Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part VI 12 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Screenwriting, Movie, Short, moana, project, Characters, Fisherman
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Our final presentation with our last character: The Fisherman. It is pretty straight forward as he is exactly what his description says, a fisherman. What does he do here? Well, Sophia going to the ocean right? Well, once she gets there, she meets this man who will give her what she needs: a way to see life with hope.
The fisherman had only one love in his life, the ocean. Sure he fell in love with a woman, married her and had kids but the ocean called him back always, that is where he belongs. That’s in the infinity of the horizon that the fisherman finds his own answers. The ocean fills his heart as nothing or no one else can.
He is the end of Sophia’s character arc, she starts with doubts, anger and loss of herself. Throughout her journey, she will meet with odds, unexpectations and hope within deeply hurt characters. The ocean represents infinity, possibilities but also a huge nothingness. She will smile and think about her past and finally she’ll get to understand that the everyday life is just as important as long term goals, if one or the other is neglected, one falls apart. At the beginning, thet one is her.
I am emphasizing on the characters here because I believe that characters are almighty, I write stories for them just as much as for the audience. They must be treated with love and looked upon like parents would on their children. Screenwriting is about love and a story itself is not enough to give love to, characters are. I strongly believe that if a screenwriter can shed a tear on his characters, then nothing can stop him from bringing his characters to an audience which will, in turn, shed tears and feel for the characters. This is what my screenwriting is about, the expression of emotion through characters built out of love.
Screenwriting is a wonderful thing…
Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part V 12 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Bride, Characters, Groom, moana, project, Screenwriting
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Our maried couple, well we’re talking about two people so much alike that it’s hard to know how they actually get along. We say that opposite attract each other but here it is the complete opposite. They understand each other for they went through the same difficult times and enjoy every piece of their unexpectedly sweet life.
They both grew in an orphanage, different ones though, thousands miles appart from one another. None of them know the feeling of a mum and dad, none of them know what a family is. Yet they both avoided the great holes of criminality that called them every so often. They both built each other out of nothing and they both kept moving forward with a strength none of them can explain. They like to tell the story of the day they met: he was looking for a flower of which he heard from travellers passing by the hostel he used to work in, she had walk aimlessly for several days, and on top of a hill, at sunset, he found his most precious flower, and it was her. Sure it is not how it happened, but truth is not always as beautiful as one wishes it to be and this story is the one they both agreed they’d remember and it is just as well.
Whatever they’ve done, they never looked back, they didn’t create friendships as all they needed was each other. Except maybe for the couple who shares their wedding day. They are the only people who sticked around no matter what.
Now they are opening themselves to a world that gave them such a hard time and finally they smile and laugh as they look at where they come from and see what the became. They understand the value of their life and they celebrate it everyday.
They will teach Sophia that no matter what happens, the people that should stay around you are the people who really care. The others don’t really matter.
It seems that all the characters in this short movie are happy except for Sophia. Well yea, they have to. She is feeling pretty down and in a short movie, I can’t confront her to someone even worst than her. I don’t really believe in the revelation that there’s always someone in a worst position than you are so you should be happy. I just don’t buy it and even less in a short movie, there is not enough time for both the lead character and the audience to sympathize for a depressed character and then reflect on themselves to compare how less happy this character is and therefore they shouldn’t feel so bad about themselves. Wow, that was one long sentence. I’ll stick to short ones to finish this post. Just to let everyone catch their breathe. Uh, anyway. That’s it for now. Next and last one will be: The Fisherman.
Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part IV 11 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Characters, Jesus, moana, project, Screenwriting, Tyler
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Jesus Tyler, geeez what a name. Being called Jesus is not a very nice birth present in this contemporary world. Our society nowadays aclaims criticism and other defiances for the sake of entertainment. Jesus is an open door onto criticism, bullying and more hatred. Let’s give it a good look though: those who don’t believe in a religion around Jesus would have their piece of fun and then get bored and go away, those who do believe, would find it a sacrilege and a disgrace.
Jesus Tyler is a carpenter’s son, Tyler’s Carpentry Ltd, in the city. As a good son, he worked with his father for years, he didn’t study much, why should he have? He’d take over his dad’s company, which was successful enough to make a comfortable living. He’d have had a wife and two kids, they’d have graduated university because carpentry is not such a fascinating job: it’s hard, kills your back and the cold in winter is dreadful. Life was on its way for Jesus Tyler.
