Media Studies A Level

1. Final Synopsis’ Idea Development
TEODORA RADOVANOVIC
A2 MEDIA STUDIES

2. -
FinalStorylineChosen
For my A level main project I have chosen the storyline
entitled Flashback from my selection of initial ideas I have
worked on as my previous set of research.
The story follows a mentally instable and lost air traffic
controller roaming through the intertwined and bustling
streets of Belgrade, metaphorically mimicking his state of
mind.The air traffic controller is held responsible for the fall
of an airplane and has thus developed a high and slightly
uncontrollable state of depression and anxiety. Due to this
unbalanced nature he thus is contemplating on ending his
life.

3. -
Option 1
In this option I have transformed the generic idea into a confined and
restricted interior setting of an apartment in order to mimic the main
characters enclosed mental instability. Moreover, I have shifted the topic of
trigger from being an airplane crash to a relatively recent immense
bombardment of his city since it is a more poignant scene which more easily
triggers remembrance.
The story follows a father doing paper work at the table whilst his son is playing
war video games in the living room. During a brief pause in his work, his
attention is brought to the sporadic and erratic noise of gun shots and screams
of the virtual soldiers.This series of sounds trigger a sense of the
bombardment that cause inner turmoil. He flashbacks to a scene in his
childhood which consists of a innocent game of cowboys and Indians with his
friends in the shared courtyard.
Suddenly the bomb-altering siren warns the squirming children and the remaining
public outside to run into a secure shelter.While in the shelter the sirens go off
again but this time the sound coincides with the pitchy sound of the
microwaving beeping as a signal that the popcorn is ready.
The contrasting ideas of a suspenseful alarm to an innocent beep exemplifies the
transition from the flashback to reality and moreover emphasizes his mental
distress. The innocent approach of the child towards his father asking for
popcorn gives an additional contrast to the suspenseful flashback as it
signifies a sense of security.

4. -
Filminspiration
My inspiration for this option of my short film was initiated
by the short film “Who Guards the Guardians” directed by
Goran Stankovic in his university years.The story follows a
adolescent soldier and how his inevitable war-like future
was influenced from a young age.The juvenile and
innocent images of war from his childhood coincide with
the naivety of my character’s childhood perception of
reality. Both my character and the young soldier are
forcefully indoctrinated into a system of violence and
morbidity which consequently transforms them into a
helpless mental instable confusion.

5. -
Option 2
Similarly to the first option, I wanted to indulge into the topic of a traumatic
experience of the character to a relatively recent bombing in his youth as a possible
option of an unsettling incident. However, in this option the mis-en-scene
commences outside in the bustling streets of Belgrade.
The main character is struggling through the immense sea of heads in order to go to
his scheduled appointments of the day. But during this urge to escape the bundle of
people, his attention is caught by a drilling machine in a near by construction sight.
This erratic noise triggers him back to the stressful and nerve-racking situation of the
bombing of his city.
Therefore, he is led into a hallucination of an actual bombing, when in reality no
danger of the sort is present. He is frantically grabbing people and warning them
about the bombing and each person he grabs reminds him of a person in his life that
has passed away.This shape of death then relates to the people which have passed by
in the airplane crash and thus makes fuels his regret for his responsibility.
During this cycle of inner turmoil in his hallucinations he stops a cinema theatre of his
childhood, which in reality has been destroyed in the bombing. As he approaches his
fictionalized theatre, he recognizes his father as a character on the upcoming posters,
which brings him to a flashback of him and his father going to the theatre together on
the day of the bombing to watch a war film.The reminiscence of the gun shots
sounds from the film are heard and collide with the sound of the drill from the
construction sight which bring the main character to reality.

6. -
Option 3
This following storyline evolves from the original synopsis that
I have created.The main character’s mental instability is
triggered by the sound/sight of a plane instigating his role in a
recent plane crash as opposed to the menacing large-scale
bombing. Due to the airplane crash being a more personal and
individualized experience for the main character as opposed
to a broad bombing of the city in which a vast quantity of
people can relate to, his inconsistent state can be further
pinpointed and analyzed by the audience.

