Post 5: Researching Short Film Content (3)

I decided to look more into the films that were already out there that featured sexual grooming. I decided to do this so when it came to discussing with my group about possible ideas for our short film we had some inspiration from other films that focused around the subject besides Lolita. The film gave us the prospective of a sexual groomer we needed more knowledge about how to make our characters behave and more then one source to turn to when it came to questions about how to handle certain scenes or situations our characters would find themselves in. 

The first film I looked into was Trust.14 year old Annie Cameron meets 16 year old Charlie in an on-line chat room where the two instantly hit it off. As time goes by Charlie explains how he is not 16 but is in fact 20 which he soon changes to 25, Annie is taken aback but continues with the relationship due to being flattered by the attention. Charlie suggest they meet up in a mall where Annie instantly discovers he is in fact in his late thirties or early forties, Annie although upset is soon coaxed by Charlie to be taken to a motel where she is made to model lingerie, Annie has no idea however that as he soon coaxes her onto the bed calling her 'Gorgeous', 'Perfect' and proceeds to rape her, what she doesn't know is that he is filming the whole thing. An FBI investigation is started although Charlie still can't be found through DNA evidence they discover he has raped several other young girls including one who was just 12 years old, this causes Annie to be devastated because she believed she was the only girl in his life, she feels betrayed, which leads to her finally admitting to herself and the hospital counsellor that she was raped. Charlie is never found, yet as the credits start to roll a home video shows Charlie to be a high school physics teacher named Graham Weston, a married father with a young son.


Trust has given me an insight into the modern day proceedings when it comes to being told a child is being sexual groomed. It has also shown me how the family is effected and falls apart when they realise what is happening to their child. It has helped me realise exactly how much control the groomer has over the victim, being able to make them do anything they ask for as well as how they make the victim believe nothing is wrong with their relationship. I think therefore this film is extremely helpful as it will help my group and I when it comes to writing the script and directing character movement. We need the audience to watch as Alan controls Sophie in the same way Charlie is able to control Annie, making her believe that she's special and there is nothing wrong with what they are doing.

Below is film Trust.

The second film I researched was The Lovely Bones, 14 year old Susie Salmon is just experiences her first love when she is viciously raped and murdered by her next door neighbour Mr Harvey in an underground den, she finds herself in the cross between Earth and Heaven trying to come to terms with being dead. Susie watches as her family begins to drift apart struggling to cope, ending in her mother leaving her father. Susie's father continues to investigate her death and even after many years maintains contact with the police officer in charge of the investigation trying to piece together exactly what and who happened to his little girl. Mr Harvey is feeling confident that he's covered his tracks well enough to get away with the crime, Susie watches with a young girl and later learns of Mr Harvey's long list of victims including his latest target- her sister.

 The sister however doesn't believe Mr Harvey is as nice as he makes out to be and finds the plans of the underground den Susie was murdered in, a lock of her hair and newspaper clippings about Susie's death whilst searching around his house. However her father and mother are in the middle of a happy reunion and not wishing to spoil it hides the book from them and instead gives it to the grandmother. Mr Harvey realises the book is missing and flees taking the safe with Susie's remains with him dumping them in a swamp on his way to safety. Sometime later Mr Harvey meets a young woman outside a diner and offers her a ride, but she rebuffs him and leaves, a large icicle falls from an overhead branch hitting Harvey which causes him to fall backwards over a cliff to his death. As the films ends Susie finally enters Heaven with a voice over saying almost the same as the beginning of the film. "My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was 14 years old when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. I was here for a moment and then I was gone. I wish you all a long and happy life."


I have already watched The Lovely Bones before and I thought the neighbour Mr Harvey would be a good inspiration for Alan as he not only manages to get away with his crime but he also manages to creep the entire audience out. The plot twist of realising Susie wasn't the first girl he had raped and murdered is also helpful as it surprises the audience, which we hope to do with our character Alan who turns out may or may not have been grooming his own daughter Paige. This film although not focused on child grooming, does touch upon the theme of child abuse which is helpful and gives us an insight into the type of character who could hurt a child yet still believe they have done nothing wrong. I hope my group and I are able to keep the audience guessing and surprise them with the plot twists like The Lovely Bones. 

Below is the trailer to The Lovely Bones.

Post 4: Researching Short Film Content (2)

We as a group decided to look into possible films or stories that could help us with the point of view of the paedophile, following advice of an English Teacher we looked into the book ‘Lolita’ by Vladimir Nabokov. The plot line of the story is, the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor Humbert Humbert is obsessed with the 12 year old Dolores Haze (who he privately calls Lolita), with whom he becomes sexually involved with after he becomes her stepfather. The book itself is known for its writing style, the narrative is highly subjective with Humbert employing a sophisticated prose style, while attempting to gain the reader’s sympathy through his sincerity although near the end he refers to himself as a “manic”.

