Sonder treatment

Sonder treatment

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  Sonder By Rachel Moffat
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  Working title: My workingtitle for this film is ‘Sonder’ Length of the film: Length of the film: Approx. 10 minutes. This should allow enough time to develop my story whilst still keeping the audiences interest. Tagline: The tagline for this film is ‘endlessly connected in our separate journeys’. This brings across the main theme in the film. I have chosen to have four main characters who live in Brighton and somehow end up in the same train carriage on a journey to London. Each character has their own obstacle such as parents or Job security. My story focuses on sonder (the realisation that each passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own) which I think is something a traditional story would not show. Key characters:  Jamie- young business man who dreams of leaving his awful boss and moving away.  Katie- young woman living with her Mum after her Dad left them. Katie is looking at university’s but thinks it might be too late for her as she is 25 and does not want to leave her Mum.  William- Old man who’s ex-boss/friend is in hospital in London, William struggles with weather or not he should let go of his grudge and go to see his friend for what could be the last time.  Lara- 35 year old woman who is planning to move in with her long-distance girlfriend of 10 years.
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  Synopsis: This film beginswith the same shot that we see at the end of the film, 4 people in one train carriage on their way from Brighton to London. Throughout the film we explore the lives of four completely different characters who have ended up on the same journey literally and metaphorically. We start with Jamie a young business man who dreams of leaving his job and his awful boss. We see him at a computer at work looking for other jobs. He is called into his boss’s office and you see through the window as Jamie is shouting at his boss until he finally walks out. He walks through the street of Brighton and makes a phone call accepting a new job in London. As he hangs up a young woman (Katie) bumps into him, she apologizes and carries on walking the other way, the camera follows her back to her flat where she lives with her mum. At Katie’s flat we see a conversation with her mother as her mum passes her some university prospectus’s and tells her that it is not too late to study is she wants too. Katie argues at first but then decides to go to the train station to get tickets to London to have a look at Goldsmiths and London central. At the train station we see Katie waiting to buy her ticket behind Lara (35 year old woman) who is on the phone to her girlfriend discussing moving plans. Lara walks out and makes her way to the retirement home where she volunteers part time still on the phone to her girlfriend complaining about how hard it will be to leave Brighton as she has lived there her whole life. As she walks into the retirement home she passes a man waiting at the reception. Lara walks on and the camera stays on the man (William). William waits for a phone call from his sister, she tells him
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  that his ex-friendand boss is in hospital in London with a terminal illness and he is asked to go and visit, William struggles to let go of his grudge and go and see a man he once cared about very much. We see him later make his way to the train station. William gets on the train and sits down and we realise that it is the same shot as at the beginning of the film. We see a close up of all of the main characters faces and then it cuts to black. Target audience: The audience of this is very broad as it focuses on a wide range of characters both male and female. However I do think that it will take a certain level of maturity to appreciate. So although it will be rated between PG and 12 I think it will mostly appeal to audience member aged 15+ Form and style: Consent matters is a drama film so I would like to go for the most natural look I can to ensure that people don’t feel like they are just watching a flashy film. I will use lots of ambient light and ensure I have good continuity editing. I want my audience to be able to relate with some of the characters and try to understand how they might be feeling. Marketplace: My film is a low budget short film so I shall make it accessible on the internet through platforms such as YouTube or other short film websites. I could also enter my film into some film festivals to get it out there as that is a good way to get your film seen in the amateur film making business.