Dipping My Feet In Entertainment

Even though my expertises are in the Convergence Journalism strand, I figured I’d dip my feet in the entertainment strand as well. My next project is going to be a short documentary about the week in a life of a wrestler. I decided to put together a story proposal as well, which is posted below:

Title: Men of the Mat

Producers: Quen Barkyoumb & Tyler Soetaert

My documentary is about a week in the life of a high school wrestler. They seem to endure a lot and I feel like they deserve more credit than they’ve been given. The main conflict is between how much wrestlers sacrifice or the fear of all the hard work not paying off. Ultimately, I want the audience to feel intrigued and to understand the personal sacrifices these wrestlers make. I also want to make the audience appreciate what all it takes to experience the sport itself.

Characters:

Doug Newcomb- Senior wrestler, 3 time state placer, Wrestling team Captain.

Mrs. Newcomb- Doug’s Mother, involved parent, and a contributor to the Olathe Northwest wrestling booster club.

Will Whitaker – Junior wrestler, state runner up at 106 pounds, one of the team leaders.

Coach Mesa- Head coach of the wrestling team, huge role model, wrestled in college.

Coach Rodden- Assistant wrestling coach, former Olathe Northwest wrestler.

Conflict:

These young men put forth every once of energy towards this sport, and it must be fearful to think that all of the hard work won’t pay off.

Climax: Doug placing at a wrestling tournament, or one of the Olathe Northwest wrestlers getting his hand waved after a match.

Plot Diagram:

Every drop of sweat, every painful workout, and every blow of the whistle will capture viewers.

Act 1 will entail the beginning of the week, right after a meet in the end preparing for a new week, as well as winning. I picture a rush of events and then it finally stops and enters with an interview to begin Act 1. It will quickly and surely reel in an audience.

Act 2 will be composed of midweeks work leading to a dual. This is the juice of the story and it will hit viewers hard. It will eventually lead to the dual and the climax will be about reached.

Act 3 will be composed of the actual meet and what Doug Newcomb and every other wrestler had been working towards the whole week.

The film will have all come to this. It will leave the audience with an interview by Doug finally explaining how he truly feels about it all and the hand being raised. The smile from ear to ear, the feeling of sheer satisfaction and then, the story will drop. It will finally meet the end with how the beginning started.

Filming will begin over the upcoming winter break, cutting weight and avoiding holiday meals as part of the sacrifice. The meat of the filming will take place when we return and of course the first the meet or dual back after break.