Decision made!

Well, I've been debating over the two main ideas that i have had for 'the meeting' and its been a really hard decision! But after thinking it over I have decided on my idea of the bully and the victim. I have decided to go for this one because it is a more original idea then the one involving the predator and young girl. I believe that the idea with the bully and victim has potential to have a major twist.
I will add my more detailed plan fr this idea soon and would appreciate it if you could let me know what you think!

The chat room- you don't know me...

Ok so this is my second idea with the main basis being a chat room. This idea is based upon a bully and their victim unknowingly meeting on a internet chat site. Here is my story/idea in more detail...

The story/idea- a boy is being bullied on a daily basis by the girl school bully. Becoming fed up with his school life and not having anything else to him keep him positive in his home life, Thomas decides to join a chat site to see if he can meet any teenagers who he could be himself with and just chat to , like he is desperate to do in his school life. Deciding to make an account, Thomas decides that he wants to leave his life and so makes his name, 'Theo.' The name of his older, more athletic, more popular,  brother who he aspires to be like. After a few days of logging on and not really getting what he wants out of the chat site, Thomas almost gives up. Until one evening he recieves a message from 'Sarah' who asks of he would like to chat. He agrees and the pair start chatting and realise they have a lot in common, not knowing that in fact 'Theo' is Thomas and 'Sarah' is Sam the high school bully.
As they seem to grow a connection through their online chats and texting, the pair decide that they should meet up as they seem to have so much in common- all the while Sam still continues to make Thomas' life a living hell at school. 'Theo' and 'Sarah' arrange a date, time and place that they will meet and both get excited and nervous about what will happen as they have no clue what each others physical appearance will be like. All they know is they get on very well... a little too well some may say!
As another day of being bullied ends for Thomas, he sprints to the park where he said he would meet 'Sarah'. Sitting on the bench nervously, Thomas notices that there is someone sitting on the bench next to him... It's Sam the school bully. Sam sends a text to 'Theo' and when Thomas' phone goes off she looks shocked. She then rings the number and Thomas' phone starts ringing. Realising what has happened, Sam threatens Thomas, telling him if he tells anyone about this he will be dead and runs off.
Thomas crushed because the one good thing in his life has just been ruined, goes back home contemplating what will happen the next day at school, thinking it will be even worse then usual.
The next day at school Thomas expects the usual, lunch money to be stolen and endless horrible names being aimed directly at him by Sam, but instead he walks through the school front gates with no trouble, manages to get to the canteen at lunch with his lunch money still in his pocket for the first time in years and heads home at the end of the day without being called a single name... he had seen Sam numerous times that day and she hadn't said a single word to him, Thomas thought that Sam had finally realised that they were more alike then most.

If you could let me know what you think about this idea and the idea i have had in my previous post that would really help as i am stuck for which one to choose! Thank you!

The Chat Room- the young facing reality...

I have changed this idea from the man male lead being a killer and instead it is now based upon a young girl meeting a predator online. Here is the main points that i have come up with so far...

Genre- Social realistic drama

The idea/story- about a young girl who decides to go on a chat room site, to try and meet some people of her age (early teens). The girl meets a guy, who tells her he is in his late teens. Thinking that she was lucky that a guy of that age would take any interest in a girl like her she feels special and so over the next few months they get to know each other and seem to grow a connection, with the girl still unwittingly knowing that the supposed ‘19 year old guy’ she is talking to is in fact, a old man in his 50’s. The pair get to the point where they start to chat every night on the site, with the girl deceiving her mother the whole time but convincing her she is actually doing school work in her room. The pair swap photos and phone numbers, the guy finding a picture of a good-looking young man on a search engine. Soon after the photos are exchanged the man suggests that they meet up for some ice cream and could go for a spin in his car before that. The young girl thinking that sounds like such a cool thing to do, especially for a girl of her age agrees and they set up to meet in a small road behind a park in the outskirts of town after school on Friday. As the girl approaches the car that meets the exact description that the man told her she opens the door and looks inside. Is it too late for the girl to get away?

