TREATMENT

Logline:

London a hub of prosperity has undergone unprecedented changes. Famous landmarks have become dilapidated, with streets cross-roads being heaped with dead corpses and gory scenes of excoriated human tissues.   

The protagonist, a former scientist who previously worked for the government has become cognizant that he has been doing a disservice to the people of the country he swore his loyalty to. He realizes that with the auspice of his intellect, the government contrived a virus that has led to a far-reaching epidemic, with little odds to be thwarted. His feeling of guilt has took hold and he regrets the fate that had befell the populace. Having subconsciously worked on the virus, he committed to memorise the formula he used to create it, and knows how to rectify the predicament that had been foisted on the populace. His efforts are directed to optimizing the cure to the populace but for that, he needs substances that are strictly confined to the premises of that are under government’s control. He gets acquainted with the government’s long desired plan to artificially shrink the size of the populace and begins to be opposed to the government and espouses to take revenge on the small clique that had conspired the epidemic scheme.

He assembles a paramilitary group whose goal is to depose the government, proliferate the cure to those for whom there is still a glimmer of hope. The government in turn, makes concerted effort to not allow the protagonist’s plan to come to fruition, create hurdles for him every step of the way.

Character breakdown:

Sebastian Harbour is a scientist stationed at a military barrack in the UK, where he is co-opted by a government dignitary and delegated to a special department. His intellect secures him an important role, he micromanages most aspects of research and development, unbeknownst to him, the virus he and his colleagues have worked on is being proliferated without his approval, against the populace which he sought to protect.  He undergoes a transformation, he changes from a stoic individual to a staunch anti-establishmentarian, seeking to depose the government through military action.

Samantha Rosewood is a scientist that has worked alongside Sebastian and has exhibited intimate feelings for him, which were in fact reciprocal. Unbeknownst to him, she also leads a double life, in private, she corresponds with government channels and updates the government on the progress made within the research and development circle involving Sebastian. Upon hearing of Sebastian’s plan to sabotage the project, she is initially reluctant to take action, is bogged down by the feelings she has gradually developed, the task she is burdened with. She ultimately becomes the catalyst that causes the proliferation of the virus, becomes the biggest obstacle in Sebastian’s path. The fact that she is an agent does not immediately transpire; Sebastian believes that she is supporting his aim to stop the government and to help the populace. In fact, her personality contrasts with that of Sebastian who appears to take a more humanitarian stance and doesn’t wish to see the populace to be exterminated. Samantha values Sebastian for his intellect, for his help in designing the virus, thereby deeming him expedient. She starts by subtly encouraging him to join the government side, but after realizing that this is not possible, she wishes to eliminate him.

Lucien is a supporting character, helps Sebastian settle his scores with the people that had given the executive order to contaminate substantial part of the country. He like Sebastian were in charge manufacturing the virus, having seen first hand the indelible mark it had left on the once vibrant city, he wishes to rectify the problem that the helped to compound. He works with Sebastian and Samantha but questions Samantha’s real motives. Aside from aiding Sebastian, he tries to keep a track of Samantha’s activity, finding peculiarities in her comportment. His doubts are justified when he learns of her encounters with government agents. He is discreet about his discovery, but does inform Sebastian. Sebastian is very reluctant to come to terms with the revelations. He makes great strides to influence Sebastian’s opinion, but to no avail. Sebastian’s deeply rooted feelings for Samantha are an obstruction, despite his strong resolve, he cannot think rationally, see any reasoning for Samantha’s supposed defection. Once confrontation occurs, all four characters face each other off. Being aware of the fact that Sebastian is viable to succumb to Samantha, Lucien takes things into his own hands, proceeds to kill her.

Malcolm Gray is an important executive dignitary who is at the helm of the clique of that has usurped power in the UK. He is the binary of the movie, the main mastermind behind the proliferation of the virus. Malcolm is aware of Sebastian’s subversive activities and makes a concerted effort to prevent him from providing cure to the depraved people of London. He postures as an honest, virtuous man, with people taking his words at face value. Apart from playing an important role as the head of the government, he is portrayed as exhibiting a quasi-bureaucratic role in that he diligently oversees the progress that is being made within the research and development department. He is revered for his contributions and has firmly established his cult of personality. This is also the case with Sebastian who aspires to match Malcolm’s record or model himself on him. While he maintains his persona, he is ruthless in following his vested interest, behind the silhouette, which he projects, lies a man with dormant evil desires. As the epidemic spreads, plot ensues, the characters find out if Malcolm’s disease-playing on audience’s expectations

Genre-thriller/sci-fi/mystery

We have chosen the genre thriller, as we believe that our storyline corresponds to the thriller conventions-namely disruption in the equilibrium, suspense, evil lurking within close midst- the protagonist being at the mercy of the antagonist’s secretive motives. Also our group immensely admired this genre and we thought that it contemporarily deemed to be successful, this does not only allow other producers and directors to emulate their stories around thrillers but allows the audiences to appear as a mass.

Duration 2-3 minutes

Target Audience: 

People aged between 18-45

Apart from being a thriller, the trailer also has sci-fi components adjunct to it. With scientific content, jargon will subtly transpire, the aim is not to attract merely people that are interested in this theme. The demographic we expect this trailer to attract is mainly males, which is encapsulated by the fact that cinematography is showing mostly males, male centered scenes, such as fights, squabbles, violence and sexual content. Empirically speaking, these themes tend to be tailored to the male audience. In light of that, we decided that we would like to include a female identifiable scenario and character.

