Short Film Ideas: 1

Being the tenacious little film maker, which I am (small being a metaphor, I'm rather tall), I generally get quite a lot of ideas for films. While most of them are neglected and left to nothing in my fragile little mind (I'm not sure if that one was a metaphor), occasionally I get an idea that I focus on and actually follow up on.

When I say "follow up" I mean develop. That doesn't always mean creating a film, it means creating a deeper structure and story for that idea. If I continue to focus on these further, I believe I can come up with a solid idea for a decent short film. And so I've decided that from now on I'm going to be posting these ideas. So you can consider this post the first of, probably, hopefully, maybe, many ideas.

Living in a rural area, I have lots of fields at my disposal. For pure convenience it's worth considering doing a short film in the area. A bonus is that there are usually very little people walking around , as opposed to an urban environment, such as a high street or even my school. However, there are downsides like weather. A windy day can make lots of unwanted noise. And rain or sun can completely change the feel of a shot, from dark and gloomy to bright and happy.

As I've walked around this areas, location scouting, I've taken pictures and partially allocated ideas to them. 

There are a ton of footpaths and trails to utilize. These created the idea of traveling and heading in a directing to an inevitable location. A character could be going somewhere to meet someone or something. As they're walking they're thinking of everything that has happened to them leading up to the inevitable point of climax. It could be interesting to see key points in the characters life play out and see what his they've lead to that character's development. It would also give opportunity for lots of camera angles and the possibilities for the story are practically endless.

With the heavy trees bearing over, entrapment sprang to mind. Again, on a trail meaning there's only 2 clear directions of travel, there could be motivation for traveling in one directing, such as running away from a threat, like a monster or unknown being imposing danger. Of course, the ideas are still endless, so I could instead focus on paranoia, the idea of an imposing force that is not there in reality. Working in the genre of psychological horror is interesting. Creating and building on fears of the anticipated unknown. Fun. 

While strolling along on my adventure into the wilderness, I came across a discarded piece of children's clothing, tattered and scratched, left hanging on a gate. Despite this being a tad bizarre, it did produce an idea.

The idea of a parent losing there child is (what I assume) an extremely scary feeling. The prospect of a child being vulnerable and alone in a dark forest is chilling and would slide nicely into the thriller genre. Whether it's from the viewpoint of the child or parent, a heart pounding thriller could be born. 

As scary it would be to be small and alone in a forest full of horrors created by your imagination, I think that the typical audience for a thriller film would be older and possibly have children, making the character of a parent easier to relate to. However, we've all been a child at one point in our lives, so I wouldn't want to completely erase the idea if a thriller film from a child's viewpoint. 

-BW