2. FILM IDEA 1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
YOUR WORKING TITLE.............................................................................................. 3
CREATING YOUR TAGLINE....................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION TO KEY CHARACTERS............................................................... 4
SYNOPSIS ......................................................................................................................... 6
Act 1......................................................................................................................................6
Act 2......................................................................................................................................6
Act 3......................................................................................................................................6
TARGET AUDIENCE ..................................................................................................... 7
FORM AND STYLE......................................................................................................... 7
MARKETPLACE ............................................................................................................. 8
PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE MATERIALS ............................................................. 9
Script.....................................................................................................................................9
Audio ..................................................................................................................................10
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WORKING TITLE AND TAGLINE
WORKING TITLE
CAPTURED
TAGLINE
WHO’S GOING TO BE NEXT?
LENGTH OF THE FILM
5-10 minutes
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INTRODUCTION TO KEY CHARACTERS
In the short film, four main characters convey and tell the story of film idea 1.
To begin with there is the main character called Charlotte. She is a teenage girl and in the
film is getting ready to go to a birthday event with her friends. Charlotte would wear normal
stylish clothes any teenage girl would wear, for example ripped jeans and a sweatshirt. In the
film, she starts in her normal clothing and then when she is getting ready to go out so she wears
nicer evening clothes. This would be a nice dress or smart trousers and heels. Charlotte would
have brown hair with dark eyes and a fair even skin tone, making her appearance look attractive
and smart.
Next, there is the character of a child catcher, who wears a black balaclava and outfit to
show its hidden identity. This character is the main plot twist, where he catches Charlotte while
she is on her way to her destination. His identity is covered so she will not know who has caught
her, creating the suspense in the film and the fearfulness of the characters.
Later there are the two parents of Charlotte, who are worried about their daughter who
has gone missing. They are both middle aged with dark hair and fair skin, who care and want the
best for their daughter. Charlotte had a lot going for her and now the parents are worried that all
that is all lost and wasted for her. In the film, we will include scenes where her parents are
searching for their daughter while seeing missing person posters on the telephone poles around
the area. The parents will wear what stereotypical parents would wear normally, trousers and
shirt.
I also considered having friends of the main character. I could film them getting ready
while Charlotte is too, and then their reaction when she has gone missing. The film could also
shoot them looking for Charlotte and finding her phone along the pavement by their house. I
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would ensure them to wear normal stylish clothes to show their age in the film and the
generation of style and teenagers. I could also allow the friends to look ready for their night out
with smart clothing and attractive make up, to show how they were legitimately going out for a
nice birthday celebration, without wanting anything like this to happen.
I could also have shots of the public in the film to show how busy the hometown is and
how people are aware of this missing girl. I could add over the shoulder shots to show people
reading the missing posters and how sad it is seeing such an innocent and young girl going
missing. I would allow these people to wear what they want because in the film we want to see a
variety of style and people so they are asked to wear normal clothing so we see the different
types of people. The ages of these people could vary but mainly old people, because they are
usually walking around their town doing shopping etc.
The last character that is not really shown much in the film is the brother to the girl. We
are told that they are not very close and as an audience we can’t tell if he’s affected by his sister
gone missing. We do not even know if the catcher could have been him but we hope to believe it
is not. The brother would be filmed in the film to show his reaction to the parents asking if they
are okay and also shots of him sitting in his room, perhaps writing a diary to show his emotions,
because he may hide the fact he really did like his sister around. I would allow the brother to
wear what he wishes, as in older teenage style. For example, jeans and a hoodie. I could also add
dim lighting when filming him in his room, because we could see him as a sad character because
we do not know if he’s happy or not, and what he is actually like. This could be challenging to
the audience because the dim lighting could cause the audience to question the brothers behavior
and be suspicious of him, or think nothing of think and assume he is just isolating himself
because he is upset his sister was taken.
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FILM IDEA 1
ACT1: The film starts with the main character Charlotte who is hanging out with her friends and
one of them invites her to go out for her birthday. She goes home from school and has a normal
evening at home with family and then starts to get ready for her friends evening out. She leaves
about 8am and walks over to their house.
