Group Decision: Picking the Script

After reading trough all of the classes scripts there were a few that really stuck out. Our group organized a meeting where we would discuss the scripts that we thought contained good potential. As a group we finally narrowed the potential scripts that we could use down to three. These were three very different scripts that provided us with three very different films. Here are the three scripts that tickled our fancy...

1. The Industry- Liz Scott’s script is a mockumentary, which is set on a film set. One problem with this option is the comedy element. Our group where very split about this, as Gus and Mark thought that this would be a style and look that we would be able to achieve. I on the other hand felt very uneasy in taking on a documentary, especially one that relied so heavily on humor, for if we failed with the humour elements, the film would be a disaster.
2. A Justified Presumption- Lyndon Mcgukian’s script is about a friendship that is formed between a boy and an old man. The old man has a bad reputation when paedophilia is implied. The old men ends up dead, but was this murder? Or was he a miss-conceived individual that was simply isolated to an outcast? This strongest element to this story is also its weakest, the ambiguity. It would also be difficult to find the older actor as our provisional actors option are predominantly younger.
3. The final option is Luke Phillips story of a young man suffering from schizophrenia called Treatment. This is probably the strongest option, as the story seems to be the least worked, but also contains a strong theme that could lead us into many options. All of our group are also film students, which means that we are very interested in the aesthetic of the film. Schizophrenia is certainly a topic where we could do a lot visually to amplify the protagonist’s state of mind.

After much discussion we ruled out the Mockumentary because I felt very uneasy on making a comedy. This left just Lyndon's and Luke's, one being very deep and emotional with the other being about mental health. We decided that out of these two options that Luke's had the best potential in terms of us making it our own, especially visually. It contained a topic that gave us great possibilities of re-working the script. It was final, as a group we decided to commit to The Treatment. Now onto the re-write and making it ours.