Finishing the assignment portfolio took me a lot of time mainly because I was struggling to reach the word count of 4000 words (plus or minus 5%). While many of my fellow students had to shorten their script or treatment, I was trying to expand them so I can make it to over 3800 words. At first, I was very happy with my second draft and it didn’t feel right to keep on expanding it for the sake of word count. However, as the deadline approached, I decided to adapt to the assignment requirements and use the time left to expand the script which, of course, reflected on the treatment as well.
Pushing myself to inspect the second draft again to find sections that needed more work, proved to be beneficial for the overall script. I worked on having the characters interact with their environment and each other more often. More action resulted in more dialogue that carries subtext and backstory which help viewers relate to both characters.
Apart from the portfolio, the reflective essay was another element of the assignment that required more research and time than I expected. To make writing this type of essays easier in the future, I am planning to start collecting references from books, screenplays, films, or academic articles at the beginning of and throughout the course. In this way, much of the research work will be done in advance and I won’t spend as much time searching for resources while writing the actual essay. As always, preparation is key. Â