Planning: 1st Script Draft

Time Management & Structure

When my group started working on our first full script draft, one of the biggest things we had to worry about was timing. We only have two minutes. We had to really think about how long each scene would actually take. In the beginning we had way more stuff planned than what would actually fit. We talked about adding a scene where a guy walks to his car and turns on the radio. You'd hear them talking about the case on the news or something. We thought it sounded cool but it would've slowed everything down. The pacing would've suffered and it probably would've made us go over the time limit. After talking about it we decided that keeping things shorter would actually make it better.

Cutting that scene made us focus on what actually mattered. Tension, mystery, and ending with something that makes people want to keep watching. This goes back to what I found when researching horror scripts. Pacing and staying focused is more important than just adding extra stuff.

Main Character

Another big thing we had to figure out was how to make this feel like the start of a real movie. Not just a short horror scene. In our earlier ideas Derek was gonna be the main focus. But we decided to kill him in the opening. We realized we needed someone else to carry the story forward. That's when we started focusing more on Lisa. She's his daughter. We show her getting blamed for crimes she didn't do anything with. The false accusation becomes the driving force. This makes her the actual main character going forward. It also pushes our bigger theme about how messed up the justice system can be.

How My Research Applies

In this first draft we made sure to use the stuff I learned from researching horror writing. The opening scene in the garage does a few key things:

• Sets the tone with dark lighting and atmosphere
• Shows the blueprint with crossed-out victims
• Has the body bag moving which creates immediate tension

We also didn't give away too much information. We wanted to build suspense. At first Derek looks like he's the main villain but then this masked judge guy shows up and kills him. We came up with this twist when we were brainstorming. It adds a lot of mystery and subverts expectations.

We don't explain everything. We let questions build up. Who's the masked judge? Why's he going after Derek? What does "guilty" actually mean in this context? There's stuff like the noise in the bushes and the pause before the final attack. We planned those out to stretch the tension.

Ideas We Never Implemented

We came up with a bunch of ideas that didn't make it into the draft. Besides the radio scene we also talked about adding flashbacks. They would show Derek doing crimes before. But we realized showing too much backstory would kill the mystery. We even talked about showing the killer's face at the end. Keeping him masked makes it stronger though. It leaves room for the story to keep going.

Next Step

Now that this first draft is done we need to go back and fix up some details. Here's what we're planning:

• Update our prop list since we changed scenes around
• Lock down filming locations (garage, kitchen, driveway)
• Plan out actor schedules
• Try to shoot everything in order for consistency

Brainstorming

Working on this draft as a group made it way better. Everyone added ideas and different perspectives. Symbolic stuff like the judge costume and mallet. Pacing choices like the fake scare in the bushes. Bigger changes like making Lisa more important. We challenged each other and had to justify our choices.

This first draft does what we wanted when we were brainstorming. It sets up the horror right away. Builds suspense through withholding information. Has a good twist that changes the audience's understanding. Ends with injustice that sets up the bigger story. We might still change some stuff during revisions but this draft shows both the research I did and how well we worked together.