Pre-Production: Story

With any film it is important to question everything that you wish do although this is a difficult with many different questions you must ask about the story:

Do you choose a single sex cast or a mix cast?
What sort of ages will the cast be all one age or mixed age?
What relationship do each of the characters have with each other?
Is the plot one that is part of a series or just a single film?
If the film is developed from a book if so how accurate to said book do you want the film to be?
What genre is your idea? considered changing it slightly?



For all the questions above not only must we answer but we must research the evidence to cover the questions before we make any decisions that would affect our film. The research must be good quality as if we were to pitch our film for funding:

Do you choose a single sex cast or mix cast?

With any story there must be decisions as to the gender of the characters. In many incidents it is possible to have either gender perform either character if a manly female plays a character it is likely that a male could also play that part if you adjust the slightest bit. It is our intention to have both male and female actors within our piece. Have had experience with working on a all male cast and the final production although good I felt that the piece was missing the balance needed. however the initial idea of a apocalyptic wasteland could work for either a single sex cast or mixed.

What sort of ages will the cast be all one age or mixed age?

The ages of characters in films often change the aspect that the film has to follow. For example on the whole you would not expect an 80 year old man free running with a gun chasing down a 22 year old man on the top of a roof top (unless maybe in a comedy). The age of characters does not necessarily restrict the film as the story could include different ages but would have to compensate the physicality of any actions and justify the actions and characterisation. i would like to have a mixture of aged actors. the story would revolve around a mid to late 20's character and have various ages acting of him. however limited availability to actors that are of a good quality means that i will use local drama group and friends that i know have done acting qualifications. This saves me money in the fact that i do not have to pay them for the service they are helping me out with but it means that the film will be early 20's characterisation. If we had the budget and time to cast a professional cast we would definitely write a story including several ages within it. The cast would be something similar to the cast of AMC's The Walking Dead with the main difference being the entire group would have known people from before the events that caused the apocalypse.

What relationship do each of the characters have with each other?

The main thing that we wish for our film to be about is the relationships and state of humanity when all is gone. It has been inspired by I Am Legend featuring Will Smith and how his emotions of being alone in the world apart from a canine companion and calling out for companionship on the radio. it is this emotion that if you look at my box office research post you will see that is why we believe the film done so well. the characters within the film would have various different relationships. I have seen many apocalyptic films in which people meet after the event however not that many show a group that already knew each other and that is what I intend to show within this film. there will be a far more detailed character post which shall show the relationships in detail with reasons behind each decision.

Is the plot one that is part of a series or just a single film? 

The intention with our film is for it to be a single film with no reference to any prequel or sequel in the future. This is not to say that if the film was a success and we found in the future that we have a clear idea of the story progressing we would not follow it up. What is becoming more and more common is when a film is derived from a book such as Harry Potter and The Hobbit that more than one film is required for an adjusted solution by making two or more films. Our film however will be written with the intention of it being a film therefore it negates any issues like the transfer of a book to a film.

If the film is developed from a book if so how accurate to said book do you want the film to be?

This is a irrelevant question due to the film not being derived from a  book  and is answered within the previous question.

What is your general idea? considered changing it slightly? 

Our idea is simple in the fact that it is a post apocalyptic film. The twist of the plot is the format of the film. With inspiration from films such as 'The book of Eli' and 'I am Legend' we intend to have the film focus upon humanity of the event but I don't want to give to much away.

What age is your target audience?

Our target audience is late teenagers and early 20's so from 15-22. We feel that this is the most appropriate age for a film of our style and that we can create a film for a audience based amongst our own age.

How do you intend upon marketing the film?

Our intentions upon marketing and promoting our film would be the use of social networking and conventional methods such as posters, trailers and magazines such as Empire and TotalFilm.