This document outlines two potential short film ideas by Sarah Poore. The first film is called "Darkest Secret" and is about a woman named Kate who discovers secrets about her late husband David after he passes away. The second film is called "Lucy" and is about an 11-year-old lonely girl named Lucy who befriends a man named Harry at an abandoned bunker. Both films would be around 10 minutes and target audiences in their 20s-40s who can relate to the characters and themes of secrets, emotions, and friendship.

1. FILM IDEA ONE
BY SARAH POORE

2. TITLE, TAGLINE & LENGTH OF FILM
• DARKEST SECRET
• ’Opening the box of secrets’
• I will be aiming for my short film to be approximately 10 minutes.

3. KEY CHARACTERS
KATE
•The protagonist is 45 years old and works in an office.
•She is a relatable and every day character which will
allow the audience to build personal relationships with
her.
•She is a loyal character and believes in family values
and the audience will see a vulnerable side of her in
the film which will allow them to connect with her
character.
•In the film we learn that she is a very devoted wife
and even once she discovers his shocking secrets, she
still chooses to remain steadfast in her support of his
character.
•Neutral coloured clothing pallet – wearing colours such
as grey because it is stereotypically associated with
loss or depression.
•It can be described as a dreary and gloomy colour which
mirrors the detached and emotive character as well as
the mood.

4. KEY CHARACTERS
DAVID
•David is the late husband of the protagonist, Kate.
•The audience are only able to relate to him through
photographs so they don’t have the opportunity to
build a one on one relationship with him in the
same way they can do with Kate.
•The part he played in the crime is assumed but
never confirmed, but the audiences opinion on him
is going to be formed through the eyes of Kate in
the first instance, but then in finding information
from his past they are likely to assume he is
guilty.
•Audience members are likely to form a negative
relationship and opinion about him based on the
‘evidence’ that is found in the end of the film.

5. SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE
A middle aged woman is driving her car home, clearly upset but its unclear to the audience as to the reasons why. She pulls into the driveway and
enters the house.
ACT TWO
She makes herself a cup of tea and sits at the dining table opening the post. We then see around her are flowers and condolence cards and the
audience learns it is her husband who has recently passed away.
She opens a number of cards, but the fourth envelope is addressed to him. Inside is a written letter with a picture of three girls and a mind map with a
possible link…
The phone immediately rings before she properly reads the letter, - a friend has called to find out how Kate is doing. At the end of the call Kate actually
reads the letter and goes looking for some clues. She looks through his office and comes across a box file where she finds photographs, and other
belongings together with a list of names. She takes the names and and goes to her laptop, where she googles them and finds a missing person article.
ACT THREE
She phones her friend back, and explains that she thinks he had killed someone. In a very panicky call she explains that the evidence is all there and
that she doesn’t know what to do.
Jane then says to Kate that she has a decision to make, and must decide how to preserve the memory of her husband. She either buries the truth and
destroys the evidence or the truth must be revealed.
It then cuts to a shot of her outside with the photo of the young girl in her hand. She lights the corner of the image and throws it on the fire to burn
the evidence.
She was not prepared to let the truth come out.

6. TARGET AUDIENCE
• I would expect the target audience to be 25-40 year olds since this film deals with an
emotional topic throughout.
• Aiming the film at this age range will make it more relatable because at this age they are
more likely to be able to relate and empathise with the protagonist.
• I would place the target audience in the C1 and C2 category of the NRS Social Demographic
Scale of lower middle class and skilled working class. They will be able to relate to the
characters the most.
• In relation to Blumler and Katz’ Uses and Gratifications Theory, I would expect the target
audience to watch firstly for diversion from their own everyday life, but also for personal
relationships, whereby the audience may connect with the protagonist and feel like they
know her.
• In reference to Young and Rubicam’s 4C’s scale, I would place the target audience in the
Reformer category. This is because they typically value their own independent judgement
meaning that they will likely watch the film and make their own judgement on the characters
and the events as well as think about the questions raised in the short film surrounding the
husband and his role.

7. FORM AND STYLE
• I will be shooting this short film on a digital hand held Canon camera. This gives a better quality than
recording on a normal phone and is easy to set up and use whilst still giving a good quality image.
• I will be editing using software called Adobe Premiere Pro because this is a very professional piece of
editing software which is easy to use and allows me to add transitions, edit shots etc.
• The drama genre typically exhibits real life situations with realistic characters and settings and so the
style of the film will be live-action which essentially involves filming real people.

