Dissertation Journal

 28th March  I have decided to start a new script alongside the one I've done already as I have a new approach I would like to test out. I want to change the high school setting to students at university instead, as I feel like the high school thing has been done before. Additionally, I want to give Tiffany some flashbacks where we slowly learn more about her past.  I think also having Tiffany work in a pub will allow more opportunity for misogynistic behaviour from men which will work in favour of the girls putting a curse on men. I think for the zombie curse I want the men to catch the virus by taking part in inappropriate behaviour toward women, i.e. touching a woman's bum and then the man coming out in a rash. This will be a montage scene where we see a descent into chaos as a lot of men start falling victim to the curse. However, they still need to pose a threat to the girls so they can fight back and also there needs to be a reason to break the curse or see how the ...

 23rd March  I've currently written seven pages, and I feel like I finally understand where my story is going.  I want to next write a party scene where Tiffany gets raped by Marquise and then leaves the party, she is a different person, angrier. I may need to go back over and make this switch more apparent but I want to get the bare bones of the script established first then go back and edit it.  Mike told me at our last session that I shouldn't worry too much about knowing my ending and the complete structure of the story and just get writing, even a little each day will help me ground my characters and formulate a plot from there. This was incredibly helpful as it was very daunting and overwhelming thinking that I had to have a complete story before writing. I guess every writer has a different approach and there's no right way to do it.  That being said I will need to ensure that my story follows the structure of having obstacles and incidents to drive the s...

 7th March  Read Everything, Everywhere all at once script for pacing and keeping the viewers attention with just the right amount of dialogue.  I have written down the first part of the story, but I am unsure where to go next with it as I haven't decided on an ending so I started to research ways of ending a story.  - what they want and what they need (sweet) - neither (bitter) -only what they need (semi-sweet) -only what they want (bittersweet) https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-end-a-story/ Additionally, I think I need to plan out the protagonists wants and needs in relation to the story to help develop it a little further. I'm struggling to decide whether developing the characters helps the plot or if the plot helps develop the characters, and this is stunting my progression as I don't know which would be best to focus on to create an ending.  https://kaneholder.com/blog/how-to-write-a-screenplay-in-6-weeks I will spend this week developing plot and ch...

 Thursday 2nd March  Looked at the Hedgehog Dilemma  - Henry 2015 film  Last of Us episode with two girls, thought worked better for structure and to create obstacles. Relationships and character would also be helped by this.  Still wanted to keep a similar themes of gender and revenge, but through a story about an disease outbreak that appears to only affect men. The disease would turn them into a zombie like being, displaying symptoms similar to PMS but on a more extreme level - mood swings, bloating, headaches, spotty skin, greasy hair, changes in appetite.  This is the result of a curse put on men who've participated in the harm towards women (disinhibited sexual behaviour, knowingly viewing non-consensual porn, being a bystander to predatory/violent behaviour, sexual assault, domestic violence etc.) The curse is related to the Balor of the evil eye, Irish folklore, now thought to be burned and in the Loch na Sul, Silgo Ireland.  https://www.irishc...

 Tuesday 14th February Haven't been able to make much progress because of head injury and having stitches. Revenge in different ways to just killing men - Greta and Tate pizzagate Links: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/10-biggest-cases-of-revenge.htm - Cases of revenge  https://www.innovation-creativity.com/free-revenge-ideas/ - Creative revenge

 2nd February 2023 Met with dissertation supervisor (Mike) for first chat.  Idiolect - how different people talk not dialect  Send him things every two-three weeks to discuss at meeting: part of script, mind map, things I've been watching/reading, problems etc.  Nil by Mouth (1997) - Gary Oldman director  Read news articles - what drew you to them Andrea Arnold - Fish tank, American Honey, Red Road