Pain to Gain - Mind map

After looking at the character of Noah and her journey i saw that she needed to go through the pain she did in order for her life to improve, for her to grow and learn as a person. So i got the saying "Pain to Gain" i believe this is now going to be the tittle of my film.

I have done a mindmap map drawing all the main story ideas and aims together.

Noah's personality

Research:

People who experience domestic abuse are likely to change, this may be gradual or sudden, and it may include: 

• A loss of self confidence and esteem
• Becoming withdrawn
• Changes in socialising patterns, no longer meeting with friends and family
• Changes in their physical presentation, such as the clothes or make up they wear
• Money worries
• Always checking in with their partner or worrying about what they will think

"When a physical danger threatens our control, ability to escape, or is something we can’t stop, we enact a natural instinct for survival. This includes the body summoning a tremendous amount of energy to fight or flee—short circuits. These short circuits ricochet through a person’s body and mind. This can result in shock, dissociation and many other kinds of involuntary responses while the violence is happening.

The short circuit stays with us long after the violence ends, and is the origin of the mental, physical and spiritual effects of domestic violence."

"A victim of abuse may develop a mental health problem, such as depression, substance abuse, self-injurious behaviour or post-traumatic stress disorder."

Response

From the research i have made, i can see that the victim is often withdrawn, quite and lacking in confidence. I also have found that they take less pride in what they wear and they way they look because they feel unconfident and are often put down by their partners. 

This research has allowed me to find out how my character Noah would act, what she would wear, the way she may be around Daniel (her husband) At first i imagined her as friendly and kind, even though i still believe underneath she is this, i have learnt about how abuse effects the whole person and changes them into something their not. The research has intact allowed me to do the topic of abuse justice by understanding the side effects and symptoms.

Location Ideas

I was thinking they could live around the Brompton area. Central london, i believe my characters would be middle/working class.

They will have no children as Daniel has not allowed Noah to have any children.

They would have lived here around 3 years together. Both had previous partners, however Noah was not married before, Daniel was.

I wanted to set my characters in Britain and in particular london as i feel i can relate to this area. I want to focus my research and facts on domestic abuse and homelessness in the UK instead of america, i think it is more relevant and accessible if it is set here.

I had an idea that my female character Noah could work in Chelsea and Westminster hospital as this is near by to where they live.

I had an image of her walking through Brompton cemetery on her way to work.

I also feel like giving her a job in a hospital almost jauxtaposes the life she is living. She is looking after people daily yet she herself is being looked after by anyone else or intact herself, because of her unhealthy relationship.

This shop called "tray gourmet" is right opposite the hospital. I can imagine my character going into that shop and getting her lunch everyday. Being friendly with the guy behind the counter.

I also had an idea that the guy behind the counter could notice the days when Noah is more reserved and quite.

I have chosen a place that i am familiar with. I actually drive down this route every sunday to go to church in kensington with my family, i chose a road in which i know and am familiar with, i  believe this would help me know and understand the characters and their surroundings.

Video Research

This NHS video really helped me to understand how the women felt very weak and undermined by the partners.

I also learnt that these women seemed and found help and this is what my character i believe may do in the end. 

Plot Ideas

Key notes

• Decisions to be made
• Dilemmas to face
• Obstacle to overcome 
• Conflicts to resolve 
• Equilibrium and disequilibrium

Beginning

In the beginning of the film there looks as if there is equilibrium. The two character seem to be comfortable and work is going well for both characters. However i want there to be a hint of disequilibrium to almost foreshadow the future and to make the audience ask questions about their relationship and what may happen.

Idea 1:

Noah and Daniel are sitting at a table in the kitchen eating breakfast, you see them have small talk about what Daniel is reading on the news, Noah eating her cereal, Daniel making his tea. However their may be just one intense moment of silence which allows the audience to be aware that their may be something else happening. 

Middle

This is where the disequilibrium kicks in and you begin to see how distorted and dysfunctional their relationship is.

Idea 2:

Noah is filling up her glass of water from the tap in the bathroom, it is around 1:00 in the morning. Because it is late and Noah is tired she accidentally smashes the glass on the bathroom floor, this then wakes up Daniel and shouts out "Noah whats happened" she then doesn't reply and you can here scraping on the floor from where she is picking up the glass. Daniel then enters the bathroom and shouts at her for waking him up and then sees the mess on the floor and her cut feet. He slaps her three times

This moment or one similar will then reveal to the audience that Daniel is abusive. Perhaps then it would carry on showing moments similar to this. My idea is to then build up the moments, so each time Daniel is abusvie towards Noah is gets worse and worse.

The breaking point, the moment of decision or the obstacle to overcome is how Noah is going to escape Daniel. Who will she tell? Where will she go? How to do this without him knowing? How to act around Daniel in the mean time to prevent more abusive behaviour?

Ending

Here will be the outcome of Noah and Daniel's fate. I haven't thought about how this would end yet.

Character Ideas

Here i created two mind maps based on my character ideas. I have began to think about having a husband and wife as my main characters and how their relationship spirals out of control.

Domestic Abuse Research

Domestic abuse:

• Leads to, on average, two women being murdered each week.

• Accounts for 16% of all violent crime (Source: Crime in England and Wales 04/05 report), however it is still the violent crime least likely to be reported to the police

• Has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police)

• Is the single most quoted reason for becoming homeless.

• In addition, approximately 400 people commit suicide each year who have attended hospital for domestic abuse injuries in the previous six months, 200 of these attend hospital on the day they go on to commit suicide.

(research from IWA living without abuse services)

My response

From these statics one thing that really stood out to me was that "on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police". I find it crazy how women obviously feel very powerless and undermined to the point where they don't feel they can speak to anyone almost like the power of abuse overrides the power of truth.

This is something i could explore in my play, the fact that women loose their voice and become powerless. I would like to question why that is. Is it because the men are so violent or controlling that its pure fear that puts the women off speaking out or is it because its not as an open topic in society, does society need to do more to promote women being powerful enough to escape. Is their more that women to do or be educated about in order to detected early signs of potential abuse?

Another thing i found interesting but without me knowing the single most reason for becoming homeless is abuse and this links back to themes i wanted to explore. Could the character in my play become homeless due to domestic abuse.