A story pitch that caught the attention of many students in our class because of its surprising story and connection to the students through the church was that of the story of Green Flake, an African American slave given to the LDS church as tithing while already haven been baptized into the same church. Working on our script “Tithes and Slaves” was eye-opening. We got to explore and research some events behind the premise of our story and how the process of Green Flake and his church conversion came to be, how, even though given to the church as tithing, Flake remained steadfast in his faith and testimony.
Interestingly enough, legitimate sources for the recounting of Flake’s life were few and far between—even the ones we did find contradicted on a few points such as whether Green was actually freed towards the end of his life. Because of this, we picked and chose elements from the sources that we felt would fit best with the story we wanted to tell: one of the firm faith in a belief system despite the constant opposition and confliction within such a structure. One account we referenced in our script was from an article published by the church entitled “In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions” which gives an overview of Green’s life. Another source we used was a family history book Jared owned called “James Madison Flake” which provided some interesting details not given in other sources. Through studying and researching these sources, we were able to draw a life for our character Flake. We read about the trials and need for firm faith in the life of this man and how this led to his being a strong exemplary member of the community known for his character and faith in God.
Implementing what we had learned about Flake into our script proved a rather difficult task. Trying to bring to life of a laudable, inspiring man through the making of a screenplay was limiting: how were we to represent the life of such a man in only six pages? We decided to narrate the story with the application of voiceover narrative. We recounted what we considered to be beats, or pivotal points in Flake’s life that would lead the audience to understand the process of Flake’s conversion followed by his being conferred to the church as tithing, and ultimately, his presumed liberation. The story that we were so captivated by, was brought to creation through the writing of a script. A script with the overlaying narration of a man whose life energized the narrative of faith through tribulation.
Jared Richardson and Marely Lee
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