For my group’s presentation, we all agreed on our rolls in the group. Ollie researched on key films and directors in the 1900’s, Alex researched on technological breakthroughs in film production, distribution and exhibition and Torin was going to find information on the studio system until we found out that the studio system didn’t actually exist in the 1900’s. Whilst my group members were researching, I was forming the script with the information my team found and also assisting my group members on finding images to put into our presentation to then arrange these images into a pleasing visual for our peers when we came to present.
We chose this premade theme as we all felt that it suited the topic of our presentation.
With our script, instead of each of us saying chunks of information when our own slide came up, i decided to alternatively break the chunks up instead giving some variety to our presentation and also preventing my group members from being too overwhelmed and loaded with a lot of words.
For my screenplay, my group chose a scene from Scott Pilgrim vs The World involving a dialogue scene between Scott and his flatmate Wallace discussing Scott’s new love interest, Ramona, and how Scott has to “defeat” her seven “deadly” ex’s.
We chose this film and scene as everyone in the group had seen the film multiple times and knows the scene well. It was interesting to experiment with a dialogue scene between two actors as it challenged us to use different angles, such as reverse shots, extreme close ups and over the shoulder shots, to film with to make the dialogue more interesting.
INT. WALLACE’S APARTMENT — DAY
Scott slumps on the couch, phone pressed to his ear. Wallace cooks bacon in the kitchen (no pants). We hear the OUTGOING MESSAGE: This is an automated voice messaging system. RAMONA is not available, please record your message after the beep.
SCOTT
Hey. It’s me, Scott again. Call me back. Scott Pilgrim. (hangs up) What’s the deal? Seriously.
Scott ambles over to the fridge and rests his head on it.
WALLACE
Yeah, you said that last night.
SCOTT
You know what really sucks though?
WALLACE
What?
SCOTT
Everything!
WALLACE
Come on guy, you can’t say you didn’t see this coming. It was right under your nose.
Wallace points to the NOTE Ramona scribbled which is pinned literally under Scott’s nose on the refrigerator:
RAMONA FLOWERS, 212-664-7665, xxxxxxx
WALLACE
What did you think these were?
SCOTT
Kisses? Seven little kisses?
WALLACE
Seven deadly X’s.
Wallace cocks an eyebrow. Scott slides to the floor.
SCOTT
Why does everything have to be so complicated?
Wallace crouches down to join Scott on the floor.
WALLACE
If you want something bad, you have to fight for it. Step up your game. Break out the L-word.
SCOTT
Lesbian?
WALLACE
The other L-word.
SCOTT
Lesbians?
WALLACE
Okay, it’s ”love.” I wasn’t trying to trick you or anything. You have to overcome any and all obstacles that lie in your path. You have the spirit of a warrior, Scott. You can do it! Be with her! It’s your destiny!(beat) Plus, I need you to move out.
FINAL EDIT
The actual scene in the film is heavily edited, so, I tried to match the scene to the best of my ability. Due to my limited editing skills, I couldn’t exactly match the standard of editing quality in the actual film. We made the decision to not film in a kitchen as we couldn’t find a similar kitchen to the one in the film so we opted to make it look as if it were two students having a conversation in a cafeteria as the script sounded as if it could be fit to that type of setting.
To make the scene feel more authentic and similar to the actual film, I feel like I could have used a better microphone as in the scene, you end up not being able to hear the actors speak in some parts which can take away some of the humorous elements in the scene. I also feel like I could have spent more time editing and adjusting the shots so it doesn’t look like my actors have moved around a lot so it could have enhanced the verisimilitude of the scene. I would have played around with the sound mixing side of the scene a lot more to try make my actors sound a bit more louder and add sound effects to make the funnier parts of the scene even more comedic.
I feel like Scott Pilgrim vs The World has an amazing screenplay as the film takes you through the journey of Scott meeting a girl named Ramona who he really likes but when he meets one of her exes at a band competition, he realises that he has to deal with all seven of her exes to woo her.
PIECE OF SCRIPT FROM THE FILM – WHERE SCOTT TRIES TO CALL RAMONA’S PHONE NUMBER AND REALISES THAT THERE ARE 7 EX’S HE NEEDS TO DEFEAT
INT. WALLACE’S APARTMENT — DAY
Scott slumps on the couch, phone pressed to his ear. Wallace cooks bacon in the kitchen (no pants). We hear the OUTGOING MESSAGE: This is an automated voice messaging system. RAMONA is not available, please record your message after the beep.
SCOTT
Hey. It’s me, Scott again. Call me back. Scott Pilgrim. (hangs up) What’s the deal? Seriously.
Scott ambles over to the fridge and rests his head on it.
WALLACE
Yeah, you said that last night.
SCOTT
You know what really sucks though?
WALLACE
What?
SCOTT
Everything!
WALLACE
Come on guy, you can’t say you didn’t see this coming. It was right under your nose.
Wallace points to the NOTE Ramona scribbled which is pinned literally under Scott’s nose on the refrigerator:
RAMONA FLOWERS, 212-664-7665, xxxxxxx
WALLACE
What did you think these were?
SCOTT
Kisses? Seven little kisses?
WALLACE
Seven deadly X’s.
Wallace cocks an eyebrow. Scott slides to the floor.
SCOTT
Why does everything have to be so complicated?
Wallace crouches down to join Scott on the floor.
WALLACE
If you want something bad, you have to fight for it. Step up your game. Break out the L-word.
SCOTT
Lesbian?
WALLACE
The other L-word.
SCOTT
Lesbians?
WALLACE
Okay, it’s ”love.” I wasn’t trying to trick you or anything. You have to overcome any and all obstacles that lie in your path. You have the spirit of a warrior, Scott. You can do it! Be with her! It’s your destiny!(beat) Plus, I need you to move out.
FOLEY ARTIST – Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to films, videos, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass.
EXAMPLES – Coconuts, pumpkins, aluminium, plastic bags, playing cards
SOUND MOTIFS – A sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a particular character, setting, situation or idea through the film. The sound motifs condition the audience emotionally for the intervention, arrival, or actions of a particular character.
EXAMPLES – Avengers, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park
VOICEOVER – Voice-over narration is a technique commonly used in film, theatre or television productions in which a voice, that is generally non-diegetic, occurs in the course of a work’s narrative.
EXAMPLES – Bladerunner, Forest Gump, Stranger Than Fiction, The 6th Sense
