Hilarity In Shoes

Oh bloggy, it's been a while. But here I am, back to reflect upon the making of our second year films as they happen. Now I hope that it won't seem narcissistic, but I will pretty much be exclusively focussing on Sole Mates. There are two reasons for this; 1 - as I'm directing, this is the production I'll be most heavily involved in, and 2 - I'll be off to the States so shortly after it wraps that I won't actually be very involved in either Breathing Room or Broken Bubbles.

I think first I should talk about the story. I've only recently cemented what the story is about in my head, and I think that writing it out will help me. In fact, I think that regular blog-posts will give me the time I need to gather my thoughts and turn them into ideas that I can easily communicate to everyone.

What is Sole Mates? At it's heart, I think it's the story of a girl who isn't a part of her generation, content with her life in a world of grey, suddenly trying new things. In her world, all that's colourful is placed out of sight. It's not forbidden, it's just not wanted. Having lived in that world, Lucy has never been daring - never taken risks. There's so much she's never done. So much she's never tried...

One day she finds a pair of high heels in the colourful backroom of the charity shop in which she works. They're expensive, richly coloured and exciting. Something within Lucy pulls her towards these shoes. A new curiosity. And when she tries them on, it triggers feelings of excitement that Lucy has never experienced. Lucy is then pulled into a world of trying new things - secretly taking risks wearing the heels, dressing up to match them, befriending some girls, going into the city. But suddenly, somehow, she loses what made her Lucy.

She blames the heels - they caused this whole mess! - and she throws them away. But she comes to realise that what happened wasn't because of the heels, and she admits that she can be herself and wear the heels, even if they're different.

Now, whilst this is what I believe the story is about, I'm still not convinced that the latest draft properly explores this. As such, I will work on another draft - which I hope, pending approval, will be the draft that gets locked.

In my next post I think I will talk about the characters, as I think this will prove useful as we move towards casting.

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