about served by the gorgeous barmaid. As the game progresses it is made clear that the others see the young lad as wet behind the ears and queazy. The game continues and the stakes become higher and higher and eventually the kid wins the chips. Before they can get some more poker chips to start another game the kid lets slip about a past experience he shared with the ex naval man. Theres a hush across the table as the naval man denies any of it, tempers flare and the quick to temper guy picks up his revolver and shoots the naval man in the shoulder. A gun fight quickly breaks out and the kid ducks for cover. Everyone is dead but the kid and the barmaid who then walk off with all the money.

From The Pitch to the Outline

162MC

The first step of scriptwriting is the pitch which is then developed further into the Outline. Once you have pitched an idea to a producer of commissioning editor and they given you a favourable response, your next stage is to create the Outline. writing The Outline is not the go ahead to write the script, it is a crucial stage in the development of the short film. The fact that you have been asked to produced the Outline shows that someone has shown a keen interest in your idea. When being asked to create an Outline you are begin asked to produce a number of specific things:

– Elaboration on your story
– Proof on the page that it works and is a complete and original story idea
– The main central characters, Protagonist/Antagonist, work and are engaging and original
– An engaging document proving that you can write clearly without confusion or over complication. An Outline incorporates the notion of a synopsis, is a present-tense, prose version of the intended screen narrative.

“It concentrates on the main narrative story, the central protagonist/s and antagonist/s, their motivations, and the essential active questions” (Parker)

“I hate outlines. Hate em, hate em, hate em. The point of the exercise is to tell a story, and once thats told in outline form, why write the script? But… producers require outlines before they will commit to a script, so its a necessary evil” (J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5)

“I usually work from an outline. I will know first in a general sense where I’m going. What it is I want to say” (Walter Bernstein, screenwriter of The Train, The Magnificent Seven etc)

An Outline for a feature screenplay is generally no longer than a page to a maximum of two pages in lengths whilst a short screenplay is no longer than half a page, possible only one or two paragraphs. All Outlines are told in a present tense style. Keep to the main story and the relationships of who the characters are and any relevant conflicts. It is a document where you can include/write emotion. The most important thing to the success of your Outline is the conflict, whether that be external violent conflict or internal emotional conflict. A film without some form of conflict is a film that loose interest with the viewers.

“Peter Parker was in love with Mary-Jane, he always had been and he betrayed this in his behaviour each time he was in her presence”

As with the Pitch before it, it is good practice to examine and analyse other examples of Outlines from other films. I found this process particularly interesting during the Pitch and so will be doing the same for the Outline. Here is an example of an Outline from the film Paul.

“For the past 60 years, a space-traveling smart-ass named Paul has been locked up in a top-secret military base, advising world leaders about his kind. But when he worries he’s outlived his usefulness and the dissection table is drawing uncomfortably close, Paul escapes on the first RV that passes by his compound in Area 51. Fortunately, it contains the two earthlings who are most likely to rescue and harbor an alien on the run. In the comedy-adventure Paul, best friends Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings have saved for decades to take a sci-fi fan’s trip of a lifetime: a pilgrimage to America’s UFO heartland to track the legendary hot spots of extraterrestrial activity. But when a close encounter with Paul derails the plans…their dream vacation turns into a road trip that will rock their universe forever. Hunted by federal agents and the fanatical father of Ruth Buggs a young woman whom they have accidentally kidnapped, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling plan to return Paul to his mother ship in one piece. And as two nerds fight to help save an awesome little green man, Paul might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.”

Paul-picture Remember, write in a way that is engaging, the outline is a document that you want someone to read and be intrigued by, so intrigued that they want to go to the next stage, the Treatment. However, it is not uncommon to be asked to revise and develop your Treatment further. Later in the process of the script if it is not working as well as you expected, re-visit your Outline and see if what you are writing reflects what the original story that you had in mind. This is another reason why the Outline is so important and why scriptwriter should carefully follow the stages on creating a script. Film making is an expensive process so at each stage from now on producers especially want to feel that you story/outline/idea is working enough to attract potential backers. It is also important that you actually like the story.

Here is a brief look at an example page from a finished film script to look forward towards as you enter the script writing process. It shows the layout of a script page bu also the importance of why it is laid out as such.

