Individual Film Idea - David

Genre(s) 
Drama, Horror, Thriller

Draft Title
 - 

Brief Plot Summary
The film follows a girl who is struggling with a fear that follows her everywhere; the fear is so bad that she seeks help from a therapist. In the film we are lead to believe that some kind of ghost/creature is following her - which the therapist doesn't realise. After running from the fear, you finally find out that the fear is herself - she is a recovering addict who fears her inner demons who persuade her to have a relapse. 

Opening 
The film starts with a shot of the main female character writing in a lesson. This allows the audience to gather information on our character, that she's a student. Next there will be a shot of the definition of what a phobia is, this allows the audience to understand that fear will be a main theme within the film, which means that horror may be the genre. I will also have the scene abruptly change from the character being in a lesson to seeing a therapist, as I want to give as much information about the situation and character in the small amount of time that I have, therefore having a fast pace narrative. 

Ending
The film ends with the girl running away from the 'fear' that is following her, and closing in on her. The last shot will be a panning shot of the girl seeing who/what has been following her, and then revealing herself starring back. This presents the idea that she fears herself, as she is 'the architect of her own destruction', and as she is a recovering addict, she has the constant fear that she will have a relapse, only caused by her own actions.

The ending will be semi-open and semi-closed. It will be closed as the main mystery within the film is about this 'thing' following her that she fears. The film will then end by revealing what has been following her (herself) which makes it a closed ending as the mystery is solved. However, it is still somewhat left open due to the fact that the message within the film is a recovering addict and her struggles with fighting off her own demons - so therefore although the fear is revealed, the audience don't know what happens. Does she have a relapse? Does she overcome her addiction?

Narrative
The film will be a single strand narrative - the film will follow one main character and her main storyline of trying to escape her fear.

Influences

The Usual Suspects

I was influenced by the ending of this film - I like that the ending is such a big plot twist that noone expects. That is something that I really wanted to have within my own film, as most films are let down by the end so it was important to me to make it a good ending (or at least one that the audience wouldn't expect).

The Passenger

I found this short film on YouTube as I was inspired by the suspenseful atmosphere. The audience are scared of something that they haven't actually seen, which is something I appreciate from the horror genre, rather having scary ghost faces jumping out. I wanted my film to still fall under the horror genre, without actually having scary faces, but creating suspense and tension through mis-en-scene, camera shots, and sound. Link to the short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO5YVoXj-3Y