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Friday 7 September 2012

Initial Ideas

Once we were done analyzing our inspirational blogs, we were to come up with our own ideas and form a synopsis or a story line for them. I and my partner, Dua, came up with our own ideas, three ideas each. Below are our contributions.


My Ideas:

Idea 1
When I started off looking for ideas, I wanted to make a documentary as my media product. Once, deciding no my media brief I began looking for ideas which could be developed into a very realistic yet a very different documentary. Something unusual and attractive. I came up with an idea based on my own country of origin ‘Pakistan’. Now, I chose this topic not because I can easily work with something I can relate to but because, considering the situation in Pakistan, it is imminent that something rises up against all odds and gives us all a ray of hope, a beacon of light. Just the other day I saw two men fighting over a minor car accident while one of the two bled from his head to neck yet fighting away. Certain incidents in life can impact one’s life a lot and can force his/her to bring change. If not bring change, work towards a change. My documentary would be focused on Pakistan and its sow yet gradual steps towards success. It would focus on Pakistan’s beauty, its people, its cultures, its traditions. I would basically be an insight into a positive Pakistan.
 My documentary would be targeted towards the teenagers as I know they want to bring change and witnessing the adults fight over a slight dent on the bumper demotivates me into believing that the adults in our society would ever work for a change when they can’t even stand united. Hence the age group I’ll be targeting could be anywhere from 11-24 as the need for change is not being  overlooked by any human being in our society, I’d like to include the experienced elders to feel motivated by the documentary, to know that we still can look up in the sky and hope for sunshine.
 My documentary would be distributed all across Pakistan. I want my media product to be shown to everyone. If possible, even abroad so as to erase the misconception people overseas have about my country. Through the internet, magazines, and televisions and through the local and international newspapers everyone would be able to look towards it. My audiences could send in their feedbacks through newspapers and internet and through.
 I would require Photoshop, Adobe Premium and some very effective desi fonts to focus on the culture of Pakistan. A professional camera might be needed to create the appropriate and the most effective imagery; however I could be able to do without. An upgraded system with internet facility is a must. Blending in correctly chosen effects is very important as we don’t want to overdo the documentary and make it glamorous, but, it should be more towards realm i.e. towards kachi abadis and brick houses and a villages’ feel.
Documentaries too have proper codes and conventions. These codes and conventions include locations, lighting, costumes for the models, props. I would need locations such as historical venues and places such as the Badshahi Mosques in the night when it’s lit up in luminous lights. Instances where there is load shedding and people resort to older uses of pankhis and lanterns to overcome the situation signifying the spirits of Pakistanis of looking for the silver line in their clouds. Historical educational institutions gaining international recognition and development of infrastructure all across Punjab these days would indicate a step towards success, freedom and a literal version of independence. Therefore, I would require a wide range of locations. Costumes for my modes would be very typical. Shalwar kameez basically but with different cultural designations.  Props such as pankhis and charpais and lights for the Badshahi Mosque, charkhas would be required. Cultural music would be another aspect of Pakistan’s success. Hence collecting so many historical props might get difficult and shooting on more than one location such as going to Karachi to shoot the commercialization of the Arabian hub would be impossibility.  My media product would be very structured in terms of how to go about the documentary; when to shoot the locations, when to shoot the succession etc.
Places and people play a major role in my documentary as their daily lifestyles would be very much in focus. My documentary would be based on the whole of Pakistan to give it the sort of power it requires to be an effective heart wrenching story within itself.  My documentary would be promoted in such a way through various social networking sites and posters so that people know exactly what they might be able to see. My objective is to change that perception from a very stereotypical perception to one of hope, one of positivity.
My documentary is very powerful in terms of content, idea and in terms of media institutions, however I am very likely to face major issues with having to travel all across Pakistan to be able to shoot the most heavenly of places, the best of people and the busiest of lifestyles. I think the costumes would make the documentary much stronger however looking for charkhas and wells might be very tough i.e. finding the appropriate props can be very difficult.