But life surprises you, always, good or bad one can argue, but in unexpected ways. As Jesus was walking home one day, he saw a man holding a little girl by the hand, she must have been no more than five years old. The man was angry, his face convulsed. Behind them, a woman cried and screamed as to not get her little girl taken away from her. The man put the little girl, crying herself, in the car, jumped on the other side and drove away. The girl was crying for her mum and the mum ran until she couldn’t catch up, crying for her girl. Jesus looked at the scene in shock and as he walked home, he wondered what happened to them and how it got so far. The following weeks he couldn’t quite concentrate on his job or on his own life.
He asked his dad ‘why did you call me Jesus?’, ‘Jesus was the son of a carpenter’ he answered, ‘but you don’t believe in god and neither do I!’, ‘it’s not about what you believe in my son, it’s about what you decide to achieve. Jesus may or may not have existed but look at how many people follow what he may or may not have said. I called you Jesus because it’s a name that carries great achievment, no matter what.’
That same day, Jesus saw a movie called ‘A Man Who Was Superman’, the story of a man who suffered dual personality and he believed that he was superman. His only aim was to help people whenever and however he could. Sure he was a bit strange, but in the end, he helped people. That day Jesus knew that his path resided in his name, not in his hands.
He then decided that his life would be devoted to those who need help. He needed to understand himself and he needed to understand life. Now he drives around the country and stops wherever people might need him. He’s in a rush, always, as there are so many people to help, but his heart is filled with a feeling of achievment. He is happy, more than he’s ever been, because he knows that he does what he was destined for, no doubts, no fear.
Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part III 11 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Screenwriting, Movie, Short, moana, project, Characters
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Let’s talk about our samurais for a bit shall we?
They are Sophia’s door to the unknown world. What is the unknown world? Well, it is a world out of the routine she built for herself, out of her zone of confidence. Their role is changing now because I won’t be able to have a bus for the short movie, too expensive. Soit seems that they’ll be waiting at a bus stop and they’ll be following her as she’ll start to walk her way out of the city. They’ll follow, bringing Sophia to worry, fear and mybe, eventually, accept them. Once out of the city, they’ll be her only link with her routine. She’ll come to understand that she needs to be reassured, she needs to have someone by her side, anyone. Finally she’ll understand that anyone is not always a good thing and she’ll come to realize that the most important thing for her right now is to stand by herself, to gain confidence and lose a bit of her depence.
Once she achieves this, they’ll bow, turn around and leave.
They represent the beginning of Sophia’s arc.
I understand that it might look starnge to see them behave like some sort of angels who come there next to her and by saying nothing will solve some of her problems. I don’t think they’ll solve anything though and they’ll be as much of a burden as they’ll be opening her eyes. Who on Earth would want to have two people following them everywhere, hence people dressed like samurai? Well, I’m sure some people would, it’s kind of reassuring to have someone by your side, always. But that is what Sophia needs to leave behind. She does not only need someone by her side, she depends on this person to make the decisions, to drive her life. And nobody should let anyone drive their life.
I haven’t decided yet how far they’ll go with her, I am still in the process of writing. Plus, I have been looking around for my cast and props as I write. Is it wrong? Should it be about the story before anything? I can’t say right now because, yes I get influenced for my writing depending on what I can get and what I can’t, but I do write a movie towards geting it made and that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Getting the movie made.
Music listened while writing this post: ‘Des’Ree – Kissing You’
Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part II 10 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Characters, moana, Movie, project, Short, Sophia
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A bit of backstory on SOPHIA. She comes from a far away countyside, she decided to move to the city with the man she loved at the time. She was only seventeen years old and made her parents not only worried but also mad at her. Seventeen is too young and she was too immature, but she was in love and love rules her life above all. Naturally for a young man the city quickly became a big dating playground and he wouldn’t have missed it for anything in the world, especially not for a country girl. So there she was, face to face with life for the first time and having to deal with it by herself, too soon.
So she started to work in a fast food for a while, found a flat to live in and started to save up some money to start her studies again. Her dad wouldn’t have allowed her to be in such a situation, she knew it and often when she fell asleep thinking about her parents, she thanked them in her heart to make her strong enough to get over life’s obstacles. Although they seemed to have missed her puberty crisis, they didn’t miss teaching her that hard work can get drive you anywhere you want.
She studied graphic design, after falling for a graphic designer eight years her senior. Once graduated, single again, she started to work in an advertising company. She enjoyed it a lot at first, she got to be creative everyday and hang out with a lot of cool people. Seven years later, creativity became a routine, a reflexe and the people she used to hang out with never changed and their coolness appeared to be the reflection of their shallowness (Is there too many -ness in here? Anybody lost a -ness?). She involved herself in her job so much that she never met anyone outside of it and now that she decides that they are not as cool anymore, there is no one left. She is bored in her job, still considered as a rookie for her lack of sociability, yet she is talented and gets all the crap work. Therefore she’s too busy to take care of her current relationship and before long she finds herself single again, collecting another stupid excuse into her soul: I’m not ready yet.
