Proposal of Ideas

I am proposing the traditional idea of a washed out rock & roll star that is stuck in self decline, however the twist would be that the film comes from the point of view of the rock and roll star's neglected son (given that my primary audience research took a strong likening to this idea), a twist that I'm quite sure has not yet been the main subject in a feature film. The film would follow how the boy (aged 12) copes with how the success of his father could bring such nothingness into his world. Although (i don't think) the idea has been made into a film, there is definitely plenty of real life cases, prime being how John Lennon treated his son Julian, the recent drama "Lennon Naked" touches upon this somewhat, however Julian is too young in this for it to come from his point of view solely. There was also a similar case of the story of the child of a rock star in "Sex and drugs and rock and roll", however again this was the story of Ian Dury and not his son. I believe this film narrative would be really sought after and would connect with my demographic audience of 15-24 year old, with them being only a few years older than the protagonist is and perhaps having gone through similar issues in 'everyday' situations, and as i was keen to,there should also be a strong bond formed with an older audience who can fill themselves into either position they feel true to their case. The film would touch upon the cycles of parenting and early influences, yet very much retain music interest and not stray off the topic of music/drama. I am proposing for the name of the film to be " '74 ", referring to the time period it will be set in, also in terms of aesthetic design a short title usually stands out bold on a poster and other promotional aspects. I will pay close attention to detail in my research of props from this particular year and hope for a genuine finish. I will also be drawing vague ideas from the lives of real musicians, although my character will not be based on any one in particular - this just makes for a more exciting view for the music die hards!

The plot of the film trailer will be quite abstract and in some sense leave the film narrative behind, i like the idea of the film trailer to almost be an introduction to the film and the idea, which as long as it does it's job : excite the audience, there is no problem. The trailer will begin with one song that hauntingly runs throughout, a narrator who is pre-supposed to be, and may well reveal himself as, the father of the boy, will then begin, the voice heard will be aged and croaky, generally passed best. All the while a handheld camera eases towards a figure who is sat on a bed, silhouetted in candle light, the angle then switches to a high angled shot pointing towards the guitar that is sat still on the boys lap, he stares at it with dead like eyes, as if this is the cause of all damage, there is side view close up shot of this before the scene changes. Whats happening on screen will subtly synchronise with what is being said, the narrator will be talking poetic and reading out letters that he has received from his son, entrancing and dramatic all the same. A series of quick paced edited shots featuring the boy and his father (whose face remains hidden) along with intertwining dramatic scenes will feature as flashbacks between the two 'main' scenes. There is to then be a scene in which the boy can be seen painfully writing down what could be lyrics, during an extreme close up on the page the sentence "i needed you, but you didn't need me" is written in childlike school board 'lines', the narrator can then be heard copying what was written, implying that the boy had written this to his father - the narrator. The trailer should culminate in the boy locking away everything he has been seen to be using in the trailer, including his writing pads, guitar and pen, he then locks his own bedroom door and the screen sharply changes to black, the music ends at the black whilst the narrator continues and says something simple yet chilling to the effect of "Bye Dad". This would hopefully gather a level of interest in to how the story continues, and through the visual and audio clues the audience should gather the relationship and character statuses and therefore the twist to the conventional music/ drama rock and roll story. The intention is to also pose a confusion as to whom the voice belongs to (the father or the son?) until the final shot at which point a letter in a new location falls to a desk with aged hands clinging onto it, the camera pans upwards but fades to black, leaving a cliffhanger. The assumption is that the voice belongs to the father who is looking back, however quite equally it could be the son looking back, allowing the audience a make-your-own-mind-up finish, which usually work really well with my targeted audience.

As for the film poster, i am going for a scrapbook type effect, with scattered old style photographs that would appear genuine for the time frame, with one particular photo that is central and not obscured (all the rest will be), the photo will contain the upper profile of a male, ( This shot will be my photoshoot shot) the eyes will be scratched out and 'FAKE' will be scrappily handwritten across the photograph (or words to that effect) my inspiration of this idea came from reading Peter Doherty's 'Books of Albion' to which there is a similar photo, i will upload it next to the poster flatplan. My primary audience research told me that they did like the idea of a few different poster designs, instead of producing many time consuming designs (although time is not the issue) i feel it better fitting if i merely swapped the main photograph used in each design and perhaps alter colour, and produce 3 posters. This would tie in to the choose-your-own-ending theme that the promo trailer will create.

The magazine cover will be slightly larger than A4 (L - 30cm W - 25cm) this creates a chunkier look, and creates a bit of variation from the usual A4 design. My primary audience research in this area told me a little bit of experimentation is considered a good thing, perhaps to play around with unusual compositions of covers, but also that a monthly magazine would better suit, given that usually a monthly magazine means mainstream, i have opted for the magazine to be somewhere in between mainstream and independent. There will be no extensive team working on it, merely an editor and close associates, creating an independent feel and ethos to working, the pricing will reflect this also, with an affordable monthly price tag. As for the layout of the magazine, i have done my research and i believe it to be relatively unique to in effect rotate the covers contents 90 degrees left, this would easily allow for the magazine to stand out on a shelf consisting of 'normal' designs. I will experiment with the individual positioning of things on the cover, however i realise this may be too far, given that the feedback was generally if something was to change, i should limit that to the only big change. I am proposing that the name of the magazine be "POLYTHENE" with the tag line 'A film thing', i believe this is jokey on a down to earth level, so the public should realise that this monthly magazine is far from mainstream.