Planning: choosing an idea

In order to decide between the two initial ideas that we had, we created a list for each idea that stated the positive and negative aspects of each narrative that we have come up with.
The first idea that we came up with was based on the abusive relationship as a result of the husband becoming an alcoholic due to the stress of his new job. We came up with the most advantages for this idea, some of which include; it subverts romantic stereotypes therefore allowing for a bigger target audience, the idea is unique and not like many other films that are on the market, and that carrying out this idea will allow for a variety of camera shots and makeup techniques to create a sense of reality. However we also found some negatives of the idea -  it could be very difficult to film the abusive scene and therefore we will need very skilled actors that can act this narrative out realistically.



The second idea that we came up with is based around a happy couple and the depressed alcoholic best friend, until the husband steps into the road while the friend is erratically driving. The widow grows close to the friend, who is guilt ridden and grieving. Eventually the audience will see that the two characters fall in love, but the trailer won't show any physical romance as this will keep the audience guessing and wanting to see the full film when it is released. For the idea there were fewer advantages, although we did think of a few; this trailer idea follows a more stereotypical romance genre narrative that the first idea so this will allow us to include more conventions of the genre such as flowers and physical romance. However this idea produced the most negatives, some including that it would be difficult to film the scene involving the car crash, as we obviously wouldn't be able to film it in entirety. We also felt that our editing skills would need to be very goo in order to make the car crash scene loom realistic; something the we thought we may not be able to achieve.

Having evaluated each of our ideas and discussed all of the positive and negative aspects of each individual idea, we decided that the trailer that we felt we could make the most successfully was idea 1, therefore this is the one we will be pursuing. As shown below, we detailed the narrative of the trailer and how we would show it through film. The trailer will begin with two main characters who are happily married and it will connote them as being in love and settled. Gradually throughout the trailer the audience will see glimpses of the male character, who will late be shown as the antagonist, becoming increasingly stressed and consuming alcohol to combat this. Eventually this gradual drinking will escalate to him becoming an alcoholic, causing the relationship to turn unstable as the husband begins to abuse the female protagonist. This will spiral out of control leaving the wife visibly beaten, and the trailer ending on a cliffhanger where the audience are left guessing the fate of the wife. 

This is a very sensitive subject that needs careful handling as it may affect people who have experienced/experiencing abuse. As a result of this, we will need to be mindful when we are filming the abusive scenes due to the distress it may cause.