And that is where our story starts…
Music listened while writing this post: ‘Des’ree – Kissing You’
Project ‘Moana’ – Meet The Characters Part I 10 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Short, Film, moana, project
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Hi everyone,
Time has come to draw a strong outline on the characters. For that I’ll try to use the technique exposed in the videos I posted early on how to write great characters.
Sophia:
Role in the story: Lead character, drama? not sure. Piece of life? Maybe so.
Age and descrition: Late twenties, medium size (say meter seventy five), long dark hair, tired.
Core traits: Open to people (though not obvious), generous, curious, dependant.
Character subtext: I don’t quite grasp that concept yet.
Flaw: Her dependance, to people, situations, drove her away from home, drove her away from herself somehow.
Want/need: She wants a stable life with afamily on her own. She needs to find her own stability.
Motto: Never fear, never give up.
The Samurais:
They are a symbol. Once next to them, seeing how strange it is to meet such people in what seems to be everyday life, Sophia allows herself to step into another reality, where other things are possible. Is it good to use symbols? I don’t know yet.
Jesus Tyler:
Role in the story: To challenge Sophia’s beliefs.
Age and description: Mid-thirties, long hair, funky style.
Core traits: Joyful, excentric, thoughtful.
Character subtext: again…
Flaw: Not yet in peace with decisions he made in the past.
Worldview: He’s an outcast. Does it matter?
Mission/agenda: Save humans or at least as many as he can.
Bride and Groom:
Role in the story: Show Sophia how to put things back into perspective, what matters and what can be overlooked.
Age and description: Little over thirty, smilly.
Core traits: humourus, happy, straight forward.
Character subtext: no surprise here…
What makes those characters unique: Clear view on life and people.
The fisherman:
Role in the story: The father, the teacher, the wise. He will bring the answer to the real question.
Age and description: Fifty-ish, medium sized, wearing fisher clothe.
Core traits: Serenity, understanding, keen to help.
Character subtext: anybody? no, really…
Motto: It’s not about the fish, it’s about fishing.
So here we have all our basic descriptions for each character. Part II will treat about characters’ backstories.
Music listened while writing this post: ‘Craig Armstrong – Misc. musics’
Creating Characters Videos 9 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Media, Screenwriting.Tags: Characters, Screenwriting, Tips, Videos
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Here are three videos which I found on The Unknown Sreenwriter’s blog. I talked about it briefly in a previous post and said that I would post them once I watched them. Well, the deal is done and here they are:
Those are really great videos although don’t bee fooled, they also serve as advertising for their website where you can find loads of other tips… for a fee! Anyway, those videos are helpful and I will definitly use those tips to create my characters’ profiles for the ‘Moana’ project. Stay tuned.
The Unknown Screenwriter 8 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Links, Screenwriting.Tags: Screenwriting, Screenwriter, Blog, Unknown
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Here’s another glodmine there folks.
Don’t waste your time reading this post, just shift over to this blog: The Unknown Screnwriter.
Now if you do have some spare time, read on. Internet is just fabulous. Nowadays, for someone who’s willing to do his homework and has a good filtering ability (which can be gained with time and experience), there is tons of good quality information out there. And it is true for screenwriting too. Now, for that good screenwriting information, The Unknown Screenwriter is the place to go. I have fascination about characters and on his blog there is an ‘all you can eat’ buffet about character development. He actually posted three youtube videos that he found about character development. I will post them here soon after I watched them first. Gotta check before passing along.
Hitting Up The Roof 8 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Other.Tags: burn, google, jackass, leg, naked, one, swallow, sweedish, tits
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Hi everyone!
And I mean EVERYONE. I recently had the feeling that my blog was not that interesting as the wordpress stats showed a regular amount of hits between zero and five. So I looked at it and started to wonder what I should change to get it moving. First thing, I’ve been posting more regularly, that is to say, almost everyday. Then, I added more tags on my posts and tried to get some more interesting subjects on. But the big hit came today, I started to document every part of my new project on my blog: the ‘Moana project’. As of now, I am at forty seven hits. I know, on web terms, it is not that much but in my house, the ceiling’s low and it just got ripped apart by a tornado. I can’t really tell how many actual visitors that means as I’m not sure if a hit is only about the page read orabout a single visitor, no matter how many pages this visitor reads. But what I do know is that more visitors came and hopefully interested visitors flicking through the pages of my blog.
