Story and Script development

I've always been a fan of music, especially the music of the Arctic Monkeys. The lead singer, Alex Turner, who created the soundtrack for Richard Ayoade's film 'Submarine', has always attempted to broaden his horizons by working and collaborating on a number of different styles of projects. One of these projects includes writing and more specifically, short stories.

For a while now, I've known about a series of albums entitled 'Late Night Tales'. These albums are compiled by various artists in the music industry and consist of the artists favourite songs and in some cases, stories and poems. One in particular that I am a fan of, is the album compiled by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.

'Late Night Tales' by Arctic Monkeys (2008)

All of these points are intertwined however, as on this compilation features a story, written and read by Alex Turner. Upon first listen, it sounds like a mix of poetic nonsense about a man on a train, without a solid backbone for a narrative. I constantly found myself however listening to it over and over again, almost mesmerised by how it was written and seamlessly flowed from one line to the next. The more I listened, the more I was able to unravel the story about the protagonist and his struggles of a somewhat ordinary journey on a train.

It was this short story, which is only a page in length, that has inspired the narrative I shall be writing for this module, which in turn will then be filmed for the FYP project next semester (interlinked with my dissertation).

I have begun the treatment and character development for the film, which will then be followed by a first draft of the script. It is crucial however that the story I am creating can be reinforced to certain projects and films already created, that acted as influence for the idea, so that the reader can understand the style and themes that I wish to portray within the narrative.

Below is the full track of the short story written and read by Alex Turner.