Blurred lines - OUR SCREENPLAY
This is the screenplay for ‘Blurred Lines’ which went through many different forms before becoming what it is today. There were multiple drafts of completely different narratives before finally settling on what we all believe is the best story we could tell about this topic. Within, it dabbles in themes of grief, pain and also found family with the character of coach.
The whole script writing process was in motion from when we finalised an idea in December up until March and continued up till our very last shoot beginning of may so an almost 6 month writing process.
Synopsis
Act 1: Ex boxer Leon Davis reminisces about and grieves his best friend Kevin Kayani due to his tragic unexpected death.
Act 2: Leon reaches a breaking point after a confrontation with Kevin's sister Dua who resents Leon for not showing up to the funeral and partially for Kevin's death.
Act 3: Leon is at his lowest moment when his and Kevin's old boxing coach reaches out, offering him a job at his old gym where Leon discovers his passion for coaching. After finally reconciling with Dua Leon can accept his grief and who he is, fully embracing his new role as a boxing coach.
The scene that I had the most fun filming was ‘the one take scene’, that we filmed on the first day of filming. This scene takes place after an uncomfortable conversation with the sister of a recently bereaved friend. The emotions within this scene are high and unstable and his mental state is carried over with the cinematography. After some deliberation, The one take turned into a sequence of multiple vital points stitched together.
Leon bursts through the front door and the camera whip plans as he walks into his living room. We see Leon crying by mantle pieces. This part of the scene required me to be prepared for our actor Josh’s movements to ensure that nothing from his exceptional performance was missed.
After that Leon's rummaging through his belongings and darts around his living room. Whilst filming this scene I had to memorise my route to ensure that I captured the full extent of Leon's emotions. It was difficult to keep up with Josh at first and as expected, I slipped on objects scattered around the room and ran into walls while I was engrossed by the scene. Initially I needed my Director, Ash to guide me through the movement, but eventually I was able to memorise the whole Route and scene.
Leon's focus is taken by a set of gloves before he leaves through the front door. Spending time capturing this helps to display his mental state and indicate that there are still unresolved issues that Leon is still battling.