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Some of the core inspirations for A Loves Bite include movies and TV shows such as, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Interview With A Vampire. However the greatest inspiration for this script was the book Carmilla (1872) by Author Sheridan Le Fanu, a gothic novel about a lesbian romance between a woman and a vampire.

This books influence mattered so much to the script and myself that I paid homage by naming one of my characters Laura, which is the name of the books protagonist.

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The messages and themes of this script are its identity. I based all of these themes off of some of my personal experiences as well as those from my loved ones. All themes are all things that I am passionate about, some of these include:

-Self Expression

-Self Identify

-Self Acceptance

-Queerness

-Feminism

When writing this script I always knew I wanted to have a queer couple as the protagonists, not only to be faithful to my inspiration, but also because when watching media I have noticed the lack of representation for queer women. I wanted this script and film to give a representation of queer women that is not perverse or sexual. An unfortunate truth about queer women in media is that a lot of the representation has been over sexualised for a male gaze.

As a queer person with lots of queer friends I made sure to keep this film as far from sexual as possible, especially as a male writer writing a same sex female couple. Unlike other queen stories I wanted to make this one different, I wanted to make the queerness of the story normalised instead of the focus and I didn't want this to be a coming out story. I wanted to normalise the queerness instead of making a spectacle out of it like a majority of queer media.

Vampires themselves can represent outcasts and the unwanted of society, this is why gothic subcultures and the queer community can relate so much with them, as we know what it is like to be different or feel like an outcast.

I wanted to give a positive representation for another marginalised group, the homeless. Very commonly homeless characters in media are portrayed very poorly, usually as a drunken comic relief or dangerous. This is not always the case in media, as there are cases of positive representation within cinema, however with this film I wanted to portray a homeless character in a positive way. I wanted to give a voice to those who struggle to speak.

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The first conception of A Loves Bite happened in my second year of university for my screen writing module. This original version was created to be a 30 minute TV special, I knew that this would never be made. This was the first time I ever wrote a full script, it had its problems but I and our director Mara completely fell in love with the concept and messages of this story.

Mara and I both knew that in 3rd year we would be able to make a short film for our video project, as soon as I knew this I got straight to work.

This original script had an extreme amount of problems, I was still learning about how to write a script when creating the first script. I was so inexperienced that I accidently neglected to give it a title page or official name. My negligence and unfamiliarity made this script, in my eyes a complete failure of a script. However, as mentioned I loved the concept for this script and was able to come up with a better plot while strengthening the core themes and ideas.

I was able to gain more experience with writing during the radio comedy project, a project in which I was able to write multiple sketches, most of which made it in the final show. This boosted my confidence as a writer as well as giving me a grasp on how to write an entertaining scene. I also read the screen writing book 'Save The Cat' which gave me a better understanding on how to write a script.

With a better understanding of screen writing I started to get to work on writing the new script based on this one. I did this to turn this script from a 30 minute TV special into a 15 minute short film, all while creating new characters and plot points to fit this short film format as well as creating something new and unique instead of simply copying an old script I worked over the summer to create this new script, in which gave birth to the script, 'A Love's Bite'.

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The pitch was extremely intimidating to me, never having done a pitch before I was naturally nervous. I decided that, despite usually being advised against, a script would benefit me immensely, as I usually ramble when trying to make a point or during a presentation, and I knew that a script would help prevent me from doing this.

I immediately got to work on crating a script to help me make sure each of my segments are straight to the point and quick, even highlighting the words blue to make it easier for me to read.

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During pre-production I was mainly focused on working with the actors to help them develop their characters, as well as giving them their characters context within the plot, I especially needed to clarify how the characters would be feeling in certain scenes. I also gave them direction on how to deliver certain lines.

I also was requested to work on the script further, due to spelling errors and requested line changes from the directors.

I improved the script as well as printing off the complete and final draft for every member of the group.

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During post production, I was given the opportunity to re-write a segment from the book Carmilla and record it in the New Adelphi Voice acting studio. This was for a moment within scene 10 in which a vampire film is playing on the TV.

