INTERPRETATION: RUSH HOUR CRUSH
Our third meeting started by updating Alex and Molly on the creative decisions made by the group so far because they were unable to attend the previous meetings.
The next thing to be discussed was the concept and plot for our short film. It had already been decided that we would be basing it on the Metro's Rush-Hour Crush article that they publish daily. It was decided that it should be a light-hearted, fun comedy as opposed to a more serious drama piece. Ceri then pitched three plot ideas that she had worked on as the director.
1. Following the daily commute of a working woman, she reads her “rush hour crush”, hoping that the attractive man in front of her is the one who is interested in her, but then it is revealed that he is actually gay.
2. Following the daily commute of an eccentrically-dressed woman, we see her actually meet a fellow passenger who is also dressed eccentrically and they hit it off, before the camera pans to reveal the “rush hour crush” section of the newspaper on the train/bus seats they are on.
3. Again, following the daily commute of a woman, we see her reading her “rush hour crush” segment, looking at an attractive man she hopes will spot her personal ad, but then we see that the man in question is endlessly scrolling through a dating app- the irony being that he is looking for her just as she is looking for him, but both are too shy to speak to the other in person.
The group decided that each idea had it's own merits and space for expansion so decided to bounce around a few more ideas to work into the plot to find something that worked for all of us.
One idea was to incorporate some silly and exaggerated uses for newspapers (protection from rain, blowing noses on them) that could be used in the opening of the film to establish its comedy set-up. The other was to possibly build on the first pitched idea and add in a “weirdo” character that the main female character isn’t interested in but who is the real author of her “rush hour crush” advert. It was then decided that Ceri and Walter would meet to finalise the script before our next group meeting.
The issue of soundscaping was also discussed and it was decided that instead of having a musical score, the focus would be on sounds and audio effects.
The idea of filming on public transport was discussed in much detail but it was decided that the film would be shot at a bus stop as TFL are very strict about filming on the tube.