The plot- A girl who is having trouble with bullies at her school, comes home one evening and decides to go on a char room sight to see if she can meet some people of her own age to stop her feeling so lonely.

Detailed plot-

• As she logs on to her account, she immediately gets a pop up asking her if she wants to start a conversation with ‘Jack’. Seeing his profile picture is a nice looking boy who seems to be a little bit older then she. Thinking that she is lucky that this guy is wanting to speak to her, she doesn’t give it a second thought, clicks “accept” and says hi. Jack replies with a ‘Hey, how you doing babe? Loving your profile picture!’ The girl and ‘boy’ seem to hit it off as they talk about how they have the same hobbies and traits.
• Through out the next few weeks the only thing that Ella, could look forward to was getting home from another day of being bullied at school and going straight on the computer to talk to Jack. Feeling closer and closer to Jack, Ella feels like she is wanted by someone at last and feels like she has somewhere to escape to when talking to him.
• Ella is continuously deceiving her mother, but making her think that she is always holed up in her room doing homework, making sure that each time her mum walks in she has a word document ready to pop up and cover her conversations with Jack.
• After a few months of intimate conversations, Jack finally asks the question that all of this has been leading up too, ‘So when am I going to get to see your gorgeous face in person then babe?’ Ella feeling flattered that Jack still likes her after al this time, jumps at the chance of a meeting with him. They make plans to meet on the outskirts of town behind a park after school the next Friday, with Jack saying that its best if they meet there and then he can drive them both into town for ice cream afterwards. His give Ella a detailed description of his car and tells her he can’t wait to see her and give her a big hug.
• The pair continue to talk every night on the run up to their meeting, with Jack convincing Ella that it would be best for her to stay in her school uniform as he would easily recognize her that way. Ella questions Jack on how she will recognize him and he reassures her that as long as she knows what the car looks like she can just get straight in and he’ll be there.
• The Friday of their meet finally come and the girl is willing for the end of school. She goes through the day as normal with her bullies mercifully calling her names and slyly hitting her. As the clocks strikes 3 and the school bell rings, Ella runs straight through the school gated entrance and doesn’t stop until she is around the corner from her and Jacks meeting place. She quickly straightens herself out, takes her hair out its bun and lets it fall down, and puts some lip gloss on thinking it will make her look older.
• Just as she picks up her bag and is about to walk around the corner her phone goes off, its her mum calling, she takes a deep breath and answers, her mother questions where she is and why she isn’t home straight after school like usual. Ella explains that she has gone to a new friends house and won’t be back any later then 6 o clock. She tells her mum she loves her and puts the phone down.
• Ella walks around the corner, she sees the old, clapped out Citroen Saxo, which her apparent fellow teenager would be waiting in. As he said the windows were blacked, so Ella could not see in side the car.
• She takes the handle and opens the car door and leans inside. Looking directly at her is Eric, a 56-year-old balding man. Ella shocked and panicked that she has made a mistake with the car, goes to apologize and step back, but before she can do any of these things, Eric pulls her into his car by her school blazer jacket. Ella is too shocked to do anything.
• You see the car doors lock and the sound of Ella pounding at the windows trying to escape. You then see the car speed off down the road knowing that it is now too late for Ella to escape from the man she once thought was a teenage boy who liked her for who she was.

This is a more detailed idea for one of my 'the meetings' short story. I have done a much more detailed plan, including the whole plot line and i have introduced the characters and the locations some more. 

if you could let me know what you think that would really help me! 

Storytelling- The pre writing stage...

