This document provides a treatment for a short film called "Safe" about a young girl named Camari. The film will be divided into three acts: in Act 1, Camari gets into an argument with her intoxicated parents and runs away; in Act 2, she finds an unsafe shed to sleep in but wakes to loud noises; in Act 3, she runs frightened through the woods. The target audience is older teenagers and adults interested in thrillers. The film will be shot with a handheld camera and edited with Adobe Premiere Pro. It aims to create suspense through quick shots, dark lighting, and tense sounds to portray Camari's fear as she escapes her home life.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
YOUR WORKING TITLE.............................................................................................. 3
CREATING YOUR TAGLINE....................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION TO KEY CHARACTERS............................................................... 4
SYNOPSIS ......................................................................................................................... 5
Act 1......................................................................................................................................5
Act 2......................................................................................................................................5
Act 3......................................................................................................................................5
TARGET AUDIENCE ..................................................................................................... 5
FORM AND STYLE......................................................................................................... 6
MARKETPLACE ............................................................................................................. 7
PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE MATERIALS ............................................................. 8
Script.....................................................................................................................................8
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WORKING TITLE AND TAGLINE
WORKING TITLE
SAFE
TAGLINE
WHERE DO YOU FEEL SAFE?
LENGTH OF THE FILM
5-10 minutes
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INTRODUCTION TO KEY CHARACTERS
In the short film, there is three main characters to convey and tell the story of film idea 2.
The main character is perceived as an innocent young girl, with dark hair and brown
eyes. I have chosen for this girl to wear nice clothes, jacket and jeans, and then while she stays in
the shed she get dirtier and her face gets grubbier, as we see her change from looking well-kept
to looking shoddier. For the audience we want to feel sorry for this character because we have
seen her go through rough times with her family and now she has got to the point where she’s
moving out to a filthy shed, to keep herself safe. We as an audience we want to look after her
because we feel bad for her situation.
The next two characters are the parents, who are shouting and screaming at their daughter
at the start of the film. They both are wearing stereotypical parent clothing, trousers and a
sweater. We want these parents to be perceived as quite rough and a horrible home life for the
daughter. These parents would be selfish and controlling, and would not allow their daughter to
talk to them about anything she feels uncomfortable or worried about. They both will be dark
haired with dark eyes. I will also ensure in the scenes they are holding or surrounded in alcohol
bottles to show how at home the daughter feels unsafe and in contrast feels safer in that cold,
lonesome shed. The parents could also be perceived as alcoholics and rowdy and raucous drunks,
making the girl’s home life very worrying and upsetting for her.
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FILM IDEA 2
ACT1: We see the main character at her house talking with her family. She suddenly gets
shouted at by her parents and she feels stupid and that everything is her fault. We see her upset
and annoyed. She eventually decides to run away and finds a shed that the audience see as very
unsafe.
ACT2: She goes into the shed and falls asleep inside. She wakes up to loud knocking and men
screaming as she puts her ear to the edge of the door.
ACT3: Girl runs out and down the woods. We see her running and tripping on branches. The last
shot is of her screaming, as a close up of her mouth, and a hand over her face. Audience is left to
think about what happens to her and what he looks like.
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 hurt or shouted at by their parents
and they could potentially consider running away and thinking sheds are safe places to go.
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
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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 frightened 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
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 through the woods, I will film
short clips to show how the daughter 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
wood, when she is arriving at the shed. 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,
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evening time, to make the shots look more fearful for the audience, making the film edgier. This
will make the genre more thriller and creepier 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
‘Safe’
FADE IN:
FOREST
CAMARI pushes open front door and runs out. CAMARI looks over
her shoulder as she runs at her house, getting smaller and
smaller.
CAMARI enters the forest and continues running, in the dark.
CAMARI trips over a branch and falls down to the floor. She
starts crying and screams.
CAMARI
(Crying) Someone help me! Please! Can anyone hear me?
CUT TO:
HOME
TWO PARENTS INTOXICATED AND STUMBLING UP THE STAIRS
SHOUTING FOR CAMARI
SANDY (angered)
Camari! Camari!
BILL
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Where are you? Open your door now
SANDY
I warn you. If you don’t unlock this door, you are not
eating this week! I’m telling you!
BILL
(To SANDY) Oh just go look for her, will you?