time is irrelevant::: non-linear scriptwriting

So, who says a script has to be in courier font, size 12, double-spaced lines, single sided ... blah blah. How about a non-linear script?

I've begun trying to piece together some kind of structure for the artefact, documentary Caravans, Children & God. It seems that there are 4 paths going on here, 4 stories to tell and they do not sit nicely, chronologically in a story that is told from beginning to end. The first story begins in the late 1800s as Fred Robinson is born, then we skip forward 70 years to 1972 when the Brotherhood sets up camp in Carranya, 1978 the 16mm film is shot and then fast-forward 30 years to when I pick up the baton and run with it for 6 years.

Time is an irrelevant concept to this documentary. This kind of chronological randomness begs for a non-linear approach to scripting. Hot on my mind at the moment is mind-mapping and I'm using a mind-mapping tool to record all of the events, facts and figures, archive material etc that will be the ingredients of the film. Stir it up (the random nature of the visual representation of these ideas does a nice job of stirring), find a solid structure (narrative?) - not one based on time but maybe one based on themes? ideas? There still needs to be a' cause and effect' drive to guide the thing. It still needs to take the audience on a journey, an emotionally engaging/immersive journey.

But one of the cornerstones of the narrative journey is time! How can events unfold over time if time is not considered. Well, there's two types of time going on. Firstly there's the historical timing of these events and secondly there's the running time of the linear documentary. And I guess what I'm getting at here is that there obviously will be a running time for the linear documentary. It will take ...mins to watch. BUT, the storyworld/ historical time is not a key factor here. I can find other ways to link events, other than 'this happened, then that caused this to happen etc ...'

It is almost as if the 3 main paths: the UB, Fred and the 16mm film were all happening concurrently and me, as the thread that links them all together is jumping from one path to the next making connections based, not on time, but on my own thoughts/ideas. After all this film is a collage of the archive material which is based in the 'now' moment. The archive material is happening right now and i am actually able to jump from one path to the other irrespective of time.

So, historical time is not a concept that needs to be explored in this documentary. Just as in interactive documentary 'I' (the user or in this case, me as the filmmaker) become the cause and effect that drives the journey. In the linear component of this cross-platform documentary I am exploring the archives and the thoughts and ideas that come to mind as I do so are the links that tie the story together.