This week was a bit manic because I didn't decide on which idea I wanted to present until last minute. I kept changing my mind; is it good enough? Too messy? Uninteresting? Is it boring? In the end I went for the idea that I'd enjoy to watch as a film. I got the idea from the term 'Government Baby' which is used to refer to a baby that is born to a parent or parents that cannot afford to raise it themselves. The parent(s) then require to live off the government for food, welfare, housing, and/or medical aid. At the moment the idea has more of a reveal narrative which I intend to work on. As David C says if it's not shit you have a problem. Here's my pitch;
Government Baby by Tom Stock
Frankie is asleep in his mate’s car. Ben beeps his horn several times at the traffic. It jolts Frankie awake. Ben takes the piss out of Frankie for being hung-over. Frankie looks out the window and sees a gang from the rival college and asks Ben to pull over. Frankie shouts at them to come over and they exchange playful insults. Frankie, to gain power, spits in one of the guys faces and Ben bolts the car down the road. They stop at a local shop and Frankie shoplifts, while Ben buys fags.
We then see the boys leaning on the car and smoking next to the ‘Williamson College’ sign. A generic speech about ‘their bright futures’ and ‘successful careers’ is told by cutting between several different teachers standing in front of the class. Frankie lazily puts up his hand and the teachers (in unison) ask him what he wants. He asks them what the point of the speech was and in doing so gets sent out of the class. Walking down the hallway, Frankie sees Tiff and struts up to her and asks if she got his text. She finishes her conversation with her girlfriends before she turns to Frankie, looks him up and down, and asks him if her slept with Chelsea a month ago. Frankie sweats for a bit while she loudly chews her gum. Tiff asks him to be honest for once. He sincerely tells Tiff that he likes her and that he and Chelsea just kissed and he hasn’t seen Chelsea since. Thinking he’s sorted the problem he leans in to kiss her. Tiff slaps him. She tells him the reason why he hasn’t seen her since is because she’s dropped out of College. Frankie looks confused. Tiff bluntly informs him that Chelsea is pregnant and he’s fucked.
At home Frankie walks into the living room bewildered. Whist Frankie turns on the telly his Mother coos ‘Who is it?’ from the kitchen. He states to her that it’s not going to be his Dad and she makes the excuse that he knows his Father is very busy at the moment. She then calls to him to put the news on, asks how his day was and states her desire for Mr Croft to be behind in the polls, all in the same breath. She then walks in, sits down next to him and hands him a cup of tea before commenting on how quiet he is today. She moves a photo of Frankie’s Dad and David Camron shaking hands outside the ‘Williamson College’ and places her mug next to it. They both sit in silence for a moment. The telly informs them that Croft is ahead of Williamson in the polls. She then tells Frankie to drink his tea to make him feel better.
I wanted the idea to be a reaction to the negative portrayal of today's youth throughout mainstream media in much the same way anyone from Iraq or Afghanistan has been tattooed as a terrorist. Short films like Steve Looker's Sacrifice and more shockingly Brian Percival's About a Girl almost play into this generalisation that with each generation society becomes a little bit worse off, more segregated, more dysfunctional, than before. You could say this trend of film acts as a cerimonial passing of blame from societies fault onto the parents and then finally the kids themselves. Even I feel like a visual tourist watching films of this niche and I grew up on esates much like those shown. I guess you could say that this is my controlling idea; to suggest that working class problems are not exclusive to the working class.
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Brief for Week 7
Draft a treatment for your short film idea.
A treatment is a summary of your story written in paragraph form in the present tense. It may contain the occasional significant line of dialogue. Unlike a script, a treatment should only include major scenes. It should give a good sense of character and the central conflict, and may suggest the visual style.
The total length should not exceed 1200 words.
Bring it to class next week on paper.