From Script to Screen #3 - Preparations

With the writing of our film well underway, the focus of the team shifted. We needed props. We needed locations. And most of all, we needed actors.

Our prop master offered to provide us with some of his father’s survival gear – tents, ghillie suits, and the like. What’s more, one of the writers, having some experience with graphic design, offered to design some prop posters to be used in one scene. The rest of the props could be either easily bought or easily improvised. As for location, we decided a group room in the catalyst would be suitable for the talking heads scenes, whereas Ruff Woods, a woodland behind campus, would be perfect for our ‘wilderness’ skits. Our producer went about inquiring into filming rights in these locations. With both props and locations out of the way, we now had to worry about actors. Having known an actor beforehand, I proposed her for one of the roles, while the director got several others in on the project.

Finally, with our first draft written and compiled, and our potential actors ready to join the fray, we all met together to pitch the idea to them. It turned out to be a startling success! The actors seemed to grasp the roles pretty well and engaged with the story, even laughing along with us and offering their take on the story. We allocated roles (our main actor seemed born to portray Wolf), and had a quick read-through of the script. Despite it highlighting a few areas that needed a bit of TLC, the read-through was a great success, and we once again went away in high spirits.!

The writing team would edit and polish the script based off feedback. The director would organize character workshops for the actors. The producer was organizing a schedule and budgeting, and the prop master was coming up with even more great resources. Things were going well. Amazingly well. Perhaps even too well...