Dead Air – Script Writing Process

The Idea.

Dan, Jordan and I sketched out the rough story for the film during Fish and Chip Friday (FCF), a tradition we should all uphold. We talked about what sort of film we could make for no money, using facilities that were already available to us. Once deciding upon only one character to limit cost, we then started developing this character, their unrewarding job of being a nighttime DJ, their aspirations of fame and fortune had slowly been worn down by this nighttime slot. And we wondered what he would do if his equilibrium was interrupted if fame was suddenly thrust upon him, say by a Zombie apocalypse. From there we spoke about his life, his back-story and importantly, what he would do in this situation. It was a flowing conversation; with all three of us getting excited about the potential of this film. We then discussed how logistically we would shoot it and who’d play the main character. We finished by coming up with the film name, Dead Air.

From there I took charge of writing the script; putting all of our ideas on paper, deciding on themes and creating a story arc for the main character. First off, I decided that I loved the idea of this story being a black comedy, having brutal moments interjected with comedy. An obvious comparison for this idea would be Shaun of the Dead (2004), as it sits at the pinnacle of Zombie-Comedies, treading the line between comedy and action excellently. I felt that Dead Air similarly shouldn’t be scared of using comedy to tell the story, and that humour isn’t a substitute for drama, but an equal.

A limitation whilst writing this script, was that we all had to consider the logistics of making this film. As the film had almost no budget, it meant that we had to limit the locations, the cast, crew, and kit to what we already had available to us. So considering all of these factors limited where the story could go if the character was stuck in one room. However, instead of finding this stifling, I found it liberating trying to think of different ways to portray this characters emotional and mental state whilst stuck within one room.