Harry Hancock

Alleyn’s Media Department

1 18/10/2012

Film Opening Proposal

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Contents

1. Style and Tone

2. Narrative

3. Character

4. Location

5. Lighting and Sound

6. Titles

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Style and Tone

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Narrative • Young, blonde, perfect looking little girl grows into 17yr old version of

herself and we see the breakdown of her mind during her childhood • Name is a young girl who loves ballet, she dedicates herself to it with help

from her pushy other and teachers • We see her grow from 4 – 17yrs old during the course of the two minute

opening • However due to the strict regime and intense physical demand upon her

she has missed out on a normal childhood and things like alcohol, smoking and boys – typical teenage girl tendencies

• As she grows up we see her become more upset with her situation and she must try and make the decision as to what she wants to do with her life, continue with ballet and train or drop it and focus on academic studies and her social life

• She is affected by her situation and lack of friends, however because she is attractive she gets a lot of attention, often from the wrong kind of people

• She is seen after ballet class by a group of boys & girls from her school and they invite her to come over and sit with them, they take her to a small alleyway or park (not sure yet) and they sit, smoking, drinking and chatting

• She enjoys their company but is obviously tentative, she’s also getting a lot of attention from the boys, one of which is putting his arm around her

• One of the boys gets out a small packet of weed and begging rolling a zoot and then gives Name a few puffs, we see her disintegrate into a haze of smoke and narcotic madness, (alcohol could be used, a spiked drink; if drugs seem inappropriate). One of the girls who is dressed like a slut makes up Name’s face, giving her excessive mascara and eyeliner

• She hallucinates; her dance teacher becomes an evil Nazi-like teacher and Name is crumbling in her ballet class, unable to keep up and constantly falling from the bar onto the floor

• For this haze/hallucination sequence the camera will be out of focus and quite jolty to give a sense that Name cant control her body

• We finally cut from this scene and find her in the shower, crying with eyeliner running down her face. The shower door glass is very steamed and she is clearly sitting crying

• We see her hand shoot up against the glass, she is clearly having some sort of panic attack

• The room then fills with smoke and she disappears into the haze, symbolizing her loss of mind, we see the title appear through the haze and we are left wondering what will happen to her next

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Character

1. Name – to be decided

• Female

• White, British

• 16

• Blonde Hair

• Blue Eyes

• Skinny/Slim

• ≈ 5’4

• Lives in middle-class standard home, nice house in East London.

• A ballet dancer, trained from age 4 to 16, the film is set mainly at her life age 16.

• Deprived of ‘childhood’ due to intense dance training and ambitions to be a professional.

All other characters are background and less important …

• Her school friends who we see in the scene where she takes drugs/gets drunk, roughly two boys & three girls

• Other girls at dance school

• Random passers by on street or extras

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Location 1. My local dance school that I train could facilitate the filming of

all dance classes and shots of Name in class, as she grows older.

2. My niece, who already attends the school, can also be filmed there in her own younger class, so this shouldn’t be a problem either.

3. For the scene in the park or alley where the group of friends meet, there are several public parks and alleys near my house and considering the time of year and how early it gets dark this shouldn’t be a problem.

4. The shower scene can be done in my own house as I have a large bathroom/shower that can be used and a smoke machine that I can use for the haze effect needed in the final shot.

5. I want to film some opening shots of London and urban ballet in London, for this I’m planning on going to the top 10 dance academies in London such as ‘The Royal Ballet School,’ ‘Pineapple Dance Studios’ & ‘Laban.’ Then filming some shots of their signs and venues to give the viewer an idea of the amount of dance there is in London and an idea of the competition Name will face.

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Lighting and Sound

1. Soft, warm lighting, fade from black to Name age 4 standing outside classroom door, waiting to do first ballet class.

2. Harsh, clinical white lighting to be used for the 16+ ballet classes, light should get colder and harsher as Name grows up and begins more and more classes.

3. Drugs/Alcohol scene, light should go from dark/dingy street lighting to unnatural red/blue light when she takes drugs/alcohol.

4. In shower light is again very cold white and harsh.

I plan on having no dialogue in the entire film but merely a classical backing soundtrack that would be used in a traditional ballet class, but the track will have a few urban sounds and flicks added in to give it an uneasy and possibly tense atmosphere, as if something unnatural is interrupting the music.

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Titles

“Barre” - Apparatus used in Ballet

“Fall from the Barre” - Reference to Name sinking into a narcotic world,

falling from her Ballet excellence

“Elevé” – Elevate

“Entrechat” – Opening jump

“Grand Jeté” – Great Jump