On the second act

So there's a lot of the script I'm trimming down. I'm not writing Lord of the Rings so hopefully a rewrite will happen things up in the future.

With all this being said, I have to keep the chain events extremely logical within the context of the world. A WW2 epic is expected to have action that makes sense. While I'm not revising or changing things, at the end of each scene, I have to just check the logistics of the events and where my protagonist is.

Update

So, right now I'm working on Act 2. it's been a slow process, but I've definetly come a long way. Today, I took the time to do some research. I realized that the world I was creating around the WW2 battle was lacking detail and description. I started second guessing myself earlier and I wondered why..well, I think it's because while I've stopped rewriting before the first draft, the story changed and thus the locations changed.

In Act 2, my character has to go through a lot. Going behind enemy lines is one thing, getting him behind there is another. I reserached until I found a very small moment in the Battle of France where the German troops destroy two British Army divisions and take over the Somme river. This lead to the battle of Arras (the headquarters and city of my main characters division), where my main character goes behind enemy lines.

I was able to find the plot by thinking outside of the box and thinking forward.

Can't wait to finish this Act!

Back from Meeting

So, I thought I'd just post down a few notes on the meeting I had:

-) Finish treatment for benefit of script

-) have the first 10 pages done by the end of next week

-) Go deeper into the main character bio. Flesh out his motive that leads to the nature of his actions.

I'll write more later. There's a lot to marinate on. Most important thing? Hand in the pages.

The First Blog Post

As a screenwriting student, one of my biggest fears has been letting go of making the first draft, treatment, and pitch look perfect. Fears have always consumed the writing process for me. It's gotten to the point where support feels un-natural to some degree. Up until the start of this quarter, I was reading at a very low rate. This wasn't always the case, as in high school and middle school, I sped through books with full comprehension. As life issues got in the way, I stopped reading over the years.

Coming back this term though, something snapped. I listened to my teacher in Literature for Screenwriters and while I heard that writers read more than they write, it hit deeper than ever. I set aside my skills for too long, thinking that I wasn't good enough. Well, these last quarters will be the ones that change that. It may be rough at first, but that's how I learn. Go all out.

I decided that this year, I will do my best to let go of that fear and build my craft instead of learning information that I believed I could never use or learn from.

No more fear of deadlines, and no more fear of keeping my progress a secret. I know this blog post is late within the first term of senior project. I promise to not let this happen again. I will keep updates of my progress, frusterations, ideas all here.

So without further interruption..

Dunkirk

What's the story? The story is WW2 epic about Anthony Banning, a 20 year old college student from the UK finds himself as an infantry soldier in France who, after joining the army for a nobel cause, must discover the reality of war as escape to the town of Dunkirk while hiding from Hitler's army in the Battle of France.

Film Description:

Where am I in the process?
The script was started today.  The treatment for ACT 1 and the main character have been handed in.

Struggles?
1)establishing the world of the character over keeping it real. Since the Battle of Dunkirk was a real event, my issue maybe that I rely to much on history to tell its story instead of telling my own. What's important for me is to keep everything consistent.

2) Setting up for the Second Act. Having an event that moves the character and plot forward.

3) Construction of Supporting characters.

Promises
2) Since starting late in the process, I intend to have the first draft finished by Week 8.

Any advice and suggestions are welcomed.