Set Research - House Features

Some great pics I found a book called "The Australian House" by Balwant Saini and Ray Joyce. These really capture the look and feel of what I want to achieve with the set design of the house!

Actors Workshop

Today we had a workshop with talented actors Petra and Travis. It was really valuable getting their input as they came to the script with a very character driven point of view. Being naive about all that is acting related this was exactly what I needed to better understand and write the characters.

However now with one and half pages of notes the script once again needs to be tamed.

Understanding Colour Scripts

Colour scripts are very cool, they're basically a storyboard for each scene depicting the mood and tone of the scene through colour. Attached is an example by Lorelay Bove (http://lorelaybove.blogspot.com/), it's for the fairy tale 'Hansel and Gretel'. You can see the progression of colour throughout, as they get lost in the woods, they find the witches house, they face catastrophe as she tries to cook them in her oven, and then them finding their way home to their mother. This informs the film on how to look and what colours to use when the sets are made and scenes are lighted. This is something that I will be working on this week!

Rough Set Sketches

Getting the idea of where things will go and how they'll be laid out. To get the finer details more research is being undertaken.

Mum Character Design

Here's the design for the Mum. It's a little rough but it's something I really need to get a move on with to keep on schedule. Modeled characters and set designs to come!

Forth Draft!

Up to the forth draft! I'm happy with how things are coming along. In this draft more attention is paid to the mother and her grief. I'm planning to do a bit of a run through with some actors in the next week to see how this writing will translate into actions and dialog. I want to keep pushing this so that I can really get to the heart of the characters. Another pet peeve of mine is cliche's, and there are a few that stand out. Even some of just the minor actions the characters take, it's something that will require more thought from me.

Download the forth draft here!

Character Breakdowns

Josh is an 8 year old boy with a fascination with cicadas. He's quiet and sensitive and appears selfish on the surface, but underneath hides true feelings. He rejects advances for friendship from his brother Aden in favour of isolation. He pretends not to care that Aden gets more attention from his Mum but buries these feelings of resentment in his anti-social behavior. Josh confides his emotions in his interest with cicadas, creating a shell around himself that separates him from his family.

Aden is a 3 year old boy that refuses to speak. He is adventurous, playful, possessive and sensitive. He yearns for his older brothers friendship and rejects efforts by his Mum to make him talk. The reason why he doesn't talk is a mystery, however it may have something to do with the absence of his father. Aden adores his panda bear doll as it is the closest thing he has to a best friend.

The Mum is in her early thirties and is consumed with insecurities over her youngest son Adens refusal to speak. She's a little unsure of herself at times but is strong, warm and compassionate. She directs most of her attention to Aden, due to his late speech development however still cares deeply for Josh, her oldest son. She is worn out from day to day activity and this results in her having a low tolerance for misbehavior. The Mum yearns for security and will do whatever it takes to achieve it.