Idea 1: A short film on a girl who is bullied. In every section of the film, she changes into a different outfit to represent different people. She gets bullied by various different people throughout the film.
Genre: This would be a fictional story about bullying, discrimination or awareness.
Conventions: One person would be focused on. There would be different forms of bullying shown. Lots of different people would be used. Physical and psychological harm would be portrayed. Different scenes and backgrounds would be used in the various different situations. There would be themes of sadness and anger, and it would be downbeat.
Synopsis: Scene by scene, the girl wears a different outfit. The split-screen effect could be used. There could be soft background music, and some dialogue but not too much. Some of the scenes could be in black and white.
Audience: Teenagers age 13-18, both boys and girls but mainly for girls. The film would appeal to this age group as it is about awareness. It would appeal to girls because the main character would be a female. Also because the characters will be of a similar age group. Teenagers are often targets of bullying and a lot of them have been bullied at some point. It can be used to help other people, or for school work maybe.
Equipment/Props: Different outfits, anything that can be used as a weapon maybe, facebook/twitter/social network sites, mobile phone, laptop, accessories.
Locations: Home- bedroom, living room, garden etc. Park, school, journey to school, town, etc.
Research Needed: Look at short films on bullying/discrimination, see what forms of bullying there are, who is most affected by bullying, what are the conventions of a short film, what are the interests of a teenage target audience, good props and locations, what character types to use, good sequences, good sound to use.
Pro's: Good and simple idea, raises awareness, appeals to the audience.
Con's: Doesn't seem original enough, too simple, could maybe take too long to do.
Idea 2: A short film on a teenage girl/boy which goes through a sequence of their everyday life. it shows modern technology, society today, and problems in society.
Genre: Life style, maybe some comedy, real life, fiction, society.
Conventions: Focuses on one person, modern technology, life style, problems in society, modern.
Synopsis: Structure of a normal day, one minute per scene roughly, split screen maybe, dialogue, maybe some background music.
Audience: Teenagers age 13-18, both boys and girls as they are the same age as the character.Sociologists, people with an interest in technology to see how technology and society have changed.
Equipment/Props: Mobile phone, iPod, laptop, everyday objects.
Locations: School, home, park, out and about.
Research Needed: Sociology work, look into these sorts of short films.
Pro's: good, simple idea.
Con's: Might take too long, too much of a simple idea.
Idea 3: A short film of a girl where she imagines her life to be different. She feels as though she has a "boring" life and wants to have a different one. In her new life she is popular, well educated, seems happier, and has more money. The film ends with her going back to her old life and realising that's the life she really wants.
Genre: Life style, fiction, maybe comedy.
Conventions: Everyday situations, split screen maybe, flashbacks, bit of comedy, set both day and night time.
Synopsis: Normal situation, girl falls asleep, wakes up in another life, realises she doesn't like it, goes back to original life.
Audience: Teenagers 13-18, mainly girls as they can relate to the story in the film.
Equipment/Props: Every day items.
Locations: Home, school mainly, park, out and about.
Research Needed: Look into these types of short films.
Pro's: Good, simple idea.
Con's: Might not work out.
I showed my 3 ideas to 10 people who are media students and so have some knowledge of what forms and conventions short films have. Lots of people liked Idea 1 and 3 the most. The most pooular choice was Idea 3 because of the storyline. They said that I could develop lots of other ideas to add to it if I carried on with it further. They also said that they had seen short films before with similar plots and that it would work well as a short film as it is something that has been popular in the past. From my audience feedback, I decided that I would carry on developing this idea as it would be more popular with the target audience.
