Dialogue is a vital part of film. It can either benefit or detract from a story and is regarded as one of the most important parts of character building. In the Narrative 2 unit, we created screenplays, a shotlist, and a shooting schedule, ultimately leading to the shooting of our film.

Logline

A shy boy tries to make his way to a gas station.

The logline and pitch were heavily revised, and my partner and I decided to form a new story after the fact.

Synopsis

Milo and his friend (Shawn) are playing basketball in his front yard when Milo accidentally throws the basketball over to his neighbor’s (Lily) yard and it hits his neighbor’s car. He goes to pick up the basketball and notices that the windshield of the car is broken. He retrieves the ball and goes back into his house without doing anything. The next morning, as Milo is leaving for school, he hears Lily scream in frustration learning that her car has been broken. He quickly gets into his own car and tries to drive off to school, but Lily notices before he can leave. She runs behind the car, forcing Milo to stop and give her a ride to school. Milo complies and drives Lily to school on a very awkward road trip. Lily is upset about her car, while Milo drives silently thinking about his actions. Once they arrive at school, Lily exits the car and tells Milo that she’s going to need a ride back from school. Milo stares deadpan into his steering wheel. Shawn comes up to Milo and asks him who left his car. Milo explains the situation and Shawn thinks that Milo shouldn’t keep the secret. The next morning, Lily is waiting for Milo outside his car. Milo exits the house and sees that he has to drive Lily again. He hesitantly gets in the car and they drive to school. There is some conversation between the two as they drive to school together. This repeats for a few days and they grow closer together. At some point, Milo is talking to Shawn and Shawn tells Milo that he really has to confess that he damaged the car, but Milo still refuses. On one of the days, they go for a coffee after school and we see that they have grown really close. They drive back to Lily’s house and while they are parked, Milo confesses. Lily exits dramatically and admits that her car has been fixed for at least a day. The next morning, we see Milo driving alone for the first time. Once he arrives at school, he talks to Shawn about what happened. The next morning, Milo ends up going to Lily’s driveway and stands next to her car. Milo first apologizes to Lily and confesses his feelings for her. Lily accepts his apology because she cared more about the relationship they built than the windshield. They get into Lily’s car and drive to school together.

Dialogue Scene

Screenplay

Shot List

Shooting Schedule

Narrative Breakdown/Lined Script

Stripboard

Reflection

From the narrative unit, I learned so much about the different parts that go into creating a narrative film. Even though last year we created one, this year it must much more difficult employing actors, scheduling, writing the screenplay, and actually recording dialogue.