When I first heard about this assignment I must admit that the first thing that went through my head was a great big "WTF." I was so overwhelmed with emotions that it was insane. I mean surely only a crazy person would attempt to write 100 pages in 30 days. 100 pages is more than I had written in my entire life...I was willing to bet that all my high school essays didn't even total up to 100 pages. So needless to say I was very intimidated by this whole assignment. But after I sat on the idea for a bit I realized that it might not be SO bad. Yeah 100 pages was a lot, but I thought I might as well give it a shot right?
Now that the assignment is over I feel kinda disappointed that I wasn't able to finish 100 pages. I tired my best, but in the end I got so distracted. Plus writing a script was weird, looking back I would have much rather preferred to write a novel, or a story. A script was annoying because I had to keep focusing on the setting and the camera angles, when I would have rather just focused on the characters/plot.
The whole planning process was wayyyyy to long. I know I'm not only one who thought the preparation process was uncomfortably long. I mean the only preparation that felt I needed, was the establishment of a plot and characters. The planning process almost hindered my creative ability. I mean I thought this was suppose to be "creative" writing..not planned process writing. Spending days working on a packet to establish the "hollywood formula" and the "rising action, climax and falling action" just placed constraints on my creative mind. At the beginning of the year we talked about what "creative" meant to us, and the whole class used words like "free, open, and spontaneous." I simply didn't feel that during the planning process...I just wanted to write.
I learned a lot about myself by taking on such a large project. I mostly learned that I am horrible at time management, I over analyzed everything about my script. My inner perfectionist wasn't comfortable with just getting words on paper. I wanted to really establish my characters, and that took a lot of thought. A lot of thought takes a lot of time.
I think my script is only like 20 -30 pages. But I have never been more proud of those pages. I gave all my effort into those pages and I think they are some quality pages. I'm just not cut out to be a script writer because I care more about quality than quantity.
I think one of the biggest strengths in my script are the characters themselves. All of my characters have very distinct personalities that set them apart from the others. Each character has an important role and none are overshadowed. I also love the way I wrote the scipt. I didn't write the script in plain english, instead I used a "shakespeare meets gladiator" language. I wanted to have fun writing the script and I didn't think writing the way normal people talk would be fun. So I basically just invented my own way to talk.
I think a weakness of the script is describing what is going on in the background/ describing what else is going on other than the characters. In my script I focused on the dynamic between the characters, not really on the setting. In my script I just gave a basic description of the where the characters were, but other than that I left it up to the readers imagination. However, my group members stated that they wished I had added more detail to the setting. Another weakness is that I kind of rushed the end of each scene. Sometimes if I run out of ideas, I will speed up and try to just finish the script.
If I had more time to do this script I would try to get more pages down.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Blog #12: Scene Reflection
The scene I decided to choose, was what I believed to be the pivotal moment in my script. It was the third and final time that Queen Penthesilea rejected Ares affections toward her. This sends him into a spiraling rage, because his over-inflated ego has been damaged. This is the turing point in the script because it is at this moment that Ares decides he is going to whip the Amazons off the face of the Earth.
Scene Strengths: I think one of the biggest strengths in my scene are the characters themselves. All of my characters have very distinct personalities that set them apart from the others. Each character has an important role and none are overshadowed. Penthesilea and Ares contrast perfectly. Penthesilea is strong, confident, and completely selfless. The only thing she cares about is the well-being of her tribe, she is willing to sacrifice everything for them. She is a good leader because her tribe respects her. Ares, on the other hand is selfish. He uses his army to pursue his own personal interests, and he only looks out for himself. He has a mean temper and his army follows him out of fear. Another strength of my script is that it is easy to understand/ paint a mental picture of what is going on in the scene.
Scene Weaknesses: I think a weakness of the scene is describing what is going on in the background/ describing what else is going on other than the characters. In my script I focused on the dynamic between the characters, not really on the setting. In my scene I just gave a basic description of the where the characters were, but other than that I left it up to the readers imagination. However, my group members stated that they wished I had added more detail to the setting. Another weakness is that I kind of rushed the end of each scene. Sometimes if I run out of ideas, I will speed up and try to just finish the scene.
Improvements: If I could re-write the scene I would make it slightly longer. I would start off by describing the setting that the argument between the Queen and Ares took place. The argument took place in Penthesilea's tent, and in the old scene that was all I mentioned. If I could redo the scene I would describe the humbleness of the tent. Despite the fact that Penthesilea is a good she lives humbly, like the rest of the tribe. The tent has the bare minimum in it. The tent possess a bed, which has a wood frame filled with a straw mattress and duck-feather pillow. There is a small wooden table by the bed, on top of the table is a hand-carved figure of the Goddess Athena (the goddess Penthesilea worships). There is also a corner for Penthsilea's armor, it's hung over a wooden stake, and it glistens in the candle light. There is also a bear skin rug on the ground.
Scene Strengths: I think one of the biggest strengths in my scene are the characters themselves. All of my characters have very distinct personalities that set them apart from the others. Each character has an important role and none are overshadowed. Penthesilea and Ares contrast perfectly. Penthesilea is strong, confident, and completely selfless. The only thing she cares about is the well-being of her tribe, she is willing to sacrifice everything for them. She is a good leader because her tribe respects her. Ares, on the other hand is selfish. He uses his army to pursue his own personal interests, and he only looks out for himself. He has a mean temper and his army follows him out of fear. Another strength of my script is that it is easy to understand/ paint a mental picture of what is going on in the scene.
Scene Weaknesses: I think a weakness of the scene is describing what is going on in the background/ describing what else is going on other than the characters. In my script I focused on the dynamic between the characters, not really on the setting. In my scene I just gave a basic description of the where the characters were, but other than that I left it up to the readers imagination. However, my group members stated that they wished I had added more detail to the setting. Another weakness is that I kind of rushed the end of each scene. Sometimes if I run out of ideas, I will speed up and try to just finish the scene.
Improvements: If I could re-write the scene I would make it slightly longer. I would start off by describing the setting that the argument between the Queen and Ares took place. The argument took place in Penthesilea's tent, and in the old scene that was all I mentioned. If I could redo the scene I would describe the humbleness of the tent. Despite the fact that Penthesilea is a good she lives humbly, like the rest of the tribe. The tent has the bare minimum in it. The tent possess a bed, which has a wood frame filled with a straw mattress and duck-feather pillow. There is a small wooden table by the bed, on top of the table is a hand-carved figure of the Goddess Athena (the goddess Penthesilea worships). There is also a corner for Penthsilea's armor, it's hung over a wooden stake, and it glistens in the candle light. There is also a bear skin rug on the ground.
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