Short Story Beginnings

For our final piece this term we have to develop a 10 to 15 minute short film in script form. We can really go right ahead and make whatever we want because we don't need to produce it, unless I'd really really like to. So here are some early notes.

I think I'm going to stick to what I know best and feel most comfortable writing so I'm going to write a sci-fi screen play, below are some bullet points about the story and characters for me to work with at a latter date.

• Characters - mum, dad, 2 male children & medical nurse. 
• Setting - Near future, the world now has strict birth control laws, each family can only have 2 children at a given time. The children need pass each year at school above a certain grade, failure to do so will result in them being taken away, the public are unaware of the children's destination but they are most likely sent to slave camps where they work manual labour. Its a way for the governments of the 1st world countries to eradicate less able thinkers.
• Event - A boy is on the verge of failing his final year in infant school and his mother does her best to protect him from whats about to happen. 

THE PREMISE - In a world of strict birth control laws a mother has to protect her youngest son from being dragged away and thrown into slave labour for failing his end of year exam at school.

Some other things to look at -

• Eugenics
• China & their population
• Perhaps incorporate CELLi into the story.

Look for small moments in the story, these small moments will build up the larger picture and give a much more detailed narrative.

NOTES - I think I'd like to set the film in Spain, a rural town along the coast similar to where I've grown up. It will add a different perspective on things and will allow me to create slightly different characters.

The mother - she's your traditional Spanish mother, very family orientated, she takes great pride in looking after the house and her two sons while her husbands at work. Her relationship with her husband has soured as her son has started failing at school and her husband has started distancing himself from the child.

The dad - He's very focused on work, prides himself on being the bread winner. Ultimately he is a coward because he's so frightened of loosing his son he has started distancing himself from him so when the day comes for his son to be taken away it will be easier to handle emotionally.