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Sometimes if an actor would not turn up to set due to reasons out of our control, I would have to change the script and what direction the script ran in. For example, for scene 5 where Matt and Ophelia met before the sexual assault, it had to be changed that Matt would be a character that Ophelia would not know at all and he pushed himself onto her in the street taking advantage of her vulnerability.

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23rd of January-
This day we organised a meeting between myself, Elena and Frankie to gather ideas over what we wanted from the script before the pitch. Elena and Frankie had already began brainstorming over what topics they thought would be interesting to go into and suggested the idea of substance abuse in university. Together we all decided we wanted a female lead for this film as substance abuse is not commonly explored with a female lead.

AFTER THE PITCH

30th of January-
I first started to look over what ideas i had included in the pitch. What were the main starting blocks that we wanted for the script?
Beginning to write the script was a difficult process for me as it felt a lot of pressure for the script to be interesting in its first page. However as I started to write and progress with the script, I realised that there are many more drafts to come. On this day I wrote 3 pages and beginning to build a montage that would go into the film.

1st of February-
On this day myself and Khieng had a meeting to discuss the first draft of my script and look over what I had written so far. We went over my inspirations and what I expected the ending of the script to be. I voiced my concerns over what the climax and ending could be. We looked over inspirations such as 'Last Christmas' and there was a discussion of maybe distancing away from the idea of substance abuse to focus on an idea that Benji could be dead.

3rd of February-
After I came away from the meeting, I had a meeting with Frankie to discuss the possibility of changing the focus of the film to grief. Ophelia would have a problem with drinking but it would only be because of her pain from losing Benji. Frankie was on board with the idea so we got to brainstorming the characters and who these 5 characters were. I also got to writing some more pages and beginning my second draft. I felt a lot more comfortable writing this draft and I had ideas now over what my climax and ending would be.

OVER THE WEEKEND- 4th and 5th of February

Over the weekend I wrote more pages while also keeping Khieng informed over my progress. On the Sunday, myself, Frankie and Elena had a meeting to discuss my progress with the script and what choices I was going to make when writing the last scene. Frankie and Elena both read over the script, giving notes and talked about what actions would need to be taken in pre production to create these scenes. I then wrote the last scene between Benji and Ophelia. After completing this, I then sent off my script draft to Khieng, ready for a meeting the next day. Khieng sent over some notes this day which helped me to answer some questions. Are Wren and Eliza playing along to Ophelia thinking Benji is still alive? Or should they have a conversation with Ophelia over her delusions and break the cycle once and for all.

6th of February-

Worked on the notes that Khieng gave me and worked towards giving (hopefully) a final draft on Tuesday's meeting.

7th of February-
Another meeting with Khieng which helped me to finalise the last scene. In this draft, Scene 7 felt like a soap opera and was very theatrical so my aim after this meeting was to draw back on the "i love you" and focus on how i could make this scene emotional without so much dialogue and crying.
This night I went home and dialled back on the soap opera cliches. Focusing on Ophelia's reaction to what Benji was saying and when he first speaks to her, she ignores him not wanting this conversation to start or end. Happy with my ending to the film, I then sent off my final draft to Khieng. After getting some final notes from Khieng to do with grammar checks and Matt's character being placed into the first nightclub scene, I sent the final draft to Frankie and Elena ready for auditions on Thursday the 9th of February.

8th of February-
Got ready for auditions on Thursday and placed the audition scenes into the teams group for people to look over. I also made the full script available to everyone before the auditions so then we could start to see what our actors were thinking about each of the characters.

9th of February-
AUDITIONS!
It was so great seeing my creation start to come to life and also see other people's interpretation of what i had written. I loved answering questions over what people thought had happened to Benji and that was what I wanted the audience to question when they watched the film. Was he just a figment of her imagination? Was he a conscience? Did he actually turn out to be a good conscience in the end?

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First ideas from meetings between myself, Frankie and Elena

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First ideas from meetings between myself, Frankie and Elena

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I quite like the edginess that Riverdale has when producing their storylines. It is always cutting edge and gives the impression that all the characters are somebody to heard and are well known in their circle of friends. Therefore, when i was writing those haunting scenes of Ophelia at the end of the film I looked at scenes from Riverdale when Fred Andrews died. For the scenes between Matt and Ophelia, I took inspiration from the scene where Cheryl almost gets sexually assaulted at a party.

