Monday, 17 December 2012

Final Film Proposal

Ab - 19/11/12
Final Film Proposal

Me, Myself and I
Synopsis
The story revolves around 17 years old May Stanwell, who just like every teenager in the world, is trying to figure out who she is. The only difference is that she unlike the others suffers from a multiple personality disorder. We follow her life through highs and lows as she wrestles with the various personalities that gets in her way. The story builds to the climax of her important interview for University, where her other persona's are determined to destroy her future.
Plot
May Stanwell is a 17 years old student who’s full of potential. She was just a typical girl who belonged in what seemed like a normal family until she was diagnosed with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) at the age of 11. May grew up in care of her mother (Holly) as her father (Nick) was a member of the British Royal Navy. The distance between the couple already proved to be a challenge and when May’s condition came into the scene it caused further strain on her parents which resulted to them getting a divorced. From the divorce Statement of Arrangements and 1989 Children’s Act, both parents agreed that May will live with her father as her mother was required to leave the country due to her job and because May already had an existing life in Oxford. Despite the past where Nick was often away, he had a strong bond with his daughter that’s why when asked who she wished to be with, she requested for her dad. This of course was honoured by the court. As a result it had her farther quitting the force and had him looking for a new occupation that will provide for him and May and still allowed him to look after her.

May’s condition flared up when she turned 14, right after her mum had gotten re-married. Consequently, the developments of her multiple personalities affected her social life, losing one friend at a time. Though she was not completely alone as her childhood friend Darren Harring stayed loyal to her. May became an outcast and Darren took the fall with her.
In present time, May is at her final year of sixth form and is doing well. She has a stable life and managed to form new friendships. She had also developed 4 personalities who are completely different from one another. May had also found herself a therapist who she meets often with to help her overcome her disorder. The situation took for the worse when her mother came back to Oxford with her new family, her episodes became more frequent and was getting out of control. This affected her studies, her grades started to drop just when she received an invitation for an interview to one of her chosen Universities. The interview was a disaster. All 4 of her persona have made an appearance in the interview jeopardising her future. Along with this main dilemma, May goes through many challenges such as:
1.      Having multiple dates for prom (one for each personality)
2.      Her condition threatening to ruin her social life yet again
3.      Difficulty of adjusting to her mother’s return and forming relationship with her step-siblings

And many more!
As May’s situation continues to deteriorate, Jackie Willet (May’s therapist) started to invest more and more time analysing May’s case. One therapy session Jackie ended up talking to one of May’s persona instead of May herself. Jackie ended up talking to Sammie (May’s alter ego who’s a young girl). Jackie learns that May as child was abused Holly’s lover. Careful not to make any assumptions, Jackie looked through Holly’s lovers past- Benjamin Cooper who was reportedly been abusive and had a restraining order from a woman called Fiona Carter, previously named as Fiona Cooper; Benjamin’s previous wife.
One evening May engages into a heated argument with her mother where she confronts her about abandonment (May was actually poorly taken care of by Holly) when her dad was in the Navy and demanded why her mother was back. May, in limbo, runs away and ends up in a park where Darren finds her. He counsels May as she reveals her anxieties and Darren professes his love for her. Darren expected May to return his feelings but quite the opposite happens. May was angered by this as it made her further confused about her true identity and storms off.
After the following events, May refused to talk to anyone, even her therapist. Holly went to meet with Jackie to check on her progress. As May’s still underage, Holly and Nick had the right to know about her conversation with Jackie. Jackie talks about her findings about Benjamin Cooper and how it might be related to May’s condition. Jackie confronts Holly if Benjamin had ever been violent around her to which Holly admitted that she had been enduring domestic violence. May, Nick and Holly then attend a therapy where May finally admits of being abused and some resolution is met. Holly ends up taking her case of being abused by Benjamin to court where he was found guilty as his own children testified against him. May gradually recovers and at first was reluctant to saying goodbye to her persona's but eventually does. She receives another invite for an interview from another university where she‘s accepted.
May goes to university and the relationship between her parents becomes friendly. Darren remains friends with her and she continues to live her life.
 
Length of Film:
 
We are a small production company and do not have alot of money to invest in a long film. Therefore, our film will be approximately 1 and a half hours long and will be based in Oxford.
 
Genre and Target Audience:
 
This is a 'coming of age' film but can also be classed as a drama, as the plot is quite serious.
Our target audience is mainly teenagers as the film is based around a teenage character. However, any age group could watch and enjoy it, as many people have probably had passed experiences with DID and can relate to the story.
 
 
More detail, such as May's personalities and other character descriptions are included in the PowerPoint (Pictures) below:


 


Storyboard


 
This storyboard shows the sketches for the characters and how we are planning on filming our opening scene, discribing the different camera angles and shots that we may use. This is only a draft however, and may be changed when we actually start filming.  

 


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