LO1: Treatment

Treatment

The working title for my short film is “Peak Sheffield”. This is because it would be about the countryside around Sheffield - in the Peak District - and because the word “peak” has connotations of something being very good and at a high level. Therefore this working title has multiple meanings.

The narrative/subject of my short film: I will visit a few places in the countryside around Sheffield, such as Edale and Grindleford, possibly. I want to go there and take lots of wide shots of the key points of interest, using pans and zooms to engage the audience, giving them a feel for the place and what it would be like if they visited. I will put a voiceover over the top of these shots to tell the audience what they are looking at and to make them even more interested. It will also give a bit of history and background to the places I visit. If I find anybody out walking, I may interview them about what they think of the area/why they like going out there.

This film would be of the nature documentary genre, because it would inform viewers about the countryside around Sheffield. They would hopefully learn something by watching it.

In terms of characters in the short film, there wouldn’t be many people in it, as for most of it I would be doing slow pans and zooms of the countryside. However, as I mentioned above, I may interview people I encounter while I am out filming to get different points of view on the countryside. These people would be the only people seen in the short film.

A brief synopsis for the documentary: I aim to show the best places to visit in the Hope Valley based on their natural beauty and sights available to see, giving a guide on where to go and what to do. I want my short documentary to be a bitesize guide to the country around Sheffield, encouraging tourists to visit it.

The only required crew for this short film would be me; I only need me to operate one camera and equipment, taking shots of the countryside. With a film like this, shots don’t need to be filmed quickly or in a hurry, as there isn’t any fast action. Therefore I can take my time setting up my shots from different positions and angles.

The equipment I would require: a DSLR camera, a tripod, a slider and a microphone. With these, I can do all of the panning I need while the camera is kept in a stable position. The microphone would be used for any interviews I might do, to pick up high quality audio.

Possible locations for the short film: Edale, Hope, Grindleford, Dore. All of these places have their own great patches of countryside which would be suitable for my documentary.

Current production plan (will be updated as I progress):