Working Title - Broken Soul

Tagline - You aren’t alone in your mind

The most suitable medium for this adaptation would be either a book or a short film/film.
It would be more suitable for a book if a lot more detail is being sought after and a more
descriptive feel is wanted from the idea, however the idea would be better suited in a
visual manner therefore it would be much more suited to a short film/film.

The whole idea of the film is to show a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder in a
character that has a mental illness. The DID takes its form in various personalities that
the character created due to intense trauma. Since the adaptation is only a short film the
length of it will be between 5 and 10 minutes, this doesn’t leave space for much and all the
time will have to be used on the story in a short film. If the time length was that of a
feature film then it would be roughly 116 minutes long, this would allow for fully flushed
out story and world building that shows the full capacity of mental illnesses taking effect
on somebody.

The idea is to have a main character that is able to lucid dream and live a seperate life
from their own reality however recently they have been plagued by sleep paralysis
following the ending of the dream. The reason behind the sleep paralysis in between the
transition from their false dream reality and actual reality however is due to the
characters subconscious self trying to repair their fractured personality. Due to this
reason there is actually three variations of the main character, the original and real
personality trapped in the subconscious, the dream personality and the false personality in
the real world.

The Original - The original is the first personality that belonged to the main characters
body but after a very tragic event the main characters psyche shattered into separate
personalities and the original was locked deep down. After many years the original is
starting to leak out in an attempt to become whole again.
The Dream - The dream is one of the personalities that was created when the original
personality split. The dream personality between the two created personalities is the one
that has everything, is well liked and has no problems in life since everything goes there
way.
The False - The false is the other personality, this is the personality that is conscious in
reality and has to do the daily ins and outs of the main character. The false is the exact
opposite to the dream, he doesn’t have an easy life and everything that could go wrong
does go wrong for them. Recently the false has been experiencing sleep paralysis where
they see a dark figure and hear whispers of a life they do not know. Along with this they
have begun to experience lucid dreaming in which they are a separate entity from the
dream personality.

The narrative structure will be a linear three act narrative, the start of the film will show
the problem slowly creeping and building up until it begins to strike and move it over to
the next act or the middle act. In the middle act the problem has begun to leak and is being
a major problem for the main character however. This leads into the final act in which the
main character or characters face the problem and beat it or leave it on a cliff hanger.

Set Up - The beginning of the film will have one of the three main characters leading a
normal life in which they are dealing with normal everyday problems such as deadlines for
coursework, university submissions etc. While sleeping one night they begin to hear a
whispering voice that tells them to “wake up”. The voice begins to become louder and
louder when the problems pick up. Along with the voice the character is beginning to
experience sleep paralysis upon awakening.

The Middle - Through a montage of sorts the characters sleep paralysis gets worse and
worse until it is affecting them all the time. The sleep paralysis has gotten so much worse
that it keeps the character up most nights with little sleep. With the problem now being
built up to a crushing point the character begins to fall behind on their deadlines and
slowly slip into a dark place where they become a recluse and have difficulty determining
what is and isn’t real/a dream.

The End- The end game begins to take a hold now with the character so far still falling
into a dark place as they begin to question everything that is around them not sure what is
and isn’t real anymore. They then pass out from pure exhaustion and end up in the dream
world. Upon waking up in the dream world they begin to look around and are kidnapped
by another personality. The focus then end up on another personality for a short time until
they are also taken by the mystery personality. The finale to the end game comes with the
two kidnapped personalities face to face with the third personality who explains
everything to the fake personalities. They then all begin to argue about the situation with
the true personality freeing them from their bindings and letting them choose their own
fate. The screen fades to black and the true ending is left on a cliffhanger.
The soundtrack for the film will be an original soundtrack (OST), this means that the film
will have originally created music for the film. The type of music for the film that will be
used will simply be either just strings or an orchestral piece. The strings will be used for
soft and emotional scenes along with being in the background for the transition into the
dream world/state. The orchestral music will be used for various things, these would be
things like; sleep paralysis scenes, build up to emotional stalemates, plot twists etc. With
this in mind it would be wise to consider composers that meet the criteria, this criteria
being;
● Have they created music similar to what I’m after
● Have they worked on movies similar to my own idea
● Does their work convey the tone of the scene in a consistent manner
● Does the piece of music cause the scene to stand out and be memorable.

Some composers that could fit the criteria or already fit the criteria here could be John
Williams who is perhaps the most recognisable composer in the film industry, scoring
films for over 60 years. His most recognisable work coming from Star Wars, Jaws,
Indiana Jones and a lot of others. Another composer that could possibly be used is Clint
Mansell who meets some of the criteria set for composers for example he has been able to
create a piece of music that stands out and/or is memorable such as Requiem for a Dream
from the film Requiem for a Dream.

There is no official casting choices as of yet but it is imperative that the choice of actors be
young and within the age range of a late teen/early adult. The reason being that this is
the target audience we are looking for and it will make it easier for them to connect to if
they look young or are around a similar age. Some actors that are currently in mind for
roles are; Taron Egerton, Tom Holland and Nicholas Hoult.

For the film certain things cannot be done practically and will require either special fx or
cgi. For certain dream sequences both special fx and cgi will need to be used for example a
dream sequence that has a library bookcase get longer and longer till it looks infinite. A
real world example of this would be the cave scene from Star Wars The Last Jedi.

The demographic target audience for the media adaptation will be between the age range
of 16 and 22, this is due to the large percentage of mental illnesses forming at this age
range and part of the goal is to raise awareness for mental illnesses. The gender split for
the target audience is 60% male and 40% female, this is due to the fact that a large
percentage of males with mental health problems go unnoticed and are then forgotten
about. The nationality, ethnicity, class and sexuality for the target audience is non specific
as mental illnesses can affect everyone

The primary target audience are people who are unaware of the grip that mental illness
have on people, this is in the hope to boost awareness of mental health problems and what
they can do to people. The secondary target audience is people with actual mental illnesses
already and this is due to the reasoning that they are already aware of mental illnesses so
they do not need to be made aware but instead they need to be let known that it is okay
for them to open up about their problems which is what the other message of the film.

Contact Information

Name: Brandon-Lee Robinson

Number: 07756657449
Address: 66 Senet Grove

The demographic target audience for the media adaptation will be between the age range
of 16 and 22, this is due to the large percentage of mental illnesses forming at this age
range and part of the goal is to raise awareness for mental illnesses. The gender split for
the target audience is 60% male and 40% female, this is due to the fact that a large
percentage of males with mental health problems go unnoticed and are then forgotten
about. The nationality, ethnicity, class and sexuality for the target audience is non specific
as mental illnesses can affect everyone

The primary target audience are people who are unaware of the grip that mental illness
have on people, this is in the hope to boost awareness of mental health problems and what
they can do to people. The secondary target audience is people with actual mental illnesses
already and this is due to the reasoning that they are already aware of mental illnesses so
they do not need to be made aware but instead they need to be let known that it is okay
for them to open up about their problems which is what the other message of the film.