Film project development The core elements of the creative phase of a film project – following the outline and synopsis, which serve as an introduction – are the script and the director’s concept. The director’s concept encompasses reflections on the narrative structure, the acting style and approach to guiding the actors, as well as an audio-visual concept, typically with a stronger emphasis on the visual aspects. However, before writing the script, it’s useful to develop a director’s pre-concept, as these considerations will directly influence the style and tone of the script itself. 1. The narrative structure: The book is written in a literary style, with lyrical descriptions and often abstract, emotional passages, far removed from the concrete action of a film script. It primarily focused on the characters' thoughts and feelings, something that film scripts avoid, making it feel more like a work of literature than a screenplay. This presented us with challenges similar to those faced when adapting literature for film. Additionally, the novel contained long dialogues that were too extensive for silent-film text inserts, requiring significant editing and shortening. Some of the actions described were so naïve that filming them as written would have resulted in a grotesque comedy rather than a horror film. However, once we stripped away these elements, an intriguing plot emerged, one that fit well with the atmospheric horror films of the post-World War I era. We had the basic structure of the script, using the chapters of the book more like synopsis than a detailed treatment. The main character of The Death of Dracula is Mary (Enikő Varga), a young woman living in a Transylvanian village. In the first episode, titled The Letter, she receives a message from the hospital urging her to hurry if she wishes to see her father while he is still alive. 20