Proposal for my short film

The idea from my short film has been incredibly developed from a brief initial proposal last year that I had for a thriller opening before I collaborated with Meg, and thus the idea was dropped. The conventions of the thriller genre have been lessened- now there is more of a focus on the two protagonists, without amnesia or the interrogation scene, to make sure that a concise narrative can be developed in the five minutes and make it much less melodramatic.

Themes

The key theme I have focussed on is the role of memory within a relationship. I was really interested in how short films juxtapose memories and the present day in a relationship that has potentially fallen apart, what we choose to remember and how more memories come back to us with time. Many of the short films I have researched surround these themes, and there are more short and feature length films. It will also explore contrasts between old and new technology: photobooths and photos on computers, old home video cameras and social networking sites.


Brief Plot Summary

A man and a woman who were in a relationship have been apart for several months after they left school. Although their last discussions (seen through the old home video in the opening few seconds of the film) were about how they will stay friends forever no matter what happens, the man has not been able to contact her at all despite his best efforts- she has cut off all communication from him.

The scene after the titles I would like to take place at the waiting area in a station. The male protagonist walks in- he is wearing a suit, and has an internship in the city that he is going to. He sees the photobooth in the corner of the room, and which triggers a flashback to months ago when him and the female protagonist go to use the photobooth.

We cross-cut to a new scene in the male protagonist's bedroom: he is sitting in front of his computer, frantically searching through social media sites to see if he can find the female protagonist. A friend walks in and asks him what he's doing, then insists he needs to get over the girl, establishing with the audience that they have not spoken in months and she has essentially 'ghosted' him.

We cut back to the scene in the train station, and through the same POV shot we had before, we can only see the legs of someone sitting in the photobooth. The curtain opens and the female protagonist comes out of the photobooth, and catches the eye of the male protagonist. They're both as shocked as each other. He runs over to her and immediately ask where she's been all this time, it was like she vanished. Instead of answering his questions, she looks over and another man walks over to her- he is clearly her new boyfriend. The new boyfriend explains they have to get going to the post office, and the female protagonist explains that she's getting her passport- she's leaving for good.

The film ends with a shot of the woman and her new boyfriend leaving the station, leaving the male protagonist behind.