Monday, 9 a.m. Nearly 70 students of IFB #1 convene for the first time in Zable Hall to address the vital first step of making a movie, development. Our goal: Produce a quality short film that will satisfy a specific objective, and that we can shoot entirely on the AIU campus. Producer Stan Foster assigns the students the role of co-producer, with the aim of the session being to recognize what assets are available to the production, identify our limitations and determine how best to exploit them to our benefit. The biggest challenge? Coming up with a meaningful story that can be written and polished in three days, then shot in two days beginning on Friday.

Director Michael Steven Gregory (MSG) leads the group in a brain-storming session that results in the broad story beats that screenwriter Anna Gilson will receive at 3 p.m. Her assignment is to write a first draft of the screenplay, based on the beats, and turn it around by no later than 1 p.m. Tuesday for breakdown and review. The working title is Rock, Paper, Peace. Rewrites are slated for Wednesday and Thursday.

CRAFTING THE SCRIPT

At noon on Tuesday, the first draft of the script is turned in and the response is overwhelmingly positive. With the writer having hit the mark dead-on so fast, the production is a full day ahead of schedule. Any rewrites will be dictated by cast availability, locations, and scheduling necessity as we move into the pre-production phase.

Beyond minor tweaks and compressing the opening sequence, one change quickly factors into the script resulting from the discovery of a subterranian tunnel on campus. Too cool and visual not to use, one of the scenes is immediately relocated to take advantage of it.

• Read Rock, Paper, Peace - First Draft, Dated June 24, 2003
• Read Rock, Paper, Peace - Final Draft, Dated June 26, 2003

Moving into pre-production, casting and an ellusive location will result in a rewrite that never even reached the page, yet served to elevate the material still another notch.