evaluation for scripting unit about 'THE EX'

1. THE EX-EVALUATION
I have created a film appropriate for Film 4 called The Ex. It is appropriate for Film 4 as the
company aims to target a wide variety of audiences, which is what my film does. This is
because not only does The Ex attract horror fans due to the genre but because it involves
sapphic characters and the main premise is about Carrie's and Samantha's relationship it
should attract the LGBTQ+ community especially the sapphic side. The Ex-targets multiple
genders as stereotypically, men seem to enjoy horror more than women, which elements are
shown in the posters with knife props and blood, and women stereotypically lean towards
romance. This is important as these are The EX's main two genres, this is shown in my first few
pages of the script as we open with a scene of Samantha and Carrie having a romantic moment
by singing love songs, cuddling up to each other and exchanging gentle kisses. Horror is shown
in the first few pages of the script by the settings appearance and atmosphere where Carrie has
her meltdown over Samantha e.g., the room is completely cut off from light sources leaving the
room completely pitch black therefore enticing a creepy and ominous atmosphere. This film
targets teens - late 30s as it's usually this generation who are more open about their sexuality
and expressing it so a film with lesbian characters would draw them in. I believe my film will
attract the late 30s audience as their generation grew up with horror classics (such as Carrie)
and the characters in this film are close to their age so they may find they relate to some of the
characters especially if they are lesbians. The Ex is a diverse cast as not only is the films main
plot about lesbians who recently broke up, but it also has black characters such as Samantha
and her dad who (mainly Samantha) are main protagonists to this film, which is immediately
established in the first page of the script as they both play a big part, and the establishing shot
takes place in their home. I believe this film is a 15 certificate and meets those requirements as
the gore isn't too violent or graphic, the language isn’t strong and barely features strong
language and if it does it's something like 'crap' or 'shit’. This film also doesn't feature any adult
or sexual content. I have written 6 full pages of the script so far to establish the plot and
protagonists of this story, but the film is 1 hour and 40 minutes long making the finished/ full
script 100 pages long. The first 5 pages introduce the characters as we can see Samantha's
vibrant and energetic personality when she's dancing around the kitchen compared to Carrie's
quiet and timid personality, which you can see contrasts both properly. The main genre, which is
horror, isn't properly shown as we haven't seen any gore or props that could represent it yet
apart from the creepy aura around Cassie when she begins to have her mental breakdown and
when she throws the glass which created a loud crash which you could argue may jump scare a
few audiences as she throws it out of nowhere rashly. However, you can see romance elements
in the first page as Samantha is being clingy with Carrie while humming a love song about
lesbians. The narrative is briefly mentioned as we are introduced to this couple in a flashback
then we match cut to Carrie crying horrifically in the corner of her room with a picture of
Samantha up on her computer screen so the audience can automatically tell that they have
broken up, but the revenge part isn't as clear yet as she only states she wants to ‘make
Samantha bleed’ but we don’t see her plan out the revenge yet nor are we fully aware she is
going to do something yet. The setting has almost been set in this script as majority of the
pages are flashbacks. I believe this is different from the general horror genre as we are
following the antagonist of this story and seeing it from her POV, her side of the story and how

2. she thinks she's the victim etc., also meaning that there is a huge theme of romance in this film
which is different from other horror films. I believe this would please the client (AKA Film 4
productions) as it's something new and different. I am confident that my script meets scripting
standards as I have the correct font and sizing, which is courier size 12, and I have used correct
formats throughout my script such as, putting characters names in all caps when first introduced
or above their dialogue, using parentheticals above dialogue if necessary to show the actors I
would like a piece of dialogue acted out in a specific way. During the drafting process I made a
few changes such as taking out bits in action where I described camera shots and angles as
that is the director's decision. However, it did come to my attention that Carrie shows a lack of
interest towards Samantha, but that’s only to show her anti – social, awkward personality along
with trying to show how selfish, delusional and self-inserting victim she is as its obvious she
wasn’t putting in any effort towards Samantha but the second Carrie gets broken up with all of a
sudden she cares and is the only victim in the situation and cannot for the life of her understand
why Samantha ended their relationship. Regarding violating legal and ethical issues I believe
‘the ex’ doesn’t. However, we do use a copyrighted song in the opening scene but to avoid any
copyright issues we could always ask for permission to use it or even pay the artist and studio
profits from the film. My pre-production work for ‘the ex’ heavily inspired me for my final piece as
after I finished writing the opening in the kitchen scene, I was completely stuck on what to do
with the plot next or how to establish Carrie’s breakdown and the posters along with analysing
other similar films really helped me to generate ideas. Regarding scripting pre-production work,
looking at a variety of scripts from different medias (news articles, tv series, films, radios) really
helped me to understand scripting structure and standards especially with dialogue as I struggle
with writing dialogue the most in terms of scripts.