2. TREATMENT
WORKING TITLE Until I Met You
LENGTH OF FILM At least 8 minutes
TAG LINE Confidence. It takes one person for it to come
out.
KEY CHARACTERS Kati and Megan.
3. THE TARGET AUDIENCE mainly females 14-25 within the
LGBT community
THE FORM AND STYLE homemade feel- lots of handheld
footage (with stabiliser) gives it a
relaxed and fun vibe.
MARKETPLACE released on YouTube- feel it would do
well in festivals.
4. SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE mainly about Kati’s life before and the fun new
relationship between Kati and Megan
ACT TWO where the conflict starts- where they are going for
university and how they try to survive the long
distance relationship
ACT THREEthey decide although they love each other its too hard.
However, you see how much the relationship has
changed Kati for the better afterwards.
Working title is currently ‘Until I met you’ as one of the main points of my idea is that Kati (the narrator) is struggling with her identity and how she feels until she meets Megan. I also think this will draw in an audience as it doesn’t give much information on the type of film but it does make you want to learn more about the film.
Length of the film will be around at least 8 minutes roughly. It depends on the length of the monologue- I don’t want it too long as some viewers may start to lose interest but then I have so much I want to say I will have to condense it to around 6 minutes of speaking and two minutes of footage such as at the start and end as well as to break up the monologue I will have sections which don’t have any talking but still have backing music and visual.
My tag line is ‘Confidence. It takes one person for it to come out.’ I believe this is a good tag line for my film as it is all about Kati’s confidence in herself and her personal acceptance of her sexuality. I also believe it is good as it has word play about coming out within it which makes it seem slightly more fun and relaxed as although the film has an important message it will also have just light-hearted fun shown in the scenes behind the monologue. Key characters are the two Girls Kati and Megan. They are both 18 and still in school (sixth form). The film will be from Kati’s point of view as it her saying the monologue and she’s also the one who is struggling to accept her feelings and this new life she has just realised she can now have. The girl Kati falls for is Megan who is a fun, exciting, loving girl who is always looking for the positive and fun in everything, she is also extroverted but caring and helps Kati with who she is through being there for her and loving her through the good and bad.
The Target audience I believe is mainly females 14-25 within the LGBT community as they can relate and see themselves reflected in the characters and their feelings shown within the monologue. However, it is a video that could be watched and enjoyed by, for example, anyone who has a relative that has come out and needs help accepting it.
The form and style is going to be a more homemade feel to the film. Such as I will use a stabiliser but it will still be recorded hand held so that you get the shaky homemade feel to it- it’s a bit more relaxed and fun. I also want to make sure some of the clips are slower to add emphasis to what is happening on screen and what Kati is saying in her monologue. I am going to aim for the clips to be aesthetically pleasing- when there’s sun you see some of the reflection on the lens. Another edition thing I am going to aim for is for smooth and inventive transitions- like the camera pans up to see the sun and in the next shot starts at the sun and pans down which can also show that time has passed between the two shots by changing the location, clothes, and positions they are in.
For the marketplace I think this film will appeal to a very specific group however, the group (LGBT) is more of a community which has their own film festivals for feature length and short films to be premiered. I think my film would do well at film festivals for the LGBT community as it’s about a topic that all members of the community can relate to even if there situation is different the feelings they have and the emotions they feel are the same- or at least very similar. However, I want to release the short film onto YouTube as well so that it can reach the whole community not just those who are at film festivals as I have created it for the community – for its message – not for awards.
act one starts with shots of Kati on her own cycling through the roads and on the bus everything is grey/dull and a bit sullen as she goes about her everyday life. The monologue starts after 20 seconds with her talking about how she feels like she is just going through life not really living it and how she feels different to everyone else- she doesn’t feel like she quite fits in with her friends sometimes. The story of this couple starts with them at the beach together- how they met. The next scene is the two of them meeting for coffee and holding hands. There is then a series of shots such as the at the fair and on a Ferris wheel as well as going for walks in the forest and even simple things such as watching film together on a sofa. The feeling for act one is them falling in love and the happiness that can bring. Over the top of this you can hear the monologue by Kati about all the moments they had together and how that has affected her as a person and her confidence, with a little foreshadowing as she talks about their relationship in the past tense- ‘That’s one thing I loved about you’.
Act two is where the conflict starts with them finding out they only have two months until they both leave for university and Megan has been accepted into an Ivy League university in America which they both agree is too good an opportunity for her to miss. They decide to try long distance which is shown through them texting each other which starts with them always talking and calling each other but over time slowly the texting becoming less and less until when it’s just them constantly unable to talk and drifting apart, which will have minimal talking from Kati through these scenes so that you really focus on what they are saying to each other through text.
I will include shots such as Kati being out with new friends in the evening and Megan texting her (in the morning due to time difference in America) and Kati looking at it and then ignoring it which you will know due to the text appearing on the screen. This can also be shown as a parallel scene to when they first move apart and they are talking all the time Megan texts Kati whilst she is at a party/out with friends and she sees it and leaves them for a bit to phone Megan. There will also be shots of them looking through each other’s social media’s as they are having fun with new people and struggling with being apart.
Act three is about them finally deciding that although they still love each it’s not working at this time
There will be scenes of Kati reflecting on their relationship and how although it wasn’t correct timing for them it taught her so much about who she is and how she has learnt to accept that she is who she is and love is love it doesn’t matter what some people think.
The scenes behind Kati’s speech will be similar to the opening scenes but with more sun and a better more positive vibe around them- maybe more upbeat music to show she is happy and confident with herself now. There will also be some flashback scenes to when they were together and their relationship and all the good times they had to show that although it ended after a long and painful drifting away period that for a year everything was amazing and it was only due to uncontrollable once in a lifetime opportunities that they drifted apart- something you can’t help but feel sympathy for as it is a valid but heart-breaking reason to break up
In conclusion I would love to create this short film as I want to create something that has an important message that I believe in and that I want to share with others- that everyone deserves love and that they will be loved even if they don’t feel like it at the moment which is such an important message not just to those in the LGBT community even though this short film is for them. I think its important to make this short film as I want to make a difference even if only one person views it and comes out feeling better about themselves and their feelings or how they view their sexuality- something which is really hard to do- then I will feel like I have completed what I set out to do.
