1. INDIVIDUAL
Short Film Proposal
G324 Advanced Portfolio in Media
Brief:
A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a
combination of both, together with two of the following three options;
A poster for the film
A radio trailer for the film
A film magazine review page featuring the film
Initially each student will produce their own proposal for a film. These will be presented to a panel and the best
idea will be chosen for development. The group will then develop, produce and distribute the chosen film idea.
You must work on your own on this idea. You will be assessed on your individual work here and the quality
and detail of the proposal that you submit.
You will need to complete the following proposal sheet in as much detail as possible.
Locations
You will need to think carefully about locations at the planning stage. Choose locations that are easily
accessible to the entire group.
Do not try to set your film in a hospital prison etc. You will not get permission to film there and will not
be able to create a realistic set.
To film on the underground and other locations you will need to get permission
You will need to consider the health and safety aspects of filming in certain places
Casting
No-one has to appear in the film if they do not want to. You can cast you actors from outside the group
and I would recommend auditions for them to make it formal. Drama students will be glad of a a chance
to appear in a film to use for their portfolio.
Avoid using child actors as it creates a range of legal and ethical problems
Likewise if you have a granny in your film you need to ensure you have a willing granny to act!

2. FINAL ADVICE…..
KEEP IT SIMPLE
USE MINIMAL DIALOGUE- Unless you have fantastic actors!
INCLUDE A TWIST AT THE END
DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT WITH CAMERA WORK ETC
AVOID DRUG DEALS/ CAR CHASES/SEX SCENES AND FIGHTS!!!!!
To get loads of great advice on film making visit the Film4 site
http://www.channel4.com/film/makingmovies/index.html
Inside Movies
How to make Movies

3. PROPOSAL SHEET
Cut and paste the following proforma and save as a your ‘Short film Proposal’.
Complete in as much detail as possible.
Film Short Proposal
Name George Donnelly
Working title for film The Toy Shop
Idea or theme
Child throwing a tantrum in a busy shop
Outline of narrative [storyline] A little boy goes shopping with his mother in a busy toy shop, after
the boy begins to misbehave the mother refuses to buy the child a new
toy. With this in mind, the boy proceeds to throw a strop in the
middle of the shop and refuses to leave until he has a new toy.
Whilst the mother is trying to get her son to calm down and leave the
store, a man approaches from behind. From behind his back he pulls
out a new toy for the young boy and whilst giving it to him, slyly gives
the mother his number in the process.
A new lover for the mum or is this the man that left her once his son
was born?
Style and genre influences
Eg. Drama /comedy
black and white/colour
Real life/animation
Naturalistic/abstract
Comedy
Real life
Naturalistic
Drama

4. Locations
Busy shop, preferably a toy shop
Casting Young boy (3-4yrs old)
Young woman to play the mother
Young man to play the admirer
Props/costumes/make-up Normal, casual clothing
Minimal makeup
Toy needed
Handbag, shopping bags, keys, phone, etc
Equipment/resources