8. MARKET PLACE
• I could see my short film on a website like Short of the Week or on
YouTube. This is because I think more people would view it if it is
distributed online.
• I feel that there is potentially scope for a prequel of my short film which
could show the events leading up to his death and the crimes he had
previously committed. Perhaps even the way he covered his tracks.

9. SCRIPT & STORYBOARD

10. SAMPLE AUDIO
https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/november

11. FILM IDEA TWO

12. TITLE, TAGLINE & LENGTH OF FILM
• LUCY
• ‘The most unlikely friendship’
• I will be aiming for my short film to be approximately 10 minutes.

13. KEY CHARACTERS
LUCY
•The protagonist is 11 years old.
•She is very young for her age, and still talks to and
plays with her dolls.
•She is a very lonely child with no real friends and
this makes her quite hard to read for the audience.
They are likely to be intrigued by her character as she
is quite unpredictable.
•I vision her wearing a casual outfit with a slogan t-
shirt to emphasise her age as well as jeans.

14. KEY CHARACTERS
HARRY
•It is undetermined whether Harry is a present day,
real life character in the film or a figment of
Lucy’s imagination.
•He is shown as a 19/20 year old and is dressed in
turned up trousers and an open shirt. This is
because it is not a particular fashion statement
from a particular era, meaning that the audience
will not relate his outfit to a particular period.

15. SYNOPSIS
• ACT ONE
• The film opens showing a young girl who is very lonely sat around at home. She is constantly alone or
playing games on her computer. Her mother is terribly worried about her because she doesn’t seem to
have many friends and is 11 years old, but still is playing with and talking to her dolls.
• ACT TWO
• Her mother sends her to the park with her sister explaining that she needs to socialise with other
children. However her sister didn’t want to stay with her so dropped her there and said she would pick
her up in an hour. She wonders out of the park and follows a path into the forest and finds herself at a
bunker. As a young and inquisitive child, she enters. It’s here she meets her ‘friend’- Harry. She agrees to
meet him again the following day and she brings him some food for the pair to enjoy. They spend every
day together at the bunker for 5 days as she brings him more food, and they talk for hours. But when
Lucy talks about Harry, no one believes her and she becomes very frustrated.
• ACT THREE
• One morning she goes to the bunker to meet him but cannot seem to find him anywhere. Finally after
much searching, the viewer is shown graffiti art on the wall from 1941 explaining he was a member of
the British army. The viewer is left with the thought that this man wasn’t real. Either he was a ghost or a
figment of Lucy’s imagination.

16. TARGET AUDIENCE
• Expected to be around 15-25 and predominantly female.
• Although older than Lucy, I think they will be able to relate to her characteristics and empathise with
her struggles with loneliness. In addition, the other central character Harry is a young, handsome guy
who may attract a more female audience.
• In relation to the NRS social demographic scale, the lower age of the target audience for my short film
would be categorised in social grade E. This is because many of them will still be in education and
therefore will have no source of income.
• Those at the higher end of the age range are likely to be in social grade D (working class) because they
are still young and may not have progressed to a managerial or professional level. In addition, the
characters in the short film (predominantly Harry)are from a very working class background so they are
likely to be able to relate to them in this way.
• In reference to Young and Rubicam’s 4C’s scale, I would place the audience in the ‘Explorer’. This is
because they are likely to be open to the possibility that harry is a figment of Lucy’s imagination. In
addition, they will want to watch the entire film because their natural need is to find out what is going
to happen.

17. FORM AND STYLE
• I would shoot this short film on a digital hand held Canon camera because I think this gives a good
quality shot and is much more professional than filming on a phone.
• I would include lots of different shots to ensure the film was interesting for the viewer including;
establishing, tracking, close-up, aerial view shot, point of view shot etc. This will show the different
perspectives and different emotions depending on the shot and the scene.
• This film would be a drama following Lucy’s life and friendship and it would depend on the audience
connecting with the realistic character of Lucy and the emotional themes throughout, including
loneliness, individuality and friendships.

18. MARKET PLACE
• I think my short film would do well online on websites such as YouTube
and Short of the Week. This is because it is free for viewers to watch and
they can leave comments and feedback on these websites.
• I don’t really think there is scope for a prequel or sequel of my short film
unless it shows Harrys life before – going back in time.

19. SCRIPT & STORYBOARD

20. SAMPLE AUDIO
https://freesound.org/people/VKProduktion/sounds/231537/