Chapter 2: Concepts

Over the past two years that this story has taken shape - and even longer in some crude, primordial form - there are images incredible and powerful and simple and they must fall into their own places. Recently, when I had to make some order of this journey and begin to shape the development of these characters through each Chapter I fell upon a technique I seem to use in a pinch and used so on previous screenplays - which equals to scribbling down all unshakable scenes, obstacles, or exchanges on the nearest scrap of paper, then scribbling down all characters and assigning each a letter. Further on down the page I would line up these key scenes or exchanges, obstacles, images, etc. in order to a character's letter in an attempt to develop character, shuffling along the way what brought important ideas or development or mysticism to the surface, and discarding what wouldn't. Finally, I would renumber the scenes as needed.

It looks somewhat like this:

* Note: these moments are independent of this particular film
[but I'd love to see them as structure for a future short]

In this final shuffling people get dropped in and out of scenes, other scenes get combined, a key exchange gets bumped to another scene to allow a series of events to emphasize external (or internal conflicts) that force our characters to make decisions and so forth. I am speaking in generalities here - to not reveal too much of the storyline. But know that images that come from deep recesses in the mind are often shifted over between practical story points, some would use the word "plot" here - and these important images and exchanges I cant shake them. They are key in mood and that is among the most important elements of the film. They can be squeezed out of existence due to circumstance and they can take on new meanings when moved.

As you can see the point in which two people are "staring, unsure, alone" could highlight all sorts of different relationship dynamics if say it was third in order or even first and even repeated again in accordance with other characters.

If anything, I can sense these important unexplained mystical images coming together - fulfilling new meaning - when I just scatter them on the page then arrange them. And it helps to know when things are getting too organized and I need to chop it back up a bit.

Chapter 1: First Draft

It's done! But not long ago it was July 23rd, 2009. The rough draft was completed hours before picking up the rental car and heading down to North Carolina to have face time with our principal actors and do some location scouting. After going through a read through the principal actors, I noticed some rough language, clearly of my rush to finish the thing and get the essence of what I wanted to say. There were several places that needed a little more thought and personality to come through in the exchanges between characters. I was also able to see how they both spoke in a way that my memory wasn't able to capture. I can really see these two as the characters and I think it will subsequently inform the writing of their dialog.

This trip played a role in the shaping the first draft, which was completed last night. There are now clearer exchanges between the characters of James and Jenny in a few key moments, and the aggression between the punks and metal heads in the basement shelter. But I also see a few areas that need development: moments, exchanges. And there are also scenes that need to get axed for the sake of pace. So there will be a second draft. This thing has blossomed to 18 pages and I think that's 5 more than I really was willing to go, or thought the audience would be willing to let us go. But nearly everything feels important in setting up the problem at hand and the characters as they are before they go through, for sake of cheap reference, passages.

I hope you'll be interested in reading this as we go along in making what I assume will be an overwhelming, exciting, extremely low-budget, hi-concept film.

Thanks,

John

A Broad Outline

This film is about a two strangers and their journey that twists through desperation, hope, loss and survival in the aftermath of mass societal breakdown.

For fifty-five days a small group of punks and metal heads locked in a bomb shelter have been surviving on mass supplies, and little else, because they know at some point their neighbors who have been tearing at their door will eventually break in, taking their food and their lives. After escaping and wandering through the city scavenging and fighting looters, they decide to head to the mountains where there is land to farm and perhaps shelter to build far from the descending urban chaos. And so begins their journey. Along the way they must overcome man, nature, and disease and one another as their will to survive and their spirit to endure is tested. Their struggle and dedication to love and forgiveness in the face of total plight keeps them together untill the very end.

The film follows the journey in episodes, each more or less centered on obstacles as the film spans a ten month period starting two months after power shuts down.