Major Project: Second Sequence Progress

Here is my progress on the second sequence of my story.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, the entire arena is in shock. The yellow flag is waved to signal the race has been halted, and all the other drivers come to a stop and switch off their engines. As they get out of their cars, they all look at each other in disbelief, and then all stare intensely at the flaming wreck that was once John’s car. They are all in complete shock, but unlike the crowd, there are not in disbelief, as this is banger racing, and whilst a driver dying is incredibly rare, it is not unheard of, as it is a contact sport after all. Aidan and Ted are still trying to fight their way through the enormous crowd to get to John, even though they both know in their hearts that John is already dead.

Major Project: Pre Writing

Today I have been pre writing one of the sequences in my script, It is the sequence at the start of the script where Aidan's brother John is killed in a banger racing accident. Here is my progress so far:

Banger race at the start

It is a nice sunny day at Essex Arena. It is warm too, so there is a capacity crowd for the last banger racing event of the 2004 season. Aidan Garrett is in attendance, along with his father Ted, to watch his brother John competing. The day has been a big success so far with John winning the majority of the races he has taken part in. Now though, it is the last race of the day, and the crowd is eager for it to get underway. As is the way with these things, the crowd starts chanting and singing as the race is about to begin. The commentators are trying to gee up the crowd. The race begins in a blinding cloud of dust and a deafening roar of sound from the car engines. The first few laps pass without incident, other than a few bumps and scrapes, which are par for the course, naturally, as this is banger racing. John pits for some more fuel and some new tyres. He is extremely confident about his chances in this race. As he gets back on track, the intensity of the racing steps up a notch. Everyone is baying for blood. John is becoming rather nervous, and is also starting to become sweaty where he has been in the car for a long time and it is very hot. Several other drivers take calculated swipes at the rear end and passenger side of John’s car. He manages to fend them off with some skilled driving, but he can’t help but become ever more nervous about what he is involved in. As the race nears its conclusion, he begins to regain confidence, and begins increasing the pace of his driving to match the increase in his confidence. It is on the next lap that things go horribly wrong. It starts normally enough, with John in the lead and with his car in considerably better shape than the one immediately behind him. However, as John attempts to take the final turn before the checkered flag, he knows something is wrong. He attempts to steer into the corner, but the car goes straight on, and before he can do anything, the car is heading for the wall. Without deviating from its course at all, John Garrett’s Granada ploughs into the outer perimeter wall at Essex Arena at 50 miles per hour.  As the car collides with the wall, it is crumpled and bent almost beyond recognition.

        

Major Project: Inspiration for my script

To give me some inspiration for my script, I have read the first 20 pages of the script to 1990's Days of Thunder. This has given me inspiration as the way it is written is vastly different to the way I have been writing mine. The description is a lot more effective in allowing the reader to imagine what is happening. It has helped me realise how my script needs to be written to be effective.

Days of Thunder Script

Major Project: Pre Writing

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been completing the pre writing for my script for my project Sweet Oblivion. During this process, I found pre writing to take a lot longer than I had anticipated, mainly due to the fact that I was unhappy with what I had done so I kept on altering it until I was satisfied with it. I have now started scripting, as I have completed a couple of sequences for the first 20 minutes of the film. Once I am satisfied with these and have been given the appropriate feedback, I will continue with my script.

Major Project: Reflection on Feedback

After my tutorial today, there are a few areas that I need to improve regarding my story. There are several grey areas in my plot at the moment. These include the following:

• Giving a reason as to why Aidan gets involved in drifting in the first place
• The garage he works in assists in the preparation of drift cars
• Perhaps he is down on his luck and this is why he sets off on his journey?
• There has to be a more definitive reason for John's death. Either his dad did cause it or he didn't
• Have a more cast iron reason for why Aidan goes motor racing in the first place
• Keeps it a secret from his father until he has a serious crash and his father demands to know how and why it happened
• The idea of film footage of John's death is a good idea. Requires more development
• Condense the timeline and set the events over less than a year

Major Project: Character Profiles

Name: Aidan Garrett

Gender: Male

Age:  30

Physical Appearance: 5ft10, fairly broad build, brown hair, brown eyes. 