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Last Christmas (Inspiration for the script)

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Last Christmas (Inspiration for the script)

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Someone who seems so real who just isn't there. The two characters are connected by experiences. In 'Last Christmas' they are connected by Tom's heart that was donated to Katarina after he died. Whereas in 'Il Dolore' they are connected by the experience they had previously together such as their romantic relationship and an overdose from Benji that has left Ophelia devastated.

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Euphoria was the main influence for the script as I took tendencies from the toxic nature of Nate Jacobs character and put it into Benji. You can also see a lot of Cassie with the emotion and the stubborn, intimidating traits from Maddy in Ophelia.

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Scriptwriter and hair,make up and costume

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Scriptwriter and hair,make up and costume

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Even though, my job role of scriptwriting was practically done by production, i thoroughly enjoyed controlling the hair, make up and costume as I knew what I wanted the characters to look like and what they needed to bring these characters to life.
It was great to also be on production and do these two roles in correlation to see how things were going and speaking to the actors if they needed advice on the scene.

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Evidence of make up, hair and costume role

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Evidence of make up, hair and costume role

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- Conversing with actors over how I chose to write the script and how their characters are going to develop throughout the film. What is their end and what is their given circumstances for each scene.
- Speaking with Frankie (Director) over how she wants the scenes to look and little line changes to adapt to the actors and blocking of the scene.
- Going back into the script, making small changes that we have builded throughout the week and giving actors new scripts to have on hand for filming for next week just in case.
- Blocking the scenes and seeing them come together how i envisioned them.
- Having talks with actors over how they see their characters and how they expect them to react in these situations.

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- Over the weekend sending Khieng script drafts, getting feedback throughout on how to develop this film to a climax and ending.
- Meetings with Frankie and Elena to update them on the scripts progression. During these meetings, writing other scenes and conversing with the director (Frankie) on their vision of how this scene would look.
- Finishing the script and sending draft off to Khieng for feedback.
- Once gaining feedback off of Khieng, going back in and changing parts to adapt to our filming such as changing scene 3 from a party to a nighclub as we gained a location to do this.
-In this week of writing the script, I really struggled with writing scene 7 as it kept on coming off as a soap opera scene instead of it being heartfelt and emotional.
- I experimented with the characters using their body language more rather than their dialogue. So I cut out bits that were being repeated and parts that killed the emotion rather than developing it.
- Ophelia in the last scene comes off as upset and unable to comprehend what is happening. But also not surprised as if she knew this was coming all along. It's been a massive journey to get to this point for her character. It is a realisation that this is all over, he is gone and now is not coming back for good.
-Meeting with Khieng and Frankie to go over my final draft.
- Sending final final draft to Khieng before auditions begin.
- Making final small changes such as punctuation and adding  Matt to scene 3 to add a building to the climax of scene 6.
AUDITIONS!

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- Getting ideas from director and producer about what the script could include. Posing ideas of script structure and what our ending would be.
- Looking over the pitch and taking inspiration from different films and characters such as Last Christmas.
-Working out how Ophelia and Benji are attached, how did they meet and what happened in their relationship to get them to this point.
- Background information: What has happened before this point? Benji has died from a drug overdose and Ophelia keeps him round in her mind in this story of grief so she does not have to admit to losing him.
-Writing first 8 pages
- Meetings with Khieng
- Drifted away from the idea of substance abuse in connection with university life.
-Expanding on the ideas that myself and Khieng spoke about to do with Benji being a suspected conscience or ghost?
- Spoke with Frankie (Director) and posed a new idea that we could expand on the story of grief between Benji and Ophelia.
- Benji is now not actually there but he is a conscience. However, it is not a ghost film. We want Benji to be as realistic as possible so when it comes to the end of the film, it is a massive surprise that Benji is dead.
- We want the audience to make up their own mind on what has happened to Benji. To leave them with questions rather than answers.
- Wrote a draft called Conscience over the weekend consisting of three scenes.