On monday Simon taught us about the pre writing stage. He explained that there were four main parts, the idea, the story, the theme and the characters. Simon also explained that a screen play creation is based upon, 65% pre writing, 5% actual writing and 30% re writing. Here is a short description of what each of these stages are:

• The idea-"The scripts that really work are those written straight from the heart, passionate pieces, with the energy of the writers voice"- Paul De Vos

The idea is the very begininng of your story telling journey. It is where you come up with what your story is going to be! You may come up with the idea in a series of ways, whether it is something from your own experiences, thoughts and feelings you have, stories in the news, or even if it just pops into your head on a journey somewhere!

• The story- this is the series of events in that you have developed from your idea (above), and form your screenplay.

• Plot- this is the part where you can make your story sound the most effective and interesting.

• Theme- this is what your idea is really about, what the story is trying to say and let people learn from it

• Characters- this is where you write in detail who will be in your story, where they are from, what their appearance is like etc.

Our task by Simon was to make up our own idea from the newspapers what had been out that day and use these 4 points to make a presentation, here is what my group came up with:

ESCAPE” – THE PRE-WRITING STAGE

Genre: Social realist drama.

The Idea/story: Escape is about domestic violence within a nuclear family set up. Aram is a young father on benefits, who is addicted to cannabis, consumed by paranoia, possessiveness and violent outbursts. His family suffers at the brunt of his split personality and his frustration at his loss of masculinity. Aram’s wife Joy, works hard to bring in food for her young family, and is desperate to change the life she is destined to have.  Yet, Joy out of fear, stands by and helplessly lets her husband beat her daily and mentally abuse their children, will she ever escape?

The Plot:  We enter the family’s life at breaking point.

Main Plot points:

1.       Opening scene, Aram is on the couch, all day smoking cannabis and watching daytime television. He is uninterested by his 2 and 4 year old sons, who are left to their own devices, with dirty clothes, raiding the kitchen for any scraps that they can find.

2.       Joy arrives home from work at the local Tescos, ten minutes later than normal, due to an unexpected delay. Aram, with irrational jealousy verbally attacks Joy. The situation escalates, and the audience is left watching the reaction of the children in the kitchen as they listen to the familiar sound of their mother being violently attacked, pleading for him to stop.

3.       Later we see, Joy, tenderly tucking her children into the cramped and cold beds, as she fights to hold back her tears.

4.       The next morning Joy awakes, and the full extent of the attack is shown on her swollen, bruised and battered body, including a black eye. Which she desperately tries to mask with make-up, before leaving the house.

5.       Whilst at work, Joy is confronted by her manager, who calls her into the office. The manager unsympathetically, explains to Joy that the unexplained bruises, that have appeared constantly since her employment three years ago, are not the kind of image that she wants portrayed to her customers any longer. If it continues then her contract will be terminated.

6.       Joy is in turmoil trying to muster up the courage to escape her violent life, not only for her, but also for the sake of her young children.

7.        Still undecided, Joy arrives home to the usual scene of Aram lying on the couch with a spliff in hand. She finds both children hysterical with cigarette burns all over their body. Her mind is finally made up. 

8.       Joy agonizingly waits until Aram is again unconscious for the night on the couch. She frantically collects her and her children’s necessities. Gently waking them, taking the youngest in her arms and the eldest by the hand she attempts her escape.

9.       Stepping through the front door her efforts are all in vain, as Aram suddenly grabs the eldest child pulling him back into the house.

10.    Joy and her children are tied to the kitchen chairs, as we see Aram’s descent into complete madness. The monster douses his family in petrol, as the Zippo lighter falls to floor, the front door closes, as the audience is left to imagine the horrific scene that follows. Has Joy finally escaped?

THEME:

1.       Loss of masculinity in an economy that is not longer dependent on manufacturing.

2.       Family and Relationships

3.       Lack of self-belief.

4.       Gender roles.

5.       Drugs

6.       Domestic Violence/child abuse

CHARACTERS:

ARAM:

1.       Is 23, unemployed former factory worker for Rover.

2.       Nobody, stoner, with working class family upbringing.

3.       Strong masculine values that he cannot meet due to him not being able to provide for his family, this brings immense frustration.

