Treatment

Date

21^st September 2011

Production Company

Cohesion productions

Director

Abigail Ababio and ShaToya Rose

Production Crew

Sabrina Danquah, Angelika Kupczyk, Abigail Ababio and ShaToya Rose

Working Title

Resources:

Equipment

Medium/Format

Facilities

Description of narrative structure and use of film language

In this section, you need to describe the style of your sequence.

You should cover:

§ Structure/form – the sequence of events (linear or non-linear narrative)

The structure of this film varies to others as there is no set equilibrium and the film does not begin with a state of normality. Instead it starts with the bulimic girl vomiting which shows that our film breaks the typical conventions of film and the social drama genre is highlighted at the first instance.

§ Mise-en-scene (setting/location, props, lighting, costume etc…)

There are a number of settings in which the film takes place. These include within a house (bedroom, bathroom and kitchen), college (canteen) and outside. The house scenes will be shot at Angelika’s house so that the film gives off a more realistic impression rather than to film somewhere where all these facilities are unavailable. The college scene will also be shot in a real setting inside Monoux College to maintain the realistic impression.

Some of the props that will be used during the production of the film are costumes which will be necessary when the main characters are getting ready for college in the morning and also throughout the day. Costumes will be kept casual. Make-up is also a requirement as there is a scene where the girl who suffers from a drug addiction looks at her scars (that have been caused from injections) in the mirror and so will need to be created through the use of make-up as well as on her face to show that she has had a rough time. The bulimic girl finds a note on the fridge when she returns home from college and so a note is another prop that will be used during filming. The note is important because it’s a message from her parents that leads to disruption. She will then take out a cake from the fridge which is an important prop as it highlights the problem that she is suffering from which is bulimia and this will be implied by the way she eats the cake. It is essential that mirrors are present during filming because it is through them that both characters are able to see what they have done to themselves which causes them to run away from their problems. A mobile phone will be used at the beginning of the drug girls’ story as she sees a picture of her and her boyfriend saved on her phone which causes her to shed a tear. This is important because it brings to attention the reason why she is unhappy. As one of the girls is a drug addict, it is vital that they are shown during the film and so are also one of the props that will be used. They will be shown in the background at one point and will then be brought to attention at another point when she begins to take them.

A majority of the time, the lighting will be low-key and this is because a darker environment creates a more dramatic effect which is what he film requires. As the storyline for this film is very emotional it’s extremely important for that emotion to be felt by the audience whilst they are watching. This will be created in association with the characters facial expressions and body language which will give off a sad and lonely impression.

Positioning of the characters is another important factor which needs to be considered during filming because there are scenes where the characters are isolated so the way they are situated needs to portray what feelings are being felt.

§ Cinematography (shot types and camera movements)

Shot types and camera movements are vital in showing emotion from the characters. As there is a lack of dialogue it is important for the cinematography work to speak on behalf of them. A variety of shots and angles will be in motion so that particular moods are highlighted. Shots include long and medium shots as well as more important ones like close ups which will be used to highlight important moments within the film as well as point of view shots to put the audience in the characters shoes and show them what the characters are seeing. At the end of the film before the scene ends, there will be an arch shot (360 degrees) around both characters as they bump into each other and this shot in particular will have to be done in such an effective way as it is linked to the cliff hanger ending so will have to leave the audience in awe wondering what happens next as well as to highlight that the two different stories are connected.

· Sound (dialogue, voice-over, effects and/or soundtrack)

The type of sound used will mostly be off screen non-diegetic sound in the form of background music as there is not a lot of dialogue taking place in the sequence but when dialogue is used it will be verbal on screen diegetic sound as we will see where the sound is coming from (each character).

§ Editing (pace and style)

Straight cuts are the main edits that will be used, to show continuity between each scene but moments that vary are the transition between the first girl and the second girl meeting. This transition will be in the form of a rewind after the girls have bumped into each other and exchanged dialogue, the scene will then rewind to tell the other girls story so that the audience can understand how they both ended up in the same place at the same time. Fade cuts and jump cuts may also be used to show a change/passing in time instead of to show when nothing important is happening in the film. This is so that the action is kept on show at all times.