James: This project
presented new challenges. First was the commencement. This project was uniquely
difficult starting. Chris had some experience with screenwriting, but it couldn't have been more foreign to me. And answering one question only leads to
more questions. How long does it take to put the dog away? Where does she put
it? Why is the dog like this? And the list goes on and on. It can in fact be
quite discouraging to navigate through the sea of endless possibilities.
However, what work to our advantage was the difference in writing styles of
Chris and I. Chris is more reflective and thoughtful. And I on the other hand
like to dive in with half a solution and get my hands dirty. The both of us
working together created the perfect productive balance. And I believe I can
speak for us both when I say that we are very proud of the final product.
Our first historical reference is the basis for the story itself. My
grandmother, Carol Hall, has long told me about the story of her great
grandmother, Hannah Kirby, a woman who converted to the LDS faith, lost her
husband and left England to come join the saints in Salt Lake City. Her husband
did in fact did come to visit her in the United States after being presumed
dead, however under what circumstances I don’t know. So Chris and I decided
that the scene would be most dramatically played out on the front porch of her
Utahan house with her new family. Selecting a date was another difficult
decision. We figured that World War 2 would be the best option. Chris had the
idea of the father (Shane) being wounded and rescued by French soldiers. We
found that at Dunkirk there was a battle in 1940 where the Germans repelled the
French and British forces back, which acted as another historical reference
point for us. It was the perfect set up for the story!
Chris: This was a stronger process than with the
Round Robin or the audio/process piece.
There was more at stake. This
story was based on one of James’ family members, his great grandma. Not only did I have to work hard to do myself
proud or James proud, I had to honor the memory of real people in a real time
period. We had to. For this reason, the rough draft was really
tough for me. I’m glad we read it in
class, because the final product was born out of that reading. All of the sudden, the hidden flaws were very
apparent, which wasn’t discouraging but invigorating. We re-planned, re-formatted.
James and I, throughout the
project, after an initial meeting, mostly passed drafts back and forth, adding
and making suggestions to each other’s work.
This was a similar approach to how David Byrne and St. Vincent together created
their album “Love This Giant.” Someone
else paired them together, they discussed it in person, and then, being the
busy people they are, would work on fragments alone, sending them to each other
by email. To their mutual surprise, their
fragments would return resembling an actual song. Little by little for James and me, we ended
up with something beautiful. It’s
grounded in history as well as in heart.
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