Short Film Proposal Essay

I have undertaken research and have expanded on my initial idea of what I want for my short film. My chosen area for this short film is domestic abuse in heterosexual relationships. I have chosen this field because I want to create national awareness in order to seek change.

The age range for my media product will be age 15+. I have chosen this age range because some of the content in this short film, young viewers will not understand whereas older viewers might be able to relate in any way whether someone they know or maybe they have experienced domestic abuse first hand.

My film would attract the social classes of middle class and lower class because I feel they would be more likely affected to this sort of abuse.

The audience will be a mix between males and females. I think this because the males can see how domestic abuse affects a female when being domestically abused. Females because they might be able to relate to the issues being raised in the short film.

The potential consumers could be prisoners as some of the inmates could be in there for domestic abuse crimes, it could also be youth groups to show them the dangers of relationships and possibly TV to show viewers the potential risks and dangers of relationships.

Potential customers would possibly think about buying my product is that is it going to be worth the money? Is it going to educate my students? Is it going to be a good short film?

Customers will find out about my film by looking online, magazines, adverts etc.

I would argue that my media product is for free because I want it to educate audiences in the dangers and the effects domestic abuse has on those experiencing this type of abuse.

I would use quantitative research because I could use social media such as Facebook to engage my audience to get an understanding of the topic of domestic abuse.

The probable objections towards my short film could be that the audiences might think it is sexist because my film is about a female domestically abused.

My secondary audience might find some of the scenes in the film disturbing as it will have scenes where the female is being beaten and it could upset some older audiences who might have experienced it. Younger audiences could find it disturbing maybe for the same reasons.

All the questions will allow me to find the right target audience for my media product and I hope it will make a huge impact and will get people involved to with the campaign that I am trying to form because I want to stop domestic abuse as so many women have suffered with this form of abuse and the statistic to back this up is 1 in 4 women have/has been domestically abused in their lifetime.

For my film I would have a small crew with me to make this film and it would include:

·         Director

·         Camera

·         Sound

·         Editor

·         Others such as make-up artist

These roles I feel are very significant for my media product to come alive because they all have a massive part to play for the film to be made. Firstly the director which would be me and I would be able to direct the actors and the crew to perform and do what I ask to make this vision come true. Secondary the camera operator is important because they will need to capture everything. Thirdly sound is very important as sound will be a big factor and it will influence the audience to feel more about the film, the editor would be able to take all the shots to create an impact on the audience with the specific shots used for the film and finally the make-up artist, I feel the make-up artist is the most important one because this film is about domestic abuse and the make-up artist would need to show the wounds of the female character which could create a massive impact on the audience.

I believe that domestic abuse should not be tolerated and should be known worldwide. 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime and everyone should be aware of this area of abuse.

The main conflict in my film is about a couple in a relationship and the female is being domestically abused by her partner and my film will show her side of things and how she is feeling emotionally and physically, ultimately I want the audience to feel upset about the situation in the film and to understand that this can happen to anyone.

The topic of my film is looking at young women who are being domestically abused and will be shown within the genre of social realism. For the audience they will need to know necessary background information such as they will need to know exactly what domestic abuse is but the short 

film will explain how it happens and a way on how it can be stopped.

The first action sequence will include a mid-shot and a range of close ups of a young woman drinking a cup of tea with bruises on her face and arms with a bottle of pills on the table in front of her and also a picture of the man she is with. This sequence is very important for the rest of the film because it is going to set the issue in what is happening in the female characters life. The audience will be able to gather that the female character has been beaten harshly and this will set the area of representation: domestic abuse. I want to capture key representational imagery which is an upset woman who has been beaten, and to give the audience hints to what is happening in the first sequence.

I have 3 main characters they are Sarah, Jane and Gary. Sarah is the character that is in the abusive relationship and is also the main protagonist in the film. This character is very interesting for the audience because they will get an insight into a reason why females get domestically abused in relationships.

Gary is the abusive partner in the relationship and is a very significant character within this short drama because the audience will see why some men decide to abuse their partners and I can explore many reasons to what drives this character forward.

Jane is close friends with Sarah and she is trying to help Sarah to get out of the relationship with Gary but on top of that she is trying to be a good and supportive friend for Sarah. 

My short film can attracted many audience biases for example, women may have a bias opinion against men being violent but men may have a view that women may be violent themselves. My audience will need to understand that domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any age, gender or sexuality, but the biggest cause of domestic violence is that is occurs to women. To get my audience to see the different truths in the short film I will introduce some key facts in the beginning and ending of the film, and to tell that audience that it can happen to anyone.

The structure of this short drama will be linear form so no flashbacks or any long time jumps will be involved within the film. Important information will appear as soon as the camera starts rolling because I feel as a director that everything will appear on screen will be important to the viewers. I think the climatic sequence should go in the middle of the short film and carry it on until the end of the film to engage the audience. The reason why I didn’t put it at the beginning is because I want the audience to understand or relate to characters in the beginning sequence.

As my short film is in the social realism genre I can interpret the codes and conventions used in the genre such as long takes with the camera work, untrained actors, and noticeable locations so the audience can relate to it in their everyday life.

Also I am going to include low key lighting and put the white balance setting on to try and get a darker tone to the film as it is a gritty subject and matter of everyday people.

I would like my film ending to be where the male character gets taken away with the police because Jane told them everything. The final shot is where Sarah is sitting at a table drinking a cup of tea with the bruises on her face and arms with a bottle of pills on the table in front of her and also a picture of the man she was with. I have chosen this as my ending as it completes the circle of the film.

I would like my audience to take away from this short film is that I want to show the audience although domestic abuse is horrible if you do the right thing and tell someone you can get out of the abusive relationship.

I am going to distribute my film straight to DVD by making my own personal DVD’s and sell it on to colleges, school, youth groups who has experiences domestic abuse and also I will sell it onto prisons. I will charge them about £20 a DVD. I have chosen this way because it will be a way to raise awareness nationally in the UK.

There will be possible barriers when trying to make this film for example trying to get the crew altogether at the s\me time and at the same pace. Also physically getting the equipment on the set at the same time for example the camera’s, sound systems etc. also food for the crew so catering could be a problem.