4.       Male dominant- only expresses his emotions through violence.

5.       Sever drug dependence, that only amplifies his paranoia, violent behavior and depression due to lack of male role and respect from peers.

6.       Aram is of average build,tall, strong and dominant. Poor personal hygiene, scruffy, dazed and confused.

7.       He only feels strong, when he exposes others weaknesses.

8.       He also lacks self worth and feels he has lost all control of his life. The only thing he can control is his weaker family.

JOY:

1.       21, employed Tesco’s worker.

2.       Quiet, shy, repressed and keeps herself to herself.

3.       Good at covering up her abusive life and has become submissive due to this.

4.       Joy was raised in an abusive household, in the same estate and doesn’t know any different.

5.       Joy became a mother at a very young age; she never enjoyed her childhood and never fulfilled her aspirations of getting out of the council estate.

6.       Emotionally scarred, trapped and extremely vulnerable

7.       She lacks the self-respect and courage to change the pattern in her life.

8.       Her appearance amplifies her situation; she is thin, weak, exhausted and immensely fragile.

9.       She takes on all the roles of a modern woman, juggling caring for her children, making sure her chores are carried out and working full time to support the whole family, including Aram’s drug habit.

SETTING:

1.       North of England

2.       Grotty council estate

3.       Cramped, dingy and dirty flat

4.       Present day

5.       Tesco’s supermarket

I really enjoyed this task and think that it has helped me to understand the story telling process of pre writing a lot more. 

"The Meeting"... ideas continued.

Here are some of the ideas from my post about the meeting that i did a few days ago, but i have added some detail into them this time;

Love Story-

• Boy meets girl- could be a variety of locations e.g on a date, bump into each other at the supermarket, work etc.
• Boy loses girl- she has to move away, change of circumstances etc
• Boy gets girl back- re united after a certain amount time.

As much as i think this could be a good idea for my short film, I also have in the back of my mind that a tale of 2 people falling in love has been done a fair few times before and so i may well run the risk of running along the same fine line as them and not doing anything original!

I would like to explore some of my other ideas that are a bit more different and edgy.

Chat room-

• A woman goes onto a chat room site looking to meet someone for friendship and possibly a relationship.
• After talking and getting to know a guy on there and via telephone conversations, the guy suggests they meet up and the woman agrees.
• When they meet they go for a walk and end up in a secluded location. This is when the male character takes a sinister turn. But is it too late for the woman to escape?

I think this idea is one of my best out of the ones i have thought of. Even though it relates to real life and could be quite harrowing to watch, it would give a message out to people. I think this idea is more original then the idea of the love story above. 

Bully meets victim-

• After years of abuse from his bully a bullied youngster decides to set up a meeting with his abusive peer to confront him about his reasoning for making his life such hell.
• Both meet in a room and get the chance to explain to each other what has made them how they are and how they feel.
• After the bully pours his heart out about his violent home life and how this links with him being violent, he has to make a decision, does he give up the life of violence or continue to make ruin his victims life?

This idea was the one that i really got into and have a lot more that i could add to this small description. I would aim to make this film quite hard hitting but not to the point that the viewer would find it too hard to watch.

These are my ideas that i think would work best for a short 10 minute film. I have kept to the theme of "the meeting" but all of these ideas show this in different ways. I would appreciate your thoughts on which you think sounds best or if you think i could use any improvements!  

"Witness" review

Well being a fan of films that are, how should i put it, a bit more up-to-date and modern (e.g needs to have quite a few special effects to keep me amused!) i wasn't too sure when told i was going to be watching a film released back in the 80's about a cop who ends up living with Amish people... i mean, it couldn't be that exciting and draw your attention in that much could it? But i was extremly surprised to say the least! With its gripping story lines, twists and turns and some humor thrown in every now and then, i had no trouble keeping my eyes on the screen and really enjoyed it! It just goes to show that a film doesn't need all the fast cuts and special effects in it to be appealing and watchable. As long as the story line is gripping and keeps the audience guessing all the way through there isn't a problem! 

