1. Treatment 2: Film
My second idea is my backup plan, with various branches which I haven’t quite decided
upon yet. I have 3 key ideas which I have made vague bulletpoints about. There’s Introvert,
which is a short filmabout how those who are introverted act and like to live, and how it’s
perfectly fine for them to be that way. There’s Growing Up, which is about a girl almost
becoming a young adult, but wanting to remain a child for a little while longer (wanting to
win plushies at carnivals, playing video games, but also being overwhelmed with college and
life and jobs). The final idea is Experience, about a girl who spends her time in her own little
safe space, in the same town her whole life and usually in her room, and how she goes out
to a brand new place and experiences everything brand new about this strange location. I
imagine the length of these would all also be 10 minutes, though some could stretch a bit
longer to further the story (like Experience, as more time could allow for more of the black
and white bubble she lives in, and more of the bright colourful new places she goes to). I
haven’t thought up many taglines since these ideas are very much still Work In Progress, but
the best one I’ve thought up for Growing Up is “Sometimes the past is hard to let go of.”
This would draw the audience in due to curiosity, much like with Idea 1: the audience will
want to know what this part of the MC’s past they can’t let go of, though with a title of
“Growing Up”, they can probably assume it’s something to do with them as a child that they
can’t move away from.
While I’ve not come up with much in the way of stories and taglines, I have been thinking
about the characters. Of course, since this is a film I’m making I’ll most likely be filming
myself since everyone else I know is conveniently enough super camera shy. This is one of
the key reasons why I want to do my animated idea: I don’t have to worry about getting a
ton of actors and struggling to find someone willing to
be in my film. I have at least one person who would be
willing to give me a hand, that being Lucy, so if she
consented to it then I would use her as the main
character for Introvert. For now, since this is only a
backup plan, I have designed the characters accordingly.
Experience’s protagonist is Lisa, who’s a young 17 year
old student. She stays within her little town, talking to
the same people and living each day essentially the
same way, reading books to spice up her life and
imagine what it would be like to be in that situation.
She’s comfortable with this life, though she does wonder
what other places would be like. When she goes to New
York on a trip with her closest friend Rachael, it’s all so
strange for her but also very exciting. Her world which
was previously quite dull and grey is now full of light and
new stuff to experience. She’s very nervous and worried because all of this is completely out
of her comfort zone, even having a little panic moment towards the ¾ mark of the short
film, but by the end of the short film she’s learnt to try these new experiences and that
doing something different from the norm is perfectly okay.
2. Sarah is an 18 year old student who’s getting ready to finish
Sixth Form and go into University. She’s the protagonist of
Introvert, and as a result she is the one we follow and
experience life with. Sarah is a quiet girl, keeping to herself
and usually playing video games or watching YouTube
videos. She doesn’t socialise much, but she’s perfectly okay
with that, because that’s just how she is. Sarah is only
comfortable and more relaxed when she’s speaking to
those she knows well and is close to: her best friend Misty
is one of these people, but she’s also got a few online video
game buddies that she’s okay talking to. Throughout the
movie, we see how being an introvert affects her in
multiple ways, both good and bad: being alone helps her to
be at peace and relax, but Sarah often receives a lot of grief
because of the fact she doesn’t really want to go out and do
anything. That’s the main conflict of the film, especially in
the middle when she’s asked if she’d like to go out with some people into town and she
declines, causing them to get a bit mad and ask her “Why do you never want to go and do
anything with anybody?” Her friend Misty comforts her and understands why it’s okay to be
how she is, and that not everybody is an extrovert.
Finally, there’s Kitty. Kitty is a 17 year old student and the
protagonist of Growing Up, tired of hearing stuff about
university and jobs and being an adult. She just wants to be
herself, a kid. Even if she’s almost 18, she doesn’t stop
collecting plush toys, plays a lot of video games, and likes
cartoons and shows made for children. She wears bright
colours for the most part, and in general is just quite a cheery
and upbeat person. Towards the middle of the movie, we see
that she just wants to be a kid for a bit longer; that all this talk
of growing up and maturity and bank accounts and politics
isn’t her problem yet because she’s not an official adult, she’s
still a teenager. Kitty wants to make the most of her time as
herself now, as a teen, before she becomes an adult and has
all the pressures of being 18 on her shoulders. By the end of
the film, she does accept the fact that she will have to grow
up and be more mature and adult. Though that doesn’t stop her from jumping onto her
Xbox and playing some more games while she’s still got time to do that.