Operation Pied Piper

160MC T2

The evacuation of around three million people to rural locations beyond the reach of German air attacks deeply affected the nation. This was the first time an official evacuation had ever been deemed necessary and the experience of mass evacuation – the biggest and most concentrated movement of people in British history – remains uppermost in the minds of those who lived through the war. The majority of people who were evacuated were children and, for that reason, the operation was codenamed Pied Piper, fittingly named after the rather menacing German folk character.
Planning the evacuation
The scheme had been planned before the outbreak of war. A committee led by Sir John Anderson was set up and met for three months from May 1938, consulting railway officials, teachers and the police. Local billeting officers were appointed to find suitable homes for evacuees and they set about interviewing possible hosts. Following selection, a host was compelled to take an evacuee; those who refused faced the threat of a fine. In return, hosts could expect to receive payment via the Post Office.
A Phenomenal Undertaking
The organisation required to undertake the task of moving three million people around the country was phenomenal. For four days the country’s major train stations provided a route out of cities. Operations were coordinated by teachers and volunteers. Children were tagged and allowed to carry a stipulated amount of luggage along with their gas masks. They did not have an allocated foster family to meet them and were hand-selected on arrival, which led to the agonising experience for some of being chosen last.
Evacuation didn’t just take place from major cities, nor did all evacuees stay in the UK; some travelled abroad. Britain also feared invasion from the sea and the eastern and south-eastern coasts were particularly vulnerable.
Heavy-Handed Propaganda
The first day of the evacuation was portrayed in the national press Leave_this_to_Us_Sonny_Art.IWMPST13854 as a great success and an example of the people’s optimism, strength and commitment to the war effort. But many witnesses remember only chaos and confusion, and parents were heartbroken to see their families divided. And the process wasn’t always the answer to securing children’s safety. In the same account of an evacuation from Norfolk, it was recorded that: ‘[The children] sailed from Scotland and, after a week, we were awakened early one morning by the telephone to say that the ship had been torpedoed, but that our girl had been taken by a tanker to Glasgow.’
A life-Changing Event
For some children this was their first taste of living in the countryside or abroad; not all of them found the change easy to adapt to. Some children were treated badly. Others, however, found new friends and enjoyed new experiences and, when the war came to an end, the return to city life was equally emotional.

A short documentary was produced in 1939 called ‘These Children Are Safe’ which showed how Operation Pied Piper was helping to settle children into their new safer homes.

This documentary as a piece of research cannot be trusted entirely, whilst it gives details of the exact events that occurred, it goes to great lengths to persuade us that these children were living happy lives. This is clearly a piece of war propaganda designed to ease concerns of parents who’s children had been sent off to the countryside areas.

This second documentary titled ‘Operation Pied Piper – Evacuee Stories’ supplies us a much better view of what this time period was like for the civilians involved in the evacuation. The piece has several accounts of events during the war from the children of the evacuation, it tells us more about the terror suffered during the beginning of the aerial raids and the reality of how children and women were treated in their various accommodations across the countryside.

Not all evacuees had it bad though during Operation Pied Piper, and the youthful optimism of children prevailed through this trying time. They would find pleasures in the little things in life. In one account of a girl named Enid’s tale of her time as an evacuee she states:
“We lived on the flat part of the valley and had small mountains both sides. Evacuees had never seen such scenery before so after school we would race over the railway lines, through a broken fence and up the mountain. The best part was running as fast as we could downhill, often falling on the grass until we reached the road.” – http://timewitnesses.org/evacuees/%7Eenid.html

“Torpedoed as they clutched their teddies: The harrowing story of how Nazis sunk a ship carrying 90 children from the Blitz to America.” During the beginning stages of the Evacuation our interviewee was due to be transported away to Canada but before they could get there the boats were blown out of the water by German U-boats. This was a key moment in our interview as we established from previous conversation that Maurice found telling this particular story was quite saddening for him.

Web 2.0 Storyboards Part 2: The Lord of the Mountain

161MC

These are the visual storyboards for my Web 2.0 project entitled ‘Shadow of the Mountain’. The project is to retell a classical narrative, in my case the Overcoming the Monster story but told in a unique way using various internet based tools. Shadow of the Mountain is a machinima project filmed using the game engine of World of Warcraft and other applications such as FRAPS, WoW Model Viewer and WoW Map Viewer and then edited together using Adobe Premiere. Below can be seen still images I have captured for the purposes of creating a working storyboard, please bear in mind these shots are rough and could be slightly altered during the filming process, in addition to this characters seen in these stills are not character from the story but simply in-game NPC’s that served for blocking out my shots.

Shot #24 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot with a Close Up of a dangling cob web from a tree, our Gnome protagonist walks underneath in full gear.

