Freestyle is a fresh, dynamic and uplifting teen romance set in London. The central love theme is underpinned by a touching exploration of the realities of growing up in the contemporary world. The dilemmas of the main characters will resonate with young people around the world who also have to juggle the complexities of growing up, falling in love, and studying, whilst trying to make important life choices. Freestyle also celebrates the distinctive, creativity and vibrant talent of British youth. London’s diverse, and edgy multicultural society, provides a unique backdrop for the film – showcasing an intriguing aspect of life in one of the world’s most famous cities.

I see Freestyle as essentially a fun genre movie aimed at a younger, perhaps teenage, audience. Yes, it has something serious to say about class and drive and ambition, but this comes after the audience is engaged with an exciting, dynamic visual style that tells us what should be a fun story. That’s what the primary audience for this particular genre is used to and this is what they will respond to. This is an audience that liked movies like Save The Last Dance, Honey and Step Up. All those movies were well photographed, were slick, stylish and well put together. Freestyle is a story that demands to be told in the same way: well photographed, slickly and stylishly put together.

I intend to give Freestyle all the production value of the above mentioned movies. Visual style and flair is something that comes with imagination. Whatever the budget, the money will all be up on the screen! And with today’s technology all sorts of visual tropes and ticks and can be employed to enhance the story with exciting, kinetic results.

The elements of the story that particularly inspire me are the contrasts between suburbia and the inner city. Colour and grading can be used to enhance dramatic differences between these communities and greatly affect the drama of the story telling. (An obvious example of this is used in the movie Traffic – a movie with multiple story strands, each one with a different grade.) This seems like a simple idea but the effects of a good, dramatically though through grade, where tied to the dramatic bears of the story, should not be underestimated!

Another element of the story that I will treat expressionistically will be the basketball sequences: basketball is a fast, kinetic sport, and so should be treated in a fast, kinetic way. Finding actors who can play basketball to a high level or basketball players who can act sufficiently well for the film will be difficult. Therefore my idea would be to shoot the sequences in a non-realistic way that enhances the dramatic points that these sequences make in the story. And remember, these sequences make great use of hip, urban, contemporary music, and this can be used well to make these moments in the movie even more dramatic and satisfying for the audience. Unlike football which is a team sport with rare moments of individual brilliance and therefore difficult to shoot dramatically, basketball is a team sport that relies heavily on the individual skills of each single player. This is a sport where the ability to ‘freestyle’ is a positive advantage. For me that makes it exciting to watch but particularly exciting to shoot.

Consequently, the competition and ‘performance’ elements in the film are moments that should be built towards and very exciting to watch. If that is achieved, they should be particularly emotionally engagin.

As I said at the top of these notes, this is a story with something to say. It is important to me that the message of the film is heard loud and clear since this is one of the things that attracted me to this project. To my mind the most effective way of making sure this happens is that those moments in the film that are full of energy, movement and the joy of basketball, will be contrasted with the quieter moments in the movie; it is this that will give the message of the movie its dramatic power and weight.

Kolton Lee