Wednesday 16 July 2008

Requiem. The Sir Peter Ustinov Rewrite.

I've just finished a very successful rewrite of Requiem and I'm buzzing a little bit. I received a disappointing 65% for the assignment a few days ago and despite not having my feedback i embarked on a rewrite. I knew why i received a lower than expected grade and what needed to be improved so I wasn't going into it blindly. The reason for the rewrite was to enter it into this year's Emmy script competition. The Peter Ustinov Award to be precised.

The deadline was yesterday and I only knew my mark four days ago. So the pressure was on and without a doubt it helped.

The entire rewriting process was incredible and especially for a script that I thought was near-enough locked down. I was surprised that it wasn't as tight and finalised as I thought. So it was a pleasure to be able to not only fully realise my vision to the page but to even go beyond that. Links and opportunities that I never considered before came out of nowhere. Clarity of action and descriptions improved four-fold. The most heartbreaking but subsequently rewarding part was in getting scenes to flow page by page and that's getting them to end at the end of a page or half-way through and not have little bits hanging over. A few scenes were extended due to this and ended up becoming real gems and adding to the overall script in ways that I couldn't have imagined. It's incredible. I can't wait for future rewrites if this is anything to go by.

The Emmy Competition;

I'm not completely sure if Requiem is suitable enough for the 'family audience' criteria or even what they're looking for. It's no run-of-the-mill script and I've even surprised myself with it so I'm not entering it half-heartily. At first I was excited at the script being entered and still am. But I thought the odds are stacked against me so I shouldn't get my hopes up. But the most important thing is that no matter what I'm proud as hell of my script and I'm looking forward to other people reading it and telling me what they thought and how the experience was for them.

'It's these scripts, characters and stories that give life to us...not the other way around.'

- Robert Yates (Giving Life. Post)

2 comments:

  1. Yo man, reading your laments on the competition here, I'm reminded of my same situation with it.

    Wrote a script that I hoped to enter, was a pilot for a family drama, which had elements of fantasy and science fiction within it. Yet I kept to the family side of things.

    Hoping to here back from them soon, but as a first competition entry, it's not the end of the world if I don't.

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  2. Your pilot entry sounds like an interesting mix. Good luck with it dude.

    Last year I don't even think I got conformation for my entry, so it may not have even got in, which would be something for a first entry! Although I'm still proud of the script that didn't get entered.

    Unfortunately I missed this year's entry but I've got an idea primed for existence for next year's, I just hope the drama isn't too bleak and won't rule out younger members of the target family audience. It would be nice to know how young they are and more about this 'family'. :)

    I agree, I think early on the success is in writing a completed script but hopefully someday that will change.

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