Treatment (First Draft)

Treatment (First Draft)

This treatment will establish the key concepts involved within our group’s short film, as well as the several constraints we have to overcome and any other relating details.

1.      Classification/Genre

In terms of the genre, our short film is categorised as both a horror and a thriller, as it contains elements from both fields. The selection of these two genres were chosen as our group had a major interest in TV programmes/movies within these realms. Dexter and Criminal Minds are two examples of the aforementioned.

2.      Synopsis

A vigilante killer takes justice in his own hands as he eliminates those individuals who have wrongly been freed by the current jurisdiction. Sparked by the death of his wife, he intends to proceed into killing a male who has seemingly been unjustly sentenced to community service. The justice system fails to prevent these assassinations from happening as the vigilant killer remains safe within the public sphere.

3.      Similar professional products that has inspired you and how?

From background research, the professional product that has most inspired us was the TV show Dexter, this is due to its congruence with the classification and genre. By analysing Dexter’s opening sequence we have decided to use a corpus of micro shots in our opening scene, in the same way than that of Dexter.

In Dexter it seems that the use of micro shots, allude to a sense of false accusations in order to mislead the audience and prevail an ambience of suspense. However, we have decided to diverge from this idea and take it to a more obscure level. This is created by the means of implying, in this case, the key characteristics of the vigilante killer instead of showing them as a clear unit in the short film. In other words, showing the newspaper report of “A mother of two killed by known murdered” twice, connotes the association of the killer within the two sections of the film where this heading is shown.

4.      Uniqueness

 

i.                     Audience

In terms of the target audience, we have discussed to have a target audience of males who are fans of film and TV shows within the horror/thriller realms. This is because females are nor commonly associated with watching these kind of films. Although, we are aware and we do consider, that this is a stereotype the majority of this social group would be classified within these terms.  We have not been able to pinpoint a specific age boundary as every individual over 18 (graphic scenes of violence would constraint under-aged viewing) would be legally able to watch the film and therefore will be able to be a potential audience.

 

ii.                   Length

As we have limitations of having a short film which is maximum 5 minutes we have decided to aim for a final cut time of around 4:30 – 4:45 so we can have enough time left over without going over the limit.

5.      Logistic and feasibility – In terms of equipment, location and actors.

 

i.                     Equipment

For our short film we will be using a diverse number of different props that include; fake blood (which will be used throughout), tools (knife and rope), a chair, a cork board with newspaper clipping and string connected, original files and newspapers (made by ourselves).

ii.                    Location

The storyline we have created consists of two main locations. These seem suitable enough as having 3 locations would make the filming harder as well as risking the consistency and coherence of our short film.

The first location will be based in a container, were the killer is based. Here there will be all the main equipment discussed above – newspapers, knife, rope, chair… This scene includes the individual cleaning up after his first kill in the beginning scene and where the newspaper article of the next victim.

The second location will be a forest (Epping Forest). We have decided on this location as it will be an empty space which will be easy to film in. We will not have to worry about other people being in our shots as well as having an interesting scenery and no constraints for filming as it is a public sphere. Here we will shoot the persecution scene between the vigilante and the victim, in this location the obstacles will give a far more interesting outcome. Moreover, we will be able to present a variety of different camera angles which will aid our piece to look more professional.

iii.                  Actors

In essence, our short film consists of roughly 1-2 character (as one is not clearly shown) and we have decided we will not need more than 2 actors. However, we are considering in only using 1 actor as it would prevent us from having any impediments with recruiting actors. Furthermore, it seems that it is not necessary to have two characters as the vigilante killer is presented from his perspective and merely his hand is shown.

6.      Health and Safety issues.

When filming the forest scenes we have considered the several health and safety issues we have to establish before shooting. We will be extremely cautious specifically in the persecution scene, as the actors running could get injured by falling over or getting cuts. Therefore we might have to lower the speed motion on the actual shoot and then edit the productions afterwards in order to diminish the probability of having any health and safety concerns.

7.      Where would your film be screened/distributed? Includes YouTube and other Internet channels?

There are several platforms where our short film could be shown. We envision our product to be primarily uploaded to sites such as YouTube which would allow a great first recognition from audiences and a corpus of useful feedback. Subsequently, we would then negotiate whether we would want to screen our film on the TV or the cinema, as it would be more difficult to do the latter. This is because we feel if shown on a larger screen it would be far more difficult than screening on the TV. However, the recognition of the public would be greater appreciated in the cinema than in any other platform.