"The Meeting"... my first ideas!

Well.... i've started to think about this whole "the meeting", and i won't lie.... I've found it a challenge to think of some ideas that stand out from the crowd!
Trying to think of an idea that is original, unique and can capture peoples imagination isn't an easy thing to do. I have come up with a list of draft ideas will be the basis for my ideas to be added to, here's my list so far...




I'll post some more detailed ideas once i've narrowed it down a bit, but until then... let me know what you think!

SPACED Synopsis

SPACED is a comedy drama based on a group of various aged quirky friends. A guy and girl in there twenties meet on the off chance and build a connection with one another. Realising they are both in the same position of needing somewhere to live. After finding a flat and meeting their neighbours, a series of amusing, emotional, witty and life changing events occur which makes each character grow.
Tim is the main male lead, a child-like, aspiring comic book artist who was recently dumped. wanting a fresh start he finds the chance meeting with Daisy, life changing.
Daisy, the main female lead, is a highly emotional, likeable, trippy, fantasist, wanting to get out of her current squat living quarters. The other characters, Mike, a idiotic, strange, random, unlucky, best friend of tim. Marsha, the self obsessed, emotionally scared alcoholic land- lady. Twist, the obsessive, ditzy liar and Brian, the weird, split personality, anguish artist tenant, all bring the roller coaster ride of a journey together with their different and some what clashing personalities.
Set in the urban location of North West London with the one main location of Tim and Daisy' shabby flat so that the audience can get to know where they are rather then being taken from one random place to another. With the multiple story arcs the audience will have a different narrative story line to watch every episode, with a start, middle and end, instead of one long running story line, this is so if a viewer misses a episode they can easily watch the next one and not feel confused.
with fast editing not normally seen in a comedy drama tv show, it will catch an audiences eye. Linking in with Tim's comic book life- style, we will have animation sequences throughout the series giving it that extra angle.
We also intend to add jump cuts, contemporary music and unusual camera angles for the audiences enjoyment.
With the mixing pot of emotions, enjoyment, drama and happiness that these characters will bring to the television screen, it will no doubt have a wide variety of audiences drawn in to watch it with not a hint of getting bored!

The Pitch!

When Simon first told us that for our lecture first thing on Monday morning we would have to watch a couple of episodes of the television show 'SPACED' I thought to myself 'not a bad task for a uni student. especially on a Monday!' So we sat down and watched 2 episodes, the very first one and the 5th from season 2. Both very good we were then set the task by Simon of coming up with a pitch for this programme. Never having done a pitch before myself I was slightly intimidated when thinking that i now had to plug the idea for this funny,quirky, comedy drama in 25 words or less! But luckily Simon gave us a little lee- way and aloud us up to 26, which for me was a life saver! After several attempts of writing this pitch out and all but a few ending up being over 30 words i finally wrote one I liked and thought captured the main parts of the show that needed to be brought to the attention of whoever I was trying to sell it to, and so here is my final draft for my version of a pitch for SPACED...
"Comedy drama about a twenty something couple sharing a flat. Relateable, funny, dysfunctional, this pair with their quirky friends do more then just share a flat!"


We were then set the task of making up a pitch for our favorite television programme. I found this a lot harder then the pitch I made for SPACED because the programme I had chosen was a big American young persons drama and so making up a pitch that doesn't make the show I've chosen seem like all the others that are like that in America was very hard. You aren't aloud to use the big names that are in the show, since if it was a real pitch you wouldnt know if you would be able to get these people. So i thought hard about what sticks out for this show and came up with this...
"a young persons American TV drama, revolving around the lives of a group of teenagers. Love, hate, relationships, trust and rivalry, from their teens to twenties."
See if you can guess it!