The Storyline
The opening of the film begins in a high school with the main character, James, attempting miserably to pump air into a deflated balloon with a broken pump, with a close up camera shot. The props and the action represent James failing to inflate life with his broken being and mind - the result of growing up alone and being bullied at school with only your parents as company.
The camera then plans up onto James' face, showing the bleak expression on his face and his disappointing outlook on his current position.
The next shot is a medium shot of James still trying to pump up the balloon; he gives up and walks out of the common room to show the audience what his average day consists of - part of the explanation of why he feels the way he does.
The following scene shows James' lonely walk into another part of the school. Once James enters through the door, we see him walking down a corridor where one of his regular bullies shoves him into a set of lockers and then onto the floor, causing James to drop his books; the bully then repeatedly hits him with a cleaning sign before calling him a 'fag' and then walks back to his friendship group with a smug look on his face.
James stands up, gathers his books, wipes the tears from his eyes with his hand and leaves into another corridor.
The same group of lads face him again by using a short cut to cut him off from reaching his class; the boys slam James' books to the floor and push him against the wall while shouting abusive names at him. James picks up his books and continues down the corridor until the gang leader chases after him, grabs him into a headlock and throws him in towards the other lads who force him into the nearest toilet and flush his head.
James manages to escape the grasp of his bullies and is then shown holding a balloon with a sad face drawn on it beside his head - although he smiles at a passing student, the balloon represents his inner emotions of sadness and lonliness.
James is shown sitting alone on a bench whilst other students walk past and just ignore him- showing how alone he really is at school.
The final scene returns to the beginning frame where James is still attempting to pump up his balloon. James realises that he has finally had enough, that he can be better than the person he is at this moment in time. James slams down the broken pump and deflated balloon before storming out of the common room, different to the first scene where he was then bullied, adamant that he will change his life for good.
The Concept
The concept of the film is to show how life can be terrible for some students at high school, the lengths hurtful bullies will go to, to make someone else feel worse than they do, day after day and how it can affect the person being bullied. Most stories that you hear about with similar circumstances end in the child believing that it their own fault and force their emotions upon themselves, sometimes by self-harming. The concept of the gilm shows a safer, much more beneficial and better way of dealing with the painful experiences of bullying - a way of turning your life around without harming yourself and others around you, to give hope to those who are being bullied and showing how it's possible to transform your life so that you're no longer suffering.
The Narrative
The narrative voice over is James' voice throughout the whole of the opening, as he explains his current situation, what he is feeling and what happens to him on a daily basis. James compares his life and being to that of a broken pump failing to pump up a balloon - representing how lifeless his life actually is and that no matter how long he continues to live and act the same way, day after day, it will get him nowhere - so he gives up and decides he has to find a different way to act that will change his life around.
Character Biography
Name: James Anthony
Age: 16 years old
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Unemployed - high school student
Previous Jobs: Delievering newspapers
Residency: Lives in a 2 bedroomed terraced house in a small town with his parents
Family Life: Doesn't have any siblings - only child. Isolated family - doesn't see close relations i.e. aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents etc.
Close Friends: Doesn't have any friends at school - only really speaks to his parents
Personality: Dull - the result of his lack of enthusiasm for everything and lack of socialisation with people his own age
Why is your character this way? Bullied throughout his entire school life - keeps it from his parents - oblivious to the fact that their son is unhappy - put it down to him going through a 'teenage phase'. All of his attempts of making friends and being noticed for the right reasons - failed miserable - people think he's weird and unusual - don't want to be associated with him.
The Script
"Let's play a game of whose life sucks worse... I'll win, I always win"
My name is James Anthony and that quote basically sums up my life... along with this broken pump and crap defalted balloon - representing the sorry state that is my pathetic life.
No matter how many times I attempt to turn my life around, to make myself happier, to make friends and actually fit in for once, it never seems to work and I am stuck in this far too familiar shitty position.
I can't remember a time when I have been happy; happy to wake up, happy to get dressed, happy to even leave the house, let alone face the horror that is high school and be surrounded by those who I despise the most.
Every day I am faced with the same bullying techniques by the same gang of low-lifes: shoved into lockers, had my books slammed out of my hands, hit with various objects, the classic name calling, oh and who can forget the ol' head down the toilet trick?
I sit alone. No one to talk to, walk to class with, hang out with, discuss the previous weekend with. I am completely alone and my life is utterly crap and I am fed up. Fed up of all of it, all the bullshit I'm faced with. But today is different. Today is the day where I am no longer a push around and unhappy to even be aline. Today is the day where everything changes.
The Opening
What I would change
During the opening sequence the narrative contains some stutters and the narrator messes up a few words by not pronouncing them correctly and hesitates in the wrong places. In my opening sequence for my coursework I would make sure that the narrative recording was crystal clear so that the audience can easily hear it and make sure there are no mistakes, hesitation or stuttering of words caused by the narrator. Also during my opening it is sometimes difficult to hear the dialogue as there is the narrative and music also being heard; in my coursework I will make sure that the dialogue is recorded clearly so that the audience can hear and understand it easily. The music in my opening overrides some aspects of narration and dialogue, therefore in my coursework piece I will make certain that the dialogue and narration can be heard clearly by the audience by lowering the volume of the music where appropriate. There is a scene in my opening practice where James' books are slammed down onto the floor: one shot shows James without his books and the following one shows him with his books back in his hands - the recording does not show James picking up his books. In my coursework opening I will make sure that all of scenes relate to each other and join up correctly so that the shots and storyline as a whole make sense to the audience.
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