Annotating an Existing Script

One of the key elements of my planning for my short film will be to produce a script in order to bring my idea to life. Looking at existing scripts has shown me how to set them out and want to include, for example dialogue, direction and information about the setting. It is important that the writer of a film or television piece includes as much detail as possible in the script so that the director has as much to come from to create his own artistic interpretation. Even though I am writing, directing and filming my short film, it is still vital that I make my script (and storyboard) as detailed as possible to ensure a smooth-running production schedule and not waste the time of the actors who, as conventional to short independent film, are not professionals so it will be beneficial for us all for me to be as organised and prepared as possible with my pre-production materials. 

I found two short film scripts on the internet and read and annotated them to see what kind of connotations I got from the dialogue, direction and character/location descriptions. Then I wanted to see how I could use these to create visuals through the use of cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and sound. I decided to annotate scripts from unproduced films so that my ideas were not influenced by the original films themselves. 

I first looked at an extract from "Addiction", written by Anthony Hudson.

The second script I looked at was an extract from "22", written by James Grant.

I found that because both of the scripts were well detailed and offered me lots of information about character, setting and the narrative itself, this made my job (as, in this case, a director and cinematographer) a lot easier because it allowed the creative ideas I had come to me naturally as I imagined the story unfolding in my head as I went through the scripts. I think the fact that I knew the conventions of form and genre in short films after having researched it made this process a lot more natural too as I knew what kind of 'image' I needed to create in order for it to be a conventional short film and therefore engaging for the audience.