Further Plot Developments

Further Plot Developments

To improve upon the original idea, we wanted the ending to be more striking, more shocking and therefore have decided to create an element of shock for the audience in the final scene of the film. Towards the end of the short film it will transition to another character who has the playback headset on, the character expresses how he was really enjoying the film so far and would love to meet the cast. A point of view perspective will lead the audience to the location of the final scene where the playback ended and reveals a film set. The actors within the playback will appear revealing that the whole film has been a film within a film and that playback is a way of watching films and experiencing what the actors are acting. To create this film set appearance, we will use two cameras in the process of filming and have light fixtures and boom men all around the last scene before introducing the cast of the short film. The genre of the film is a science fiction thriller as it contains elements of science fiction, for example the virtual reality playback is futuristic and is typical of the  science fiction genre. It also has elements of suspense and mystery which are themes seen in thrillers.

Film developments: STEP 2

Following the guide we have now established the structure of our film.

Film Developments

We decided to develop upon Film Idea 1 as it has been the most popular amongst our potential audience. 4 out of the 6 I asked preferred the plot to the film idea 1 as it is unique and could be gripping if created into a short film. The film is similar to that of Strange Days as it emulates various features of the plot and aspects of the characters such as the playback of people's experiences.

Set in a dystopian future the protagonist deals the illegal tapes in exchange for cash in dark alleyways and sleazy parts of the city.Parallel editing will depict the protagonist talking to various clients, explaining how it works and the importance of secrecy. It is an operation the protagonist finds himself committing to daily. The protagonist visits his customers and the audience experiences what the character is seeing through the playback tape as it is filmed in a point of view perspective. The various clients ranges from a client who takes drugs and a man wanting to feel like a woman. Most of the playbacks are staged which is revealed via the protagonist.  The protagonist visits his dealer who has a new tape, the audience is transported to a point of view shot of a teenager running through a stairwell, the tape as been staged however, the girl jumps to her freedom to the other side of a building but the other teen falls to his death brutally and ends the clip. The protagonist is furious with his dealer for showing a snuff film, a real life death which is something he strictly forbids despite him dealing in the illegal tapes.

A package is delivered to him with a tape, he wires up and plays it, it is an  horrific murder, the protagonist is lead on a trail of death trying to get to the source of the tapes and faces a personal decision to turn the tapes into the police and face charges or keep quiet. The end of the film is an element of suprise where a character takes off the playback head set and reveals to the audience that the short film was in fact a playback itself.

Short film idea

Film 1 (Inspiration from Black Mirror) - Dark Comedy
It is 2050, and it has been made possible to rewind and watch over your own memories. A young man has turned his life around, he has a good job, nice house but he is missing a girl friend. After a woman responds to him on a dating website, he's all ready to pick her up. The date goes well, but the man doesnt hear from the girl. He continues to watch over the memory of the date, trying to find what he did wrong. A month passes, and no-one hears from the male, he looses his job and house due to not leaving the house, because of his fixation with said girl and the date. Following therapy, the male finally leaves the house, and the first person he bumps into is the girl from the date, who explains she never called because he gave her the wrong number.

Leah McCallum short film ideas: STEP 1

Leah McCallum Film ideas

Based on how to make a short film guide I have decided to come up with short film ideas which can then be developed into a short film.

Short Film Idea 1

Strange Days: Similar films

Videodome: Similar films

Set in a dystopian future where illegal playback of tapes are circulating the backstreets of a city. The illegal playback tapes are created by taking memories from a person's cerebral cortex and allowing others to experience the same memory. The protagonist becomes an expert dealer of the illegal tapes, allowing others to experience highs they have never felt before. However they are sent a package containing a playback tape which reveals a horrifying murder, something that needs alerting to the police.

The protagonist secretly deals the illegal playbacks, offering them to the classic wire-tripping junkies, high class businessmen, men, women, anyone who has the cash to pay for a unique experience. Amputees can experience what it's like to walk, to run, women can experience what it's like to be a man, what it's like to rob someone, but the protagonist will not deal in snuff playbacks which they start receiving. It is then the difficult decision for the protagonist arises as they have to decide what is the right thing to do, expose his illegal activities and be jailed but give justice, or keep quiet and allow the murders to continue?

