Project: Treatments for Documentary

For our documentary project, we are required to pitch two ideas to our peers and some members of staff. This will allow us to test the waters and see which idea (if any) is preferred in general. It will also give us a chance to receive suggestions, criticisms and advice on the execution of our project as well as to determine whether our ideas are logistically viable.

As we had already begun working on our main idea, a portrait film about a bookshop, we were all keen to continue with this idea. However, as we were required to pitch two concepts, we needed to come up with a secondary idea. As Emily was the director and was focussed on writing a treatment for our bookshop idea, I volunteered to write a back-up treatment inspired by the arrival of some new wolves at Knowsley Safari Park. Both of these treatments can be found below.

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TREATMENT 1'Reid of Liverpool'

Our film will be set in one location, with one narrative aim: to tell the story of Reid of Liverpool, an independent second hand book shop located within the heart of the city. Run by the Fitzpatrick brothers, the shop has been selling both antique and used books for over 35 years. Our film will capture the warmth and friendliness of the shop, using it as a shining example for other shops alike.

After already wanting to do a documentary on a shop, we were then influenced by 'The Archive', a short documentary focused around a man and his extensive vinyl collection. However, rather than focusing solely on the stories and the character of the owner, we will place more emphasis on the personality of the shop itself. The shop's building is the only surviving Georgian, purpose built retail premises incorporating living accommodation in Liverpool, built around 1785. The owners take pride in this, as the history adds to the quaintness of the shop.

Gerry Fitzpatrick will be the main contributor to the film; a man with years of experience in running the shop. As well as him talking about the shop and the customers that come and go, we hope to discover some interesting anecdotes from his lifetime of "story selling". This will combine with him explaining the difficulties of keeping a business of this type running within the current digital climate, including how the rise in sales of e-books has had an effect on the sales of physical literature.

The documentary begins with the shop being opened up, before you follow Gerry inside. We will showcase the quirky touches of the interior and contents of the shop whilst he talks about the stories behind it. He will discuss what it was like to run the shop back in the 70s compared to running it now, in the midst of huge companies like Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith. We want Gerry's opinion on why he personally feels physical books will always be better than digital books. The film initially sets up its own premise, expands upon these initial points, before serving up its own concluding ultimatum.

From a stylistic angle, the film will incorporate some cinematic sensibilities, with well thought out shots that will further not only the narrative but also the charm and ambience of the production. A film that has further inspired the style is 'Street Books', a documentary about a mobile library for people living on the streets. The opening focuses on the lady setting up the stall, which sets the scene for the story; something we will achieve at the beginning of our own film, by filming Gerry, or another worker, opening the shop at the start of the day. We want the audience to feel welcomed and relaxed whilst watching the piece, setting a tone that feels as comforting as picking up your favourite book.

The primary audience for our film is book lovers in general, we want to promote the hidden gem that the shop really is. However we would also like it to appeal to a modern young audience, as we want to demonstrate the effects of technology and hopefully convince them that physical books have a magic about them that just doesn't exist with a digital copy.

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TREATMENT 2

Wolves Film (Knowsley Safari Park)

Knowsley Safari Park is a popular attraction in the Liverpool area, and for the first time in its 42 year history it is adding wolves to its ever growing list of inhabitants. The two new guests, Iberian wolves Maria and Morena, are expected by staff to settle into their new home comfortably. Due to their exclusivity in the Liverpool area, we believe that a short five minute film documenting the process of these beautiful creatures settling into captivity has the potential to be both captivating and visually stunning.

Due to the nature of the project and the unpredictability of animals, it is hard to detail and definite narrative for the film. However, we can still share our intentions, which we are confident can be portrayed by the way in which the film is edited, regardless of the material we capture. The film starts with the wolves arriving at the park (or alternatively with a witness talking about this event if the wolves have already arrived). We are then taken on a voyeuristic journey of the wolves themselves as they settle into life in captivity. We intend to represent this process as comfortable and natural to the wolves, as we wish for Knowsley and the zoo keeping industry to be portrayed in a positive light. We do, however, wish to capture a constructed realism and intend to do this by showing an issue that the wolves have faced during the adjustment process. This would break up the comfortable narrative and capture the audience's interest and attention, as they will hopefully empathise for the creatures. We would then show what the staff of Knowsley did in order to rectify this issue, further showing that they have the best interest of the wolves at heart. The narrative will end with the wolves shown comfortable and happy in their new habitat, bringing a close to the story.

To get certain ideas across and as a way of incorporating dialogue into the narrative to help convey meaning, we will also interview staff of the safari park on the topic of the wolves' development and potentially show footage of them caring for the animals.

Visually, the film will be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Where possible, every shot will be thoughtfully considered to create certain moods. A key technique will be the use of depth of field and focus to differentiate between the wild and civilisation. During the interviews with staff members, which will be shot inside, a shallow focus will be used to draw attention to the fact that these shots are constructed like civilisation itself, and to make the onscreen space seem smaller. In contrast, the exterior shots of the wolves will be shot with a very deep focus in order to construct the idea that they are still free despite being in captivity.

Attention will be placed on making the film seem soft and comfortable in order to imply that the wolves development shares these traits. This will be done by using a soft focus and filtering out colours that are too bright and disruptive. Where possible, we will also include close-up shots of the wolves as we wish to emphasise their beauty. This will be in very clear focus in order for them to be appreciated in detail, as this is one of the key visual intentions of the film. Stylistically, we will ensure that the wolves and staff of the park are never shown together as we wish to portray the staff as helping the animals from a distance and leaving them to be 'wild'. We will, however, include voiceovers to shots of the wolves in order to add context.

The audience for our film will primarily be animal lovers, particularly fans of wolves. It will also be interesting for people who enjoy safaris and zoos, which may attract some older children with an interest in what goes on behind the scenes. The film may be played by Knowsley Safari Park, potentially on their website, to show the love and care they have for their animals and to attract visitors to come and see the new wolves.