A new season rolls around after our summer break - a gap in meetings that I hope was filled with the scratching of quills and a spatter of ink. We shall see.
Attendees: FB, SN, AP, JW, SC
Read: Sountrack (AP short); Comfort Food episode 2: 'Peach Cobbler' (SN web series episode)
Soundtrack tells the story of Molly, a seemingly care-free lass who goes about her day (breakfast; work; swooning over a boy on her lunch breaks) with rhythm and poise, until a change in her daily soundtrack has her reeling. The little things are thrown out of kilter; will it prove for the good?
This was a charming piece, praised roundly for sticking firmly to the parameters of the story without need for explanation or exposition. We bought into the conceit of the piece immediately and were concerned then with the interplay between character and situation, rather than the 'science' (or otherwise) of how Molly's world worked. Particularly with this piece, there were the standard what-ifs prompted by a good script that left its audience with questions. Some simple polish from this second draft to a third would not go amiss, but it was comforting to hear how Alli was confident with the concept and keen to ensure it was not too strongly diluted by over-analysis or trying to do too much within 10 pages.
Speaking of comfort, Sandy's Comfort Food tells the story of Luke and Liyana, a couple trying to make their relationship work long distance by scheduling time together on the phone when they both cook the same dessert. Luke is a seasoned cook, it would seem, and his particular attention to detail clearly translates to his own worries and peculiarities in the relation: he's a stickler for things being right, for making the right amount of effort. Liyana, conveniently by contrast, is much more at ease with winging it, and therein lies our drama. We watched episode one online, before reading the script for this episode. It's a strange thing, to watch/listen to a private conversation, with its own rhythms and intimacies, its in-jokes and self-references, and feel at once both entertained by it and aware of the transgressive position of us as audience. We talked about the difficulties of filming such conversations, and how the humour on paper might translate to the screen. We also inevitably wanted to look ahead: should a third character enter the drama? Would the threat of separation, of the failure of the relationship, be essential to sustain interest? Sandy is trying not to follow overused conventions for narrating the story of this particular coupling, and it will be interesting to see how that works out. With filming due in January, there's plenty of time for us to take a look at further episodes and how the story takes shape.
Thanks again to all who contributed and attended.
Speaking of comfort, Sandy's Comfort Food tells the story of Luke and Liyana, a couple trying to make their relationship work long distance by scheduling time together on the phone when they both cook the same dessert. Luke is a seasoned cook, it would seem, and his particular attention to detail clearly translates to his own worries and peculiarities in the relation: he's a stickler for things being right, for making the right amount of effort. Liyana, conveniently by contrast, is much more at ease with winging it, and therein lies our drama. We watched episode one online, before reading the script for this episode. It's a strange thing, to watch/listen to a private conversation, with its own rhythms and intimacies, its in-jokes and self-references, and feel at once both entertained by it and aware of the transgressive position of us as audience. We talked about the difficulties of filming such conversations, and how the humour on paper might translate to the screen. We also inevitably wanted to look ahead: should a third character enter the drama? Would the threat of separation, of the failure of the relationship, be essential to sustain interest? Sandy is trying not to follow overused conventions for narrating the story of this particular coupling, and it will be interesting to see how that works out. With filming due in January, there's plenty of time for us to take a look at further episodes and how the story takes shape.
Thanks again to all who contributed and attended.
No comments:
Post a Comment