Flim Treatment

Basic plot synopsis:

It starts with a boy Alexander Johnson who starts off his daily routine of turning his alarm clock off, slipping his feet into slippers, pouring breakfast into his bowl, turning the bath tap off, buckling his belt then slamming the door shit. A transition is made to a bus stop where he is approached by a group of bullies before a screen blackout to the aftermath of him lying in a hospital bed being hovered over his parents who are outraged by the ordeal. After this, scenes go to a courts scene where the bully is with his solicitor who says the vital words “you got lucky this time under the child crime prevention act 625, next time I don’t think I can save you..” which is the cue to fast forward to the current states of the bully and the victims and we get a glimpse of the life the bully is living in particular in comparison to the bully. We see the bully in his work environment and working hard with his colleagues at work living a stress free lifestyle however, his phone constantly rings off which is now causing him paranoia but it starts off small. He lives with his family of four at home and live a perfectly normal family life, however him and his wife are still bickering over his paranoia and she the thinks that the mysterious calls are from his mistress or someone else in his life that he is keeping away from his wife which leads to their relationship issues. He begins to have mini panic attacks and sees somebody who tells him he is anxious and if he has any concerns or anything bothering him etc. A few days go past and his daughter and her friends are walking to a party where the bully creeps up behind them and kidnaps the daughter and takes her to his house where she calls him on this unknown number and the dad finally picks up and she says “Dad, I am okay I won’t be home for a few days but I am okay. See you soon.” He immediately goes to the police station and reports this but their efforts with this is not enough so he takes it up himself. The bickering with his wife gets worse and she decides to leave the household – his work colleague decides to stay with him where he and she develop a strong relationship for one another which becomes an intimate relationship. They begin to investigate everything by themselves and go through many trials and tribulations to find out what exactly is going on around the bully and his life which takes them too many different locations and situations. A meeting with the bully and his childhood friends leads to one of them giving the bully a letter that someone gave him on the street saying “ See you soon, boxhead” – This is the moment of realisation that it must be the victim they bullied when they were younger at this moment all their phones ring on no caller ids.. A party scene follows later and everything is going well, the lights go off and the word boxhead appears on the walls, floors, people receive texts saying boxhead and boxhead becomes noticeable everywhere. The bully has enough of this and the rest unfolds.. 

What type of characters will be in the film?

Main Characters

Alexander Johnson - The protagonist he has high hope for his future. His name connotes as 'the defender of man' which fits perfectly with his personality.

Darnell - This name symbolises 'secret' and 'hidden' which can suggest his personality as someone who is an introvert and like to exclude himself from the others, showing his differences and a sense of outcast as he doesn't appear at all in the trailer, only when he was young and was constantly bullied. Therefore that's all the audience knows about Darnell.

Brionna - The name connotes to a flowering vine. This can reflect on her as a character as she, herself is trying to grow and heal from her past, as seen on the trailer that it haunts her and the daunting past is brought to life as she thinks she's going mad again.

What conventions of the genre will be included in your trailer?

A flashback will be used.The trailer will include quick cuts in order to create a panic effect for the audience. It will begin with long scenes but as it gets to the end the use of a montage will create excitement. Inter-titles will be used, it will include words and phrases such as ''don't/ look/ back/ at your/ past/'', ''Is your past/ inextricably linked with your/ future?''

Where will your trailer be set? What other aspects of mise-en-scene do you need to consider?

The trailer would be set in East-London, mainly at St Bons Comprehensive school as this is the school he studied. The main bullying takes action within a gym changing room. In his later stages in life, as he grows to be a successful man, we've decided to set most of the scene in Central London with the cityscape, this connotes to wealth, businessmen and to present his character as someone who is well educated with the illusion of 'the perfect life'. With that being said, Johnson's character would have to be well dressed and is frequently in suits to represent this middle class man. In terms of lighting, we want to mainly use natural gloomy light with low saturation, to foreshadow the dilemma of the story.