Scriptly Writing Pt 2

Hey all you cool cats and kittens! If you're reading this the day it goes out then I shall start with an apology. Sorry, it's been a while since my last post, I've been busy working on some other projects. In the future, you'll see what those projects are, but for now, let's focus on Blogging! I guess it goes without saying that if you are reading this at a later date then the apology is redundant. Anywho, for this post we return to covering the Scriptly Writing Challenge I undertook in the Autumn of 2020.

First up a little recap since my first Scriptly Writing Post came some time ago. Scriptly Writing was put on by The Literal Challenge; a writing community that specialises in quick-fire writing challenges. The Scriptly Writing Challenge rolled out in the Autumn of 2020 and the goal was simple, 14 Screenplays in 14 days. With each day came a different brief and as I said in Part 1 of the Scriptly Writing Series this was a perfect opportunity for me to get my head down and get some content written.

The 1st Brief centred on the world of dance. In my effort titled 'Zoom Dance,' I took inspiration from the world of Lockdown to see what implications that would have on date night for a young married couple.

So what was the 2nd Brief?

The date of the 2nd Brief was the anniversary of the death of two very famous individuals. The first being Edith Piaf, the singer most famous for 'La Vie en Rose.' The second being Orson Welles, a titan of cinema famous for many glorious works. The brief demanded that your Screenplay had to be inspired by these two individuals and/or celebrate their legacy.

Now, this will be the first example of me taking the brief in this challenge and going a bit left-field with my interpretation so here goes. My first thoughts were to simply use 'La Vie en Rose' and have it play out over significant imagery, but I quickly discarded this idea as I thought it was a bit easy. However, I still wanted to take inspiration from the song and its general meaning, so I headed to Google to dig out an English translation of the song. After pouring through the translated lyrics the basic message of the song revealed itself to be a profound love letter, describing a love so pure that it makes everything else better. That was a least my interpretation of the song.

So how did I get Orson Welles involved? Well, I'm a profound lover of Film Noir and Welles often featured in Noir throughout his career; starring in 'The Third Man' & 'A Touch of Evil.' As a result of this, I decided to go down the Noir route. I also love the video game 'LA Noire' set in late 40's LA. So this gave me a setting. The next challenge was how to marry the setting and style of 'LA Noire' with the influence of 'La Vie En Rose.'

I did this by following a Bank Robber on a jewellery heist. Throughout the heist my central protagonist narrates, professing his profound love for criminal activity. As the heist progresses so does his infatuation with the activity. However, tragedy befalls him and he is incarcerated for his actions. After the jail cell doors close in front of him we jump forward ten years to his release. His last lines being a repeat of those uttered at the beginning of his heist: "This is my life. And I'm all in."

So, you can see the link between inspiration and creation right? Well, I hope you can. In essence, the meaning and story of 'La Vie en Rose' became the narration performed by my central protagonist. The link between Welles and my piece is far easier to clarify, with the Noir setting and style incorporated throughout.

So there you have it, the brief, my interpretation and inspiration and ultimately the end product. I really enjoyed this brief as I ended up with a neat little Script focussing on a genre I have a lot of passion for. Not only that, It is a piece that I wouldn't mind returning to in the future. Who knows, maybe I will. Stick around in the future because there are plenty more Scriptly Writing Briefs that I need to cover and I look forward to sharing them with you!