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Ophelia- Protagonist
Ophelia is a troubled soul, she has carried the burden of Benji's passing for far too long to the point where she imagines he is there with her. He is not taunting her but she has him there as comfort. She is plagued by grief and has an addictive personality which is shown through her relationship with her friends/Benji and her experimentation with drugs and alcohol throughout the film. Deep down she knows that Benji is just a figment of her imagination that she does not want to let go. When Benji finally leaves for the definitive final time, there is a release of emotion as if she has been holding on to Benji and the grief of his passing, not wanting to lose him.

Benji- Ophelia's boyfriend/ Conscience
At the start of the film, Benji has the typical bad boy/ toxic trait about him that every girl who watches this film could relate to. But out of all of the characters, Benji has the biggest character development. Through being Ophelia's conscience, he softens to her and you can see the person who she fell in love with. At the start of the film, he is snappy with her and distancing her from her friends, but by the end he has her best interests at heart knowing he has to leave Ophelia for good in order for her to heal. Even though, it is unclear to know whether Benji would have come to this realisation when he was alive, it is clear to see that it gives Ophelia great comfort to know that he can be a caring and selfless person.

Wren-
Wren has been Ophelia's friend for a long time and they live together along with their friend, Eliza. They have been through a lot together and that is referred to throughout in the script. He has held her hand through Benji and after Benji, always supporting her despite his differences  in opinion to the situation. Wren know's that Ophelia is imagining Benji but he humours her because he knows how much she misses him. Wren and Benji did not get along. Wren knowing how toxic Benji could be, gives Ophelia tough love but he always apologises in the end because he would rather be her friend than lose her especially when she's at her worst point mentally in life.

Eliza-
Eliza is another one of Ophelia's friend and lives with her along with Wren. Wren and Eliza have a silent agreement that Eliza is bad cop and Wren is good cop when speaking to Ophelia over her Benji troubles. Even though Eliza has been friends with Ophelia for less time, that does not mean that she is any less vocal than Wren because she cares about her wellbeing. Eliza has stuck with her throughout it all but does actually come to blows with Ophelia at the end of the film. Eliza comes across as a hot headed person in this film, always choosing to resort to arguments when things go unsaid but she is only looking out for the best interests of her friends. Eliza is also the girlfriend of Matt, these two have been on and off for a while and clearly need to break it off due to Matt's wandering eye.

Matt-
Matt is introduced in Scene 3 when Eliza and Wren are at a bar/nightclub with Ophelia. At the start of the film, he sits and observes, always keeping a close eye on Ophelia, and finally speaks when the group are out at a pub together, only to ask Ophelia about her relationship status. He is infatuated with her even though he has a relationship with Eliza. He is not all he seems and is not someone you should underestimate. This is found at the end of the film when Matt pushes himself on to Ophelia, he is calculated and not to be trusted. He is however a coward because when confronted with a force that pulls him away from Ophelia, he is scared and runs away from the scene.

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Notes for the script when the focus was substance abuse in university

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Notes for the script when the focus was substance abuse in university

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It starts off, she gets introduced to her boyfriend at a party by her friend group. Could be a party scene to begin with where she gets introduced to everything. They meet as uni flatmates. (Boyfriend could not be real?)

Glamorisation of substance abuse at uni.

Boyfriend already parties a lot, so she easily gets roped into the party scene and no one notices that she is getting too engrossed in it.

Suddenly she stops going to lectures because she is always hungover and the boyfriend starts to notice she is drinking every day.

Always in bed for ages after a binge.

Has an argument with her boyfriend because she’s taken it too far but during the confrontation she is under the influence.

He walks out, unable to have an adult conversation with her.

She goes out on a binge afterwards unable to cope with the loss.

Goes too far and she ends up choking on her own sick.

Boyfriends comes around the next day to apologise and finds her dead. (Silent scream at the end).

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Conscience second draft (before the name of the film was changed to Il Dolore)

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Conscience second draft (before the name of the film was changed to Il Dolore)

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Changes to lines, so at the end of Scene 2 instead of Benji being ushered by Ophelia with a line he just observes her for a moment and then stands up to leave.

