Film Treatment
INSTRUCTIONS: A treatment is a short synopsis used to pitch an idea for a film. You can work on this project individually or in a group of 2–3. Your treatment should be around 750 words and will include a logline (a 1–2 sentence summary of your idea). Other things you might include include market research, a description of the major scenes/characters, and a discussion of themes the film would explore. You should also include sketches or other visual aids to support your proposal.
A NOTE ON GENRE: Your treatment should intersect with the themes of our class, but where and how it intersects with these themes is up to you. Go wild with your idea, but don’t be afraid of subtlety. You are free to pitch an idea for either a fiction or non-fiction film in any genre: documentary, mockumentary, horror, comedy, satire, stop-motion animation, etc. Depending on the kind of film you propose, you may need to adapt some of these instructions. Everything here is a guideline, meant to be tweaked as needed.
SUBMITTING YOUR WORK: Compose your treatment in a Medium post and “turn it in” by submitting it to our class publication. If you are working in a group, you only have to submit one treatment, but make sure everyone is listed as a coauthor.
WHAT TO INCLUDE:
1. Logline. A logline is a 1–2 sentence summary of your idea. It conveys the story and themes of your film in the most abbreviated manner possible. This section is really the most important part of your treatment. Most readers will have made up their minds about your work after reading just your logline. Here is an ironically very long article about crafting a very short logline.
2. Market Research. This section should discuss how your film intersects with the themes of the class. Convince us that your film would be successful, hasn’t been made before, and is the exact right film to make right now.
3. Description of Major Scenes/Characters. Include brief descriptions of your characters, their motivations, and the trouble they’ll get into over the course of the film. You want to create a picture for your readers in as few words as possible. In this section you might not want to waste words on complete sentences. Instead, you could have something like: “Brenda. A 12-year-old girl with pigtails and overalls. Likes twirling her hair and eating insects. Spends most of the film looking for crickets to snack on.” You should also include a brief outline of the plot and/or structure of your film. Our final film will be short, 15–20 minutes, so you should keep that in mind when determining the scope of your narrative. For a film of this length, a compelling concept is better than an elaborate plot. Don’t feel pressured to make a certain kind of film by the sections of this treatment. If you have an idea for a film without characters or would like to propose a documentary, feel free to adapt the needs of this section accordingly.
4. Discussion of Themes. This is where you’ll want to talk about how your film engages with ideas we’ll be discussing this semester. This isn’t Mad Libs, but these are the sorts of sentences you’re looking for: “Birds represent ____________, and so our film will explore _________, _________, and ________. Humans have become ___________, and our narrative will thus disrupt ____________.”
5. Visual Aids. Include sketches, pictures, or other visual aids to help support your proposal. These do not need to be artistically sounds. The goal is to get your reader’s attention and put your idea into their head quickly and powerfully.
