Place, Presence and Play: A Listening, Co-Active Approach to Story Development

Abstract

Script development can be seen as a multi-layered form of dealing with a material and working in this material, with the storytelling elements place, body and objects as vital parts. The material consists of the first draft of and the film Snakereins (2017) by scriptwriter Marianne Strand and documentary director Charlotta Lennartsdotter. A key concept is potential spaces shared in art and play as they exist in a field of tension between the outer material world and the inner subjective world. The research questions and analysis concern the child actors’ influence on the story by playing and interacting with the film team. Play as an artistic method intersecting with the child actors’ real play came to inspire and affect the script development and outcome of the film. This chapter considers play as a dramaturgic entrance to children’s film, a method where place, presence and play are equal aspects of a perceptive, interactive way of making a story.

Appendix

Snakereins , a short children’s film : original synopsis:

A girl has to tend to her younger brother when their mother hastily is called to work. The girl’s plan to go to the stable with the halter and headrope she has bought for “her” horse, is cancelled. The promise her mother makes that the siblings can buy ice-cream from the ice-cream van later does nothing to soothe the girl’s disappointment.

When her brother in an unseen moment cuts the headrope into parts and makes snakes of it and lets the animals swim in yogurt that he has just spilled, the girl gives word to her frustration telling him that she wishes he were dead. She goes to get a cloth to wipe up the mess, and a few seconds later he is gone. She goes outside to look for him, but he is nowhere to be seen. While searching for him, her anger gradually turns into worry. Aware of the places that could be interesting and at the same time risky she continues down the dirt road, the railway track, the ditch, the gravel pit and the pond. Her worry turns into fear and guilt. The familiar surroundings now seem cold and hostile. The girl hears accusing voices whispering in the trees, and suddenly sees a dark version of herself sitting in a tree staring threateningly at her. Frightened she starts running but falls. Lying on the ground she bargains with fate/God and promises to relinquish the things hitherto have seemed so important, like new riding boots, if only her brother is safe. Deeply troubled she returns home to call her mother, but finds her brother, calmly sleeping in the couch with the ice-cream money in his hand. She hugs him, tearful with relief, but the brother does not understand her reaction, he only wants ice-cream.

The siblings go out into the garden. Something has changed. There is a fog, and the laundry line has been torn down, sheets and towels are scattered in the grass. Soon they hear a muffled sound and are astonished to see a big beautiful horse grazing on the lawn. The girl stares at the animal, wonderstruck. Slowly she approaches it, followed by her brother. A few minutes later the torn down laundry line is used as a headrope, the sister leading the horse, which carries the brother who is beaming with pride and excitement. The little company moves along the dirt road to meet the ice-cream van, which has finally arrived.

Snakereins was shot in the summer 2017 and was first screened in February 2019. The film is distributed by Folkets Bio.

Team

Scriptwriter, producer, first assistant director: Marianne Strand

Director, producer: Charlotta Lennartsdotter

Still photography: Johan Jansson

Drone footage: Per Olsson

Sound technician: Fredrik Bredemo

Sound design and mix: Christoffer Demby

Editor: Elisabeth Andersson

Music: Magnus Andersson Lagerqvist

Animation, text, after-effects: Magnus Fredriksson

Link to Film

https://vimeo.com/272923562

Password: Orm