In Depth Email To Writers

I'm just posting this email on here because I feel it has some useful points that could be used at a latter date.

Okey, I've been doing a bit of thinking last night about the way we can go about writing this script. I've just tried explaining my thoughts to Hamish and failed miserably so I hope in written form you'll be able to make more sense of it. I'm not handing you anything regarding physical content of the film, by and large that will come from the diary, I'm just trying to maybe alter our perspective, maybe change our approach to the narrative. I hope by doing this we'll begin to think about other aspects of this story. 

Okey, I'm just going to throw in some bullet points. 

• The war starting is the cataclysmic event, the hook, what ever you want to call it. 
• A turning point in Len's life is him joining the army to fight in the war. 
• The war itself is the antagonist/conflict/barrier that Len must face.
• Len's overall goal is not to win, but to survive so he can continue to serve his country. 
• Len's special talent/attribute is his ability to draw. So he uses his talent to help achieve his goal and is what makes him an interesting subject to explore.  
• So, the next dramatic event in our story would be the build up to the battle at Vimy ridge and Len's contribution to that battle. 
• The resolution would be that the battle is won by the allied forces. 
• But the war still rages on. 

Please comment and challenge those statements, but at a basic level that list, at it's core, is the back bone to our film. 

Here's an example of how I think the story can begin, before a single image has even been shown on screen. 

"In 1914 X amount of brave men signed up to fight the great war. These are the recollections of one of those brave men."

"Smithy" (Smithie sp?) 

By doing this we're telling the audience exactly what the film is about, we are establishing a time and place, we're also introducing the character immediately.  

What comes next is up in the air as far as I can see. 

One option is we can straight away introduce Len the drawer, out in no mans land taking sketches. We don't really know anything about this guy other than he draws. He's good, he begins to draw sketches for plans that are used to help the allied forces. 

Or, we could introduce Len through his regiment. It would just give us a quick glance at his back story, give the audience an understanding of how he got to where he is, North France.  I'm not thinking lines upon lines of dialogue just a short little intro. Visually we could then see him sketching at his billet while on a short break from duty, a simple, calm, human moment. Maybe he's sketching a couple of soldiers, or a building. I'm talking seconds here, the above would take about a minute of the film. This is more of a biopic approach. The film would then naturally move to his work in the battlefield, then to vimy ridge. 

Or, if we wanted a docudrama approach, we immediately begin talking about war artists in general. We then move onto Len Smith, his work, the use of his work then vimy ridge. This approach would lead us to need two narrators (?). A narration to describe the generic use of of war artists for espionage purposes. Then the second narrator being Len Smith himself to add a more personal touch to things. The film will then lead to Vimy ridge. I think we're all in agreement that Vimy ridge is going to play an important role in the film whatever decision we choose. 

I think, if we break it down into a simple 3 act structure of some kind we have this -

1 act - Introducing Len.

2 act - Out in no mans land, drawing. The build up to Vimy Ridge. 

3 act - Highlighting that his work was used during the battle, his work contributed to the victory. End credits explaining a brief history of what he did after the war etc.       

Thinking about it, now I'm just reading back what I've just wrote, I like the idea of opening the film in the billet, just chilling sketching. Its a good contrast, his sketches just for fun, for memories in a diary then suddenly out in no mans land drawing to help win the war, its a dramatic shift and it's interesting. I think if we choose this route we'll need to really hone in on exactly what parts of his diary we are going to use. We'll have to move time and space with a line or two or else we'll risk running over. 

Royal Armouries Directors Package

Below is just going to be loads and loads of random stuff, links to websites, captions from articles, videos, sounds, anything relating to the Leonard Smith documentary. I'll date everything so I know when it was posted.

A link to The Great War Society. - 8/10/13

Intent

Originally, we wanted to create a short narrative character study of Leonard Smith but when the idea was pitched the panel felt the film would work better as a documentary. I'm just glad one of our ideas was green lit, however doing a documentary was not something I had anticipated. I think what I would like to do with the film is to use a lot of reconstruction, I want to see Leonard in the film, out on the battlefield taking sketches, I'd like to see him in the trench at night finishing off his work with the aid of candle light. It's going to be a documentary but I want to avoid the generic base of what a documentary is, I'd like to do something a little different, a mix of documentary and narrative filmmaking.

Online Articles On Leonard Smith

"Leonard Smith, a sapper with the Royal Engineer's Special Branch, was often armed with no more than a crumpled piece of paper, a pencil and crayons.

His diary records that he took huge risks to sketch German troop positions, their weapons, formations and movements.

He hid the finished sketches, some in full colour, down his trousers and they were later used to plan military strategy.

In one of his missions in Arras, France, in 1915, Mr Smith crept within yards of an enemy headquarters and drew a tree so accurately that a hollow steel replica could be recreated.

Soldiers removed the real tree under cover of darkness and replaced it with the replica, which was then used as a listening post. A soldier stationed inside was able to report back every German movement.

A network of underground tunnels gave soldiers access to the 'tree'.

Mr Smith, known to his comrades as 'Smithie', wrote in his diary: "The spot where the natural twin tree stood now would commence a job of much daring danger and need for caution."

In another sortie, Mr Smith spent four days avoiding mortar shells and sniper fire to produce a two-yard long, panoramic view of enemy front line troops at Vimy Ridge.

He wrote in his diary: "the Huns' shelling was almost incessant. So I had to scramble over the top, making rough pencil notes over a period of four days - real hard risky work, and at dusk poling back to the billet cellar to prepare the whole thing as a finished coloured sketch by the aid of the candle."

Mr Smith's great nephew, David Mason, has published a book containing the sketches, 'The Pictures and Diary of a Wartime Artist'.

Mr Mason, 62, of Woodford Green, Essex, said: "Len, like most of his generation, was a humble man who did not boast or revel in what he had been through during the war."

Mr Smith died in 1974, aged 83."

A link to Smithies Art Online.

Coward, WWI Short Film

Call To Arms Propaganda Examples

Below are a number of examples of war propaganda seen in film and TV that have a slightly tongue in cheek satirical point of view. These examples will help develop our own war propaganda film!

World War I Propaganda Posters