Initial Idea For My Short Film

Genre:

·         Drama

·         Romance

Cast:

·         Teenage girl

·         Teenage boy

·         A mother/Father or older brother/sister

·         (for the cast, I could use my friends and family)

Basic plot:

It would begin with the teenage girl walking along the pavement- she has her headphones in and we can hear the happy/upbeat music she is listening to. She is on her way to her boyfriend’s house to give him a surprise visit and when she arrives, the music stops as she takes off her headphones. She lets herself into his house (she has a spare pair of his keys) and all she can hear is someone crying hysterically. She walks into the living room to find her boyfriend’s mum crying as she looks at a photograph of him. Sad music plays as a close up shot shows this photograph and the girl realises what has happened and she runs out of the house with tears running down her face. She sits on a bench and then there would be a series of flashbacks to show her and her boyfriend together- reflective music is playing and you can hear the sound of them laughing in the background. The shot then goes back to the girl sitting on the bench. The screen goes black and “1 year later” is written on the screen in white letters. The next scene shows the girl walking into a graveyard, kneeling down beside a grave as she places down some flowers, there is a close up of her to show a tear running down her face and she would say “I miss you (insert name here)”. The camera would then pan out to show the whole of the graveyard along with the girl who is still beside the grave, sad music is playing.

How I would make it:

I have friends and family members that I can cast for the short film. I would be able to film it outside of the college because I live in an area that has a graveyard nearby and also numerous benches. The flashbacks can be filmed somewhere as simple as a park or just an open field.

Possible titles:

·         Remember

·         Memories

What the themes would be:

Devastation, love, mourning, reflection, anger and helplessness. Films that share these themes are:

·         The Notebook (love, devastation)

·         Up (mourning, reflection, also has flashbacks)

·         Titanic (love, helplessness, devastation, based on a true story)

·         Dear John (anger, heartbreak, love)

·         A Walk To Remember (reflection, devastation, love)

·         The Fault In Our Stars (anger, helplessness, unexpected turns, love, devastation, realistic)

The intended audience:

I would like it to be a teen audience, ranging from the ages 15-18 so the people are old enough to be mature when watching the film and are able to understand what is going on as the narrative develops. The film is aimed at both males and females however; I feel that females are more likely to show more sensitivity towards the film so in turn are more likely to cry when watching it. However, I do want the audience as a whole to be sensitive so they are emotionally affected when watching this film and are able to display emotions such as crying.

Therefore, the audience should have previously enjoyed films that are realistic and cover the genre of romance in order for them to relate more to this short film and engage to a greater extent with the characters. They should have also enjoyed dramas, rom-coms and family films and are probably less interested in watching horrors and thrillers.

What I am trying to tell my audience:

I am trying to tell them how different people may respond to a death and how it still may have an impact on them in the future. Also how the loss of a loved one can be unexpected so you should always appreciate your loved ones, not take them for granted and to ‘live in the moment’.

How I will create meaning:

I will create meaning mainly through the use of music- mostly sad and reflective music that will help the audience to engage more with the characters and feel the emotions that they are feeling. Due to there being limited dialogue, facial expressions will play a big part in the narrative along with the cinematography. For example, when a character is crying there would be a close up or extreme close up of them to show their emotions.