GOING FOR GOLD

By Sydney

GENRE

The genre for our film is a British Social Realist Drama. Social realism focuses

on topical issues that are occurring in a stereotypical modern society, which is

represented by different ideas. The genre often focuses upon truth and honesty:

These being the aspects that give the genre its realist name. Themes such as

drugs, money, sex, religion and typical day-to-day activities are conventionally

portrayed within the narrative of a social realist film. It focuses on life’s struggles

and often portrays the working class activities as heroic. Dealing with the work

area also adds to the realist aspects as it is nothing to high key or high class.

These types of films are conventionally low budget; an example would be Billy

Elliott and Fish Tank, both films that do not feature famous actors or actresses

(the use of unknown actors). The representation of characters through the use of

unknown actors supports the realist aspects of the genre due to the fact that

these actors could potentially be anyone as they are not famous icons.

THE PLOT

We mind mapped our ideas in order to allow us to have a variety to choose from.

Having elements of sadness within the plot line allowed us to fit in with the genre

itself. However, we wanted to make our ending extremely happy and satisfying

for the audience in order for them to allow their emotions to change as the film

progresses (from low to high). The plot of our film involves a young boy who has

been in a wheelchair all of his life because he was born with deformed limbs. His

mum died when she was giving birth and his Dad could not cope with a disabled

child on his own so he left his son with the responsibility of a care home.

Jamie, the main character playing the deformed boy, has had a hard life and has

struggled to cope with the given circumstances. He has attempted to commit

suicide several times and he does not see any point in his current life. Then, his

care worker, Julie, suggests that he tries out for a wheelchair basketball team in

order to place some positivity within his life. Due to the closeness of Jamie and

Julie relationship, Jamie takes Julie’s advice and makes the team. He finds his

true talent and destiny, and he also makes lots of lifelong friends. He and his

team end up winning gold at the Paralympics and he becomes an icon all over

the country.

CHARACTERS

Jamie – Young boy with deformed legs. In the opening of the film we see

him being born, and by the end of the film he is a Paralympics

champion.

Keith – Plays the role of Jamie’s dad. He only stars in the beginning of

the film, and his exit involves him abandoning his young disabled son.

Julie – She is like a mother to Jamie. Playing the role of his beloved care

worker. She looks after Jamie and is the one who pushes him on to

becoming a member of the wheelchair basketball team.

Rhys - Jamie’s friend who suddenly turns against him when he starts to

spend less time with him and when he becomes a champion.

Kim – Jamie’s love interest.

Will – The school bully who does not like disabled people.

THEMES

Sport

Love

Success

Achievement

Sadness

Friendship

Family

Status/class

OPENING SEQUENCE

The first scene – The first scene consists of Jamie being born. This has been censored and the actual birth is not explicitly shown. Jamie’s birth was a water birth and the first shot is a point of view shot from the baby under the water. The camera would be hand-held as it is a low budget film and it also adds to the realistic aspect of the genre. It also makes the scene appear more chaotic. The soundtrack would be the piano backing track of ‘Mad World’ and the dialogue would be of a baby screaming.

The second scene – The second scene involves Jamie’s Dad Keith discovering that his wife is dead. The soundtrack would still be playing in the back ground and the actually lyrics would start to play; However the sound would be blurred as if Keith does not know what is going on and to make the audience feel is frustration, despair and confusion. The camera would still be hand-held to make it appear chaotic and realistic. The camera would pan across from Keith, to the dead wife and then finally to the baby to represent the connection to each other that the three have. It would vary from slow to fast, again to show the chaos of the whole situation.

The third scene – The third scene would show Jamie himself. It would be a birds eye view shot from above of the baby and would slowly and carefully zoom in on him to portray how delicate he is. The backing track of Mad World would still be sounded in the back ground. Baby Jamie would also be crying.

The forth scene – The fourth scene would be the final shot. This would consist of Keith standing from afar facing the opposite way. It would be a long shot: This is to show how distant he is from his new born son. It also sets the tone and atmosphere for the upcoming events in the film –sadness.

SUMMARY OF CAMERA SHOTS

Point of view shot from Baby Jamie – to show how he is entering the world and

to censor the birth

Close up of Baby Jamie – to show his new born face

Close up of Keith – to show is facial expression

Panning shot from Keith, to the mother and Jamie

Birds eye view shot of Jamie

Zooming in shot of Jamie – to show the delicacy of him

Long shot of Keith and the corridor – to show the distance of him and his son

Long establishing shot of the setting – to set the scene and the tone

TARGET AUDIENCE

Our target audience is more varied than, for example, a rom-com. This is due to

the diversity in the themes we can include for our narrative. The themes that are

most appropriate for our genre would include things like sex, drugs,

relationships, school and so on. It is so varied that at least one theme would

relate to or interest the public in some way or another. Due to another theme of

this genre being sadness, some would say that our genre of film would not

appeal to many people: This is why we made the decision to add a sporty

element to the narrative of our film. This would appeal to the younger generation

of film watchers, alike to the Olympics which would too interest more people.

Americans are often known for enjoying happy and positive films, alike to many

people in Britain. We felt it necessary to include a happy ending in order to

appeal to more people. However, it all depends on the gratifications of a person

and the type of mood they are in (chance).

IMPROVEMENTS

When pitching our presentation to our class they came up with several

suggestions in order to potentially make our film more successful and appealing.

Including…

A villain

A love interest

A bigger problem other than his disability