ACT2: On the way to her friend’s house, she starts feeling paranoid as she hears footsteps
behind her and it starts to get dark quickly. She does not want to face turning around so she starts
walking faster although the footsteps behind her start getting louder. She goes to get her phone
out as she starts running but drops her phone. The person behind her catches her and she is gone.
ACT3: Friends start calling her, no response. They go to her house, worrying her parents about
her absence. They find her phone on the pavement near her friend’s house. No one knows what
to do. They start putting posters on telephone poles and contacting the news to make people
aware of this ‘catcher’ looking around for children. The last scene we see is of Charlotte trapped
and captured in a small dark room, and we are left to wonder what happens to her and her family.
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TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience of my short film is aimed at anyone who is interested in thriller or suspense.
Mainly the target audience would reach older teenagers or adults who are interested in thriller or
fearful plot twists. I would not recommend my short film to be suitable for younger audiences
because my short film could potentially scare children of being kidnapped or taken by strangers.
This would also trigger nightmares and bad imagination and thoughts for the young kids, making
parents and carers worried about what this could make them do. Linking to the NRS Social
Demographic Scale, my film would reach social grades A to E because upper, middle, and those
at lowest level of subsistence would be interested in thriller or suspense. The 4Cs scale would
reach The Explorer, people who are driven by a need for challenge and new frontiers and often
try out new ideas and experiences. In addition, The Succeeder and Mainstream would be reached
because they have a strong goal orientation and tend to be organised, and they are the
mainstream of society.
My short film will reach this target audience by ensuring the feel and genre to the film is thriller
and suspenseful, making audiences feel scared and not let down by the film’s intentions.
FORM AND STYLE
I will be filming my shots and scenes with a Canon digital handheld camera because they are
easy to use and give you good quality video and pictures. I will also use a tripod in case I need to
take any moving shots without the camera moving too much. Also I will be editing my film with
Adobe Premiere Pro to ensure I get the best editing software to create my film. This software is
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familiar and easy to use, although I have not done a lot of work with this software so I will have
to familiarize myself with the editing tools.
I will include short-paced clips where for example she is running away from the child catcher, I
will film short clips to show how Charlotte is tense and worried. I would also record heavy
breathing over the top of the shot to enhance the tense feel to the scene. I will shoot the film
along a dark narrow road, with a pavement, so I can film the two characters together. I may even
think about using a drone to film some of my film, to get a higher and more bird eye view of the
scene.
The particular genre and style I am aiming for is to create a thriller, fearful film with short quick
shots that enhances the suspense on a certain scene. In addition, I will want dark lighting,
evening time, to make the shots look more fearful for the audience, making the film tenser. This
will make the genre more thriller and scarier because the audience will assume something bad
will happen in the dark.
MARKETPLACE
I would upload my short film on Short of the Week or on YouTube. This is because they are both
popular social media sources that are used regularly, making my film regularly watched and
viewed by an audience. Making my short film distributed online will make it more likely for
people to find and then watch my film, whereas if it were only on someone’s social media page,
like Facebook, only their friends and family would watch it preventing from finding a more
variety of target audience viewers.
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PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE MATERIALS
SCRIPT
25/09/18
‘Capture’
FADE IN:
ROAD
CHARLOTTE running down narrow single road, crying. Sound of
footprints close behind her.
CHARLOTTE sprinting round corners, tripping and falling up. We
see her recover and continue running.
She looks behind her, we see the footprints of someone else.
CHARLOTTE is crying even more, eyes are blurred.
CUT TO:
HOMETOWN
MUM and DAD walking round town, looking at posters of their
missing daughter on telephone poles.
MUM
(Crying) Why did this happen to us? We don’t deserve it.
DAD
(Trying to reassure her) I have you.
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AUDIO
‘Ofelia’s Dream’ on
https://www.bensound.com/
This dark and sinister piano music is suited to when Charlotte is walking to meet her friends and
then she is captured later on in the film.
SAMPLE FOOTAGE
Here is where I will locate my film, when Charlotte gets caught by the stranger. This is because
this road is close by for all the cast so fuel costs won’t be an issue. Also I will aim for the
lighting and time of day to look like this photo
because you can see the location and you will
also be able to see the characters clearly. This
time of day is around 4pm.
