Research

 Researching the Role of a Postman

I decided to write the protagonist of my script as a village postman. Even though this is a job I have been aware of most of my life, in order to make my script as realistic as possible I have decided to research the role and the specifics. 

According to the National Careers website postmen:

• Earn on average between £20k and £25k a year
• Typically 41 to 43 hours a week
• Has early mornings

Day-to-day tasks include: 

• Sorting out mail into address order
• Operating automated equipment
• Delivering mail on foot, bicycle or van
• Get customer signatures for registered post
• Pick up mail from the post office, post boxes and businesses
• Deal with wrongly addressed mail or returned mail 
• Move mail to and from processing centres

Skills needed include:

• Customer service skills
• To be thorough and pay attention to detail
• The ability to work independently 
• Patience and the ability to remain calm in certain situations 
• The ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• The ability to work well with others
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of English language
• To be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device 

From learning this, I want to make sure I incorporate these into my script to make it feel as realistic as possible. 

Ideas to include: 

• A certificate on Ted's wall for his many years as a postman
• Collecting the post from Lizzy's shop/post office, would further the red herring narrative that she is the admirer 

Researching the Genre

In preparation for writing my script, I wanted to research the genre and the general conventions of it. I would say my script is a romantic comedy, a playful tale of an elderly postman on the hunt for love. 

'Rom coms' have a quite strong stereotype around them, seen as very cliche, cheesy and enjoyed predominantly by woman. Although there is nothing wrong with a typical 'rom com' I want to subvert the typical conventions and offer a more refreshing twist on the genre. 

Well-known and successful romantic comedies include:

• Love, Rosie (2014)
• About Time (2013)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
• The Notebook (2004)

Codes and conventions include (outlined by AMC Theatres):

• An eccentric best friend
• The unexpected love interest
• The near breakup
• The grand gesture
• The happily ever after ending
• The ex who gets in the way
• The beautiful setting
• The concerned parent
• The rain scene
• The epic first kiss

Keeping these in mind, I am now going to focus on whether I want to subvert or conform to these conventions. I need to remember that my script is only 15 pages, as opposed to the typical full-length film. 

My script:

• An eccentric best friend- Ted's pet parrot Lazarus acts as his sidekick, giving him advice and egging him on
• The unexpected love interest- Patricia is set up to slightly surprising but more satisfying as the discovered creator of the hunt
• The near breakup- no as there isn't time in my script to set up their relationship that far
• The grand gesture- Patricia's Cluedo-esque hunt works in this way
• The happily ever after ending- the two sit eating spaghetti bolognese together, definitely a happy ending
• The ex who gets in the way- not an ex but Colin acts as a nuisance in them getting together, he does fancy Patricia which is similar to that of an ex
• The beautiful setting- the script is set in a quaint village, beautiful and sweet
• The concerned parent- again, Lazarus perhaps fits this part, but there isn't much time for a concerned character to take Ted off the track of finding the admirer 
• The rain scene- unless I make it into a joke, I don't think I will include this as it doesn't work with the elderly characters 
• The epic first kiss- again, doesn't fit with the sweet old characters but perhaps them holding hands and hugging could be included as the first moment of intimate physical touch

Another convention I found when researching the genre is that the characters are typically young adults, between 20 and 35 years old. One of the main reasons I wanted to write my script was to give some representation to older characters that isn't just the character with wisdom/good advice or for humour. I want to show that fun things can happen when you're older. The media is extremely ageist, promoting anti-ageing skin care and forcing the idea that your teenage years are the best of your life. My choice to use older characters is one that entirely diverts from the genre, and hopefully brings some comfort to those worrying about growing old. 

Representation of Elderly People in the Media

 My favourite film genre is Coming-of-Age films, however, I found them very ageist. The strong majority of them showcase stories of characters around 16-24, perpetuating this idea that these years are the best of our life. The genre focuses around growing, which is something that can happen to a person at any age. This is why I really wanted my story to focus on elderly characters and represent a fun story for someone over this age. 

When researching films elderly characters were featured in, I found I had not seen many. Some of the ones I had seen included:

• King Lear (2018), a story of King that goes mad 
• Coco (2017), a fun story but still about death 
• Up (2009), a quite atypical representation of elderly people
• Esio Trot (2015), another positive representation of elderly people

I studied King Lear at English Literature A Level and we discussed the King's madness and insanity frequently. We considered illnesses such as dementia as well. The representation of elderly characters as mad or unstable is not uncommon. 

I really enjoyed the film Up and the presentation of the characters. Following this, I wanted my story to have a similar Pixar/comedy feel to it. 

We live in a very ageist society, frequently we are advertised products to reduce ageing and are force-fed images of young and 'perfect' bodies. Any ageing marks or spots are photoshopped away and ageing is seen as something to fear. This is all down to our capitalistic society, by fearing something, money can be made. This is something I became particularly aware of during the pandemic, worrying that I was losing the 'best' years of my life. 

I strongly believe the media requires more representation for elderly people that are not just stories about loss and sadness. We should not fear our later years but be excited for them. This belief inspired my story and the characters within it. Although they do conform to some conventional tropes e.g. hearing difficulties, I wanted the story to show that fun and exciting things can happen at any age.