[Rod McMillan]

Assignment 3 – Character Subtext for 28 Days & 7 minutes

Character #1 = Ted Ryko (lead), 21, cyclist, record-holder, photographer

Surface = effervescent, confident, adventurous, strong, self-assured

What the character is trying to hide (below the surface) =
Guilt because he is running away from his staid religious parents and the strong cultural responsibilities of taking on the farm (as he was expected to do) and hence, insecurity and fear of failure because he wants to ‘make it on his own’ believing that doing so will earn him the respect and acceptance he craves from his father. When WW1 breaks out and he is accused of being aspy his identity is further challenged.

How the character deals with the issue = out of sight, out of mind (he is geographically remote from his parents, the farm, and hence the issue).

Character #2 = Thompson, 46, editor Northern Territory Times newspaper

Type of character (surface) = brash, intelligent, informed, big hearted

What the character is trying to hide (below surface) = his ‘failure’ to make the previous newspaper a success in Queensland, pain of death of a friend when they were together during a cyclone, injustice metered out to him in times past (?)

How the character does this = drinks, supports the underdog, fights against corruption and injustice

Character #3 = Hoskins, 22, telegraph officer

Type of character (surface) = cheerful, sociable, caring, adventurous but restrained

What the character is trying to hide (below surface) = loneliness/boredom (?), jealous of Jack (due to his friendship with Ted)

How the character does this = befriends Ted to get excitement

[Rod McMillan]

Assignment 2 – Environment Subtext for 28 Days & 7 minutes

Background

In 1914, Ted Ryko becomes the record holder for the 2000 mile bicycle ride from Adelaide to Darwin across the Australian outback. Ted is an adventurer and photographer.

There are several themes inherent in the script including story-telling (‘truth’), privilege, inequality, injustice and disenfranchisement.

Two environments used to express subtext.

1 A Garden Party at Government House, Darwin.

This ‘dressed’ event is for the well-to-do, privileged and entitled British residents. The main character, Ted Ryko (who wouldn’t normally attend such events), is invited because he is a hero, the latest ‘someone to know’. No Chinese merchants (who ‘run’ the day-to-day operations of the town), or Indigenous people are present as guests.

Subtext is built into a number of events that take place at the Garden Party. For example, drinks on silver trays are served by Indigenous men, including one of Ted’s friends, Charlie. Ted informs some of the attendees that Charlie had saved his life on his first day in Darwin – from crocodiles. Although polite, arrogance abounds in the responses (or lack thereof).

The environment is appropriate because it is an overt demonstration of privilege, especailly given that next door to Government House, Indigenous people are seen living in the ‘long grass’.

2 Crocodile Islands, Northern Territory

Ted accompanies Rev Watson, Protector of Aborigines, who is to investigate the murder of two foreign fishermen by some local Indigenous men from the very remote Crocodile Islands.

Ted and Watson are met by a large mob (tribe) of over 250 armed men, only 4 of whom have ever seen a white man before. The accused men explain that the killing took place because the mob was ‘under threat’. The audience knows that the Australians and the British are, at this time, at war with Germany because their society (their mob) was ‘under threat’ (elemental hypocrisy?). The mob appeal to Watson to be allowed to live by their own laws, like they have done ‘for ever and a day’. However, Watson, as a Government representative, tells the mob, and so the accused men, that they have to abide by British/Australian law.

The environment is appropriate because of its remoteness. Even though British law may be a long way away its ‘reach’ is vast and powerful, supplanting all that went before.

What I learned doing this assignment.

Given that such scenes exist within my script, do I need to make more of the opportunity they present?

[Rod McMillan]

Assignment 1 – Plot Subtext for 28 Days & 7 minutes

SURFACE: Ted Ryko, a young adventurous photographer cycles 2000 miles across Australia to the pioneer town of Darwin … not knowing that when WW1 breaks out he comes under suspicion as a spy because of his German ancestry.

DEEPER MEANING: Ted aligns himself with other non-British cultural groups (Chinese and Indigenous) that have also been subjected to discrimination and injustice to find a way forward. Ted ‘goes bush’ only to be pursued by an obsessed, brutal policeman.

What I learned doing this assignment.

In Act 2 of my script I need to ensure that careful subtext references are made to ‘spying activities’.
In Act 3 my co-writer had a far more surface view of what was happening. We were able to discuss this in depth to identify what was ‘really’ happening. We are now ‘on the same page’. This part of the exercise was particularly important (!) and no doubt saved a lot of grief later.