7. -
Option 3
The plotline follows a mundane routine of the main character coming back home from his
daily errands. After putting away his groceries, he proceeds onto the balcony for a cigarette
on the terrace.This monotonous pace and reflective state of the character as he ponders on
his past day acts as an abrupt contrast to his erratic and uncontrollable state, after hearing an
airplane fly over.
The roaring sound triggers his unforgettable past in which he was held responsible for an
airplane crash as an air traffic controller as he flashbacks to him in front of the controls and
monitors trying to make contact with the airplane. His hallucinations therefore awaken as he
looks down onto the busy road below and interprets the frantic movement of cars and
pedestrians as a scene of endangered bystanders running away from an inevitable menace.
In this moment of disillusion, he decides to run downstairs to help the individuals on the
street. In a distraught manner, he grabs his coat and keys and races downstairs. During this
moment of panic, innocent sounds of the elevator and door bell are perceived as alarms to
the main character and mimic the repetitive monitor alarms . As he reaches the main
entrance and opens the door to go outside, he witnesses a relatively uneventful street and
therefore is brought make to reality mentally.

8. -
Option 4
This storyline starts off with the main character walking through a deserted pedestrian
street on a gloomy Sunday afternoon when most of the city is in their cozy homes with their
families. A sharp contrast to the bleak and desolate surroundings of the street and the
helpless and lonesome main character trudging past closed down shops.The spacious yet
soulless street signify the main character’s depressed and unfulfilling state.The walls and
doors of the surroundings buildings with cheerful families inside act as a menacing
barricade which the main character cannot break down.
Slowly he approaches a monument dedicated to the soldiers who passed away in the
SecondWorldWar, however he perceives it as a memoriam to the victims of a relatively
recent plane crash which he was responsible for by mentally changing the title of the
plaque. Sound intervals of the air traffic monitors beeping and erratic shouts of the main
character insinuate this troublesome and helpless period to the audience from a more
poignant auditory perception.
As he looks up from the monument glimpses of victims appear that he has mentally
fabricated by all having the word victim placed on their forehead. All show signs of remorse
to the main character as they pass by him. Suddenly, a character appears with prior sound
of whistling as an auditory introduction. He is dressed in a scruffy and bizarre manner with a
large hat and bubble guns, differentiating himself from the rest. He approaches the main
character in a careless and casual manner and asks “you’ve got troubles, but I’ve got
bubbles, what do you think is more worth it?” After an astonished pause from the main
character, he proceeds “because I am of victim of you as well, only difference is I am you”
as he lifts his hat and shows the word victim on his forehead.

9. -
Option 5
For this following storyline, I wanted to implement the same structure
as the previous but with changes in the location and consequently
subsequent details such as the monument.Therefore, the plotline would
take place on a deserted terrace, possibly mimicking a abandoned
street/outside shopping district. Banners/advertisements taped
sporadically on various places on the terrace would act as a form of
trigger and/or remembrance of the victims of the plane crash instead of
the monument as the main character reconstructs the lettering of the
banners to resemble a newspaper front page of the plane crash.
Similarly to the previous story, sound intervals of the air traffic monitors
beeping and erratic shouts of the main character insinuate this troublesome
and helpless period to the audience from a more poignant auditory
perception.The mentally fabricated individuals of the main character
then start to appear however they show signs of going on a trip,
oblivious to their inevitable future. Like the previous plotline they have
the words “victim” across their foreheads. As they disperse from the
setting, a peculiar looking and scruffily dressed character emerges after
an auditory introduction of whistling. He has a large hat and bubble
guns, and despite similar casual and careless manner of the previous
individuals he stands out poignantly with his appearance. He
approaches the main character in the same manner and directs the
same rhetoric to the main character.