As well as giving ourselves a bit of a new look, we've also added an archive so you can follow the prize story from the start. Plus, we'll be keeping you up to date with key dates in the prize calendar, and have added a wealth of new useful resources to help you break into film.

The production of our six finalists' films is well under way and we'll be following the process on the site. This week we tackle script development, the first step in the production of the films.

Short Film Script Development

Three developers have been working on the finalists' scripts: Nic Murison (FilmFour Production Executive), Angeli MacFarlane (Orange Production Executive) and Kate Ogborn (the Exec Producer on the Prize).

Click here for an interview with Angeli, who gives her perspective on the important process of script development.

The Basics Of Script Development

The role of the script developer is to make sure that the script is doing the job that the writer/director is setting out to do. The developer needs to ensure that the intentions and visions of the writer/director are crystal clear, and that their goals are achieved.

Some common problems the developer might need to address and resolve are:

• Script is too long
  If you are shooting a five-minute short film, you would expect the script to be five pages long, allowing approximately one minute per page. If the script is too long the developer will aim to focus on the main storyline and question the writer on the relevance of any subplots involved.
• Cost
  The script developer must assess the viability of plans to use certain special effects or to shoot abroad as production cost restrictions may make these plans impractical. If there appears to be a problem with the cost of achieving certain goals, the developer must question whether the writer/director is using the most cost effective choices to get his/her story across and attempt to find suitable alternatives. Of course, some of these questions cannot be answered fully until the production team starts casting or location finding, but they do need to be addressed at an early stage.
• Repetitive Script
  The developer must ensure that there is never more than one scene communicating the same issue. The writer may be unaware that he/she is making their point more than once.
• Character Development
  The developer needs to help the writer look at the characters and ask: Are they all interesting and original? Will the viewers be sufficiently intrigued by them? Are the characters going on some sort of journey, do they get from A to B? Are the main characters and main storyline introduced clearly and early enough? The script may need to be developed further to ensure that all characters are as powerful as they can be.

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