Documentary - Pre-production - Creating a script

A screenshot from our Documentary. 

As Director of the Documentary, I had an almost instantaneous idea of how I wanted it to look in my mind's eye.

I wanted it to be an observational, fly on the wall style piece, really getting a feel of what it's like to be inside the physical and mental space of the people and places on screen.

Our Documentary narrative was largely guided by the Contributors that we reached out to and because of this, it evolved rapidly and often unexpectedly in different directions. Initially, I had intended to try and explore the feelings of alienation that a Refugee might experience when moving to a foreign place.

It was also important to show the reverse of that and how alienation and despair can be alleviated by the kindess of others. It was a tale simple of understanding being Human and the many things that can entail, our collective experience that subverts the needs for shared language and cultural familiarities and taps into something that's rooted further down inside of us.

I thought of a 'best case scenario' and created the following script based on this.

AUDIO	VISUAL
Audio clips from News reports of the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, this moves forward in time, explaining the major points of the crisis and bringing us up to present day.	Corresponding News clips.
Diegetic sound.	We’re with a Ukrainian family in an over-occupied room. They watch subtitled British TV blankly.
V.O. + diegetic.    The Mother of the family (She has 2 Children, boys aged 5 and 9) speaks in Ukrainian of her experience in Ukraine and her journey to England. She speaks to us about how she feels about leaving a Husband at home, a brother too. She knows of Women who have stayed to fight, she feels that she could do more. She is wracked with extraordinary guilt and sadness and her concern for the place that she calls ‘Home’.	Subtitles run for the duration.     She dresses the younger boy and tries to entertain him with the toys that she has been given by the hosting family. They are in a large plastic container, worn and impersonal, but appreciated. The older boy looks out of the window into the garden. Next door, boys his age, maybe older, kick a football between each other. They prepare dinner, sharing the Kitchen space with the English family who is hosting them.    They communicate with smiles and hand gestures; they seek common ground by finding universal commonalities. They sit at a dinner table, awkward silences are unavoidable but are dealt with sensitively, exchanging silent signs of care and gratitude.
V.O. (CONT) + diegetic.    She speaks about her very brief experience in England so far; of generosity and kindness in a time of tremendous adversity.    She discusses the future, there is hope. She is driven by the love she has for her sons; she will raise them to be better men, she says.	She stands on an inflated mattress on the floor, the boys bounce on the bed and she holds their hands as they bounce and smile- every concern in the moment dissolving.    The boys are asleep, they share the single bed. The Mother, illuminated by the light of a phone, cannot sleep, she watches the boys, her mind is elsewhere.
Diegetic sound	It's early morning. We watch a lorry being loaded; it looks like it could fill a supermarket. This is an outpouring of support in a local community. The shutter on the back of the lorry is pulled closed.
V.O. + diegetic.    SHANE/OTHER CONTRIBUTOR    They speak of the effort that they’ve put in to help provide aid for those in Ukraine.	‘Fly on the wall’ POV.    We follow our contributor as they drive to pick up supplies, we see the impact that it’s had on them, their private spaces- living rooms, garages, stocked with supplies.
V.O. + diegetic.    The Contributor speaks about how it feels like a full-time job now. They haven’t been able to focus on the usual aspects of their life. It’s worth it though, they say, to be able to help people who need it. They tell the audience about how fortunate they are to have the privilege of helping. They also, are hopeful that this doesn’t get much worse.	The Contributor sits at a computer, they are planning. Raising funds, managing logistics, the lid of the laptop is closed. The lights are turned off.
V.O. + diegetic.    Ganna, a Russian woman who has lived in the UK for 25 years, is hosting a Ukrainian family in a property that she owns in Italy.    She explains how since the War has begun; she is ashamed to speak Russian in public and believes people's attitudes toward her have changed.    She discusses updates with the Ukrainian family that she is hosting.	Wide shot. Ganna sits in an immaculate house, a wide-open space at a table with a laptop in front of her.
V.O. is intermittent between the conversation taking place on the laptop.	Ganna speaks to the Ukrainian family in Italy via video link on the laptop.
V.O. + diegetic.     She knows of Russians in her family who have fled the Country. Her Brother, a successful Psychologist in St. Petersburg, has left with his 20-year-old Son and 10-year-old Daughter. He was afraid that his Son would be conscripted.    They fled South to Georgia, where he is currently living in a cramped apartment. The apartment is $2000 a month, much more than the average price. There are people profiteering from the War and punishing others because they are Russian, she says.    Ganna tells us of her Father who lives in Russia. ‘We don’t speak about the War’ she says. There is a lot of paranoia around phone tapping and surveillance. She says there are people being stopped and searched in Russia, their phone’s being checked for any anti-war thinking, this being considered anti-establishment and potentially leading to criminal charges.	Ganna continues with her day, she makes phone calls with her Dad. We hear Russian, non-translated. The emotion from Ganna conveys the message.
Musical score -      Ludovico Einaudi  Nils Frahm  Ry X - Instrumentals	Lingering portrait shots of those involved in the Documentary, The Ukrainian family, one by one, looking into the camera. The UK contributor. Ganna.     Fade out.

 

This idea was not what came to be our final Documentary, but many of the same thematic and stylistic choices were still very much there. The feeling of being on the inside was important and our final script informed our shot choices and how our edit chronology might look.

I enjoyed creating the script, I found something gratifying about creating the very best version of something and then trying to apply that in a real-world scenario. Inevitably, you end up stripping it back and picking out the parts that were achievable, realistic and most of all meaningful. It made for an interesting approach and meant that although you'd planned for what you had hoped was the best case, often, unexpected things happen that you simply cannot have planned which feels incredibly rewarding. As somebody who is very much focussed on the visuals, it also very much helped to move beyond the initial 'Minds eye' thought and begin to put it down on paper and sculpt something that I felt was really happening in front of me.

You can also read my initial script practice for a Naturist Hotel (That got your attention), here:

Naturist Hotel Script