British Social Realism Film Treatmemt

British Social Realist Film Treatment

Title:

The title of the film will be "Intifada" (انتفاضة), and this means change in Arabic. We chose to use this word as the title as the fact that it is in Arabic connotes that the themes of the film is religion and also the word reveals that there will be some sort of change shown in the film. This will be that the older brother comes out of prison as a changed man and is trying to change the younger brother. 

The title is conventional to the British Social Realism genre as it is less than 5 syllables and it is one word which is to the point.  An example of a film title that uses the British Social Realism title conventions is Fish Tank.

It will appeal to the target audience as it is different to the other film titles and has a powerful sound to it. The title is in Arabic which would appeal to the audience as it creates enigma as the target audience would want to know what relation the title has to the film.

Target Audience:

The film that we are making will be aimed towards a very specific audience in terms of the age and other factors, for example the target age group for our film is for 16 - 24 year old, because of the themes that are portrayed such as violence, crime and religious extremism. These themes are connote a very dangerous reality that is present around this generation of people and since the main characters in the film are going to be aged around the same age group, therefore it would appeal to the same age group as they take part in the same activities and have similar thoughts. Gender is also a very important criteria for the target audience, the film that we produce will be targeted towards both genders however it would appeal slightly more towards the male gender because of the genders of the main characters as well as inequality between gender. 

Interests are important for the production of our film, we know that people that are going to be targeted are going to be people who have a brotherly relationship and religious extremism/crime as these are shown continuously throughout the film and people who have an interest in these areas or have come into contact with them in some point whether it be direct or indirectly, fulfilling the uses and gratifications - Personal Identity. Whether they have used them or not everyone who will have watched this film will be able to relate to the issues portrayed in the film. 

The film will be produced for the people in Britain, as the genre, which is British Social Realism is mainly targeted towards the people of Britain. Our film will appeal to this particular location because it will be filmed inside a familiar setting to most people, however it will not be targeted towards all the people of Britain, more in particular people living in suburban and urban areas throughout the country, for example the location could be Essex, which is stereotyped with being a negative area.

British Social Realist films often take into account ethnicity as a controversial topic in their films, ours will do the same thing as the story is based about the extreme actions taken by religious extremists. Ours will show the negative affects of these people and how they are a negative influence on the rest of the world.

Our film will appeal to people who watch fast paced films as our own film will include a lot of action, which would engage the attention of the viewers. The unique selling point of our film is to show the negative affects of crime and religious extremists associated with the younger people in the country.

Technology:
During the production of our film we will use a wide variety of different technology and equipment as well as different techniques when filming and editing. Firstly the main piece of technology/equipment that we will use will of course be the video camera, due to obvious reasons, however we will use a lot of freehand recording when making our film as it will connote a very rough and gritty story line because of the seemingly low budget and quality recording. 

In addition we will use a tripod when filming, not all the time but for establishing shots, used to represent the setting of the film, in addition this connotes that without all of the people who are present in the film that this area has a stable atmosphere and is disrupted by the drug abuse and crime that will be shown in the film.

When we have moved onto post production we will need a variety of other equipment, for example a computer and editing software. We will be using Mac OS X because of it's huge role in the entertainment industry as a brand for producing and editing music, film and creating graphics, so by using a Mac we will have access to all the same software. The editing software will play a huge role in the film as without this step the film would never be a film. We will use multiple techniques, mostly continuous editing in order to keep the flow of the film constant and to minimize confusion within the audience.

Narrative:

Our film revolves around two brothers, one aged 14 and one that is 22 years old, following the events of the older brother who is arrested after he joins a terrorist organisation or a group of religious extremists. The story will follow the younger brother who follows in his elder brothers footsteps after he is arrested, however when his elder  brother is released from prison, he leaves as a changed man, rehabilitated. The film will then follow the plot of the older brother who is desperately trying to stop the younger brother from taking the same path that he took. 

