After receiving positive feedback on my plot outline for my script last week within the workshop, I took the constructive comments I received (some of Rufus’ actions need to be explained fully, the story may be too little for a ten-minute length) and began to work on my step outline. Whilst working on the step outline I wanted to be able to craft the tone of the script in my head, and as I’ve decided upon a strong, clear sense of melancholy throughout the story I tried listening to music that generated such an atmosphere as I wrote. I listened to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ new album ‘Skeleton Tree’ whilst writing the step outline, as it’s strong sense of loss is enough to make someone feel sick throughout many of the songs (much like Rufus feels at certain points during the script). In order to flesh out aspects of the plot I added a scene where Rufus directs a funeral for a young boy within his graveyard and is more taken by the fact that he’s jealous the boy has been able to achieve death before him (because he wishes death upon himself in order to be back with his wife). I then remembered more feedback from the plotline that I received in the fact that the question is raised as to why Rufus hasn’t just killed himself if he so desperately wants to be back with her, and although I don’t want to flat out say it within the script, I inserted two moments to establish potential reasons as to why he hasn’t left his life yet; one being that he’s the support people need when they come to the cemetery (the young boy’s mother is distraught and he remains strong for her) and two being that his ‘friend’ Death refuses to tell him whether or not the afterlife is actually a thing or not, he’s not ready to stop supporting people if it doesn’t mean he can be back with his wife.

 

‘Garden State’ and ‘Magnolia’ both remain great examples of melancholy in film scripts, after re-watching them both recently I went online and read through their scripts, trying to figure out how to capture the atmosphere within them. The focus on character over story, to indulge the story almost for the sake of character was something that I perhaps took away from reading them both. I like the idea of keeping some of the character’s intentions subtle too, and not fully explaining the notion that if you touch the Grim Reaper you die (the script ends with Death holding his hand out to Rufus – offering death itself and the chance to see his wife again but at the same time signifies the end of their friendship as Death doesn’t know what happens after death and has no way of knowing – it’s just his job).

After discussing our drafts of the character biographies for our main characters, I began to think about Rufus’ background in detail. I like the idea of him holding a grudge against Death for taking his wife away, a grudge that only presents itself when Death tries to talk about her or perhaps reaches for a photo of he which he has up within his home (he has many). Death on the other hand, I imagine to be world-weary and cynical, though not humorous as depicted in many others pieces of media. I want Rufus and Death to have ‘real-life’ conversations that take serious turns and delve deep into their psyche, I want them to discuss the ramifications of death and whether it actually has any consequences or not in the grand scheme of things.

The appearance of Death is something I’ve been dwelling on for days now, and I feel like I’ve thought of a nice middle ground between fantasy and reality by looking towards other pieces of media. I began to look at my favourite pieces of gothic art, and realised the character of ‘The Sandman’ from Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series proved to be a perfect fit for Death, humanising the being whilst also keeping the sense of fantasy. The appearance of the Sandman himself was based upon ‘The Cure’ frontman and musician Robert Smith. His pitch black hair and sunken eyes/pale skin combination provides the perfect human character for the figment of Death – a subject I’m assuming has been closely linked to his image as much of his music is of the gothic rock genre. With this in mind I feel like I have my two characters ready, and can possibly begin working on story and structure elements.

‘Death in all his glory’

 

I began to look at different  types of graveyards in order to get an idea for the setting of my script. I want the cemetery to feel isolated and peaceful, yet for it to still remain in business meaning, unfortunately, a large populated surrounding area in which there will be future inhabitants. I like the idea of a hill in the countryside, as it allows for tranquility within the backgrounds and will provide a perfect sunset image at the end of each day which I could utilise within my script. As my entire script will take place within the cemetery, it needs to fulfill a role as a character in its own right. A small, converted chapel will also be on the grounds and act as Rufus’ home, allowing him to live on the cemetery and fully commit to the running of it as part of his daily routine. As for Rufus himself, I imagine a very elderly man, around mid-to-late 80s with a quiet, gentle demeanor to be the protagonist. I want Rufus to be frail yet still able to take care of himself, as he will have been doing so for ten years now. I want the loneliness to be eating away at him, making his exterior tough to break through for anyone else apart from Death.

For Death I believe I’d like someone with a little bit of a younger appearance. Possibly mid 40s. I’m torn though between wanting the traditional, cloaked figure with a scythe or just a regular member of the public. I feel as though the member of the public will provide a surprise to the audience, though I love the idea of Rufus, this old man, greeting an image we’re taught to fear like an old friend.

 

 

 

Today we pitched both our REgenerate scripts and our short film scripts to our groups using a small synopsis and garnered a critical evaluation of our concepts. I was rather pleased with the reaction to mine, as it seemed to be very positive, and meant that I could focus on developing the story and characters in time for the next script workshop instead of worrying the idea isn’t strong enough.

‘A character-centered script may or often may not adhere closely to such a paradigm’ (Horton, 1994, 95) – I knew I wanted my short script to be ‘narrative-lite’ and focus more on the characterisation of both the elderly man and Death himself. I began to look into how Death had been portrayed in other pieces of media. Within the work of Terry Pratchett, various cartoons and the play 100 by “TheImaginaryBody”, Death is shown to be a charismatic, comedic joker who funnily enough livens much of the material. I believe I’d prefer to stick to a more traditional personality for the character, a strong, brooding, quiet-type, not unlike the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I like the idea of, even with his occupation, he doesn’t know what happens after death, and that he’s just as curious as the humans are as to what happens to people and about the possibility of an afterlife. He could be incredibly wise in his old-age, and maybe had only begun talking to the old man out of sheer exhaustion at staying away from people for so long.

The old man is going to be widowed. That’s how he first knows Death but I’m thinking this will have happened long before the script takes place. I like the idea of them almost bonding over something so tragic and it could provide a nice starting point for some dialogue between the two. Mainly I want to try and research/think about how I want things to look. I want the feel of the script to be almost a mixture of light-heartedness and melancholy. We’ll have to see…

 

Horton, A. (1994) Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay. London: University of California Press.

I’m always drawn towards quite bleak or dark concepts when writing, and a lot of it is mostly from the films I watch and the books that I read. However, my current concept has a stranger origin. Before University I used to frequently visit the cinema in Ashford, Kent, and as it was an hours’ walk, I used to make a day out of it. On the way, I always used to pass a small cemetery, with a small refurbished chapel inside the cemetery itself that had become a house and was up for sale when I noticed it.  I knew that, because of the small surrounding area, the man who lived within the grounds also acted as both the groundskeeper and director of funerals (it was why he ended up living there for work reasons) and that apparently even some of the wakes were held within his home after the ceremonies themselves. I started thinking about the person who would live in the cemetery itself and how they’d operate the place, the type of people they’d meet.

The idea of Death himself playing a role is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, so I came up with the idea of an elderly, widowed man living and operating the cemetery and being greeted by Death as a common occurrence (he would of course be a kind of employer). As much as I love this new concept, I’m a little worried about using it for work when it’s something I’d enjoy so much working on that I’d rather it be a free-time thing, but I digress.

There are clear elements of Neil Gaiman’s novel ‘The Graveyard Book’ within the idea too, and my hope is to keep the concept strong throughout and have the short act more like a ‘slice of life’ drama with some small, light comical dialogue thrown in, perhaps not even telling the audience that this person visiting the old man is Death himself.