2. GENRE
๏ข The genre for our film is a British Social Realist Drama. Social realism focuses on
topical issues that are occurring in a stereotypical modern society, which is
represented by different ideas. The genre often focuses upon truth and honesty:
These being the aspects that give the genre its realist name. Themes such as
drugs, money, sex, religion and typical day-to-day activities are conventionally
portrayed within the narrative of a social realist film. It focuses on lifeโs struggles
and often portrays the working class activities as heroic. Dealing with the work
area also adds to the realist aspects as it is nothing to high key or high class.
These types of films are conventionally low budget; an example would be Billy
Elliott and Fish Tank, both films that do not feature famous actors or actresses
(the use of unknown actors). The representation of characters through the use of
unknown actors supports the realist aspects of the genre due to the fact that
these actors could potentially be anyone as they are not famous icons.
3. THE PLOT
๏ข We mind mapped our ideas in order to allow us to have a variety to
choose from. Having elements of sadness within the plot line allowed
us to fit in with the genre itself. However, we wanted to make our
ending extremely happy and satisfying for the audience in order for
them to allow their emotions to change as the film progresses (from
low to high). The plot of our film involves a young boy who has been
in a wheelchair all of his life because he was born with deformed
limbs. His mum died when she was giving birth and his Dad could
not cope with a disabled child on his own so he left his son with the
responsibility of a care home. Jamie, the main character playing the
deformed boy, has had a hard life and has struggled to cope with the
given circumstances. He has attempted to commit suicide several
times and he does not see any point in his current life. Then, his care
worker, Julie, suggests that he tries out for a wheelchair basketball
team in order to place some positivity within his life. Due to the
closeness of Jamie and Julie relationship, Jamie takes Julieโs advice
and makes the team. He finds his true talent and destiny, and he also
makes lots of lifelong friends. He and his team end up winning gold
at the Paralympics and he becomes an icon all over the country.
4. CHARACTERS
๏ข Jamie โ Young boy with deformed legs. In the opening of the
film we see him being born, and by the end of the film he is a
Paralympics champion.
๏ข Keith โ Plays the role of Jamieโs dad. He only stars in the
beginning of the film, and his exit involves him abandoning his
young disabled son.
๏ข Julie โ She is like a mother to Jamie. Playing the role of his
beloved care worker. She looks after Jamie and is the one
who pushes him on to becoming a member of the wheelchair
basketball team.
๏ข Rhys - Jamieโs friend who suddenly turns against him when
he starts to spend less time with him and when he becomes a
champion.
๏ข Kim โ Jamieโs love interest.
๏ข Will โ The school bully who does not like disabled people.
5. THEMES
๏ข Sport
๏ข Love
๏ข Success
๏ข Achievement
๏ข Sadness
๏ข Friendship
๏ข Family
๏ข Status/class
6. OPENING SEQUENCE
๏ข The first scene โ The first scene consists of Jamie being born. This has been
censored and the actual birth is not explicitly shown. Jamieโs birth was a water
birth and the first shot is a point of view shot from the baby under the water. The
camera would be hand-held as it is a low budget film and it also adds to the
realistic aspect of the genre. It also makes the scene appear more chaotic. The
soundtrack would be the piano backing track of โMad Worldโ and the dialogue
would be of a baby screaming.
๏ข The second scene โ The second scene involves Jamieโs Dad Keith discovering
that his wife is dead. The soundtrack would still be playing in the back ground and
the actually lyrics would start to play; However the sound would be blurred as if
Keith does not know what is going on and to make the audience feel is frustration,
despair and confusion. The camera would still be hand-held to make it appear
chaotic and realistic. The camera would pan across from Keith, to the dead wife
and then finally to the baby to represent the connection to each other that the three
have. It would vary from slow to fast, again to show the chaos of the whole
situation.
๏ข The third scene โ The third scene would show Jamie himself. It would be a birds
eye view shot from above of the baby and would slowly and carefully zoom in on
him to portray how delicate he is. The backing track of Mad World would still be
sounded in the back ground. Baby Jamie would also be crying.
๏ข The forth scene โ The fourth scene would be the final shot. This would consist of
Keith standing from afar facing the opposite way. It would be a long shot: This is to
show how distant he is from his new born son. It also sets the tone and
atmosphere for the upcoming events in the film โ sadness.
7. SUMMARY OF CAMERA SHOTS
๏ข Point of view shot from Baby Jamie โ to show how he is entering the
world and to censor the birth
๏ข Close up of Baby Jamie โ to show his new born face
๏ข Close up of Keith โ to show is facial expression
๏ข Panning shot from Keith, to the mother and Jamie
๏ข Birds eye view shot of Jamie
๏ข Zooming in shot of Jamie โ to show the delicacy of him
๏ข Long shot of Keith and the corridor โ to show the distance of him and
his son
๏ข Long establishing shot of the setting โ to set the scene and the tone
8. TARGET AUDIENCE
๏ข Our target audience is more varied than, for example, a rom-com.
This is due to the diversity in the themes we can include for our
narrative. The themes that are most appropriate for our genre would
include things like sex, drugs, relationships, school and so on. It is so
varied that at least one theme would relate to or interest the public in
some way or another. Due to another theme of this genre being
sadness, some would say that our genre of film would not appeal to
many people: This is why we made the decision to add a sporty
element to the narrative of our film. This would appeal to the younger
generation of film watchers, alike to the Olympics which would too
interest more people. Americans are often known for enjoying happy
and positive films, alike to many people in Britain. We felt it
necessary to include a happy ending in order to appeal to more
people. However, it all depends on the gratifications of a person and
the type of mood they are in (chance).
9. IMPROVEMENTS
๏ข When pitching our presentation to our class they came up with
several suggestions in order to potentially make our film more
successful and appealing. Includingโฆ
๏ข A villain
๏ข A love interest
๏ข A bigger problem other than his disability
