1. Proposal
1
Centre Name and Number:
York College 48357
Student Name and Number:
India-Rain Harrison
Project proposal title and date:
Fire Away – Jan 2019
Main area of activity:
I will be working on a short film with a heavy music influence. One song will be the plot to the
whole project. The lyrics are particularly poignant, I aim to maximise on the impact of the lyrics to
reach the intended audience with an important message about mental health; anxiety and
depression being the focus.
Rationale:
The most similar thing to this project that I have created already is the tour TV advertisement,
created for my final project in the first year. I intend to create a short film raising awareness of
Anxiety Disorder and Depression and to try to break down the stigma that surrounds these topics.
These conditions, together with mental health, should be discussed more openly and people need
to know they are not alone. There are so many others who are recorded sufferers, not to mention
the millions of who are suffering in silence.
Although they’re not the same, some aspects of that project are the same as this i.e. the heavy
music influence in both projects, except with this new project the song will be turned into a movie
instead of having an advert advertising live music. My initial thought was to create a music video
for this specific song. On reflection, I realised the lyrics were so important to mental health
sufferers and felt I could help to raise awareness and hopefully help someone ultimately. I’ve
learnt several skills in the last two years on this course: how to fade scenes in and out of each
other, what camera angles look best with certain shots to create tension, how to edit two different
shots so they look like they are just one etc. I feel all these skills I have acquired will help make my
final project better than what my first one looked like when I created it in the first year. This project
like my previous will be targeted towards teens and young adults, as they are generally the ones
who suffer these issues most in society today. I want to of course aim my project to everyone who
suffers with mental health, but I especially want young males to see it and realise that it is ok to
have mental health issues and they shouldn’t be afraid to open up to the people around them,
especially if it means they can receive the proper help they need in order to recover.
The reason I chose to create a film based on mental health, more specifically panic attacks, is
because my brother has suffered with them from being age 16, at 28 he still suffers severely with
them as a daily occurrence. There is a 10-year age gap between my brother and I, meaning I’ve
seen him this way since I was 6 years old. Because it’s my brother, I do know the methods that we
use that help him overcome these attacks, but different people need a different approach so in my
film I need to take a separate approach to what we do with my brother as some people may not
see our coping method as something that could help them. Unfortunately, mental health issues are
not one size fits all. I would like to reach not only those who suffer from these conditions, but I
would like to include in my film, the negative and distressing impact these conditions have on
those around them. There are so many films and advertisements that focus on the ‘self’, I think
highlighting the impact on close family and friends could make people realise they are not the only
people suffering and that their condition and suicidal behaviour is distressing for everyone. My
target audience is young people, both male and female, aged 15-34. I have selected this age
group as according to No Panic, 50% of mental health problems are established by age 15. I need
to shape my film to suit and attract that audience.
2. Proposal
2
Project Concept:
The concept for my film is to create a short movie that discusses anxiety disorder and panic
attacks within young people, specifically men, basing the plot of the film on the lyrics to a song that
talks about mental health. Anxiety Disorder, linked to depression, is a mental health condition
which is increasing in numbers. According to Anxiety UK, there are 6 million people in the UK
suffering from Anxiety Disorder and / or depression. Even with these large numbers, there is only
minimal help available at GP level. The most common help from GP’s is for example, a referral for
Cognitive Therapy Disorder. Although this has been successful in some patients, it’s not a case of
one size fits all. With medical professionals being unable to offer anything further, other than
medication, raising awareness of these conditions is paramount in the hope of furthering research.
Anxiety is a symptom of a fear-based fight or flight reaction. The brain convinces the body that it
needs to create high levels of Adrenalin preparing for a fight or flight reaction. As the sufferer is not
in a situation where they will use or need the excess Adrenalin, this leads to anxiety and if not
controlled, a panic attack. The adrenalin needs an outlet and must go somewhere.
The song I have chosen to use is called Fire Away, written and performed by Niall Horan. I feel the
song really reflects the lives of young people today regarding mental health and not knowing whom
to turn to for help. The genre of this movie is going to be romance, but with a slight bit of tension.
Martin Scorsese is one director I have been researching, as he doesn’t usually produce romantic
films, but the ones he has directed/produced have a very different approach, such as Young
Victoria, which focuses on the trials and tribulations of a young Queen Victoria. Including her
romantic life, but not taking over the rest of her life. I think this keeps in with the tone part I want for
my own film. I will have to analyse the movies he has already directed that hold a romance
element (Hugo being a perfect example) to see what romantic aspects it holds, how tension has
been created and how I can end my film well without having my audience feel unsatisfied at the
end.
How will the project be evaluated and reviewed:
I plan to show my work to people I know that live in different areas of the UK, have different
personalities and have different interests. I want to receive different opinions on my work so I know
how I can improve for future projects. I have a large following on social media and I would like to
post the film there and gain valuable feedback from people who have been impacted by mental
health issues and those who were not fully aware or informed. I feel like doing this will help me to
see what kind of things different audiences enjoy when watching a short movie with this type of
content, thus meaning I can try to incorporate feedback into future work so that my films cover all
bases. I think it is important for me to attach a survey to my social media post which will allow
viewers to provide feedback immediately after viewing. I will do this in a call to action style to
encourage an immediate response. We are holding a screening in a private cinema local to
college. This is being organised by our class, we are also holding an end of year show at college
that not only will have our films running, but also allows us to create a different way of presenting
the work we do over this year to show the process we went through in order to create our final
films. Our families, friends, peers and tutors will be attending, feedback from these viewings is
critical to receive immediate feedback. I’d also like to sign it up to be shown in film festivals as I
feel the message it is going to portray could really help some people understand the mental health
side to somebody’s life.