(NOTE: WHILE WE EXPLORE GENRE CONVENTIONS, SUCH AS SEXUAL CONTENT AND VIOLENCE AS A WAY TO TARGET AN AUDIENCE IF IT WERE A FULL LENGTH FEATURE. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THIS IS WHAT OUR TRAILER WILL CONSIST OF.THIS IS BECAUSE GENRE CONVENTIONS ARE NOT MONOLITHIC AND MOVIES DO NOT FEATURE EVERYTHING.)

Initially, we pondered on whether to include a female character or not. We’ve concluded that the trailer should be as inclusive, and conventional as possible. A thought had sprung whether or not to make the protagonist a heroine. This would’ve subverted an inculcated paradigm of the protagonist role being reserved for male. The resident evil franchise inspired us to contemplate such a possibility. Ultimately, we have recognized that in relation to the genre that we are trying to emulate, it is extremely hard to materialize, hard to model on a contemporary movie. However, the thriller does include a female character that assumes an antagonist role and is meant to be an epitome of what one would conceive as decadent and despotic. This may not necessarily generate an appeal, some of the female segments of the audience may find it hard to identify with the female antagonist

Young people aged between 18-27 are likely to be most receptive to the thriller. This supposition derives from the fact that the trailer contains a series of scenes that entail action, fast paced, is set in an urban setting and presents a metanarrative. These cinematic elements tend to have much bearing on young audience, seem to hold ground in light of the fact that these features are continuously perpetuated.

Visual elements: Low key lighting, quick cuts, changes in angle of shots, montage of shots

High angles shots-to show weakness and build up the suspense

Setting that has been considered for the filming is exterior areas with a few shots filmed inside.

Actors: Protagonist-Sebastian, Lucien, Amelia, Malcolm, footage of those affected by the virus

Props

Fire arms-the protagonist, agents of the government are armed

Syringe-optimised version of the cure

Scientific equipment-beakers, microscopes, test tube

DNA samples

Flags

Costumes- Navy grey costumes, scientist attire, rugged clothes of those affected

mostly urban clothing as it is set in contemporary times, black clothing worn by agents

Setting

Audio elements

Voice over

Violin music

Diegetic sound of breathing, heart beats

Rationale behind idea

In regards to our film, we have based it around films like resident evil and 28 days later where the disequilibrium prevails but later on the protagonist finds a way to restore order. As the name of our movie suggests, it explores dystopian themes, we were to some extent motivated by Orwell’s 1984.

Primary research-

For our primary research, we have created a storyboard alongside a questionnaire.

The storyboard was useful as it allowed us to experiment with our structure and storyline.

We also produced a questionnaire to ask people what movies they would be most inclined to watch.

Secondary Research-

One source of secondary research that we used is the internet. Apart from our questionnaire, we have also investigated a variety of media affiliated websites to find out which specific film genres receive most receptivity. According to Investopedia, one of the most watched movie genres are adventure, drama documentaries, horrors/thrillers. Upon seeing this, we narrowed our list of options and through long considerations of the practicalities; we came to the understanding that Thriller would the most suitable, feasible genre for us to focus on. In order for our movie to fit the thriller criteria, we need to include tense music, equilibrium/disequilibrium, quick cuts, diegetic sound of breathing and etc.

We have also watched a series of videos pertaining to media coursework, work done by students. One video that has really enticed us was a video titled “Scapegoat: horror opening sequence(as media studies coursework)”.We deem the video to be quite effective, would wish to employ some similar techniques such as eerie music, quick cuts and low key lighting.

Having researched the codes and conventions of thriller movies, we discussed as a group about what our film should feature. A consensus was reached that the film should contain an overtly dystopian component (Thus we even decided to name our film Dystopia). Initially, we drew our inspiration from Orwell’s 1984 and were keen to emulate a monastic and secluded world as was envisaged in the book with the militant secret police consolidating a dictatorship and consigning things like freedom of speech as things of the past.

Aside from the mentioned dystopia, we also wanted our film to possess an apocalyptic predicament, we have formulated our story plot borrowing considerable influence from films like Resident evil and 28 days later.

Constraints and Contingency

Our production time is limited to roughly 3 months (approx. until February 16th ). Both the actual exam and the coursework constitute 50% of our overall grade, it is important that we manage our time appropriately. 

Half term is approaching, so it important for us to start filming as early as possible so that we can have a portfolio of shots we can use when composing our trailer. So as a group we must allocate sometime to meet up for our film production.

The time is pending; we must ensure that by late november we have our portfolio ready so that we can focus on the editing.

Equipment

Tripod for the camera, toy gun, black capes and hoods, black masks, apple juice, alcohol bottle, cigarettes, paracetemol pills, toothbrush and toothpaste, pen and paper, keyboard.

Legal and ethical considerations

We will have to ensure that all of our content is produced solely by us, that we do not take other people’s content.  This means all the music, shots, editing has to be created, done by us.

We need to ensure that the setting/environment where the film production is set, is safe, doesn’t pose any risk to any cast members.

Other people must be borne in mind also. We cannot take shots of strangers without their consent.

We must ensure that none of the equipment is damaged, that everything is left unscathed.

Proposed schedule for filming:  15h November(Saturday)

Proposed schedule for editing:  Mid December, January

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Completed by Aleks