pitch

1. 5 MIN SHORT
FILM
HELP TECH

2. NARRATIVE
A young soldier, discharged from war for mental heath is introduced in the
doctors office to Home Tech, a google home like device that downloads the
users brain and will adjust things like heating, lights and unlocking and
locking doors as a replacement for his tablets. Our protagonist eventually
becomes extremely comfortable with the device, becoming fully reliant on it
not doing anything for himself his recurring anxious behaviour starts to fade.
The device then starts to go wrong setting the microwave and tv off at first
randomly turning on and off the devices ultimately turning the heating in his
house up to an extreme temperature and locking him causing him to die
locked in his house as the device has seemingly broken. We then see
mysterious doctor like figures walk into his house and drag out his body
which are then revealed to have the same help tech logo on the uniform. They
then sign on a clipboard experiment 1 successful.

3. STEWART
• A 19 year old boy that served in the army for a few years before being discharged because
the effects the war had on his mental health. As the war is set in the future using more
brutal killing methods this effected his brain.
• Stewart is a nervous and anxious person always worried about what could possibly go
wrong and suffers from ptsd like recurring sounds in his head that remind him of war.
Because of his anxious nature the war has effected him more than the average solider this
being the reason for him being discharged so early.
• Stewart prefers to stay to himself and doesn’t like to interact with others. His constant
deadpan face and lack of any expression or emotion make him unapproachable. This is
also topped off by the fact that in public he always has his headphones in listening to calm
music that will ease his anxious behavior and recurring reminders of the war.
• He wears boring dull clothes that fit very well but lack any colour only wear whites and
greys. His clothes fitting well also is because of his ocd type personality having everything
be perfect all the time as it gives his life some stability and less for him to worry about
• He is very easily influenced however and can easily fall for technological advancements that
means he has to do less therefore he becomes so reliant on the help tech device as he can
fall for ease and anything that means he must do less.
• He isn’t close to any of his family as they all keep distant for him because of his antisocial
nature caused by the effects of the war and his ocd type personality that makes him want
to keep everything perfect. His reliance and acceptance of technology also contrasts his
family's belief that there is something sinister about technology.
• His preferred audience reading would be that he's a sympathetic character because him
being as anxious and unsociable as he is, is not due to him and is caused by the war.
Seeing him struggle on his own in empty bland and cold space could also cause the
audience to feel that he is isolated from everything.

4. MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR
• We never get to see the doctor properly in shot.
• His appearance although never seen is very clean cut and business professional at all times.
• He is an 55 year old man that has been part of the help tech company for 33 years. He is comes across
and friendly and caring to his patients but is greedy and selfish constantly pushing the new help tech
products to make as much money as possible. He is the main doctor in charge of dealing with soldiers
that have come back from war due to the phycological effects and his goal is to keep them quiet so they
do not go public on the devastating events of the war as the general public have been tricked into
thinking they are fighting terrorist groups but are actually killing innocent people to gain more land for
further factories and labs.
• At home with his wife and 3 children he is very distant and focuses on his work even when with family.
He thinks that its for there own better good as he’ll be bringing in more money but doesn’t value the
family time spent together.
• His costume is a blank lab coat and trousers making it seem unclear of his association to help tech but is
always sporting a help tech wristband that he keeps hidden from patients.
the preferred audience reading of him is that he is suspicious and un trust worthy because of the fact we
never see his face. They may see him as a potential antagonist to our main character.
• Another reading however could be that he is a good and intelligent person because of his occupation.
This could cause the audience to think that he is a sort of saviour for our main character as he provides

5. WORLD
• This being set in the near future it will be similar to the world we live
in now but with things like the help tech home being huge
technological advancements. It is also a world run by one company
which are the creators of help tech home and are also behind the war
and trying to cover up the awful things that are happening in the war.
To show that this company has control over nearly everything I will
put the company logo on parts of the mise en scene such as props
like the tablets, his army uniform, food products. Ensuring realism by
having realistic sets such as the rooms of his house looking lived in
with household items on display such as family photos will be
important as it makes the film world seem relatable to ours as its
grounded in reality which can make the events of the film seem more
shocking because of its realistic setting and the fact that its

6. STYLE
• The films colour pallet will change depending on location, when he is in modern environments
such as his house and in the doctors office there will be a lack of colour, with whites and greys
being the main colour’s seen in these environments with possible cold blues to show the
robotic nature of the technology and the lack of any human life. This will be then contrasted by
the bright colour’s and earthly tones of nature in the scenes that will take place outside.
Ensuring that there is a range of earthly colour's from what other characters are wearing to the
trees and parts of nature that will be shot. This will create this idea of nature vs machine that is
presented in the film and how machine and technologies lack of life could lead to our downfall.
In the climatic scene I will also use red lighting as the device is going crazy to show the danger
he is in and to contrast to the cold blues with a violent red will enhance the feeling that
everything has gone wrong. I will also use Wes Anderson styled shots that are very 2
dimensional for shots relating to Stewart to show his very bland lifestyle and keep the shots
very empty with no camera movement and barely any character movement to create this sense
of how lifeless and robotic Stewart himself is. However I will also use intense shots with lots of
motion and uncomfortable close ups to create tension. I will use longer shot duration at times
to convey either boredom and blandness or for rising tension and shorter shot duration for fast
pace moments of intense actions. As it is sort of a sci-fi thriller I will incorporate parts into the
mise en scene to create this sense of future. I could also create movie titles for film franchises

7. SOUND
Sound will be incredibly important to creating the atmosphere of the short film. I
will create constant ambiance like a subtle humming in the background at all
times to show how the character is always uncomfortable. The rising war sounds
that recur for him will also be pivotal is showing that he needs some sort of cure
for his mental health and that he is constantly struggling with it. When he is
outside the natural sounds from outside will sounded drowned out similar to the
effect used in Mulholland Drive and have an electronic buzzing sound subtly
playing along side showcasing our characters detachment from reality. The voice
over of the Help Tech Home device will also be a crucial part of the sound design
as making sure to get the right voice will be important to make the device to seem
believable and making it sound like it is coming from a device in a room by using
the eq tool to adjust the sound. There isn’t much dialogue but the few lines there
are important as the character doesn’t talk much and avoids speaking so it will
suggest that something is seriously bothering him.

8. INSPIRATION
• The tv show black mirror has been heavy inspiration for my short film, the
look into the possible dark realties that technology present in the future
inspired my idea. I liked how black mirror is able to ground itself in reality
and present these issues to make it seem almost scary at times because of
the dark events that take place in the show due to technology. Specific
episodes that have inspired me the most are Men Against Fire, White
Christmas and Be Right Back.
• I will also research more into sci-fi dystopian future type films to see how I
can use common iconography from those films in mine to help establish the
genre whilst making mine still seem grounded in reality.

9. MINUTE BY MINUTE
Minute 1
character throwing away tablets, Introduction/advert her help tech home, Receiving the
help tech home
Minute 2
Character on bus, rising war sound, Struggling to get into home, Setting up the help
tech hone
Minute 3
lying down and scared of knocking door (actually the post man), reading family card
Minute 4
microwave going off , Tv starts to go off, Temperature starts to rise
Minute 5
character sweating struggling on the floor attempting to get out but the door is
locked , character realised help tech was behind everything , character dies, body

10. TARGET AUDIENCE
• My target audience would be teens-young adults because of
the thriller elements would be most captivating to this age
group. It would also be interesting to this age group because of
the concentration on technology and how in the future it could
potentially be dangerous, this interests that age group as it is
something that is relative to their life time and covering new
technology will gain their interest as seen by the success of
black mirror for a teen to young adult audience