Story: In the year 2020, complete war breaks out between America and Russia resulting in mass population loss. The story follows a 18 year old who is surviving on his own in his abandoned school building. After several weeks on his own living on food which was stored at the school he finds his provisions running low and his mental state decreasing. Pin's falling off of notice boards, water dripping off of pipes, all startle and alert him to become paranoid if there is someone dangerous living there as well. After realising he needs to leave as there is either a dangerous presence or he is going insane, he embarks on a journey to reconnect with human civilisation. This journey takes him outside of his comfort and brings him into contact with other survivors some friendly, some hostile.
Top Line: A lone survivor in the wake of a World War must try and connect with human civilisation after believing his place of safety is either compromised or he is going insane and beginning to imagine other presences with him, sending him insane. This results on him going on a quest to find other survivors.
Big Question: Will he be successful in finding other human survivors who are friendly, or will everyone be hostile or will there be no-one at all.
"So, if you’re aiming for your film to reach a large audience online, making sure it has universal appeal will be key. We’ll be thinking about this in more practical terms later in the week, but let’s bring Frank Ash’s points together with the last step’s concerns:
- Think about your favourite book or film or any ‘good story’ you recently watched online, could you sum up its narrative into ‘one elegant sentence’ to provide its ‘topline’?
- What was its big story question, and how important was it to your appreciation of the text?"
Video © BBC, Text © University of Birmingham