How does the character feel about his appearance: He is happy with his appearance, does not lack self confidence.

Describe the character’s childhood in terms of:

a)    Relationship to parents – Good relationship with both parents, when he was younger, but his mother cheated on his father when he was 15, so now he no longer sees his mother.

b)   Relationship to siblings – Excellent relationship with his brother John, however John was killed in a banger racing accident when he was 22 and Aidan was 20.

c)    Relationship to other key people from his youth – Covered in relationship with his family.

d)   Lifestyle while growing up – Aidan was a bit of a teen tearaway, was in a lot of trouble in his later years in school, perhaps due to his parents splitting up.

e)    Education – See above.

f)     Childhood activities – Attending motorsport events with his father to watch his brother racing.

g)    Location – In and around Essex, predominantly Arena Essex.

Describe the characters current relationships with:

a)    Parents – No longer sees his mother, has a good relationship with his father but this has it’s ups and downs as the story progresses.

b)   Siblings – Older brother, killed in a motor racing accident.

Describe the character’s romantic life and any relevant background: Ends up dating the daughter of the owner of the garage he works at.

Does the character have children? If not, how does he feel about children? N/A

What is the character’s occupation: Mechanic at a garage located near Arena Essex.

Describe the character’s philosophy of life: He was a teen tearaway when he was younger, now that he is older he has got himself more focused and has a steady job. Despite his brother’s death he still enjoys life as much as he can.

Sum up the main aspects of the character’s personality: Happy go lucky, friendly sort of bloke, he gets on with most people, he is a hard worker and enjoys his job.

What is this character proud of? He is proud of how well his dad coped after his brother’s death, and he is proud of how he has turned his own life around and is now living a steady life.

What is this character ashamed of? He is ashamed of his past and the things he got up to when he was younger, but now believes he has turned a corner.

What is his state of health? He is a healthy man and has no medical issues.

How intelligent is he or she? He is fairly intelligent in his specialist area, which is cars. He has a HNC in Vehicle Maintenance.

Name: Ted Garrett

Gender: Male

Age:  56

Physical Appearance: 6ft, slim build, brown hair, brown eyes. Going bald, moustache.

How does the character feel about his appearance: He is happy with his appearance, but he is a tad self conscious.

Describe the character’s childhood in terms of:

a)    Relationship to parents – Good relationship with parents, brought up in a stable family home.

b)   Relationship to siblings – N/A – only child.

c)    Relationship to other key people from his youth – Covered in relationship with his family.

d)   Lifestyle while growing up – Nice person, always wanted to do well in school, went to college.

e)    Education – See above.

f)     Childhood activities – Attending motorsport events with his friends, dreaming of the day he could participate.

g)    Location – In and around Essex, predominantly Arena Essex.

Describe the characters current relationships with:

a)    Parents –N/A – both dead.

b)   Siblings – N/A

Describe the character’s romantic life and any relevant background: Ted was married until his wife cheated on him, he is now divorced.

Does the character have children? If not, how does he feel about children? Ted had two sons, John and Aidan, however John is no longer around after being killed in a motor racing accident.

What is the character’s occupation: Recovery truck driver. This occupation comes in handy as the truck is used to transport Aidan’s drift car.

Describe the character’s philosophy of life: He has led a fairly simple life, he is happy to just do his job and support his son in any way he can.

Sum up the main aspects of the character’s personality: Happy go lucky, friendly sort of bloke, he gets on with most people, he has passed these qualities on to his son.

What is this character proud of? He is proud of how well his son Aidan has turned out, as he has got himself a steady job and is enjoying it.

What is this character ashamed of? He is ashamed of what he perceives to be his part in his eldest son’s death. However, all is not as it seems, as revealed later on.

What is his state of health? He is a healthy man and has no medical issues.

How intelligent is he or she? He is fairly intelligent in his specialist area, which is motor vehicles. He runs his own car recovery business.