TASK 5

CORE, Premise & GENRE

CONCEPT ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT

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Notes and step-tasks from the Premise and Genre lecture in October 2024. Contains explorations of what genre the story could fit into.

View the lecture slides here.

Lecture write-up

Being honest and speaking with your own voice - a universal truth builds character and connection.

Write like you're telling a story around a campfire.

The script translates the thoughts, emotions and senses from the treatment into audiovisual elementsthat can be drawn on screen. This helps to build the direction and dialogue. If you don't know how to get from A to B, imagine yourself as the character and explore how they would navigate the dilemma.

Visualising whilst writing make sure you can see the scene, feel yourself within it to accurately and vividly write what you can see, and what will be shown on screen.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare uses character to talk about the nature of real people. He stole their character and put himself within their mind. He does so to imagine this person's experiences and reactions to scenarios, to help the audience relate and empathise with them.

Conveying a Message

How do we incorporate a theme, idea or message into our stories without sounding too "preachy"? Audiences don't like being preached at, we want to be bewildered and should come to the conclusions the story wants to show ourselves.

EXPANDING IDEAS

Explore other points of research and the associations we can draw from them. Dementia can lead to feelings of isolation - but that feeling isn't unique. I have personally felt isolated and alone. How has those emotions affected me?

The scene should leave a trail of clues for the audience to peice together, that makes sense at the reosolution

CORE IDEA of BRIEF CONNECTION

A core idea is simply what is the story about. Every idea has a goal to achieve. What is the intended goal?

How would you describe the story in one sentence? (The Line)

"Heartbreaking hope leads to a beautiful reconnection."

In one word? (The Theme)

Reconnection

The Goal

Showing that love can be remembered and hope prevails.

The audience should walk away from the showing with the feeling or understanding of the theme.

WHAT IS A PREMISE?

Everything has a purpose or premise even if we are not conscious of it. The premise should reflect the protagonist in a conflict (with a character, either another person or themselves), with a resolution that leads to a change in themselves.

The premise is a 40 word brief of what the story aims to communicate, ensuring it includes:

Form
Genre
Protagonist
Time period
Location
The Conflict
A closing unanswered question that intrigues dramatic interest.

You can write a longer premise and then reduce down, but remember to keep the tone of the story. Adapt the premise to fit the required length.

The Premise of Brief Connection

Attempt 1 (74 words)

Celia (86) has retired for a quiet life surrounded by her family. She's active, still travels on group trips and finds herself occupied most of the time. She is otherwise happy, but there's just one thing that bugs her - her grandson doesn't come to visit her anymore. The closest she seems to be to him is leaving him a voicemail. When will she see him again? How much of her memory is even real?

Attempt 2 (62 words)

Celia (86) has retired for a quiet life surrounded by her family. She's active, still travels on group trips and finds herself occupied most of the time. There's one thing on her mind - her grandson doesn't come to visit anymore. The closest she can get is a voicemail. When will she see him again? How much of her memory is even real?

Attempt 3 (40 words)

In retirement, Celia (86) wants to be surrounded by her family. She's active and finds herself occupied. But there's one thing on her mind - her grandson hasn't been to visit for quite some time. When will she see him again?

Notes

I found it hard to write a premise for such a short scene. I feel like there is more to the story than what is shown within the script I will need to write. The premise above tries to hint at that with the idea that her memory might not be 100% true. These elements were dropped to fit the 40 word limit. It could be more direct, even more interesting but it works and accurately describes the scene without spoiling too much.

WhaT IS GENRE?

A style or category of art, music, or literature.

Let's look at the anti-heros. Movies such as Deadpool and the like. An anti-hero's quests are completed by means not acceptable to society - without regard for the law or common morality. Anti-hero itself could be a genre, but equally so, you could put an anti-hero like Deadpool into a romance movie, or western - each would create a unique film.

In creating a story, we should identify the potential genres it would fit in, ensuring it hits the key points that define each genre.

Use the expected signposts of the genre
We know the language that describes them
Use the symbols artfully

PICKING A GENRE

The scene I am writing might be hard to fit into a genre.

There is only one minute of script to decide from. It's not a rom-com or science fiction epic - but it is possible a film where this scene fits within could be from one of those genres. Picking a genre that applies to the wider film and applying the tropes to the scene might be something to consider if writing a longer screenplay. However, it's off-topic for this instance.

Writing Beyond the Rules

Using the tables from: Alternative Scriptwriting, Writing Beyond the Rules by Dancyger & Rush.

I was surprised to find the scene matched situation comedy so closely. At first glance, you would not consider a script about dementia to be humorous. I also believe it might be distasteful to write a dementia-comedy, however, it doesn't mean we can't explore the idea. A good comedy should also have heart - and there is no reason why we can't take a breather from the funny to dive deeper into the realities of the grandmother's troubles with dementia.

Symbolism in Situation Comedy

A humourous conclusion
Wobbling sets!

The horror genre is an interesting idea. There is a horror movie where dementia is a central theme called Relic. The synopsis on IMDB describes it, saying: "A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home."

Common Symbolism in the Horror Genre

I have realised that it is possible to find a genre for my script even though it will be only around 1 minute long. Using the tables from Writing Beyond the Rules I identified that either a sitcom or horror film might be a good setting for the scene.

I can use the identified genres to find ideas for symbolism and common traits to help build a creative style.

NEXT STEPS

To further develop my idea:

Do some broad research into dementia as an illness
Recall my own experiences: At a hospital visit when I was younger, an elderly lady kept mistaking a member of my family for her son.
Explore different outcomes for the story (potential directions for both the elderly and the grandson)
Remember to re-inforce the idea of the grandson's deeds that reflect his love for her.
Research documentaries on the subject
Drop the assumptions of our stories and explore!

Ideas

Empty scene / set design that transforms into a fully-decorated home, with photos of the family at the moment the elderly lady remebers her grandson. A poetic visual metaphor
Incorporate the trail of clues: the phone going to voicemail on the side at the start of the scene.
Keep the audience in the dark for a little bit, a sense of bewliderment before the big reveal

See next: Synopsis & Step Outline

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