Billys Treatment

Treatment

I am going to produce a short documentary style production expressing the lonely and challenging life of a nomadic male from the prehistoric period.

The narrative will be quite simplistic. A traditional beginning, middle and end with no mixes in the timeline. I hope to find beautiful scenic locations in the peak district that will represent the prehistoric period and be able to show the nomadic man in several varied terrains and what he has to achieve to survive.
The opening will be used to set the scene. I ideally want a large tree sat on a hill blowing violently in the wind so it looks very idyllic. Only nature exists, very peacefully. The winds noise will be heightened and eventually cut to the nomad in his cave sleeping. This shows that men can be peaceful as well as nature and should get the audiences attention focused on the film with the loud wind breeze suddenly cutting to a calm shot. The narrative unfolds as the nomadic man wakes and sets off to find breakfast with slight hesitation with it being a windy day. I’m not completely certain on how I will show the hunting scenes as I do not know the rules and regulations for showing dead animals. However, I will research and look further into this. I would really like some shots at a lake with him catching fish and moving into close-ups of his face to show the relief and joy at catching dinner. There will be some travelling shots with the nomad roaming plains and climbing rocks to get to his water or home. I am also hoping to find a natural pool or a waterfall to show him swimming, drinking, washing and laughing. The small amount of fun in his lonely life.

My style will be very important for the film. There will be an array of different shots but I still want to make sure my style is easily noticed throughout. The wide angle shots will be used as he wanders alone across vast, flat, mundane, rocky plains to express his loneliness. Other shots will be differing throughout, using close ups when his face will give away his feelings and create allow the audience to personalise with the character. Mid-shots when the camera needs to be a little closer such as when he’s fishing or sat around his fire in his cave, eating his catch from the day and also giving me a great opportunity to play with lighting. I think this could be a great asset to my film if used correctly. A blue filter juxtaposed with the wide angle shots on the plain could enhance the feeling of him being alone in life. Using the dark cave a night with the correct lighting could create a very artistic shot, especially with the fire but as I said before I will explore this further in planning and production stages.

Finally the audience I envisage to watch this would be a wide age range. Around 18-50 would be ideal. It should appeal to prehistoric enthusiasts, artists and short film fans. It will be both interesting and stylistic thus having a wide market. I imagine it to be screened in a small independent cinema, over the internet or even at a small documentary or short film festival. I really hope it gets to production as I imagine it will turn out very well.