I had a screenplay, but was content to let it sit for a while. My plan was to wait weeks or months, then do a second draft. The passage of time, I reasoned, would provide a fresh perspective. In the meantime, I would begin contacting more re-enactors and set a date to begin shooting. By now it was the last week of July, 2009, and I thought I could actually begin making the film by the spring of 2010.
Here’s a sample page from the original screenplay of Ghosts of Bloody Creek (A Tale of Bloody Creek). In this early draft, Major Aldridge is known as Albridge. Other than that, the dialogue and actions are almost exactly what was filmed.
The proper way to make a movie is to start with a screenplay, but this is not necessarily true in no budget filmmaking. I had a rough story, but there wasn’t much point in writing a detailed script if I didn’t have any actors. So I started recruiting.
Jonathan Harrison is an employee at a private museum attached to the Halifax Citadel where I work. Jim Hubley is a retired teacher and a volunteer at that same museum. Both are re-enactors, or living historians, and both were enthusiastic about the premise of my film and interested in contributing.
