Independent Component 2

Log of hours:

Evidence of 30 hours of work:

Research

Screenplay specifically for Independent Component 2

Literal

I, Inez Franco, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 50 hours of work.

I researched how to write screenplays, how to sell screenplays, whether or not to seek representation or just a deal, I used old notes and took new notes on my essential question and searched for examples of how it has been used in real screenplays, I read screenplays, I applied my answers to both ROP screenplays and my original screenplay, and of course I wrote my own screenplay. 


Interpretive

This Independent Component bears great resemblence to my first one but it's completely different in the interpretive!
The first screenplay I wrote, and the research I was doing with the screenplays I was reading was to look for something they all had in common and try to emulate that quality in my script.

Here, in the second go around I already have my three answers. So what I did with my research was accumulate it and search for examples of my answer being put to the test in real screenplays.
After I did all that I took my first screenplay "Eugene's Abyss" and I ripped it apart to the bare bones and then applied my answers to it. I was testing all of the three- four at the time- answers, in order to see which was the most helpful in improving my own screenplay.

Applied

After testing all four answers: Write with a voice, Throw theme out the window, Seduce reader in the first ten pages, and invest in your protagonist I have found my best answer.

I effectively threw out the idea of theme and it helped! I got through the script! It has an ending and ironically it has one with a theme- that came OUT of the story. But getting through the screenplay is not the same as writing a successful screenplay.

Then I invested a lot of time and used lots of scenes/motivations/desires/reflection characters for my protagonist. And that helped too! My hero was a well developed hero! But even with a thematic ending and a strong hero, I still didn't have a screenplay I was willing to try to sell.

So after that I spent a lot of time writing and rewriting the first 2 pages (because in a twenty page script page two is at the 10% mark) and I finally wrote a beginning that I was satisfied with and that I think would catch people's attention! It was awesome. I felt like I really was improving my screenplay little by little. All the hard work was paying off!

But something was just missing... and I knew what it was.
Voice!

Through out the whole process I'll admit I have been trying really hard to get the writing to sound commanding, evocative, and seducing. I wanted to put voice in there so bad!
BUT VOICE IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN JUST... JUST WRITE. No... voice is a reflection of experience in writing and comfort in your writing, it's not something you teach or something you can learn. You know how some people are just great writers? Those people have voice. And the more and more you practice it the better it gets, of course.

Well I couldn't just make voice come out in the screenplay. I'm not saying I can't write! No no no. I can. I grasped my voice in the third interview and in my defense paper in 11th grade and in my college essays. Voice is what got me into NYU. But sometimes you write awesome papers and sometimes you don't. Here I just couldn't get my voice in the script. It's whats missing and it's what making me self-conscious about the script...

The best way to write a successful screenplay is to write it with voice. I've never been more certain!

Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1. I will continue my study of screenwriting by studying its form, history, essential components, and skills in writing one. I plan on reading more screenplays, reading more about how they are written and spending more time on trying to write them.
2. 10 hourse reading screenplays, 10 hours reading how to write them, and 10 hours writing one.
3. In the first Independent Component I familiarized myself with the lingo, the structure, etc. This time in every screenplay I read I will search for the most essential component in the written text- as with learning about how to write them. And by searching for this answer in my research I will interpret it into my EQ answers and then apply it to my original screenplay.

Independent Component 1 (extra)

Click here to view my logged hours.
Here are Mr. Miller's signature for those hours:

Evidence:

 - notes

 - screenplay

Literal:



I, Inez Franco, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 43.8 hours of work. 16.5 hours working on my own screenplay, 14.5 learning how to write one, and 12.8 hours reading them.

I have read Shakespeare in Love, Annie Hall, Manhattan, A Knight's Tale, and It's a Wonderful Life. I have also read Screenwriting for Teens, written by a screenplay consultant. And have written my own screenplay for a 15 page short.

Interpretive:

I didn't JUST read those screenplays - I analyzed them, broke them down, took notes, and learned from them. That is why it took my more than 2 hours to complete any given screenplay. When I calculated that I did 43 hours I honestly felt like that was such an understatement. 48 hours isn't even two full days. I feel like I have been studying this Independent Component for a month now. The Book I read on how to write a screenplay was perfect because it was written in terms of how a teenager would understand it. There were 100 concepts of basic skills in that book and I noted every single one of them! Reading Screenwriting for Teens really helped me build my story. You would think that making up stories was easy, kids do it all the time. But it is NOT EASY! I have a new found respect for all forms of storytelling. And lastly wrting my own script was super difficult. It was the hardest part of the whole deal. Everything I read before I started helped out tremendously though.

Applied:

This did not straight out answer my EQ, I feel like it presented 100 million more possible answers to me though... like: character, themes, style, strategic word choice, economic writing, element of surprise... just to name a few possible answers. I do feel more comfortable about speaking about my topic though. The biggest leasson I learned is that you can't read 5 screenplays and a book about how to write a screenplay and expect that you can do it. I need like 10,000 hours of practice. I am so far from good! But that doesn't discourage me, the difference between talent and mastery is 10,000 hours of practice. I have a long way to go.



Independent Component 1

For my logged hours click here.

Here are some of the videos we have made so far.

Literal:

I, Inez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 111 hours of work.

I have completed a full semester of ROP videography, where I have made several short films.

Interpretive:

It isn't easy filming, it takes a lot of work, hours, and collaboration. At the beginning of the year my topic was filmmaking which is why I am in ROP. Now my topic is screenwriting but staying in ROP is still relevant - we do write scripts for our films.

Applied:

How did it help you answer your EQ?

Writing a screenplay for no other reason than for the fun of it is much different than writing one that you are going to have to make! For my extra Independent Component I wrote about cartoon spiders... I would have never done that for ROP. Writing for ROP kept me practical. I think being practicality is an essential part to a script - especially when you don't have CGI or computer graphics to make up the thousands of extras you cannot cast. I think an economical screenplay has an advantage when producers are choosing which films they'd like to produce. After all, how seriously would you take a screenplay that asked for ridiculous things?

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1) My Independent Component was going to originally be my ROP class hours, but since we haven't talked about screenplays yet, I think it would be irrelevant to my essential question. So i was thinking i could read screenplays on my own time and have Mr. Miller sign off that i read them. And then i could use my ROP hours the second time around when the writing process is more active in the class.
2) A screeplay takes a good 2 hours on average to complete so I think i will get in my 30 hours easily. I assume it will take about 10 to 13 screeplays to finish the hours and I don't read them often so i think it will be a good experience. Also, I've seen this section in the Cal Poly Library, it's a whole row of screenplays of feature films,so i think I'm good as far as resources.
3) This reminds me i still have to rewrite my EQ, but my new EQ will be somewhere along the lines of screenwritting and what is most important to becoming successful as a screenwriter, or what is most important to making a good screeplay.