Break it down!

I'm Breaking down the script for Valley of Mist right now. It's a challenge! There are so many possible themes to be mined in this story and I want to make sure I focus on the right one, but still keep all the elements there that need to be there. I've been spending time every day this week reading the script over and over again trying to internalize the characters and discern what all is happening "beneath the surface" of this story.

This script break down is both easier and harder than break downs I've done in the past. Because I wrote it, I already have a pretty clear idea of how I see this movie tonally. I also have a good idea as to who the characters are, their backgrounds, their relationship to each other, etc. But, what I am finding to be more of a challenge is discerning their motivations, deep desires, and what it is in this movie that they're not saying to each other (the beneath the surface stuff). This is turning out to be a good exercise for me in that way. It's actually forcing me to look a little deeper into myself and why I wrote this script the way I did. And, somehow, as a consequence of that, I am beginning to let the story and the characters take on a life of their own, separate from me. So now the story is becoming something larger than just a cool idea I had in my head one day, but it is hopefully becoming something more transcendent.

I am doing all of this before I determine the visual style or storyboard the film, because the story, themes and character's relationship are going to strongly dictate how this film is shot.

We'll see! It's fun for me to externalize my thoughts like this. I'm an external processor so having a blog to let my stream of conscious flow onto from time to time is very helpful.