Idea 2
Considering the immobility I’ll be facing, I needed to come up with another documentary idea. Hence, I reviewed the current affairs. Cambridge A-level results are out and considering the grading hardness this time around, a lot of students can’t do anything but sit back and try working something up with the transcripts they have received. The students, who want to study and who get effected by low grades, study very hard to gain a clean ticket into a good university but it hurts to not get, having put in all the efforts. Focused and all, and the Cambridge suddenly announces the grading system being hardened this year around and the students start panicking and worrying. Transcripts are out and the results are unexpected, eye-widening and pretty shocking. I decided to work on this topic and with real-life examples of a few students and with the teachers opinions about the grading system and the transcripts; I could really work my topic up to its level.  I want to work on this topic as this news has surprised everyone across the board and I wanted this subject to be considered of importance and I wanted feedback on how the results have affected the masses and their futures.
My target audience for this documentary would include the students, teachers and the parents. My documentary would focus on the students’ hard work, the teachers’ references and the parents’ expectations. I wanted to capture the hostilities of the affected students relative to their transcripts and university applications. My documentary would be shown through the internet through YouTube, face book, twitter and MySpace and through the television. I will promote my media product through newspapers and social sites. Feedback on my documentary could be through the networking sites and the editorials of newspapers.
I would require a camera, not necessarily professional and Adobe Premium to work with in order to add effects to the imagery. I would be using transcripts, university applications, prospectuses, university sites to make my documentary effective.
I’d like to use Geo and Hum to show my documentary. These media institutions could design a proper show based on this documentary and the peoples’ feedbacks and how students could overcome this new change in the board.
My media product would require scripts as I need to give examples of the students who have gone through this situation. I don’t require many codes and conventions for this documentary as it is very basic, however I will require locations such as school ground and university ground in order to shoot. I need daylight to work on this documentary as most of the shooting will be under the fluorescent lights. Props are not required as such nor are any costumes except for the normal wear.  My documentary would be very structured e.g. starting from the preparation for the papers till the result day to the university’s first day. I might face a problem in working with two methods of communication i.e. visual and verbal in one documentary.
People are widely related to this media product as the topic revolves around them and their experiences. Again, people might know exactly what to expect of this documentary however some might be interested in how to work through this issue and produce a better result with more effort put in.  I might not be faced by any technical issues in this idea, however student life and its effect on results is actually a well-worn out topic and I want to dig deeper to come up with something completely new.

Idea 3
Just last week, I was attending a conference whereby an entrepreneur discussed the importance of human beings being their personal statement. I found this discussion to be very interesting and wanted to come up with a short film idea like such. We see, meet, like, relate to, criticize, hide and even stay away from many people in our everyday lives. Now why we have very different reactions to every different kind of person is only because we see something in them which forces us to believe so. For example somebody we stay away from is someone who probably has attitude and doesn’t want to be friends with anyone out of their social circle. How we judge someone is through their outlook, through their style, through their personality, their way of talking, walking, sitting, studying and a lot more. Therefore, a person is him/herself a brand; a brand that provides a service for example contribution towards the economy, the society, classmates, friends, etc. Now it is the person him/herself who makes his/her identity, her personality, her outlook, etc. I wanted to make a short film on the various types of people we meet in our lives and how we judge them just by looking at them or by talking to them for even a minute. I wanted to do this short film because it would let me an insight into people and their ways of personalizing their identities.
My target audience would of course be the teenagers, school/university going students who meet people every day and who face this scenario regularly. I would address my target audience through the internet and the social sites basically as my target audience displays only one proportion of our wide population. This way I could gain feedback easily and would be able to make people aware of how they can overcome this complexity of dealing with different types of people and how to benefit from each brand of human being. My short film would basically be informational but a very casual everyday scenario, hence, not very formal.
For this short film, I will be requiring a professional camera which we might have to hire. I would need an upgraded system to work on and the specific editing software’s too. I’ll be making use of sounds for this film in order to enhance the spirits of my audience.
My short film will be promoted on the radio, through magazines, and through the internet. We still have a vast range of people listening to radios even today, every student today usually requires internet in this century and magazines allow links of interesting unique films to watch every now and then.  This alone would capture the interests of many students as this concept still needs tending to.
My product will be a silent film whereby visualizations would play a major role hence editing and technical knowledge is a must. I’ll require props such as hand bags, jewelry, laptops, etc. also, costumes would be needed according to the various human brands in question. My short film, since bit will be silent, would not require a narrative.
People are related to my media product as I will be tackling a major issue being faced by students today. This concept is directly related to people and their reactions and actions. Again this idea will be perceived as stereotypical and might not attract much audience, however, once they go through the reviews and the poster, they might get a wider idea of my concept and how it will be developed.

