Nayani

Vijayaratnam

Treatment

Title: Abused
Duration: 20 Key Frames
Genre: Drama
Target Audience: 12-35 Year olds, primarily female. Socio-economic group E.
I have chosen to aim my artefact at this target audience as research shows that
most women face encounter sort of abuse around their 20s, therefore I felt that
this would be the ideal target audience which will allow the audiences to relate
to my artefact.
Age Certification: 12A. As there are elements of explicit language present within
my artefact, I felt that 12A would be the ideal certification for my artefact.

Narrative
I aim to produce 20 key frames to portray a narrative focusing on domestic
violence. The title of my film is Abused which reflects the narrative. To be
abused means to be treated with cruelty or violence regularly, which is the
position Aisha is trapped in.

Aisha Malya (19) finds herself in a complicated relationship with her boyfriend
Denian Ray (20). His anger issues and violent outbursts leave Aisha in a difficult
position of not knowing whether to leave him or to stay. She becomes intolerant
with his behaviour and fears for her own life as Denians anger becomes
uncontrollable. In order to defend herself she ends up using a knife to defend
herself as he attack her, which doesnt end well.

My creative artefact consists of several themes such as repression and
relationships, which I have purposely used to create a conflict between a female
and male in order to depict counter typical and stereotypical representations. As
well as this, the themes I have chosen to tackle focus on domestic violence, which
is a part of society that is often not spoken about openly due to embarrassment
and fear, yet it affects 1 in 4 women in their lifetime. Through my artefact I aim to
create awareness of this serious matter and provide audiences with knowledge
on the matter. (Uses and gratification)

Character Breakdown

Protagonist Name: Aisha Malya
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Aisha Malya is represented as a character that develops as the narrative unfolds.
At the beginning the audience witness Aisha as a vulnerable and inferior
character yet towards the end as she depicts courage and dominance as she wins
the conflict between her and Denian. This is portrayed through low angles, which
allows the audience to look up to her and recognise her superior position to
Denian.

Antagonist Name: Denian Ray
Age: 20
Nayani Vijayaratnam

Gender: Male
Denian Ray is represented as a stereotypical male who in terms of his power and
dominance over Aisha. The audience dislike his character from the beginning
because of the scummy portrayal, which is created through the use of mise-en-
scene as he is shown to be drinking and sitting on his phone doing nothing while
Aisha, was at work. This portrays a counter typical representation of a man, as
He would be expected to be the breadwinner of the household. As well as this
his poor treatment of Aisha, his girlfriend, adds to the repulsion which the
audience feel as they are able to identify his rude and vulgar language through
the diegetic dialogue.

Media Language
In order to establish an emotional connection between the audience and the
character of Aisha Malya, I aim to use close up shots, which will enable the
audience to gain a more in depth and closer perspective of Aishas life. This will
highlight the compassion, which the audience feel for her character as we
identify Aisha as a victim. On the other hand the audience may dislike her naivety
and ignorance as she allows her love for Denian to blind her as she chooses to
stay in an unhealthy relationship with Denian for so long. However, by the end of
the narrative the audience grow to feel empathetic towards her, as they are able
to recognise the pain she is in through the diegetic sound effects as well as her
courage to finally stand up to Denian.

The setting and costume adds to the realism of the characters roles. They are
portrayed as living together, which the audience would expect of a couple, this is
depicted through the setting of a house. As well as this, Aishas smart attire
which is juxtaposed by Denians black t-shirt and jogging bottoms reflects their
positions within the relationship as it adds to the realism that Aisha goes to
work, this further allows the audience to witness her as sophisticated in
comparison to Denian. Also, the contrast between Aishas nude coloured top and
Denians black t-shirt presents Aishas fragility in comparison to the darkness
and harshness of Denian.

The props I have used add to the verisimilitude of my artefact. The key prop of
my artefact is the bottle of alcohol as it symbolises Denians insecurity, which
leads to his downfall. Through this the audience are able to recognise that the
issues within their relationship stems from Denians alcoholism and his
instability and lack of control of his emotions because of his drinking problem. As
well as this, the knife is a motif, which depicts negative connotations such as
conflict, which I have used to foreshadow death and create an enigma
(hermeneutic code) of who will die.

The use of fast paced editing has enhanced to the tension, which I aimed to
create within my artefact to reinforce the conflict and violence between Denian
and Aisha. Also, in the scene in which Denian abuses Aisha, the use of jump cuts
will depict the action and create a tense atmosphere. Overall the editing
techniques used will heighten the anxiety the audience will feel while watching
my production and uncovering the various enigmas present such as whether
Denian dies or not. This apprehensive mood will be further highlighted through
Nayani Vijayaratnam

diegetic sound of Aisha struggling in pain, which I aim to use to gain empathy
from the audience, and of Denian hurting Aisha, which will make it realistic, add
to the verisimilitude of my production. The non-diegetic soundtrack, which will
alter in tempo and volume throughout, will reflect the action within the scene as
well as the audiences anxiety.

Furthermore I will be incorporating dark colours such as black and low-key
lighting to reflect the night-time setting and portray negative connotations of
violence and create a dull atmosphere, which reflects the audiences attitudes
towards the antagonist, Denian.

Target Audience

The certification of my film will be 12A due to the mature content and strong
language present. The target audience for my film will be young teenagers
between 12 and 35, as it allows me to educate the younger ages about domestic
abuse, which, relates to the uses and gratification theory, and statistically, it is
proven that most women encounter domestic abuse in their late 20s/30.

I intend to aim my artefact primarily at females as they are the gender who are
most affected by domestic abuse with approximately 2 women per week being
murdered due to domestic abuse. This target audience enables my film to be
informative and possibly help young females if they were in the same or a similar
position as my protagonist, Aisha.

Rationale

As there are increasing amounts of cases regarding domestic violence I wanted
to focus my production on this topic to educate, in particular, young females who
may feel like they are trapped and raise awareness of domestic abuse which
research shows is a violent crime which is least likely to be reported to the
police, as the victim is usually too scared. This inspired my narrative as I aimed
to portray a transformation through Aisha, as she is afraid to begin with yet
protects herself towards the end of my production.