Research Dossier

Scripts that show good dialogue:

[1]Pulp fiction opening scene with annotations.

These are some scripts that show particularly well written dialogue and characters.


[2] 1. Inglourious Basterds: The introductory scene shows a conversation between a Nazi officer nicknamed "the Jew hunter" and a French farmer who is hiding Jewish refugees in his home. this scene stands out in terms of dialogue mainly due to the tension that is created throughout the scene. The back and forth between the farmer and the Nazi officer serves to create a constant tense atmosphere due to the characters conflicting beliefs and morals. The farmer starts with a calm and collected mentality but slowly loses control as the Nazi gets closer to finding out where the refugees are hiding.  [3] 2. Pulp fiction: The famous bible scene, where the two hitmen Jules and Vincent invade the apartment of some people who have gone against the wishes of Marcellus Wallace the hitmen's boss. This scene has some stand out dialogue because of the chemistry that is generated between the characters it is clear these two have some shared history, the lack of awkward pauses and friendly banter allows these two characters to seem more realistic and fleshes them out for the remainder of the movie.  [4] 3. No Country For Old Men: Gas station scene. Hitman Anton Chigurh visits a gas station and engages in a tense conversation with the proprietor eventually leading in to a coin toss for the mans life. This is a stand out scene in the movie because of the way it sets up the villain for the rest of the movie as well as the tension the scene creates. The conversation is almost uncomfortable to watch and shows how dangerous and unpredictable the villain can be. 
Short Films analysis.

[5] The Most Beautiful Thing: 


A short film about a lonely high school student who meets a deaf girl and falls in love with her. I enjoyed this short film because the concept was a twist on the typical love story and because one of the characters was deaf dialogue was limited but when it was used it had a larger impact.

[6] Time Trap:



A Sci-fi short about a lone traveler who gets stranded on a planet and needs to find a way to repair his ship. The character uses a device called the time trap to create 'time bubbles'  and step back into the past. I enjoyed this short because of the dark comedy and sci-fi elements it also presented a post apocalyptic earth (or earth like planet) without specifically stating what happened adding a level of ambiguity that allows for the audience to establish their own narrative to some extent.


Other media texts similar to my proposed idea:

Spaced: A British television series that follows a flat of quirky and unique characters, I took inspiration from Spaced in the way they create comedic situations in the limitations of a flat/apartment. 

What We Do In The Shadows: A comedy movie following the lives of a group of vampires living in the modern day. I took inspiration from the way they derived comedic elements from a vampire living in a modern world as well as the style of dialogue they use throughout the movie.



Audience research:

Survey Results:

Based on the survey results I feel like my movie could be a success with my audience as long as the comedy and supernatural elements are correctly established and balanced.

I have pitched my idea to multiple people and all of them have said it is interesting but I will need to further explore which kind of audience will best enjoy my idea.

Theme, Location and Characters:

Theme: As I previously mentioned a lot of inspiration comes from the movie 'What We Do In The Shadows' because of the similarities my idea shares with it. I want to employ the same theme and tone that is used in What We Do In The Shadows such as the dark comedy and sitcom esque moments that happen between the characters, on top of the horror undertones.

Location: Spaced gave me inspiration for the type of setting I want to use for my screenplay, because using a smaller more confined space allows for alot of the comedy to come from the interactions between the characters rather than things happening around them.

Characters: The two main characters in my screenplay draw inspiration from different sources stated below.

Scott: The inspiration for this character came mostly from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World to the point that the characters share a name. Scott is a lazy, awkward, typical teenager who spends most of his time watching TV.

Bryan: This character is not inspired by one particular person or character but instead draws from typical characters that are seen in the same genres, Bryan is a man who has only recently became a vampire so he is still adjusting to it's limitations. Bryan is also a big fan of horror movies and thus employs what he thinks a 'real' vampire should be like into his lifestyle.  

Bibliography:

[1] Pulp fiction script pdf downloaded from http://nxnwstudios.com/index_files/PDF/Scripts/Pulp%20Fiction.pdf

[2] Inglorious basterds script pdf downloaded from  http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Inglourious_Bastards.pdf

[3] Pulp fiction script pdf from same source as [1]

[4] No Country for old men script pdf downloaded from http://raindance.org/site/picture/upload/image/scripts/No_Country%20_(Shooting).pdf

[5] The Most Beautiful Thing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP8psM4LWXk

[6] Time Trap, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpmkpCK3ysg