For our opening sequence we have decided on a smash mouth opening that will follow a non-linear narrative. The opening will start off showing the close relationship between the two brothers. The older brother is being arrested by the police, in slow motion and distorted as well as drowned out audio. After this the opening will shift it's focus onto the younger brother and his reaction to the event, with no audio and hint that his brother has decided to follow in what his brother was doing at the time, finally ending with a black screen. We will aim to follow the conventions of an opening sequence by using graphics super imposed onto the footage, to show the different actors and the different institutions involved in the production of the film, in addition to this we will use an action montage during the opening that will involve a lot of fast paced shots in order to get across as many of the themes as possible. We will also establish the setting of the film by using an establishing shot to show the urban area of the film, we will also use very minimal dialogue and engaging music in order to get the attention of the audience and divert their attention into the narrative of the film.

Our Narrative Structure, based on McKee's Classic Narrative Structure

Representation:

The key characters in the film will be the two brothers, one who is 14 and the other 22 at the time of the first event in the film. The older brother is seen as the character who is closer to the protagonist, as he will be the person who is seen to be the better person in the film when trying to stop the other from following in the same footsteps as him. The film will follow the typical stereotypes that people will have on certain ethnic groups and he will be subject to discrimination by people who aren't part of the same ethnicity or religion inside the UK.

The younger brother will be closer to the archetype of the lost boy in the film and not the antagonist even though he is seen as an extremist, he will be the person who needs to be saved from the situation that he is in and will also be subject to the same discrimination as the older brother although more extreme during the main events of the film. 

The antagonist of the film is not a person in this case but more an identity or and idea, in this case it is the idea of religious extremism and radicalization, who will have twisted the thoughts and the mindsets of the two brothers.

Conventions:

Our film we use many different conventions that apply to British Social Realism. For example it will involve a very negative story and narrative during the film, giving the impression that there is no escape from the problems that they face. We will also follow the archetypes of a British Social Realist film as well, or as much as we can based on our story, we will have the lost boy, who would be the younger brother or the older brother depending on what point of the story it is, for example at the start the older brother would be the lost boy. The weak but aggressive man is more an idea in this case, the idea of religious extremity. The location and the setting is also going to be considered, for this convention we are going to shoot on location in a urban like area in the UK and the era will be set in the present day, as this reflects the current issues in the world with terrorism. In terms of acting in the film we will use non-professional actors, people without experience in acting, in order to make the film more believable as it is more natural.

Style and Iconography

During the film we will use very rough filming techniques through the use of freehand and limited tripod usage. By doing so we will have a jagged and shaky video instead of a very smooth and professional looking film, this is important as it will give the impression that the film is in a rough setting and makes the intense and negative story a more believable look. We will also use a lot of camera movement in the film, this will connote that there is a lot of action in the film and that there is always something going on in the film. However there isn't anything else to do for camerawork.

The editing will play a major role in this film, we will use a lot of cuts in rapid succession in order to give the audience the feeling that the film is very fast paced and over the top in terms of how negative or serious the scene is. We will also use color correction to get across the tone of the film, we will use a blue correction or hue on top of the film as the color blue connotes sadness and will put a darker color scheme on the film.


We will use props and costumes in the film to get across a specific theme or tone to the film for example we will use casual clothing that is typical of gangs that would involve hoodies and tracksuits, this will give the impression that the film is set in an urban area and that it isn't very nice due to the negative connotations associated with them.

Finally through the use of sound effects we will create a strong believable sound to the film as well. We will be using police sirens and muffled audio to create the sense of loss of sense or feeling and that there is a lot of crime in the film, however we will limit this because in this genre of film less sound editing can actually make it more believable rather than using them. This will be only dietetic sound only apart from perhaps the song that is played on the opening as it doesn't make the film very believable. We might use a sound bridge in order to connote that time has passed and that we are moving into a new setting.

Institution:

The production company in the brief will impact on the type of film we will produce as general British Social Realism films don't have a lot of budget, therefore we will limit the technology we will use. Also channel 4 films  always show their logo at the beginning of the film therefore we will ensure to do so. 


The institution will affect the distribution as we will show the film on independent cinemas such as The Stratford Picture House. Also the film will be shown on Film 4 and in Britain. We have decided to exhibit our film through the normal ways channel 4 films are usually shown to make if closer to the brief as possible.