Our group did a bit more research and later found out that the book had been adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne. So we decided to watch the Stanley Kubrick 1962 version and take notes. 

This storyline is extremely helpful to our plot line as we were struggling to create the groomer's point of view so this book gave us some useful techniques when it came to understanding the mind of a sexual groomer. Both the book and film gave us inspiration to progress with ideas for our character and also for script drafts. By being able to see the film we got an understanding of how the steps of grooming were put into place and exactly how old our characters should look to give it a more realistic feel. Almost everyone we spoke to who had read this book told us that it was horrible as they found themselves feeling sorry for the groomer and understanding his logic. This was a key thing for us as we didn't want our audience to know straight away what was happening, instead we focused on the subtle things between Humbert and Lolita which slowly showed their relationship. We also took notes on the relationships between the characters, trying to find some way that 'Alan' could appropriately see 'Sophie' without getting caught, in the same way as Humbert when he married Charlotte to be close to Lolita. This was helpful as it made us think more about the characters and their background which would be beneficial for our actors later on.

Below is the trailer to Lolita (1962) by Stanley Kubrick 

When our group finished watching Lolita we talked about how it could influence our storyline in various ways. For example Lolita is seen as a flirt in the very beginning of the film yet her and Humbert are subtle with how they show their emotions. Lolita does subtle actions like grabbing his hand during a scary movie, whispering in his ear and also giving him a long good night kiss on his cheek this suggests to the audience that Lolita wants Humbert almost as badly as he wants her.

The obvious similarity is that the film Lolita is told in the point of view of the groomer, Humbert which is exactly what we wish to do, hoping to get the audience to have empathy for the groomer although they know they shouldn't. Overall this film is extremely helpful for my group as we can refer to Lolita when it comes to the behaviour of our victim, the subtle attraction between the two characters and how the story is told from our groomer's point of view.

Post 3: Researching Short Film Content (1)

To give our short film the plot it deserved we had to make sure that we kept it as realistic as possible. Sexual grooming itself is a serious crime and it is not an easy story for anyone involved to explain exactly what goes on or how it was allowed to happen. Because of this we had to make sure that we gave the theme the respect it deserved as it could happen to anyone in everyday life which although horrible is the scary truth.

We interviewed a Child Protection Officer to get a better understanding of what goes on with the child and what the proceedings are when a child is found to be in the process of or already groomed by someone. This was extremely helpful as we didn't want to just believe the secondary research we found online, it was very real when we had someone explaining exactly how easy it is to groom someone and how it can go unnoticed.

Here is the link to the interview. Soundcloud sexual grooming interview

The Child Protection Officer explains exactly what grooming is and how a groomer goes about selecting their victim and grooming not only them but the family also. Due to this it is often someone close to the family who grooms the child as they are expected to be a moral human being that the parents could trust. The groomer puts on an act to show themselves as trustworthy, kind, caring and loving which makes their presence around the family and the child-especially, unquestionable.

He went on to explain how the groomer is so convincing that the child often has no idea they are being groomed believing the caring human being in question is just a friendly relative or helpful friend that is merely showing an interest. A groomer makes the child believe that their relationship is normal and the right thing to do, which means that the child does not speak out about what is happening, they could then go into a school environment and portray this which could be seen as inappropriate towards other people the child's age, which shows the obvious difference in boundaries.

Our group learnt an incredible amount from speaking with The Child Protection Officer which will only help strengthen our plot line and script as many references to how the child acts and the personality of the groomer we wish to incorporate into our film. We were also told that the minute the child told him that they were being sexually abused social services and the police would be informed. After our interview with the child protection officer I got in contact with the local police constabulary to set-up the opportunity of having police community support officers act in my film, they agreed and below is a screenshot of them partaking in our film.

Post 2: How To Write A Good Short Film Script

We decided as a group to continue with our film idea for our opening sequence from AS. The plot involves a girl being sexually groomed by her best friend's father, however instead of it being told from the girls point of view it is from the groomers. Our plot would point out the stages of sexual grooming showing our audience the process of spotting a victim and gaining their trust whilst appearing perfectly innocent to friends and family of the victim.

Below are links to articles I looked at and found useful, they give advice on what makes a good short film.I have also summerised what each link describes.


BBC: What makes a good short film?
There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what makes a good short film but here are a few tips that might help. An exciting and original idea, Good acting, High production values, Make it short, Strong beginning, Avoid repetition and punchline twists,Good use of style and techniques.
Helen Caldwell: What makes a good short film?
Length- around ten minutes to tell the story and grab the audiences attention. Theme-something that concerns you and that people can relate to...people like films that feature children in peril!Characters-Strong characters with clear goals, only use a few characters due to the lack of time to get to know them. Location- Use few locations that are unusual for the audience. Setting- Present day, futuristic or historic are expensive. Structure-Strong beginning, set up questions so that the audience wants to know what will happen in the next scene. Dialogue- Make everything that is said count, don't over explain things let the audience figure things out themselves.

