Musical Underscore Ideas

I want the soundtrack of my film to be a big factor in creating emotion as I think sound is a very important aspect of filmmaking.

"Safe Now" - Henry Jackman - Captain Phillips

My first choice of music I would like to use is "Safe Now", which was composed by Henry Jackman for the movie 'Captain Phillips'. I have chosen this piece of music as it is one of my favourite pieces composed for film and it also is used in the very last scene of the movie, which also happens to be just about my favourite scene from a movie because the emotion conveyed by Hanks' acting is dumbfounding but also the use of this piece enhances that effect and makes it extremely powerful. I want to use the extended version throughout the duration of my film but by editing it to certain parts with the climax of the piece being right at the end before the credits roll. 

The name of the piece also relates heavily to my plot because it is named "Safe Now" which can relates heavily to my lead character as they are saved from killing themselves by a stranger. This also has relations to Captain Phillips' plot because Captain Phillips is saved by a group of Navy SEALs who are strangers to him.

I have also considered different variations of this track which are from different films such as '12 Years a Slave' and 'Inception', which are all composed by Hans Zimmer. These two variations have different feels to them which I don't think would quite suit my film.

"Solomon" - Hans Zimmer - 12 Years a Slave

As this movie is set in the 1800s, this soundtrack definitely sounds like an older piece of music, to suit its intended film. Also, a violin is quite prominent in this piece which is a reference to Solomon Northup who is the main character so I don't believe this piece is right for my film. However, I like the emotion that this piece draws, especially when it is heard in the film when Solomon is reunited with his family.

"Time" - Hans Zimmer - Inception

Writing my screenplay

The software I used to write my screenplay was 'Celtx'. This is a free professional screenwriting software that formats the screenplay into the professional standard format as you write it. 

I found this software extremely easy, convenient, and quick because like I said, it does all the formatting for you. To use this software, you have to download it onto a computer, but also, you can purchase an iPhone version from the app store, which is linked to the computer version via an online account that saves all of your scripts so you can download them on whichever device you are using and can continue working on it wherever. By using both versions together, I was able to write my screenplay on the go, so if an idea suddenly came to me, I could write it on the iPhone version, save it to the cloud, then download it on my computer and continue it at home.

Also, I could save the screenplay as a .PDF document and email it to myself to transfer it to a computer quickly and wirelessly. 

Storyboard

Screenplay - 1st draft

This is the final draft of my screenplay for my short film. The questions that are set up in the first half of the film will be answered in the second half via the interrogation. The audience will not be shown what previously happened, however, they will be implicitly told through the exchanges between the man and Liam, as Liam did not know that the man knew up until this point so both the audience and Liam are finding out what the man knows at the same time. 

The film will be approximately 4-5 minutes long due as there will be periods of suspense-building silence as this is a filmmaking style which I like and think is effective. The dialogue is witty and sadistic, and is influenced by Tarantino's style of confrontational dialogue. 

Conventions of a Screenplay

Screenplay conventions from Nick Richardson