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This script is riddled with metaphors that define itself. There are large moments in which I have used subtext and metaphors, the most prevalent example being that of Veronica's vampirism. I have written Vampirism as a metaphor for life changing news or events, including things such as an important diagnosis, loss of a limb, etc, something relatable to myself as well as audiences, as we all have our own vampirism that affects us. With the rest of the plot representing how people will process this news or events, and how you're loved ones will react and adjust to these changes. The ending being that Laura accepts Veronica for whom she is, and the glass of wine and blood representing how they will adjust together as a couple.

One scene in particular that was hard to write especially keeping in mind the subtext was scene 6.

This scene is the catalyst, the big event, the life changing moment for Veronica that changes her as a character. But to me this scene is so much more than a part of the script, in fact it is a metaphor for something even more scary than a an encounter with a vampire.

Scene 6 is a metaphor for violence against women, statistics show that 1 in 4 women will face domestic or sexual violence within their lifetime. This scene in which The Stranger attacks Veronica represents this male violence upon women, and akin to real attacks, nearly all victims feel powerless like Veronica does in this scene. As mentioned before vampirism is a metaphor for any life changing news or event and how it affects the victim as well as their relationships. Veronica's vampirism is a metaphor for assault and the aftermath is her processing what has happened to her.

While being a metaphor I still wanted to make Veronica a vampire within the film to fit the context of the film.

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Here is a mood board and character synopsis of all the major characters:

Veronica (Protagonist)- An insecure but bubbly individual. She often hides parts of her true self, especially with her girlfriend Laura. This comes from her own worries about being different and standing out. However when transformed into a vampire she feels the desire to express her true self further, even while hiding her new circumstances.

Laura (Secondary Protagonist)- A witty and extroverted person. Laura is less anxious than her girlfriend Veronica and would rather make a silly insight rather than worry about the little things. Despite this she still worries that Veronica isn't expressing herself as much as she can. This is what makes Laura debate whether she should propose to Veronica.

Pat (Supporting Character)- A jolly and wise soul, who despite spending many years on the streets, still has a positive outlook on life. A true movie buff at heart and isn't shy to say so. Would rather crack jokes and smile than frown.

The Stranger (Antagonist)- A creepy and threatening man. Despite being well dressed, he is not afraid to be vulgar. He is a blood thirsty creature of the night, who loves manipulation games. He has no moral compass.

Lyn (Side Character)- Lyn is Veronica's co-worker and good friend. A cynical type who says thing like they truly are. He usually only cares about his friends, giving them a tough love rather than conventional.

Pat as a character was initially created as a 'Save The Cat' moment, something I learnt from the book 'Save The Cat! The Last Book On Screen Writing You'll Ever Need' (2005) by Blake Snyder. A moment in which the protagonist does a good deed, such as saving a cat, to make the audience see the protagonist in a positive light and creating a connection to them. I then thought to myself, why can't Pat be a relevant character? I was easily able to ingrain Pat within the plot and while keeping this 'Save the Cat' moment, I was able to make Pat a fully fledged character, being an almost comic relief, but not making fun of them, and instead giving them a playful personality.

The script was very tightly packed and I was happy with all of the characters, feeling no need to add any unscary characters. This is why I found it be be challenging when I was told that I must add two new characters due to the amount of actors in our group. Luckily they did not need more than one line, this factor helped ease my concern that the script would not be too overcrowded. I created Blair and Alex to each further show a physical advancement of Veronica's character development or the themes.

Blair was created as a character related to goth culture, and being a gothic person complimenting Veronica matters later in the script. Firstly it defeats the stereotype that all goths are either mean or scary because they are part of that culture, and secondly with a goth character complimenting Veronica, whom is unsure about embracing the gothic side of them, it makes her feel at ease about dressing in a gothic fashion and embracing the culture, which is shown later in the script in which she wears a gothic dress and makeup, which in turn is a visual showing of her character development.

Alex was created to show the stakes of Veronica's vampirism, to show that this truly did affect her and shows the negative side of her transformation. Scene 10 also conveys this, however the audience is able to see the full impact and negatives with being a vampire. This also shows that Veronica herself is a good person, being able to resist her vampiric urges, making the audience further sympathise with her struggles.

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Fenu, L, S. (1872). Carmilla.

Snyder, B. (2005). Save The Cat! The Last Book On Screen Writing That You'll Ever Need.