Discussion of Script

Below you can see the first script we wrote up for our opening credits. We start with Ashley sitting on her bed in her room, which will be very plain with white sheets and tidy room surfaces etc. This is portray her usually proper and prim lifestyle which her parents have raised her by. We thought about maybe having some pregnancy leaflets and/or a pregnancy test on the bed, but these will only be clearly visible after the flashbacks have ended, as to keep the audience wondering what she is thinking about or what the leaflets are about. Her mother calling her down to dinner also shows that the family has a ordered lifestyle with daily meals eaten together. It would create a good contrast if the room is quite bright with stuffed toys etc, however Ashley’s expression and mood is dark and worrisome. The first shot of Ashley in her room will be filmed, so that we do not see her face, probably placing the camera behind her. This will create a barrier between audience and character while also building up tension, which will intrigue the viewers about her situation.

In the first flashback we learn why she is feeling guilty and ‘dirty’- it starts with Kat, Ashley’s ‘friend’, with her arm around her holding out an illegal substance, we aren’t too sure which one but probably some kind of a pill (e.g. speed or LSD). Kat tells Ashley that it is ‘No big deal’ and her use of the word ‘newbie’ tells the audience quickly that Ashley is new in this social group and doesn’t normally act like this. This is followed by a eye line match of Max after which she swallows the substance. With this we are trying to represent that she is trying to impress Max by doing this, showing that she likes him and is interested.

In between every flashback we return to a short shot of Ashley on the bed to highlight that the scenes are only flashbacks and Ashley at present is just w=thinking about her actions.

The second flashback is of a canted angle of Ashley’s point of view, which shows her intoxication and that she isn’t in a clear state of mind. Max shows up and helps her. We are trying to make his character ‘slimy’ so he is only using her. He tells her to follow him into a room, but as the film is about making a mistake yourself and having to deal with the consequences, we decided to get Ashley to look over at Kat who is currently making out with another guy standing on the opposite side of the room. This camera shot indicates to the audience that Ashley is trying to be like Kat so she mimics her sexual actions and lead Max into a room upstairs. As we believe it would be hard to get two actors of 17 to act like they were having sex, we chose instead to simply use a dolly shot and follow both Ashley and Max upstairs where a door closing will hinder the audience of viewing the following actions happening on the other side of the shut door.

Again the audience is returned to Ashley’s room now with the leaflets about pregnancy and the positive pregnancy test visible. The camera will have moved so that we can now look into Ashley’s face. She gets up and starts walking to the door, whilst we follow her. Another dolly shot is used to walk after her down the stairs or a pull out of her face to a wide view of her descending the staircase. She will then enter the living room where her parents are currently sitting. However before we get to hear her telling them about the pregnancy we stop in an extreme close up of her in order to fully see her emotions and get the audience to empathize with her.

Script for Scribd

Script for Scribd

The Title

During the decision making process for our films title, we reached an impasse when we founded the two titles; 'It's No Big Deal' and 'Swell'. 

 We took a particular liking towards 'It's No Big Deal' because of its association with explicitly used jargon by young adults which we believe would make our audience feel most comfortable. The words also hold a direct link towards not only the film's script but also regarding the significant event within the narrative that sets of the disequilibrium in our characters story. The words also present some of the issues the movie will be challenging, as it is a common sentence used when pressuring another peer into something one would not normally consider. However we chose to go with the title 'Swell' because of its easy going sound that we think the audience would be able to take in more coherently and remember easily. The sound also holds an onomatopoeic texture that gives the title a sense of maturity not to be ignored. Its foreshadowing elements towards the ultimate growth of the pregnant belly encouraged us to move forward with the title 'Swell'.

 

Sequence Mock Ups 2

Sequence Mock Ups

Before coming up with a credits sequence, as a group we discussed how we wanted to portray ourselves and knew that the credits would set some kind of precedence for the movie. Thus we took to the idea of having a very simple and classic look for the font and a rather moody background which would foreshadow the events to come. We chose to customize the colour purple into a gradient so that it could show the many ups and downs our protagonist will be experiencing. Because of the very dark shade of purple at the bottom left we had to use the colour white for our titles, which we utilized in depicting a rather young cast and crew.