3. Proposal
3
Bibliography:
1. Armstrong, M. (2017). The 13 Most Romantic Lyrics From Niall Horan's 'Flicker'.
Available: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8006761/niall-horan-flicker-
songs-lyrics-romantic-album. Last accessed 28.01.2019.
2. Atkinson, S. (2017). Niall Horan's "Fire Away" Is For Women Who Are So Over Alpha
Male Nonsense Right Now. Available: https://www.bustle.com/p/niall-horans-fire-away-
is-for-women-who-are-so-over-alpha-male-nonsense-right-now-2961560. Last
accessed 28.01.2019.
3. Colley, Robyn. (2019) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 30.01.2019)
4. Ezra, G. (2018). 013. Niall Horan. Available:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/107KVlKyaYKaliuP6Fcrci?si=HZkMx65ISAG-
SjYdc273Pg. Last accessed 28.01.2019.
5. Fraley, J. (2013). Edward Scissorhands (1990). Available:
http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=20283. Last accessed 21.01.2019.
6. Fu, E. (2019). Julia Michaels & Selena Gomez Bond Over Their Shared Mental Health
Struggles On “Anxiety”. Available: https://genius.com/a/julia-michaels-selena-gomez-
bond-over-their-shared-mental-health-struggles-on-anxiety. Last accessed 28.01.2019.
7. Genius Lyrics. (2017). Niall Horan - Fire Away. Available: https://genius.com/Niall-
horan-fire-away-lyrics. Last accessed 28.01.2019.
8. Genius Lyrics. (2019). Julia Michaels - Anxiety. Available: https://genius.com/Julia-
michaels-anxiety-lyrics. Last accessed 28.01.2019.
9. Harrison, I. (2019) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on 30.01.2019)
10. Hofmann, S. Otto, M (2008). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder:
Evidence-based and Disorder-Specific Treatment Techniques. New York & London:
Taylor & Francis. 2-3.
11. Ben. (2011). Hugo. Available:
https://magicoficecream.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/hugo-2011-its-impossibly-
romantic/. Last accessed 24.01.2019.
12. Anon. (2009). The Young Victoria. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Victoria. Last accessed 24.01.2019.
Week Tasks to be Completed: Specific Tasks
1 Pre-production Create a pre-proposal document that briefly
explains my general film idea.
Fill in a real Proposal document giving more
detail as to how I want my story to go,
including a rationale that shows similar
projects to the one I want to create.
2 Pre-production First week, create a survey for my research
asking relevant questions that will help with
the filming and development of my project in
the coming weeks.
Research directors that inspire me and which
of their films is similar to my own that I can
compare them to.
3 Pre-production Look at research that has already been done
by people that specialise in anxiety so all my
facts are correct for when I begin filming.
Create a document that shows where my
inspiration came from, going into detail about
the directors and their films I am inspired by.
4 Pre-production I made a PowerPoint that was purely based on
4. Proposal
4
problem solving, meaning that any problem I
thought could come up before/during production I
would have a backup plan that was already
thought of beforehand.
5 Pre-production In small groups, we practised and developed our
skills on operating a camera by learning how to
set up the ISO correctly. Also, we learnt through
this how to make sure the white balance is set up
to match a certain scene.
6 Pre-production Create storyboards and discuss the roles for my
crew and finalise the cast list for my production. I
also tried to organise my time management
throughout production within this PowerPoint as
well as create a shot list for my film.
7 Pre-production Finish the Planning and start discussing plans for
production with may cast and crew i.e. locations,
timings, availability etc.
8 Production Finalise the location and times for meeting and
begin filming the first few segments of my film
outside of college; most likely my home. Start
looking for a singer to sing the song to dub over
my film; royalty free.
9 Production Edit the content already filmed the previous
week; decide if any other shots need re-filming,
doing so efficiently.
10 Production Consider looking at some effects to use that will
make my video stand out and make the current
content seem more appealing to watch.
11 Production Show the class what content I have already that
has been filmed and edited, receiving feedback
on how I can change my film to make it
better/easier to understand.
12 Production Start thinking about wrapping up production,
finishing off all the scenes/shots I need
(especially the crying scenes).
13 Production Record the song sung by my chosen singer,
decide if it would sound better being spoken or
sung; listen to both recordings carefully to see
what gives the biggest impact.
15 Production Complete editing and add the sound to my
production, finalising anything that hasn’t yet
been sorted. Watch my film several times in order
to ensure there are no mistakes.
15 Evaluation Compare my film to those that are similar,
discuss the strengths and weaknesses within my
film, discussing how I can make things better and
what I can do to improve my film net time.
16 Evaluation Show my film to my class, receiving feedback on
the good and bad points of my film, taking in
those responses and learning how I can improve
my skills for next time.
17 Evaluation Present my final product to the other students
studying media, taking on the feedback given in
order to make my next project better.
18 Moderation Send final project, including all documents, to the
examiner and progress tutor to be marked.
19 Show Preparation Book venue to show our films to family, set up
inside and discuss with the owner the number of
5. Proposal
5
people coming and how long we are going to be
there; negotiate price.
20 Show Show our final products to family/friends in a real
cinema.
