Watching the South West Monsoon bless a tropical green estate at the heart of Trivandrum with a calming gentle shower. I spent the better part of this weekend working on a Corporate Responsibility film that is all set to travel the globe starting tomorrow. The team put their soul into the film, giving it their everything. Editing every frame, every nuance of the characters’ dialogue. I pitched in, too. From my end, there were inputs for the script, a voice-over (yes, the voice-over!), a vocal coach role and a soulful contribution to the soundtrack of the film.
At a quiet moment amidst the post production buzz of the film, I realized I had cruised past the 50th film of my career in communications. Reared in the agency traditions of the 20th century, I’ve traditionally worked on scripts for corporate films—contributing my mite to other departments like the soundtrack, the shoot and the post production (editing) phase. In all this time, I’ve found that the Script is the DNA & RNA of the successful film that you want to make. In the creatively chaotic process of putting a film together, your Script is the binding force, the compass and the North Star.
It’s the one reality your director, producer, camera man, sound engineer, music director, film editor and production crew will instinctively understand. As, will your Audience. So, invest in a Script that brings your Vision to light. Create it in your mind before you create it on film. Use the nuances of the language you work in to create a human experience that the world will understand.
The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, the 1895 film by the Lumière Brothers, 1895 had audiences rushing out of their seats to avoid being run over by the train. In 2010, a good 115 years later, James Cameron’s Avatar had the same effect on audiences reeling from the reality of Pandora's tropical magnificence.
That's how powerful the Script gets.
Your Turn, now.
