Homework 47 - Ideas

I think that to address the idea of the super-teacher without being to dry and too cliche, we need to stir up the original formula so that it's still appealing, but at least a little bit more....colorful.

1.) For shooting, since we are already filming at amateur status, we can accomplish the idea of a somewhat grainy, low-level feel to the setting and tone.

2.) I really like the idea of switch lighting. By that I mean that we should begin in a dark place, dimly lit (by sunlight through windows to send the message of being partially separate from 'the light') and with a low, somber tone. Scene switches can work through flashbacks to better days, where the light will pick up, and thus the tone as well.

3) I think the teacher needs earthly flaws that will ultimately exemplify the good characteristics of his, well, character. Alcoholism, while cliche, shows the mortality of the protagonist and the demons he/she deals with.

4) Nothing draws audiences closer to the character than empathy. I want to play up that concept- there has to be some major tragedy in the life of super teacher. Perhaps his fiance dies, or his wife, or his best friend. I really feel like it has to be a genuine tragedy, which means death, or some kind of finality. It can't be cancer, because while tragic, cancer patients have some small hope of recovery, or remission. Death is the way to go, which in turn can drive him/her to alchoholism.

5) Several key students. We have had the rebel student exemplified in every movie we've watched, and while he typically has a good supporting cast, he obviously leads. I want class rivalries between dynamically opposed characters. Conflict is key/ we can't have a dull script.

6) Teacher social life. If the teacher has friends and people to meet and be with, he's like us. He goes out on friday nights to do as he pleases, and he has things to do that are important to him. If he has a booming social cirlce, we all like him more. He can't be sop devoted to his class that the social conflict comes from lack of attention to the important people in his life.