Since H44 doesn't do anything with it:
I'll give you something simple:
Man working hard to meet important deadline in time, also needs to be in time for a date that evening.
His co-worker wants him to fail, his boss wants him to stay longer if needed and his girl wants him to be in time for a change.
How will he survive this day?
Keep scenes short, like sketches.
Maximum 5 locations: 2 at the office, the restaurant and 2 on the road.
How does he get rid of his co-worker? (When does he get in action?)
And how will he get there in time?
This story about the person with both an unexpected deadline and a date he shouldn't be late for is really a training in making a short story with a person in 'conflict'.
To begin you just start with him working at his office/desk. A co-worker can ask for his plans for that evening (just curious or asking him to join the rest to a bar or something), so the main can say he has a date and wants to o home quickly.
Right after that he gets a load of extra work.
The rest is up to you: will he be in time on his date and how does he try.
The end could be him arriving just in time, but al messed up. Or arriving just too late. Or he's still working when his date walks in angry at him or at his boss. You choose.
Just keep it simple with a few scenes:
- opening: introducing main character, his plan for the night and his problem (too much work to do)
- 2 or 3 short scenes of his struggle (maybe even a violent fantasy of him beating his boss and walking out real cool)
- ending
Again: keep the story simple and straightforward with some humor and absurdity people can relate to.
Everybody knows the feeling of having fun plans and someone making them (almost) impossible.
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Another simple idea H44 did nothing with:
3 actors (or 2)
3 locations (max)
Most part: woman walking sad on the streets/a long the water/highway. Sad music in the score.
Flashback: in a fight with (ex)boyfriend (not a fight scene! maybe just 1 slab, besides smashing stuff and yelling in a living room: cold be your place!)
She starts crying (as she walks outside).
In the end someone says something that lifts her spirit. Or she drowns herself (depending on your mood then you need only 2 actors) or jumps from a bridge. (No need to show the drop! Suggest things!)
Length: 2-4 minutes. Shorter is better, but too short will lack time to convey the emotions to the public.
Writing: 1 day
Storyboarding: few hours only, but scout your locations.
Shooting: 1 day
Edit: 2 days
Style: you decide. (I'd go for handheld argument in living room, (mostly) tripod on the streets searching for poetic, desolate compositions that make her small combining with close ups that can be out of focus sometimes: keep it calm when shooting handheld.)
Result: moody video in portfolio. And more experience.
This sad girl story can be seen as an exercise in atmosphere.
You just bump right into the story after one beautiful shot without any person in it. The music already starts, maybe even before the fade in (? just making it up as i type) to create the sad atmosphere. While she wonders around real sad (near the sea or a river) you can either show a flashback of a fight or just use audiofragments (just made that up as well) as if she is still hearing that angry voice saying terrible things to her.
As a conclusion you can let her jump in the river (sad ending), walk into the sea/river and let her dissappear (sad ending with a mild magical touch) or you let a passerby (is that a real word?) give her a napkin and tell her it will be alright (a hopeful end). And then show the title (you will have to make it up, depending on the ending, the location, story). You could look at it as if it's a long commercial without selling anything where the title is part of the payoff.
Remember, it has to be short, so there's no need for a complicated plot.
You just want to convey an emotion through action and beautiful shots. (And you want something nice and finished for your portfolio
)
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BTW,
I copied my own ideas I posted in 2013.
