Transition: Critical Evaluation

Researching this unit was perhaps one of the easiest research tasks I’ve had – purely because of the wide array of media to choose from. Thanks to mumblecore’s low-budget mentality, film-makers have made several movies – Swanberg having made 7 in 2011 alone. To keep in line with Easy’s themes, I started picking apart the relationships I saw in real life, attempting to simulate Swanberg’s own inspirations. Although his work before Easy was nearly primarily improvised by the actor’s, Swanberg had to alter this approach when working under the large production company, Netflix – choosing instead to write in a dialogue-heavy conversational style.

 In order to keep my script within the pre-existing universe of Easy, and to help it seem like just another episode I included characters that have featured in another episode but also created my own – keeping in line with the anthological series. I also tried to simulate Swanberg’s conversational tone of writing; thankful that it was similar to my regular style of writing.
 Although I did not write a full script, I did create a whole story. The rest of the episode involved Howard meeting up with his ex-wife (with whom time has helped to calm things down), they talk long into the night, clearing the air on arguments that have consumed their separate lives. As the morning comes, the pair awake in bed together. Although distraught at first, Howard realises his feelings for his girlfriend are not what he thought and ends the episode by breaking up with her so that she can pursue a relationship that can provide her with what she needs.

 I struggled managing my time for this unit, with it running alongside two others. I was also confused by certain aspects of the unit – with it being the first year it’s run. Despite this, I feel as though my script is a good reflection of both my skills and the show it reflects.