Giving Myself a Headache

Today marks the beginning of week two of consistent blogging, and week three of working on my portfolio.  To summarize last weeks' posts, I'm writing, filming, and editing a two minute long movie intro as part of my final Cambridge assessment.

I have decided to flesh out the story of Joseph Farley, an Orthodox Christian teen who comes to struggle with his identity after realizing that he is gay.  Joseph's family forces him to go to conversion therapy, which is where the story will begin.  As I mentioned previously in my plot overview post, I was originally planning on including three scenes in the final production.  However, I came to realize that I will not be able to execute this with my 2:30-minute-long time limit.

After discussing with my teacher, she told me that I should focus on establishing character (specifically, Joseph's sexuality), and use that to set the scene for the rest of the film.  When I mentioned that I wanted to include a scene in the conversion therapy counselor's office, she warned me of getting too ahead of myself, and to remember the time limit.  Yet, its a scene that I can't shake off.  

Without the introduction of the anti-gay therapy, my story lacks substance.  Still, its true that a full conversation here might be too long for my allotted time.  Plus, there is the issue of setting.  I wanted the office to include a comical amount of crosses on the wall, which means that I would most likely have to design the set myself (I also wanted the walls to be minty green, which I know I can't realistically include, but the defeat still stings a little).

If I can't include a conversation between the counselor and Joseph, then I thought that I could at least include a scene of them meeting for the first time at the office.  However, this scene can only realistically take up to 10 seconds, and now I'm faced the opposite problem of not having enough content to fill up the time.  As a solution, I'm beginning to write the script as follows:

• Joseph's voiceover over scenes of him at mass
• Cut to him at the counselor's office, meeting for the first time
• They have a brief conversation which establishes why Joseph is there
• It ends; title appears

Once I finish, I'll read over what I wrote to make a pretty accurate assumption as to how much time it will take up.  If it goes over the 2:30 minute limit, then I'll go back to the drawing board.  Regardless, I'm pretty optimistic about this new plot progression. I'm looking forward to executing the concept, except for the location scouting and set design aspect of it all... Well, I guess I'll deal with that once I get there.  Until next time!