Screenplays - Proposal paperwork

Title and logline 

Treatment

Overview

The genre of my short film idea is horror. It isn’t the typical type of horror, because it’s more aligned to today’s society.

The concept, essentially, is two young boys who think they run the school, bully the wrong child and it takes a sudden turn. However, all the action happens online, as the young boy plays mind games with the two bullies. He asks them a series of ‘Would you rather?’ questions, which they must commit to. He bribes them through keeping one of the girlfriends hostage, and the other in a separate video chat. The film takes a sudden twist when the two young boys track his location and travel there, only to be arrested for all they have done.

My unique selling point is the fact everything is run through social media. Although this has been the case in past movies, it’s not as common as it should be given the era we live in.

My target audience is teenagers, which will be easier to advertise, given most teenagers are on social media (which is also the USP, so everything goes hand-in-hand).

Character briefs

Ryan Smith is a 16 year old thug, attending high school at his local public school. He is the stereotypical thug-like character, with long, unorganised hair. He wears his school uniform quite raggedly, with his tie being as small as possible, his top button undone and his shirt untucked. He craves attention although he is quite awkward. His actions signify a need for attention, and he always looks to bring out the most in his best friend, Lenny. He is clearly a troubled child, although he acts cocky and as if nothing is the matter with his home life. 

Lenny is clearly the most submissive out of the twi, and he finds it hard to turn down what Ryan asks of him. He is the most sensible of the two, and it shows when he tries to talk Ryan out of things. He appears a lot less scruffy than Ryan does, with his hair organised and his uniform clean and pristine. He isn't very successful at talking his best friend out of things and he often finds himself falling in the traps that he is set.

Ryan has a girlfriend, Stacey, who isn't a leading character, although she does play a big part in the film. She is clearly a lot better than Ryan, and she has him under the thumb. She can do a lot better than him and Ryan knows it. She has long, wavy blonde hair and all the boys around school admire her, the girls too. She isn't overly-keen on makeup but she does well with what she has. 

We aren't introduced to the main protagonist until the very end, and he isn't given a name. Ryan and Lenny call him 'Lighter boy' because of an incident which happens early on in the film. He is interrogated by the two boys using a lighter and this sets he tone. He is small, and takes on the nerd appearance. He has a squeaky voice and wears glasses, but he always has a devilish look on his face, particularly towards the end.

Background notes

My inspiration for the film came from watching a similar film in 'Unfriended'. I took the genre and added my own twists to it. My short film idea is a lot more film-like, as a lot of the action takes place away from the computer screen.

I also took inspiration from some facts and figures I read online. Supposedly, the average person has 5-6  social media, spending over 2 hours per day on the accounts. This is a lot to grasp, but it isn't ridiculous when you consider how much our lives are dictated by the platforms which mean nothing. 

I feel like there isn't enough films which show the importance of social media, and I wanted my idea to be based around it, with my own added twists.

The way I choose to distribute my short film is through YouTube and, ironically, social media. The platforms mentioned are typical for short film productions, as they are too short to make into a movie but perfect for quick consumption. These are also free methods of distribution, and the advertisements come free also.