The Outline

Here is the basic outline for the short film! The outline covers the basic character design, sequencing of the story with what happens at each plot point, and other extra details as well. 

Characters

To begin with, we have the characters. The protagonist is written in the fictional script to be the perfect main character that everyone would desire to be like. The idea behind this is that the narrator wrote his personality to be flawless, which makes the main character upset because he had no choice in the matter. By having a perfect protagonist want to reject his personality and story to instead choose it for himself, a dynamic contrast is developed and establishes the main character’s want to break off from the script. Next is the narrator, who is the puppet master behind the script and the antagonist in the short film. These two will clash with each other in a very comedic manner as they fight over who is in control of the narrative.

Fictional Film 

To continue, this is a short description of the fake movie script that the narrator wrote and the protagonist disagrees with. We thought it would be a good idea to start creating the stage in which the short film would take place on, and decided it would make most sense to make it a cheesy coming of age film. This also harkens back to the original idea we had of incorporating cliches from these teen movies to point out how ridiculous they can be. We jotted down a couple of ideas of generic scenes we could use in the production.

Outline

Last but not least, the outline of the short film itself. It begins with a stylistic technique we coined the “Shrek Opening”. This is in reference to the way the film begins with a storybook flipping open, as we thought it would be pretty funny if we did something similar but instead with the script. 

Stills from the opening of Shrek.

From here the film will have graphics on screen of the script, with the scene description being read by the narrator. When it comes time for the protagonist to read their line, he intentionally messes it up, and the film cuts from the text graphics to the actual scene itself. The protagonist announces that they are “not a fan of this script” and are “going to make some changes”. This is where the title of the film will pop up, which as of now is dubbed Cutting Room Floor. The name is a reference to the process where filmmakers remove content out of their movies and would literally cut rolls of film out and let the remains drop onto the ground, hence the cutting room floor. It fits well as the film is all about the protagonist changing the script to control his own narrative. The rest of the film will continue with different scenes in the script being ruined by the main character and the narrator annoyed at his rebellious nature. The final act of the film has the narrator confront the protagonist and question his motives. At this climax, the main character blatantly states that they want the authority to be responsible for their narrative instead of following one that was written by someone else. This leads to the conclusion of the film, which is the narrator physically stepping onto the screen and handing the protagonist the script to the film. We had the idea that the final shot could be the camera tilting up and revealing that the main character has become the protagonist and is the one giving the script, which illustrates that they have become in control of their narrative.

With this outline in good shape, it is finally time to begin writing the screenplay. Oliver said he was going to start drafting it later tonight, so I will update you guys tomorrow. Stay tuned!