Jack King
Synopsis:
Oisín a young struggling actor in London needs to move back home to Ireland so he can look after Lorcan, his dead sister's son. Oisín struggles with taking care of him even with the advice from Lorcan’s school principal, Tracey. Just when Oisín makes progress, and himself and Lorcan finally start to get along, he gets offered his dream role back in London. Will Oisín rise to the challenge and look after Lorcan? Or, will he run back to London to chase his dreams?
In final year I was tasked with writing a feature film. Setting out, I wanted to tell the story of a man who ran away from small-town life in Ireland, but is called back home with new found responsibilities. Along the way he forms new unlikely friendships and maybe even a future romance.
I wrote a feature film called "Too Much For The Man", a comedy/drama. During the writing of this 99-page script, I learned a lot about my own writing process, along with the importance of writing a solid plan and treatment before starting a feature film.
I also learned important lessons in: character development, story structure and screen writing format. The script is an early draft and so that means I need to do more work, which is something that I am looking forward to doing in the future.
This thesis sets out to investigate mass consumption and the Disneyfication of society using Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality, Fordism and Disneyfication. The thesis argues that mass consumption has led to a change in our leisure activities and to our cities at large, which are now starting to be modelled on theme parks. Starting in Chapter 1 with Star Wars merchandising, we see how mass production evolves into all forms of children’s entertainment with a case study on The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and how merchandising reaches its ultimate form in nostalgia and rebranding as they use a familiar and recognisable brand to attract old fans, while at the same time rebooting themselves to attract new fans.
In Chapter 2, there is a focus on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where it is made apparent that fans feel the need to buy merchandise to play Harry Potter. Then there is Disneyland which takes real life streets and makes them watered down and sanitised. Mass consumption is at centre stage in these theme parks, as everything is placed strategically to make the theme park goer want to consume more.
In chapter 3 there is a shift to the outside world, to how our cities and places of historical importance have their meanings taken away from them as they become more Disneyfied, and the wider meaning of what this means for our culture.
Jack King is a screenwriter with a particular interest in comedy, hoping to tell deep and personal stories through a comedic lens. This year he wrote his first feature film, "Too Much For The Man", and he hopes to take the lessons he has learned from that to apply to future projects. His previous writing credits include; "Turmoil", "Lost Comrade", "Redacted" and a short radio play "I Don't Want To Leave Her Now". Jack King also has experience recording sound, with credits on "Euro Children ", "City Upon A Hill" and "Indecent Exposure".
