Edited and revised Treatment

Revised Treatment

Working Title: Anechoic

Length: Poetic Documentary – 00:02:00

                 Main Documentary – 00:05:00 – 00:10:00

Format: 1080x1920 HD 16:9

Hook or tagline:  A story on a young woman who hasn't let her hearing impairment define and stop her from accomplishing her dreams. This strength and positivity about her is also a  reflection from the support and bond of her family, friends and boyfriend.

Sobia Walton, 19 year old girl, who is born moderately deaf and therefore wears two hearing aids, as she would not be able to hear well without them. She has had difficult moments in her life, she has been bullied, assaulted and targeted for her vulnerability but she strives and achieves above these small moments and does not allow them to bring her down. Her courageousness and capability to cope with everyday struggles also comes from the support of her loving mothers and step sisters, who are also adopted. Her boyfriend for nearly two years is also a major pillar in supporting her and her goals. She is an animal lover, in which she carries out in her daily job at Whirlow Hall Farm in Sheffield, as an outdoor educational assistant . With this she is involved both her passions  of working with those who have a disadvantage and with animals.

Both the Poetic and Main documentary is recommended and aimed at  an audience aged 13 and above; although this is a universal subject matter, it is not one that a younger audience may consider.The target aim is to the niche audience of deaf audience however we feel that it also aims to the mass audience of non-deaf viewers. It is predominately aimed to a non-deaf audience, as we wish to change any negative perceptions and offer more information on a subject matter that people may not know a lot about through the means of Sobia.

The poetic documentary is  inspired by the student film Photograph (Richardson 2014) and will reveal images of Sobia Walton at a younger age with her family in France and Wales during vacation in 2004. It is represented through verbal commentary of Sobia's voice as she unravels her family dynamic, memories and experiences which eventually lead to the topic of her being deaf. Before the audience hear of Sobia’s issues, they will see images of her and her family during her childhood, family vacations and photos which will be anchored by her speaking about their happy and positive memories.This information will then link to the larger documentary which will be approximately 5 minutes unravelling the depth of Sobia’s life and why she is very strong.

The main documentary Anechoic will reintroduce Sobia as we observe living her day to day life, which is inspired by observational documentaries such as Grizzly Man (Herzog, 2005) and Titicut Follies (Wieseman, 1967). The audience watch as we observe her at work, with friends, with family and with her boyfriend all the elements of her life that we will later delve into and uncover how they have helped and inspired her to be positive about her disability. Finally we will meet Margaret, Janet, Sobia's adoptive mothers and Nala and Tara - Sobia’s sisters - sitting together as a family discussing their family experiences in a natural environment in which they  feel comfortable to do so, inspired by the portrait documentary Plank (Pols, 2009).

Themes of family, support and love will uncover at this point setting up the narrative arc. As we introduce Sobia’s boyfriend Barney we see them together doing the things they enjoy; attending protests, going for coffee and walks in the countryside then finally we see them sat together where they feel comfortable to discuss their relationship together. As they discuss this Sobia reveals some difficult times in her life, one being when she was attacked in a nightclub for what she believes was being deaf. Alongside this Sobia will talk about stigma she has received and difficulties she has been given previously due to her being deaf. Finally we see her with her friends such as her best friend Molly and Barney through observational footage; seeing her happy, outgoing and bubbly the audience are able to see despite very difficult situations Sobia is a strong person due to the characters and people in her life. As the observational footage is in use we will place voiceover on it of the contributors to come. The interview setups will be in a place where the contributors feel comfortable and happy as inspired by the above mentioned Plank (2009).

The ambience of Anechoic intends to be a rise and fall to a ‘new equilibrium’ observing Sobia’s past and summarising that although it could have affected her negatively – she enjoys her life in the present moment and simply deals with being deaf.

This portrait documentary aims to express that many of us have difficulties and mental or physical setbacks but it is up to that person whether they allow it to affect them as society may insist.