Monday, 1 December 2014

Script Writing: Re drafting to War

Over the weekend I decided to write a scene for when the young man gets re drafted to war. I thought there needed to be a gritty scene where the young couple seem to argue, with tension building, as it would create their romance to be more 3D, as no relationship is plain sailing.
I started by researching conscription to the army during WW2 to get the facts and figures.

http://www.historyonthenet.com/ww2/conscription.htm
This site was where I got the information of when conscription was introduced to Britain, where young men didn't seem to have a choice, many tried to appeal against it, around 60,000 appealed where among 18,000 was dismissed, which is quite a fairly large percentage, and  your reasoning to not join the army had to be a very good one. Not wanting to, simply wasn't an option. This gave me the reasoning to make Alfie feel compelled to open the OHMS letter, as he knew he had to choice but to go, it was pretty much a law now, and he had to comply, regardless of his feelings.

 http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWconscription.htm
This whole scene was based around the letter that is found in their home, so I wanted the letter to be read out, preferably by an antagonist, to allow reactions from the young couple without dialogue. This letter needed to have a likeness to what would have been written in those days, this website I found a load of primary sources which was based around conscription with the first world war. I knew are based in WW2, yet I  couldn't find an example from that period, and I thought that the letters context wouldn't have altered that much, they would still be about conscription.
The source I took quite a lot of inspiration and wording from was from King George 5th, statement issued on the 25th May 1916.
Its content had encouragement for soldiers, trying to bring higher spirits to the war. I liked that it was very factual, trying to be directly addressing and forming a relationship with its readers, yet everyone knowing what the sub meanings really were.
From there I wrote a letter that managed to capture that factual mood, these letters would have been sent to millions, all exactly the same just with the name at the top and bottom altered per person. I had the vision for it to be said in a very factual tone, nothing emotional, as the person sending it would have no emotion connection to the receiver and probably had more pressing matters on their mind.
The scene I enjoyed writing, it was exciting to add that tension atmosphere, giving the couple a rupture in their romance, a problem they both had to face with no choice. It would probably be in naturalism, because focus on the words would be a key fact.
I showed it to the company and got positive feedback, so its now a case of getting it on its feet and see how we can devise with and around it.

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