3. The target audience for these 3 ideas would be the
same I believe: Male and Female teenagers that are
students, aged 16 to 19, Grade E on the NRS Scale.
While the protagonists for all 3 are all female, that’s
not going to stop guys from understanding the story
and connecting with the character: especially for
Growing Up. The characters are in situations that
they can understand and may have been/are going
through, and so even if they are of a different
gender, they can still connect to the protagonists
and their stories.
Act 1
Experience: Experience would start off with long sweeping shots of the town Lisa lives in,
zooming in on her house. Lisa would be in her room, reading a book and listening to some
music. Over the top of her reading, Lisa herself would be talking: “I was born in this town.
I’ve not really left since then. Sure it’s small and I’ve ran out of things to do here, but… Its
home. It’s safe.” She would speak about how the world around her may be dull and
repetitive, but she likes it that way, because of the security and safety that this little town
she exists in brings her. However, as she goes onto her tablet and looks at other countries
like Japan and America and New Zealand, we see that she does want to go elsewhere and
experience new things. To further emphasise this, everything would be quite black and
white and less colourful, until she looks at these new places.
Introvert: Our protagonist Sarah would first be seen in her room, fast asleep in bed. As her
alarm goes off, we see her morning routine: she wakes up, gets dressed, has some
breakfast, brushes her teeth, and then sits watching YouTube videos until she needs to get
going to school. Some emphasis may be put on her phone, more specifically the fact she has
notifications for messages but never checks them. As we follow her and her lifestyle, we see
that she much rather keep herself to herself, only ever seen talking to one person: her best
friend Misty.
Growing Up: Our first moments with Kitty are very much a contrast to both Lisa and Sarah’s
first scenes in the films. Act 1 for Kitty is filled with more energy than either Introvert or
Experience’s Act 1s, with our protagonist gleefully playing on her Xbox, playing with her
friends and laughing about the silly game and what’s going on. We see that her room is
bright and almost childlike, messy with a small collection of plushies sat on her beside by
her side to keep her company. She has this general energetic and happy atmosphere…
However, this only lasts once we get to school and she enters her tutor room.
4. Act 2
Experience: Act 2 kicks off when Lisa comes to this new place, New York City. The world
suddenly fills with colour as our main character looks around this brand new place, clearly
surprised but also excited. As we see her make her way through New York with her friend
Rachael, the world continues to shine and be full of colour, making it a stark contrast to her
home city and the grey life she was used to. However, the joy does begin to fade a little
once she finds herself doing something completely out of her comfort zone, causing her to
panic and get startled.
Introvert: While Sarah is at school, one of her friends (Wes) comes up to her and asks if she
would like to go out after school, that he and their little group of old school friends are
going to be hanging out at the park and messing about together. Sarah declines, not really
wanting to go out. This seems to cause Wes to snap, asking “Why do you never want to go
and do anything with anybody?” and complaining that all they want to do is spend time with
her supposed friends. Sarah gets distressed by this, and runs elsewhere.
Growing Up: As Kitty goes through her day at school, she hears the same things over and
over again: “You need to prepare for the future”, “You have to finish writing this Personal
Statement so you can go to University”, and so on. All this talk of apprenticeships and
university and what’s best for her future gets Kitty upset, and eventually makes her snap
and ask: “Why are you so focused on my future and what’s best for that?! Instead of
focusing on what’s best for me now?”
Act 3
Experience: Lisa’s friend Rachael comforts her as she panics: Lisa wants to try these new
things and experiences, but she’s too afraid to at the same time because she’s worried
about any bad effects or consequences. However, with a little help she realises that she
can’t be scared forever. That all these bad things could happen, but she shouldn’t let that
bring her down and dishearten her. By the end, we see her rushing about and having a good
time learning new things and seeing new sights, smiling and joyful.
Introvert: Sarah’s friend Misty finds her sat alone on a bench, taking deep breaths and trying
to calm down. Misty asks her if she’s doing okay, and Sarah explains that she doesn’t
understand her friends just like they don’t understand her. She goes on more, saying that
she’s not being mean to her friends on purpose, she just doesn’t want to go out and do
things like they do. Sarah even begins to question if something is wrong with her. Misty hugs
her friend and tells her that nothing is wrong with her, that being introverted isn’t bad and
isn’t something to be ashamed of.
Growing Up: I haven’t fully decided what the ending of Growing Up would be like. I had one
idea of her being confronted by a teacher and explaining that they do care about her now,
they just want to ensure she has a good future. Another idea however could be her running
back home, and learning that way that she has to accept what’s going on and what the
future holds.
