Fledglings

5 Transformative Tales

Mulraney, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4424-1637 (2020) Fledglings. UNSPECIFIED. (In Press)

Preview

Text Fledglings_Treatment_For_Screen.pdf Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (20MB) | Preview

Abstract / Summary

Fledglings is an anthology of five short films, connected by
a theme of transformation and situated in the contemporary
folk-horror genre.

Exploring a ‘vernacular’ approach to narrative film development, the scripts are set in Cornwall, drawing on places, characters and stories that are found in the land and culture, finding production value in deep local knowledge and material, as opposed to in expensive production design, ‘shipped in’ talent, or unattainable genre convention. This writing process is directly linked to the School of Film and Television’s independent, low budget filmmaking Research Practice centre, advocating for an approach to screenwriting that yields award winning student films.

The scripts themselves are popular picks from a large, anonymised script pool that forms the basis of the L5 Skills Development ‘script to screen’ design process – as each film can be researched and ‘found’ in the local environment, they provide a solid basis for teaching the art of vernacular filmcraft within production design. Alongside the scripts, the outputs of the work include a set of ‘look books’, industry standard documents that define the art direction of each of the films. These serve as valuable teaching tools within the later stages of Falmouth University’s Production Design pathway at L6.

The films are set on the edges of the land and the sea.
In these peripheral places the people lead peripheral lives,
struggling to rise above the beliefs that weigh
them down, struggling to become, struggling to fledge...
A vicar must become a monster to save her church.
A taxi driver feels alive only when she is transporting the dead.
A small child finds the Devil while searching for God.
An older child finds reality in an imaginary post-apocalypse.
A mariner proves that the end is just another kind of beginning.
The films are designed to work, and be shot, individually,
before locking together like the barbs of a feather.

Item Type:	Other
Subjects:	Film & Television > Film Communication > Creative Writing
Courses by Department:	The School of Film & Television
Depositing User:	Paul Mulraney
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2024 12:25
Last Modified:	18 Nov 2024 14:28
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/5462

View Record (staff only)