Dua's Ideas

The Artist:
The one idea I came up with was to show how an artist gets frustrated about him being de motivating all the time on his work whereas initially he was appreciated. That’s because of the greed of  his teacher has for money how at the end he starts hating colors and turns every painting he has to black and starts running away from his hobby! Because if you’re not satisfied with what you’re doing, you’ll find a way to do it better, and through that, you’ll do something outside your comfort zone that you might not have tried before.
I had this idea because I’ve witnessed a real life incident exactly like this.
And I want to portray the feeling and the amount of frustration going within him as a form of a film.
This will basically target students mainly of age 12-19. Teenagers who have strong feelings for whatever they do.
The technologies used will be simply a camera, the sound and speakers.
The movie makers’ software will be used to edit the movie and put the required effects to the movie.
The movie can be published on websites and social networking websites which are commonly used amongst the teenagers on regular basis and feedback could be easily by them from their comments.
Pros:
1) the setup can be done in one room easily can be shot without running to different places and having troubles with that
2) the materials and props that have to be used in the short film are already available.
3) The ambience can be easily created!
Cons:
1) A search of a model
2) will have to learn different camera point of views and ideas to make the short film look attractive.


Possibility Pakistan:
In this idea we can show the positive side of Pakistan and we’ll have vast ideas to combine in 5 minutes movie, related to the education, hard work, pessimism etc.
Different scenes will be shot at different areas and a patriotic song can be used as back ground music.
We can show how people are struggling against the bad times they have in their life.
How the venders till an educated person is carrying their life and hard times the still smile and love their country. How helping they are to their fellow Pakistani’s etc.

This idea will be directly focusing the population of Pakistan.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/389694/positive-pakistani-wise-beyond-his-years
This is one article I read which really inspired me. It tells us about this by who was keen to help his entire fellow Pakistani’s and was known in school even outside school, in relatives for this. My story can be totally based on this article showing to which extreme a single boy is helping the community and making a change in others life.
Pros:
1) We have to come up with new ideas be specific and the scenarios can be available easily, also can be created easily.
Cons: 
1) Might be time consuming as many ideas have to be indulged in one short film
2) Also we’ll have to search for different places and shoot our film there.
3) Different aged group people will be needed as our models.


Child Abuse:

This idea is to pass the message that child abuse is dangerous.

A boy cries to himself in a room. Flashback shot of drinking glass falling to the floor in slow motion shows previously what happened, hence, the reason why he is crying. Focus will be  back on the boy, he looks up at the lens of the camera shocked as he has heard someone coming from outside. The boy knows he will be in trouble for breaking the glass. Then a pair of feet slowly walking towards the door of the house the boy lives in. Continuously cut between the boy getting even more scared and these feet getting closer. Then the boy looks really scared by the time the feet are at the door. Hand shot of the person trying to unlock the door with keys will be shown. The person drops them and then picks them up again. The person then enters the door from the inside out (door swings open from inside, but only show the feet entering). Have a side angled shot of the boy sitting with his back to the door hopefully keeping it shut.

Still focusing on the boy, have the noise of the person in the other room walking on broken glass and yelling violently. Fade on the boy's face and leave the rest to the audience's imagination.
This idea will target high class people who have number feelings for poor and practicing child abuse in their daily lives.
The video can be showed on TV channels on a morning show or more informative channels.



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