Week 3: Starting the First Episode

This week, I began writing the first episode of my script. I initially began writing the script on Google Docs, but realized after a couple of pages that it was extremely tedious to do the formatting correctly and switched to using a specialized scriptwriting software called StudioBinder. While I initially felt overwhelmed with the formatting, I was able to pick up screenwriting fairly quickly because of my initial experience in writing dialogue heavy storeis. After a couple days of writing, I realized I was displeased with the direction my writing was taking in regard to my characterization of an important side character who played an important role in the plot. Because of this, I decided to delete what I had written and start anew with a slightly different early plot and character interpretation.

The source of this conflict stems from a retcon in the source material I am drawing inspiration from regarding the character of Kusho, the father of Shen and the leader of a religious order. In the original lore, Kusho is presented as a stern and cold man who rigidly follows his religious teachings until his eventual death. While his teachings are extreme, he genuinely believes that it is his duty to follow them strictly. By contrast, a newer comic presented him as somebody who only used his religious teachings to manipulate others and went against them as soon as it was convenient for him. With my adaptation, while I originally started off using his second characterization, I found it hard to construct a nuanced or believable character when many of his motivations for being “evil” seemed to make no sense. Because of this, I restarted my script using his older characterization instead, because I decided I wanted to present him as a complex man who was a distant father but resolute religious leader.

My struggles with Kusho’s conflicting characterization show the difficulty in adaptation of deciding what elements of the source material to keep and what to discard, especially when the existing canon is messy and sometimes contradictory. However, based on the story I want to tell and the themes and characters I wanted to explore, I was able to make my decision of what version of the lore to go with in my adaptation. Next week I will continue to write my first episode, and hopefully catch up on lost page count.