First Scrip

I found the scrip pretty difficult to write, as I had very little experience and it was hard to find examples of scrip’s online that had no dialogue. I found myself just describing the scene without giving any really stage direction. I came across a piece of software called Celtx this really helped when it came to formatting.

Developed Treatment

We really took the feedback on board and when me all met up we rewrote the treatment, this time the treatment is much more focused and the character now has a backstory. 

We decided to make the character come from a military background. This was quite a difficult decision as we really didn't want to make the film cliche. however as this is such a minor detail and the film doesn't really focus on tho factor. it just helped us to create a backstory and gives the actor certain direction in the way me moves across the room and he way he acts.

"A view is a short film that delves into the unknown world of agoraphobia, the fear of going outside. Filmed in one location we see a former solider tackle this terrible and life-destroying phobia on what should be one of the happiest days of the year… His birthday.  This short film really delves into this quite frightening isolated and unknown world as this former solider struggle with what we see as a simple arbitrary action, opening the front door and going outside.

George is a former British solider, born on the 1^st of May 1980. After a tragic accident where he lost his wife, George has developed a phobia called agoraphobia, the fear of the outside and the unknown. George is shy and very emotional unstable, George has certain objects in his room that trigger emotions, pictures, ukulele and pieces of clothing. After researching agoraphobia, we found that they have they own unique way of communicating with the outside world, of George it is going to his cupboard and watching people walk past his window.

We really want the audience to work for the answers, scrutinising ever possible little detail for clues and possible answers, for why this character has developed agoraphobia. We are never told why he has developed this phobia, However possible clues are given through the set design, the books he reads, the posters he has hung on his wall and more importantly the pictures of him and his family.  Each element plays a key role in developing the backstory of this character.

As the Drama is all filmed in one location its important that we get the aesthetics of the room perfect, as the audience really need feel like the character is trapped. At this moment in time we have two possible locations. Neither of them are idea and where still trying to work out a better option. Location 1 is in Halifax and is a small room, we would have unlimited access and free will to change the room. However its in Halifax, this may limited us when it comes to finding an actor as they may not be prepared to travel that far. Location 2 is in Sheffield although this would make it easier to travel but we would have to leave the room how it is. Although either room is perfect I think we are more likely to use location  1, however we are still looking for better options.

Ideally I would love to get an older actor, to me it creates a mature film where the backstory becomes much more believable. However I have tried to create a story which we cant quickly adapt if we end up getting younger actor, although It would change the feel of the film the core values would pretty much stay the same. We know finding an older actor will be difficult, I have been in contact with local drama groups across Yorkshire but to this date still waiting for a response or they don’t have an actor suitable."

Pitch & Feedback

It was really interesting seeing how other people interpreted the brief , I thought the other groups pitches where really strong as they really thought about the narrative and the characters. Our group was the last to pitch, we started off by giving a brief synopsis of the drama, although still a little bit under developed I feel that the rest of the group really understood what we where trying to achieve with the piece. 

At this moment in time the character is also a little under developed, I think a couple of people found it hard to understand why this character had developed this phobia with out really knowing/understanding the character. WE all talked about different films that inspired us my main inspiration was Bunny and Bull which I have already talked about.

After we then got feedback from the rest of the group, they seemed to really like it although thought we needed to develop the Character a little more, which was understandable.  Alex then asked the question about music and what we would use as our sound track or would he play any instruments, for me this triggered a really powerful motif with in the film as at this point I never really thought about our character playing a instrument., this was an element that I was going to put into the scrip.

After our pitch we where all given group tutorials with Lee, where we talked through the idea in much more detail, we also talked about actors and possible location.  Lee gave us some great for us to improve the story but also the character.

it was clear that we had  strong idea although it still needed a little work especially in developing the character.

Research into agoraphobia

Research into agoraphobia

I knew agoraphobia is the fear of the outside, but apart from that I didn’t know much about the phobia. Before writing the scrip I did some reach looking at what can cause agoraphobia and how people react when they art having a panic attack.

What is Agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder, where people who suffer from it feel unsafe in public areas. Some people may have it so severely that the only place they feel really safe in is their home, and rarely ever go outside.

Symptoms?

Accelerated heart beat

Rapid breathing

Feeling hot

Sweating

Trembling

Ringing in ears

Psychological symptoms?

Depression

Loss of control

Low self a stream

Anxiety

I felt it was important to look at some of the key symptoms of agoraphobia before i started writing the scrip. 

Treatment. A View

A View is a 5 minute short drama film featuring one character and minimal or no dialogue, which follows the journey of their personal progression in a single space whilst suffering from agoraphobia (fear of the outside). The film aims to show a true and realistic account of the fear from the sufferers perspective, and so will be shot entirely in the space of the room in which the character feels trapped and spends all of their time. The character’s journey will be shown in a simplistic way; instead of overcomplicating the narrative, the film will instead focus on the finer details and will explore the fear itself as well as the overall impact that it is having on the character’s everyday life and routine. Through using one single location, the film will aim to make the viewer feel their own sense of claustrophobia as they watch, and possibly even get frustrated by watching five minutes of film set in one small room. Through doing this, the film will give the viewer a further insight into the character and although a very simplistic narrative will be explored, the viewer will be taken on a journey of progression throughout the duration of the five minutes, as the character progresses themselves.

The character will be a male in their teenage years or early twenties, who will visit the location more than once before the shoot to get a good idea of the space and a feel for the character. No dialogue will be used in the film, as instead the focus will be more on the sound use, which aims to take a more realistic approach to the brief and create a film which feels true to its subject matter.

Carefully planned and designed sound use, as well as cinematography including low key lighting, and also set design will form part of the film’s narrative and will aid with it’s structure. The opening shot will be a close up of a key amongst windchimes, alongside the synched sound of this. The key from then on acts as the signifier to viewers, and will work alongside costume which will consist of a large coat over pyjamas to signify the characters struggles and also give the viewer an insight into what the phobia consists of. Other set design features include the gradual closure of curtains in different shots as the film progresses, as well as empty calendars and piles of post lined up next to the door of the enclosed room space. The denouement of the film will also be kept very simple but also will highlight the fact that the film has been a journey and the character is considering going outside. Although the viewer will never see this actually occur, the act of half putting a shoe on alongside the current costume will be used as a cliff-hanger, giving them the idea that the character is thinking about it and making that one step closer.