Screenplay

Representation Case Study - Businessmen

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Pre Production Planning

Pre Production Planning

As one of our planning tasks we were asked to discuss and record the finer details regarding our opening sequence. We all worked to put a list together of the actors, locations, costumes and props.

Actors

Our main actors will be friends from school due to it being hard to find adults who have the time for filming. We have Connie Meek as the psychic protagonist/ antagonist. The second main character ( the businessman who, behind closed doors is very abusive with his family) will be played by Christopher Gladding. The stuck up woman who is very manipulative - Lydia Murray, the criminal youth 'chav', by George Scott and finally the teen cyber bully Sophie Mathieson. 

Locations

We wanted to introduce each character effectively so that the audience understood that these everyday normal characters that you might walk past in the street, have darker pasts and secrets that they are hiding. In order to achieve this we chose Torquay high street, seafront and pier as appropriate locations to film. The picture below show our range of locations. As they were taken at dusk there is a very nice skyline contributing massively to the mise-en-scene. I think this time of day would be perfect for capturing the feeling that something big was about to happen (which would completely match our plot and really convey this message in a subtle yet effective way). Unfortunately this is probably an unrealistic time that everyone would be able to film, so it will have to be primarily at weekends and on Wednesday afternoons.

The shots above will mainly be used as establishing shots for the opening sequence, they set the scene and add again, a sense of foreboding to the sequence. They also link the different locations as they are all within close proximity to the various different characters



The first character we hope to introduce will be the psychic protagonist/antagonist, we felt the pier would be really good for an establishing shot seeing as it seems very eerie and washed as we can see in the picture. However it creates a very nice effect with this long shot that is almost 'never ending' this could relate to the character and her own personal

As our second character is being introduced (the businessman) we thought it would be appropriate if he walked out of the well known coffee shop Costa. This would highlight the audience of his affluent nature due to this being a more or less high end place to stop for a hot drink. Here he will bump into a minor character played by Jake Williams and start and argument giving insight into his real, darker personality.

Our third location will be Torquay high street in order to introduce the manipulative stuck up woman. This busy atmosphere will create a tense feeling and create a foreshadowing feeling again. We hope to film when it is not too crowded in order to achieve the deeply focused shots we need to make our character stand out from everybody else.

Our fourth character- the cyber bullying teenager  will be revealed in a shelter on Torquay seafront. This shelter is often to be seen with young people sat down playing music etc, so it is perfect for this characters opening shot. We can again here have a good establishing shot showing the whole shelter with the the girl looking very small- presenting her as innocent at first.

This is the stairway in which we plan to introduce the final character of the criminal youth 'chav'. We thought that these enclosed lower shots of the teen below everyone else could encourage the audience to sympathize with him and again see him as the protagonist when he isn't in reality. We could also get some good shots through the bars seen on the right of the stairs again paired with a deep focus pull could have a really good effect. 

Our last location will be a lift within the car park next to these stairs, we thought that these car park lifts can be a very unpleasant experience, which will add to the overall effect of choosing this lift and make the characters experiences worse. Some diverse and effective shots can be achieved at high and low angles within the lift and we hope to use as many of these as possible. (This is not a picture of the actual lift that we intend to use this is just an example).

Costumes

Our costume mostly is normal everyday wear for teenagers and adults although the businessman will be required to wear a suit so that the audience are made aware of his profession. The criminal youth will also have to be specifically dressed in a tracksuit, so that we can identify with his personality. We have chosen to conform to stereotypes with these characters costume so that it is clearer to the audience what type of people the characters are.

Props

We won't need many props for our opening sequence due to it being mostly about seeming normal on the outside but then having a different side to you. The businessman however will be carrying a brief case and Costa coffee cup (as previously mentioned). The cyber bully will evidently have to have a phone and the stuck up manipulative woman will probably have chewing gum in and chew it in a vulgar way, further expressing her disgust for those around her.