Under the Stars was the title of the Family Drama that Gavin, Paul and I pitched to Barbara on Monday afternoon and personally I think it’s a winner! A disused observatory is turned into a B&B by an old wizard-like astronomer and a strong single mother. A little bit of development and some enthralling storylines and we’re ready to pitch it to the BBC! I’d certainly watch it.
Screenwriting this week was very full. We started off discussing our analysis of The Shawshank Redemption and the interesting use of two main characters. Andy Dufrane is clearly the protagonist but the whole point is that he does not change over the film and instead Red is the character whom the theme is projected onto and who learns something which causes him to change. Then we panned through some premises (a mere seventy-two or so) but, although some were very interesting, none shone out enough to completely satisfy Richard. Then we had a quick session on dialogue which was all relatively familiar, with the general rule being “Less is more”.
Conscientiously doing overtime I strolled in on Wednesday morning for MER Training by a company called SPARQS (Student Participation in Quality Scotland; yes, I don’t know how ‘AR’ translates to ‘in’ either…). It was actually more useful than I thought it would be but still mostly common sense. Also, it seems the Academy is very much ahead of the curve in most areas, and it’s a conservatoire, so a lot of it didn’t really apply. However, I did meet a third year actress from Thurso which was a pleasant reminder of home and a surprise for both of us to know that we are not alone!
After a programme meeting with the one available member of staff we had a class, with said member, on how television reflects society. We watched an episode of the British sit-com Tony Hancock called The Blood Donor. It was fantastic and very funny. It put me in mind of the type of humour that Flanders and Swann would employ, to great effect. Very witty, very clever and very English! Then we watched the first episode of another series by the same writers; Comedy Playhouse: Steptoe and Son. This wasn’t particularly funny, in the sit-com sense, but it had a poignancy and honesty which was quite pleasing. I didn’t find it as entertaining as Hancock but I could appreciate the value of the writing.
Abigail’s class on Thursday morning involved looking at the Development stage of production. We examined an Option Agreement and a Writer’s Agreement which were, like any legal document, very long and complicated. I was fascinated to discover that in a standard Option Agreement, in paragraph 4.1.5, there is a clause stating that “the Work… is not defamatory, blasphemous or obscene”. This evoked two contrasting feelings when I first read it. First of hopefulness, as it seems those who made up this standard Option Agreement were attempting to set in place some moral boundaries and a sense of decency. Second of hopelessness, as they have failed and these guidelines are often taken out; because so many works these days are simply that: “defamatory, blasphemous or obscene”.
That afternoon I managed to catch the second half of the first episode of Lime Pictures’ Apparitions that was being screened. It looked like a fascinating series and well worth watching. It can be dangerous fictionalising something which can be a very real problem, in this case demon-possession and exorcism, for fear that people mix it up with evil presented elsewhere in the media, for example fantasy, but in this case it appeared to be handling it quite cautiously and I think the realism was integral.
What first struck me about Tony Wood (Creative Director of Lime Pictures) was that here was an intellectual. Within minutes of introducing himself he had used a number of sophisticated words which I’m sure no-one else in that room had even heard before! I could see he was well educated, with a firm knowledge of the television industry and the world in general; he was open about his beliefs and views, and aware of the strength of an argument; and most of all he was respectful, mentioning positive things about a number of people he knew and never being derogatory about individuals. I’m sorry to say that Kim, sitting beside him, looked like an enthusiastic schoolgirl and the rest of us were no more than children. I think that’s the one thing we get very little of at the Academy compared to a university. I find myself forgetting that I’m actually not very learned and there are some intellectual giants out there who do know much more than me. That’s the only problem with Student Centred Learning. It’s just a bit too student centred!
I have now come to the conclusion that I am no longer in control of my body. Perhaps I never was. It has a mind of its own, which is sometimes so strong-willed it can overrule my own mentality. Such was the case on Friday morning when, again, I slept in without warning or justification. I am assuming it was down to my extra engagement on Wednesday morning that my body decided I was due a morning off this week whether my conscious mind agreed or not! Thus I awoke on Friday morning – refreshed and alive – twenty minutes after Barbara’s last class had begun.
Casablanca is a fabulous film. Spoofed and copied many a time but no less classic for it. Some say it is the best screenplay ever written but until I have seen all the screenplays ever written I’m afraid I am in no position to judge that. It was good however and delivered a story both interesting and entertaining. I have a habit, when it comes to ‘classic’ films, to set my expectations too high and then be disappointed when the film doesn’t reach them. For some reason I expected Casablanca to be set on a ship, don’t ask me why, but when that notion had been ejected it did very well in almost reaching the height of my expectations. Certainly it delivered well enough to avoid any sense of disappointment and I was able to simply enjoy the show. Also it conveyed a theme of selflessness, in the sacrifice of personal happiness for the sake of others, more effectively than any other film I’ve seen. This is a hugely important message to be communicating today in our consumer society where everything is saying, “You can have whatever you want”, “You need more”, “Your happiness comes first”… The whole Quality of Life argument is a dangerous view to have. If we’re living life solely for what we can get out of it then we’ve missed the point. In fact we’re missing out. There’s so much more to life…
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