Hey All,

This is my Proposal for my capstone Idea!

 

Logline – A young prince who shows no care meets an inspiring young woman and grows into a respectable warrior just in time to help save his kingdom from utter destruction.

In this short film set in the fantasy realm of Odingard, second heir to the throne, Protus, sets off on an adventure after a reckless encounter leaves him ashamed of himself which leads him to help save Amorelai, which drives him to further improve himself after witnessing her own natural talent. Protus gains a sense for his own agency and steps up to address his father, Soladon, just as the kingdom is attacked by Scarabak, the ruler of the Aracites: underground spider people.

The reason this project is important is because, to me, it is a form of catharsis that satisfies my own personal agenda on many points. I have wanted to write a script that features action and revolves around a world of my creation, where I am the auteur and I choose what visuals are seen, what characters look and act like, what actions the camera is taking, and other choices that come within the parameters of auteur theory. More importantly, I want to write this story because I have consumed so much entertainment in my childhood and into my young adult life that I have fund countless sources of inspiration that I want to emulate and expand upon in my writing. Through television and since meeting a variety of people in my life, I have an understanding of various “character types” seen across all walks of life, whether in reality or as constructs within stories that share common plot tropes. To emphasize that point, having grown up in New York City, I have been exposed to many different cultures and communities that both interact within themselves as well as co-mingle with each other on a daily basis, providing a lush variety of different personas to meet and learn about on a personal level.

Issues that I have observed, participated in, and have ultimately dealt with are aspects of my life that I want to bring to my characters, each of which has their own personality and outlook on life and their world that reflects the traits of people that have been important to me and have shaped me into who I am today. How I want to address these issues that are important to me is by applying them broadly to the world I create. For example, the “Occupy Wallstreet” movement was impactful to me in high school because of how close I was to the action and how it better revealed the disparity across Americans, making me conscious of my own standing on the “wealth meter” and piquing my interest to show how I felt, and how I feel now, about a situation like that, all within the context of my own story to demonstrate my point of wealth inequality and what that looks on a street level. From race relations and privilege, to dealing with my autoimmune condition, to understanding and maneuvering social dynamics have all been influential in shaping my beliefs and politics, and I want the most positive of those aspects to shine through in my writing.

I like to think that in a room of people who are involved in a lot of drama, I am the calm individual who understands the drama, but does not understand why it is so hard to resolve it quickly and happily. It seems to me that people involve themselves in petty squabbles for the joy of it, which encourages anger and malicious intent from at least one party, and so when I find myself in drama, I try to end it as quickly as possible so that, instead of fighting with someone for some extended period, acting and feeling like a bitter child, I can rather just sit with them and enjoy the time we spend together. My story is important because ultimately I want it to be a guide in ethics and reducing the amount of collateral damage, whether it be physical or emotional.

The preparations I have made towards understanding the course of my story has been through highly introspective reflecting and critical analysis of my life to determine what factors have been the most important in my life. When I have consumed media, I have tried to remain conscious of the various techniques artists take advantage of when crafting a movie, a television show, a cartoon, a comic, an animation, a video, or any other form of media, to know and understand what aspects of those techniques were the most effective in making me feel something as a commercial visual content consumer. My perspective as a writer formed through my economic education of basic supply and demand; what sort of stories do well with a young audience vs and older audience? Why do they do that? What shifts the quality of media that is prevalent in the markets for consumption? I found that people like action, romance, and nuanced spontaneity, to name a few, and from the narratives I’ve read and watched, it’s through finding the beats that best help the viewer synchronize with the wavelength of the piece, whether emotionally or physically. If you can leave someone in disbelief of what they are looking at or watching, and maintain the illusion of the story, that’s a step towards understanding my audience.

My audience is anyone ages 15 – 35 who are frequent movie goers, dedicated fantasy fans, action adventure fans, and anyone who enjoys more independently produced films. The story itself is just a smaller arc of a larger story, so ultimately this is a series to be thought of, an array of stories that each add to the last. This screenplay is the first of four stories, each working towards a master arc. This story will appeal to viewers who are interested in serial, episodic content.

 

5 ways I will be effective in other’s work will be:

-Providing Capture Card assistance to Carly to convert her analog video to digital

-Mic/cameraman for Li’s film

-Interviewee for Jess’s documentary

-(WIP1)

-(WIP2)