In this post i will be researching Film Treatments, what they are and why a film company would produce one. I am researching this so i have a greater understanding of Treatments by the time we come to produce our own for the final film.
A Treatment is a Media Document usually produced by the company making the piece of media in order to provide those that will have a large influence on the film making process a more in depth version of the initial pitch. This treatment should explain what happens throughout the storyline without delving into the technical aspect of the film. For example our company may produce a treatment to give to Universal Pictures so they fully understand the storyline of the piece they are funding before they hand over the final funds.
The Wikipedia Definition: A film treatment (or treatment for short) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline (or one-page synopsis), and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits. They read like a short story, except told in the present tense and describing events as they happen. There are two types: the original draft treatment, created during the writing process, and the presentation treatment, created as presentation material.
As an example of a Treatment i have decided to use the Terminator Treatment.
(The Terminator Treatment is no longer availiable.)
What conclusions can I draw from this research? What have I learnt?
A treatment is a very useful and important document, it assists the producers by giving them the entire story in a novel like format. Treatments are written like a novel, they explain the storyline in the present tense as it progresses.
What I have learnt that will make me a better film-maker?
I've learned that when making a treatment for a project i need to conform to the format explained above.
How will what I've learnt make my final film better?
After looking at the Terminator Treatment we now have something to compare back to when we have written our own treatment for the final Thriller.
How do I follow up this research? What is my next step?
Now that we have researched Treatments it only seems logical to produce our own and see how the rest of the AS group think of it.