From these articles I believe I now have a better understanding of what should go into a short film and exactly how to grab the audiences attention. Before in AS we had difficulties with the script and running out of time to film, however from reading Helen Caldwell's article I now intend to make sure our script only has the necessary details and dialogue with enough mystery to keep our audiences guessing. I also think that the BBC article was helpful as it comments on having an exciting and original idea, which due to the lack of films involving sexual grooming we discovered whilst researching our genre of films suggests we have a strong idea that has not rarely been touched upon before.

Post 1: Researching Existing Short Films Part A

I intend to research into an existing short film to get an insight into what short films are already out there. I will note down the techniques used focusing on the key elements; Sound, Editing, Camera and Miss-en-scene. By analysing the short film I will have an understanding of how short films incorporate and use the key elements, I will take inspiration from the short film to use in our short film that we will be producing later on.

The short film I chose to analyse is That Old One, the plot of the film is a man wakes up and realises he's had a one-night-stand. His drink-addled mind feeds him memories of the night before which causes an increasing anxiety which fuels a paranoid imagination. He makes his way home the morning after the night before then he discovers his wedding ring is missing and he's in big trouble.

There is a mixture of camera angles and shots used to create effect for the audience. For example there is a high angle shot to make Tom appear strong and aggressive when he goes to retrieve his ring, where in comparison there is a low angle shot on Jane showing her to be vulnerable in the sexual position. But a low angle shot is also used on Tom when he is going to collect his ring from Jane but doesn't remember where she lives, the point of view shot from the keyhole shows him to look vulnerable showing this not to the norm. There is a camera zoom towards Tom’s face also when he first realises he has lost his ring, this shows the shock and grabs the audience’s attention hinting what the main prop of the film could be. 

Another way That Old One creates effect is by the use of sound. Diegetic sound is used to create emotion and to pull the audience in to interact with the characters, by the way the lines are spoken mixed with the characters body language. For example when Jane speaks about her ‘party trick’ it intrigues the audience, also due to her actions and position on the floor it hints at a sexual undertone. Tom screams the moment he realises that his ring is missing, because he had just spilt his coffee on himself from shock of not having his ring on his finger and his frantic body movements around his hand it hints at the plot line, showing that he's lost his ring. Non-diegetic sound is used to help portray the emotion of the situation, at the very beginning of the film there is a calm and content backing matching the calm walk and smile Tom has whilst sipping his morning coffee, this shows the audience everything is fine. Also when Tom is walking down the row of flats trying to figure out where he was the night before, there is an almost animal like and jungle beat being played showing the hunter looking for its prey.   

The lighting was linked to the main character ‘Toms’ emotions and situations he was experiencing. For example when Tom is remembering his night with Jane the lighting is dark and warm, hinting that Tom is unable to remember the night exactly and is confused. Also when Tom was lying to his wife a green light was flashing which hints at the clear change in emotion. When Tom was looking through the letter box and jumps back at seeing the naked old man, the lighting is fairly dark showing it’s early in the morning and it also hints at the dark adultery in the plot line. There is a variety of jump cuts in this short film and due to the jump from present to imagination That Old One falls into the category of non-linear.

The mis-en-scene plays a large part of the film; the costumes are an extension of the characters personality or what Tom’s imagination believes. Tom himself is dressed smart in a suit and he looks natural wearing it, he appears to be somewhat middle class. Jane is remembered in a red dress signifying sex and confidence which in the situation matches her personality. When Tom’s anxiety starts to create situations in his mind and he thinks about what if the tables were turned and his wife had cheated on him, she is wearing a long black dress which makes her attractive to the male audience.

The main prop of the film is the wedding ring, we first see Tom without his wedding ring which is where the plot line begins. His anxiety and panic when he notices that the ring is missing, starts off the different scenarios of what could happen or what has happened.  He soon discovered his ring attached to his house key’s that were in his pocket, another obvious prop that isn’t exactly that important till the wedding ring is seen. The other props used are fairly obvious, Tom reaches into his pocket and discovers an unopened box of condoms which then makes him think of what could happen if he had gotten Jane pregnant. Another obvious prop is when he is drinking coffee and he spills it down himself looking at his plain ring finger.

Location is varied on this short film, but throughout That Old One there are only three main locations; Tom’s walk home, his home and Jane’s home. The locations are seen by numerous shots, for example outside Jane’s home there is a long shot, whereas in her home only medium and close ups are used.  Tom’s walk home only uses close ups and medium shots to show where he is but the main attention is on him and his body language.

Follow this link to the film : http://www.jameshenry.org.uk/oldone.html