Shot #25 <Wide Shot/Mid Shot>
A backwards moving tracking shot of the Gnome walking towards the camera along the desolate pathway. The shot starts at a Close Up of a lantern and follows her from there.

Shot #26 <Establishing Shot>
This shot helps to establish the new location that our character has travelled to. It shows a broken Alliance tower and ripped flag that really emphasises the lose of control in the mountains.

Shot #27 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot of the Gnome walking under the decrepit and lifeless trees into into the maw of the grey stone mountains. They appear encroaching and large next to such a small individual.

Shot #28 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot of the pathway into the mountains and a group of large spiders hanging overhead on the rock archway as our hero walks down the pathway.

Shot #29 <Close Up>
A Close Up shot of one of the hanging spiders hissing at the sight of the Gnome traveller as she walks away from the shot.

Shot #30 <Wide Shot, Establishing Shot>
A Wide Establishing Shot of the stone bridge that crosses the chasm in the mountains, grey stone and broken trees are all that can be seen in the moonlights glow.

Shot #31 <Close Up, Wide Shot>
A Close Up on part of the stone bridge with the Gnome walking in to the Wide Shot from a distance as she makes her way onto the bridge against the whistling noise of wind.

Shot #32 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot from behind the Gnome showing the full stretch of the bridge as the large imposing Mountain Lord rises up in front of the gnome, completely out sizing her. (Possible play with focus is time permits)

Shot #33 <Mid Shot/Wide Shot>
A Mid Shot or Wide Shot of a civilian back in Darkshire as they are alerted to the distant roaring sound up in the mountains.

Shot #34 <Wide Shot, High Angle>
We look down almost like a point of view of the Mountain Lord looking down upon the cowering Gnome protagonist. (Possible play with shadow effect if time permits) The Mountain Lord laughs.

Shot #35 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot showing the imposing difference in size between our hero and antagonist the Mountain Lord speaks “Another mortal to feed my appetite hahaha”

Shot #36 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot from behind our protagonist as she blasts energy in the direction of the Mountain Lord, she screams as she launches her attack.

Shot #37 <Close Up>
A Close Up shot of the Mountain Lord laughing and then speaking in his menacing voice “You realise champion, that they have sent you to face your doom. No magic can pierce my skin, no sword can spill my blood!”

Shot #38 <Close Up>
A Close Up shot of our Gnome, the protagonist turns to the right hand side of the screen looking at something whilst the Mountain Lord continues to cackle manically in the background.

Shot #39 <Wide Shot, Close Up>
A Wide Shot showing the Mountain Lord talking whilst a sharp pointed rock is shown close up and to the right hand side of the antagonist. “Many have come and many have fell…”

Shot #40 <Close Up>
We go back to a Close Up shot of the Gnome looking back towards the Mountain Lord whilst he continues to talk. “And now they send you, little one! When will they realise?”

Shot # 41 <Close Up>
A Close Up of the Mountain Lords face as he finishes off his intimidating threat of death “I will not be overcome!”

Shot #42 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot of the Mountain Lord and the Gnome as she runs around to his left hand side. The Mountain Lord lets out another mighty roar across the mountain chasm.

Shot #43 <Mid Shot>
The Gnome charges onto a rock platform and fires a large energy beam at the Mountain Lord who is out of shot. This is the finishing blow towards the antagonists demise.

Shot #44 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot from behind the Mountain Lord as he is struck by the energy bolt and falls backwards, the sharp pointy rock is in Close Up to the camera indicating that the Mountain Lord is going to fall back and be impaled on the rock. The shot fades out to black and a mighty dying roar.

Shot #45 <Close Up>
Our hero is triumphant and lets out a joyous cheer signalling the end of the Mountain Lord and the oppression on her town. This is the end of the film.

Fin

Web 2.0 Storyboards Part 1: The Lonely Town of Darkshire

161MC

Shot #01 <Establishing Shot> Still shot of the Town Hall clock tower with the distant peak of a mountain above a treetop canopy. A gentle plume of smoke rolls across the bottom of the screen.

Shot #02 <Establishing Shot> Still shot of the gate of Darkshire as a guard on patrol duty passes underneath, towards the end of the clip we get the audio of a judges hammer and a restless crowd fading in leading us on to the next shot.

Shot #03 <Mid Shot> A Mid shot of the Mayor of Darkshire in rich clothing and a monocle. He shouts out across a restless crowd for “Silence!” In the backdrop is one of his advisors who is also dressed in fine clothing establishing their social status.