Now, wordpress gives other interesting stats such as: referrers and Search Engines Terms. The former being a blog or website where my blog’s link is published and the latter being a link provided by a search engine which responded to certain terms. Well, no big surprise with the first one as I can find a friend’s blog, my pertner’s blog and, well, facebook where I advertised in my status (yea, lame, I know). The second though is a bit more fun. Here are the terms that brought visitors to my blog:
_aurelien stupide: do I need to translate that? Not really what i hoped for as a reference to my blog. So I googled it to understand how that happened. Basically, one of my short stories on the blog contains a ’stupid deal’ part, signed with my name ‘Aurelien Laine’ and that’s that.
_carson reeves imdb: those come from my article on the Scriptshadow blog written by Carson Reeves. Well, I’m glad to say that using a search engine, somehow, I can be found without having my name in there.
It all got me thinking, I’m not that knowledgeable in search engines and I wonder how they make their way through the web to get those links in the hierarchy they do. Well, I heard once that it depended on the number of clicks, then no no no, that was outdated, it’s all in the coding of the website. Well then, how does it work with blogs?
So I want to give it a try, like a big test and see what kind of hits I get back from the search engines. Let’s make it obvious on terms that will generate hits and let’s see how it goes. I’ll write them here and in the tags:
How about: naked sweedish one leg jackass burn tits swallow google.
Let’s see what wordpress stats say of that!
Project ‘Moana’ – Synopsis 7 July 2009
Posted by aurelienlaine in Screenwriting, Short movie.Tags: Screenwriting, Movie, Short, Film, moana, project, Synopsis
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Let’s go a bit deeper in our story. Here is the synopsis. It’ll be short of course because this is a short movie. Oh, and I am writing the synopsis as a quote just like I did with the logline. I do it just to differenciate it from the main post. Naturally it is not a quote per se, just a differentiation from the main post.
Sophia is a young woman in her late twenties who finds herself in a root. She moved to the city a few years ago to study. More studies followed which led to a temporary job that she can’t seem to be able to leave now. Life caught up on her in a way she didn’t expect, taking away her dreams and the joy she used to find in little things. She finds little comfort with the people she knows as she never took time to make real friends and while having drinks with acquaintances, she realizes that they little care about her and so does she about them. This can’t go on. Once home that same night, she takes a picture off the wall: Moana, the ocean. The next day she’ll go out of her usual way, out of her routine and will take a trip to the ocean. She doesn’t have a car and will probably have to hitch-hike but she’s not scared, what scares her the most is the life she’s building now.
The next day she gets up early and packs up a backpack with clothe for the weekend. She comes out of her house and walks towards the nearest bus stop. There she finds something unusual: two people, wearing Gi, hakama and a katana in their belt are waiting, straight and stoic. She waits with them. Finally a bus comes but one unlike any of those she has ever ridden before: it is an old, red, double deck London bus. A lady in the bus invites her to hop in, the two samurais follow. Upstairs, she looks at the city ravelling behind the windows. The sound of a bell takes her out of her reverie, the bus stops. The lady from the bus pops her head out upstairs and calls Sophia with a smile. This is her stop.
She walks by herself on the side of the road and we discover that she recently went through a break-up, he wasn’t ready, so he said. An old car approaches, it drives fast and stops right next to Sophia. On its license plate it says ‘JESUS SAVES’. Inside, not a doubt, a man with long hair looks at her with a majectic smile. She hops in and gets on with a scary ride with Jesus. He shows her his Driver’s License: Jesus Tyler is his name. He drives fast and talks about the world, the people he needs to save and how life is great. He is super energetic! He stops her at a crossroad and drives away just as crazy.
She starts walking towards what she believes is the way to the ocean. She’s not as lucky finding a ride this time and we discover how she kept herself busy and pushed away more than one occasion to make friends and cut the bridges to her adoptive family. Finally a van stops with people wearing renaissance costumes. Four people and two kids: the bride, the groom, the best man and the made of honour. The whole wedding fits in this car. They’re all a bunch of happy people and she learns that when you’re family’s not around, you’ve got to find a way to have your fun with people who truly care. But if there’s a chance that your family can be around then you should embrace them. And finally they make it to the beach. They drop her off and she walks away.
The ocean is amazingly beautiful. She hasn’t seen it for as far as she can remember. She wanders around until she finds a man fishing. He will tell her what she needs to hear about life. From far away, someone calls after Sophia, it’s the bride running towards her. She invites her and her new acquaintance for a BBQ. The fisherman brings fish, the kids play in the sand and there she meets with a sweet piece of life. It will be fine, life will be fine.
Ok, that’s like a straight piece of rock that has just been extracted from the mountain allright? It will be reworked on and on and on but hey, you’ve got the skeleton now. You can argue that this is more detailed than a synopsis. Sure, it is halfway between synopsis and treatment. That’s just the way it is. I hope that you like it.