The similar films are similar in their narratives and props, for example within strange days the main focus of the plot is on the ability to experience other peoples memories and experiences via a floppy disk. I chose Strange days as a similar film as it features a futuristic technology and future, something which I think is interesting to explore within my short film. The other similar film is Video drome which allows people to be transported into their TV's. I chose this as a inspiration for my idea as it features a technology that we could replicate in order to demonstrate to the audience that this is the future. Videodrome allows people to view seemingly violent and gruesome acts of violence and feel it as they watch TV.

Potential Props:

Casette Tapes

Headphones

                                                                     

Computers

Wires

 

Briefcase

Similar films: The trailers

Similar film: Seven Pounds

Short Film Idea 2

Similar film: Return to me

Two women are parallel to each other as they are walking, one woman gets ran over by a car and the other has a heart attack. Both are rushed to the hospital but only one survives. The survivor however needs a heart transplant and receives the heart of the woman who died. The survivor successfully takes to the heart but shortly forgets her own life and forgets those she loves and becomes infatuated with the dead woman's husband, children and friends instead to the point of where she is sent to a mental institution. The similar films I took inspiration from feature a transplant procedure of a deceased and donating it so that one can live. I wanted to explore the idea of love within this idea and found that the similar film Return to me is highly similar in the narrative content. Return to me features a woman who receives a heart transplant from a woman whose husband later falls in love with her as he feels because she has his deceased wife's heart, she has the ability to love him.
Potential Props:

Human Heart

Surgical team

Similar films: Trailers

Short Film Idea 3

Similar Film/TV: American Horror story

The year is 1940 and Elizabeth Short has been murdered and universally become known as the Black Dahlia. The year is 2015 and a murderer replicates the Black Dahlias death multiple times in the same spot, yet gets away with it, it turns out to be the main leading detective on the case who visits the true killer of the Black Dahlia for guidance, his grandfather. I took inspiration from a real life murder which has recently been featured on American Horror Story. The Black Dahlia is an unresolved murder from the 1940's, her body was found mutilated in a park with a smile cut into her face from ear to ear, I thought this had the potential to create a suspenseful horror and allow us to explore special effects and interesting costumes. I also thought the transition of being in the 1940's to present day would allow us to create period costumes. The idea of continuing a serial killers legacy is a common feature in horrors and psychological thrillers and I thought it would be an interesting plot twist for the perceived hero of the plot to actually be the killer.

American Horror Story
Black Dahlia

The real Black Dahlia

American Horror Story Makeup

Storyline idea 2

My second film idea is very different to my first; taking inspiration from ‘Back to The Future’.  I took the idea of time travelling from 'Back to the Future' and have decided to use a narrative structure relating more to Propp's theory to Todorov. The story begins of what looks like an average person located in a garage. They are reading a letter from the future that asks for some sort of help/assistance.  It shows a close up of a device in the corner of the garage that suggests this person has been to the future before. As the individual tries to help and go to the future, something  goes wrong with the device; creating an unnatural force or character to escape from the future into the present,which has to  quickly be destroyed.

Storyline Idea 1

With our film genre being based around the idea of Sci-Fi Thriller, I have taken aspects from films of each genre to create my own film idea. I have chosen 'Star Wars' and 'Fly' for my first story idea as both have good aspects of each genre type. From Star Wars I have used the idea of Anakin Skywalker being burned which transforms him into Darth Vader, whereas from the film 'Fly' I have taken the idea of a setting of a lab and something going wrong.

The Idea

A scientist is experimenting with different substances in a lab. Within his experiment he has created a corrosive substance that can damage human skin/tissues if handled without care. Whilst the scientist is distracted, he clumsily tips over the substance which lands and burns through his lab coat, spreading from his chest up towards his neck and face. The scientist; now with a burnt face and body is encouraged to fix himself, leading to him making a clone of himself.