Shot #04 <Mid Shot> A Mid shot of an angry civilian amongst the restless crowd. He shouts out towards the mayor “And what about the mountain? How much longer must we live in his shadow!”

Shot #05 <Mid Shot, Panning> Another citizen amongst the crowd is seen crying into her hands as the discussion once again breaks down into angry protest. She is dressed in the clothes of peasantry.

Shot #06 <Mid Close Up Shot> A waist up shot of the Mayor from a slightly lower angel to give the sense of his authority. “The welfare of the citizens of this town is my first priority as Mayor”

Shot #07 <Over the Shoulder Wide Shot> We see a shot of the mayor in full at his podium addressing the crowd over the shoulder of his advisor, his speech continues “A withdrawal of all forces from the mountain to increase patrol strength is the most logical step”

Shot #08 <Mid Shot> The angry citizen from before looks dissatisfied with this answer “Hmm! To protect your own hide you mean. How will we ever be safe whilst he sits upon his mighty mountain?!”

Shot #09 <Wide Shot or Close Up> The Mayor appears enraged by this remark and loose his cool allowing himself to get caught up in the moment. “If you want to rest in an early grave then head up that mountain yourself!”

Shot #10 <Mid Shot> A shot of another of the Mayor’s advisors who turns to look at the Mayor in surprise from his remarks. There is hushed gasps and whispers then a moment of silence.

Shot #11 <Mid Shot> A brief moment of the Mayor saying nothing as he composes himself, looking out across the crowd. “We are all afraid. Afraid for what will happen to Darkshire, to our children, and to ourselves. It is I who has to decide how best to preserve our people. And, if that means making the call, to retreat. Then I will be damned if I let your hatred deter me.”

Shot #12 <Wide Shot> A Wide shot of our main protagonist, the female gnome, sat in her peasantry clothing on a bench as the rambling of the crowd slowly begins to fade.

Shot #13 <Wide Shot> The citizens of Darkshire exit the Town Hall doors slowly (no Gnome) The sound of crickets chirping in the distance and footsteps against the awkward ‘contained’ silence of the crowd exiting.

Shot #14 <Wide Shot> Another Wide Shot showing people walking out and away from the Town Hall, this time with the Gnome at the back of the pack slowly walking out and past the well. The other citizens all scatter off.

Shot #15 <Close Up> A Close Up shot of a gently swinging lantern in the midnight breeze. The Gnome paces past the lantern slowly and out of shot.

Shot #16 <Close Up> Another Close Up shot but this time of a iron fencing that has become buckled by something. In the distance up the hill can be seen a house and the Gnome walks into shot and up the hill towards the house.

Shot #17 <Mid Close Up Shot> A Mid Close Up Shot of the fireplace, most of the shot is taken up by the fireplace but you can see areas around it to establish the house interior. The Gnome walks into shot looking at the fire. “All i’ve ever known is Shadow…”

Shot #18 <Wide Shot> A Wide Shot establishing more of the house and area around the fireplace. The Gnome turns away from the fire and walks towards her wardrobe. “death…”

Shot #19 <Mid Shot> A Mid Shot of a chest in the house (may edit a staff to be resting on top depending on time restraints) and the Gnome walks into shot, obscuring the view of the chest/staff. “and fear.”

Shot #20 <Wide Shot> A Wide Shot of Darkshire town. “Darkshire, my town, my home, we lost hope along time ago now”

Shot #21 <Wide Shot> A Wide Shot of the Darkshire Town Hall clock tower but from the opposite side to before and with the appearance of the Moon/Sun in the background. “I think its time we took that back.”

Shot #22 <Mid Shot or Wide Shot> A Mid Shot of Wide Shot of a solitary twisted looking Scare Crow stood in a barren field with eery silence and creaking as he moves in the wind. Building suspension.

Shot #23 <Wide Shot> A Wide Shot (Possibly a Close Up depending on time restraints) of a rat in the field rearing up on to his back legs attentively perhaps to the sound of gently fading in footsteps.

— To be Continued —

The Journey Begins

A glimpse into the journey of a filmmaker

Story

The Flash Has Hit The Ground Running

Editing a Narrative

Fiasco!

The Treatment: Film Noir

The Pitch and Outline: My Personal Thoughts

The Outline: Film Noir Two

From The Pitch to the Outline

Operation Pied Piper

Web 2.0 Storyboards Part 2: The Lord of the Mountain

Web 2.0 Storyboards Part 1: The Lonely Town of Darkshire