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Little changes to lines or shortening phrases such as-
The addition of Eliza to scene 3 so we get an introduction to her character and the tension between them. Matt is also introduced in this scene so the audience relate back to seeing him with Eliza and have the reaction that we expect them to have when Matt tries to push himself onto Ophelia.
In scene 1, Benji also has an extra line where he addresses the toxicity that once was in their relationship.
'You weren't completely innocent in this Ophelia. You pushed me to that point.'

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A first draft of the script surrounding drug and alcohol abuse before we decided to focus on the grief cycle that Ophelia is going through. By doing this it made the script less cliquè and made the script flow easier. The writing process after this draft was easier as I could picture where the script was going to go. It would gradually build to a climax rather than take a long time to get there.

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First draft of the script- Character's such as Wren and Eliza have been added to show the difference in Ophelia's friends. 

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First draft of the script- Character's such as Wren and Eliza have been added to show the difference in Ophelia's friends. 

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Eliza is giving Ophelia tough love. Even though Ophelia may not appreciate it, Eliza has her best intentions and wants her free from this cycle.
Wren on the other hand would rather keep her as a friend despite his opinions on Benji than lose her as a friend.

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Developing script ideas through the meetings

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Developing script ideas through the meetings

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Conscience (Possible name)

Scenes we want:

We want to play around with the past and present - surrounding Ophelia’s encounters with Benji.

Benji should be dead but not a ghost, it is just her memories of the past. In the present, he will be the conscience.

Essentially this is a story through grief, but it isn't about grief.

We need to put little easter eggs in the script to indicate the past and present that will be unknown to the audience until the end.

Alcohol abuse is the main priority.

Eli needs to be introduced as an old friend who knew Benji.

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Scene 1: Bench scene- Ophelia is already sat there in a state of withdrawal, spliff in hand. Benji walks over to the bench and slumps down. At this point Ophelia retaliates ‘what are you doing here’ ‘didn’t I tell you to stay away from me’. ‘What kind of way is that to talk to your boyfriend?’.
'Well you pissed me off'

'How did I do that'

'You left!'

'You’re not completely innocent Ophelia. You pushed me to that point.'

Scene 2:

Ophelia wakes up the next day hungover. They both wake up to an alarm. She groans and looks like shit. She wakes up to the sound of the shower. His jacket lays on the bed. She checks her phone and it’s 10:04 her lecture started at 10. She then starts to scramble about the room screaming ‘you didn’t wake me up’
‘shit you do this every time’.

As she runs out of the door she screams ‘I’ve got to go I’ll text you after.'

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Ophelia

She is the most complicated of the characters. She is very intelligent, and she knows what she wants but struggles to get there. She is easily swayed and has an addictive personality. She is grieving from the loss of Benji and considering what they went through, she feels unnecessarily guilty. Determined to keep these feelings at bay, she distracts herself through alcohol abuse. She is short tempered and is therefore quick to assume the worst in every situation and everyone.

Benji

Benji is a memory from the past of Ophelia’s. He brought the toxicity of the relationship. Benji overdosed in the past which meant he died but Ophelia couldn’t do anything to help him. He got her into alcohol and even when she wanted to stop, he was the one who pulled her back into this cycle. He is a narcissist. He makes everything seem like it’s her fault when he was the one responsible of causing problems within the relationship. However, he is free spirited and cares for Ophelia, an unhealthy amount.

Eli

Ophelia’s best friend for the last 10 years. They went to the same uni together and have now become flatmates. He empathizes with Ophelia as her boyfriend did die however, he cannot understand why Ophelia places him on a high pedestal as he dragged her into the darkness with him. He is incredibly loyal to Ophelia. He wants to hold her hand through this journey.

Lecturer

Lecturer of Accounting. Wants the best for the students and seems particularly vexed by Ophelia’s demeanour. They are invested in her but disappointed in her change of attitude.

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How i felt what Ophelia would look like...

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How i felt what Ophelia would look like...

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Ophelia's moodboard. The image that we wanted for her and Benji to be. The toxic/tiresome relationship you cannot get away from.

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Ophelia's moodboard. The image that we wanted for her and Benji to be. The toxic/tiresome relationship you cannot get away from.

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Character inspiration and thoughts on what the hair and make up should be

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Character inspiration and thoughts on what the hair and make up should be

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Uni students being too hungover to turn up to lectures

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Uni students being too hungover to turn up to lectures