Initial Ideas

We have come up with an idea which is similar to Jumanji; it involves a board game (monopoly), causing chaos and issues for the players as they play.

We have thought about:

• Setting
• Props
• Characters
• Plot/Synopsis
• Target Audience

Setting

In order to create a realistic and mellow atmosphere, we have decided to use Amy's living room, (another post displays permission for this), which is spacious and appropriate. This will be the main setting and perhaps the only setting which will allow us to manipulate the lighting and carefully focus on what's in the frame.

Props

We have decided to use props such as: money, invoices, wine glasses, wine, monopoly, etc.

Some of these props are going to be used to create a chilled out evening which consists of a game of Monopoly and a few drinks between close friends. Props such as the money and invoices indicate the start of chaos and trouble that the game will eventually bring.

Characters

It's been decided that our characters will consist of two couples that are close friends that frequently meet up. They will be male and female couples, so overall, there will be two males and two females aged around 17-19.

Target Audience

We have aimed our short film at young adults, male and female, around the age of 17-25. We feel this is an appropriate aged target audience because of how they can relate to the characters as they are also 17-18 years old. Also, the Monopoly game will appeal to them because it's a well known game and can be played by anyone. In addition to that, the situations that the characters are planted in also relates to our target audience because the short film deals with real life money issues and displays a realistic atmosphere of young adults enjoying each other's company and drinking. 
We have already posted on social networking sites in order to gain audience feedback about our idea:

Plot/Synopsis

A couple invite their friends over as the parents have gone away which means they have a free house. Their friends are another couple which they are very close to and they meet frequently. The couple begin setting things up for the evening, such as setting out wine glasses and filling them with wine and making final touches to the living room. They decide to play a board game and they choose Monopoly. When their friends arrive they begin playing Monopoly and drinking wine, subtle things begin happening during the playing of the game but they don't notice, these things are good things like receiving real money. 
As they begin picking up chance and community chest cards, things become more sinister; they pick up cards such as "pay £200 to the electric company" and it actually happens, so they would receive an invoice through the door that's demanding the £200 and if it's not paid, a power cut occurs in order to indicate that it's happening in real life. Things get worse and eventually one of the characters decides to cheat by stealing money from the Monopoly bank, this causes serious consequences and he starts losing real money as a result of his cheating. Eventually, the cheating character gets a phone call which informs him that his possessions are being taken away because of his actions, this will be the end of the short film; it's clear that the game isn't normal and possesses some kind of strange power, just like the board game in Jumanji.
The film would carry on displaying the 4 young adults continuing to play the game as they've realised that they have to keep playing in order for all these catastrophes to be fixed and return to normality.