Unit 2: Brainstorming Meeting - 28th December

Me and my filming group for the Arts Leadership project decided to organise a meeting to brainstorm some initial concepts and ideas for our short film, in order to kickstart the process. As it was difficult for us to all get together in person, we organised a Google + Hangout online on the evening of the 28th December in order to discuss our ideas. Items on our agenda included sharing any ideas we had had about the storyline of the film, deciding on everybody's individual roles, and discussing production dates and deadlines so that we all knew what timescale we were working to. 

We decided on the following main roles for creating the film, but also thought that it would be a good idea to each have the opportunity to participate in different areas of the production: 

• Writer - Rory Boar
• Director - Pip Rose
• Producer - Elliot Edwards
• Camera Operator - Emma Flint
• Sound - Liam Rushton
• Editing - Ross Madison

We also came up with a couple of basic ideas for storylines of the film, and Rory is going to try and write two rough scripts before our next meeting at the Rural Media Company on the 15th January 2014. 

Our first idea was a post-apocalyptic film set in the near future, where all of the natural water supplies had been contaminated by some form of parasite, and you could only stay alive by drinking bottled water (a possible title). The film would follow the struggle of an old man who had known life before this situation, and a young child born into this world, both trying to find a source of bottled water. The ending of the film would be 'bittersweet', as the audience finds out that the old man had drunk contaminated water out of desperation, although he has passed on his tales and wisdom to the young child, who succeeds in finding bottled water, and therefore there is a element of hope to the ending.

Our second idea was to create a silent movie following a day in the life of a young deaf person, whose emotions are conveyed through the use of music and different colours, and they communicate by using written notes. The theme of this film would be communication, and one possible idea was that we do not find out that the protagonist is deaf until the end, as a final reveal. 

Although our second idea is less developed, the general consensus was that we preferred this idea, because it was different - the genre of silent films is much less utilised, and we thought that a film with a happy and uplifting mood would be unique and give a positive message. I was very pleased with the productivity of our meeting, and we are going to meet again after some rough scripts have been developed in order to decide which idea we are going to pursue to create our short film.