Character Bios

Name: Derek Smith

Age: 25

Derek Smith is a 25 year old office monkey with few prospects and even less ambition as to the future and has become quite content with spending his free time from work reviewing films in his one bedroom apartment and writing his opinions / rating in his note book. Virtually the only time he leaves his apartment is to go to work, human essentials and to buy more DVD’s.

A relatively normal if slightly shy character who would to most people appear shy but it isn’t due to discomfort that he ostracises himself but is more that he finds others to be boring and shallow company and finds 3D interactive media more stimulating than an actual person.

The character itself will be very quiet, will radiate some confidence but will be forgettable if he were real i.e. if he disappeared it’d take a long time to notice and he’ll be remembered vaguely. It’s not that he’s scared of people but less interested but will also display pleasure and happiness at talking about media related topics with other people but will immediately lose interest if they talk about it in a “shallow” way or go off topic.

Appearance will come in two forms; casual wear and formal wear. However both of these will be minimal as in appear as though someone put them on without giving much thought as to their appearance. The suit will be a cheap off the rack deal which gets the job done but doesn’t attract attention and the casual wear will consist of a shirt and joggers, both will be very minimal and unflattering. His expressions will be more in black and white’s skipping between happiness, boredom and confusion but with no bridges between them i.e. he won’t pretend to be happy when bored.

Overall Derek within reason is an honest man who can be seen in many different lights; admired for knowing what he wants and feeling he has nothing to prove, sympathised with for using a media to escape reality, pitied for the sad lonely existence he leads and the end result of the film he could be a warning of what can, and is, happening.

Similar Characters:

Richard Masur as Clark in the 1982 cult classic The Thing displays this well as a character who has more in common with animals than actual people which causes him to appear different from the norm. Also his quiet nature but willingness to talk when talked to also sum up the personality Derek will achieve. However Clark was almost too distant which did lead to him almost being forgot several times which will be altered in the film since this person is the protagonist and his hobby is more visual than taking care of husky dogs

Actor : Alexander Martin

Name: Benedict “Ben” Arnold

Age: 26

Ben Arnold works in the same place as Derek as an office worker but will immediately be identified as the opposite of Derek i.e. ambitious, social, happy-go-lucky and popular, in that he forces his personality onto people. However he does have a similar interest in films as Derek, though not nearly as fanatical, but these will be a very shallow interpretation of a film goer who doesn’t really look at all aspects of a film but rather just what is put in front of him i.e. will like action films because of the action but won’t comment on the acting’s, director’s or music’s contributions.

A regular if annoying character who will be seen as unthreatening, a person who means well but is unable to put it across well and will be remembered more for his negative aspects rather than his positives. Appearance-wise he will be more happy and energetic than Derek and wear finer cut clothes; he will also have the more trendy appearance of someone who takes better care of himself in looks adding a sign of vanity to the character.
In the end this will all help serve the twist that involves this character and the main protagonist as the film progresses.

Similar Character

Ricky Gervais’s character in the hit TV mockumentary the Office where he plays the middle-management boss of all the workers in the series with much of the comedy and pathos of the series centering on Brent's many idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies, self-delusions and self-promotion (including playing up to the 'documentary' cameras present in his workplace).
Though similar to the character Ben will harbor a darker side to his character which will not be revealed until the right moment.

Actor : Ben Parr

Movie genre : Psychological Horror/Thriller

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot.

Psychological horror is different from the type of horror found in "splatter films," which derive their effects from gore and violence, and from the sub-genre of horror-of-personality, in which the object of horror does not look like a monstrous other, but rather a normal human being, whose horrific identity is often not revealed until well into the work, or even at the very end.

Psychological horror tends to be subtle compared to traditional horror and typically contains less physical harm, as it works mainly on the factors of mentally affecting the audience rather than the display of graphic imagery seen in the slasher and splatter sub-genres. It typically plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat. It creates discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny.

The menace in horror comes from within. It exposes the evil that hides behind normality, while splatter fiction focuses on bizarre, alien evil to which the average viewer cannot easily relate. Carl Jung has argued that attraction to the uneasiness caused by the Other is an attempt to integrate the "otherness" of the shadow while others believe horror serves only to repress it. One could ultimately argue that psychological horror isn't in fact of the horror genre, with it having a greater resemblance to the thriller genre. However, in psychological horror the essential element is to frighten the audience mentally, whereas this is not the case in thrillers. There is also a sub-genre known as the psychological thriller, which can be similar to this, but relies on leaving a different impact on the viewer than that of psychological horror.

Another aspect of psychological horror is its use of body horror. The purpose is to develop a feeling of unease by exploiting human fears of the abnormal, human experimentation, disease, suffering, among others.

Hanging Scene In Shawshank Redemption

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSjw9h_FTs

Brooks hanging scene from Shawshank Redemption. Sequence starts from 3:20

Treatment 2

Title:

Snuff

Plot:

A relatively average mid-20’s man who works in an office and sees very little merit in communicating with the outside world other than when he has to. He spends his free time reviewing movies on DVD and writing down his thoughts, opinions and his ratings in a notebook he always keeps on his person. One day after reaching his 100th review Derek treats himself by buying a HD digital camera with the delusion that he “may” want to create his own film one day. A work colleague (Ben Arnold) notices and starts conversation with Derek at work where they go into a discussion about Derek and his list to which the man makes a comment about what he’ll do when he’s seen all the films out there. Derek is left pondering this all day and when leaving for work Ben notices Derek dropped his DVD and after the words “hey boyo you dropped you film!” hands it back, Derek can’t remember dropping a DVD but takes it anyway assuming it’s all the excitement of the new camera. On returning home Derek continues to ponder Ben’s words and after setting up the camera decides to look through his book to reminisce of all the films he’s seen to see if he feels any different about his decisions. However upon reading through his notebook Derek comes upon an entry marked 0 / 10, this is unusual since Derek only even went to 1 / 10 once before and that was a particular bad film, but never 0. Curiosity piqued Derek searches for the film which was titled Chinese Blank which means little to Derek but actually finds a blank case for a DVD with a Chinese symbol inserted between the front sleeves. Derek remembers it as the film Ben returned at work and decides to watch it again. After watching it for a few minutes it’s clearly a poorly made home movie, shot in black in white in a dark room with what appears to be a chair and a noose in the centre, a hooded man enters the scene and goes through the process of hanging himself making it a snuff movie, but what scared Derek more was the fact Derek recognises this man, infact it looks almost like him and when the man stands to take his last breath on the chair he takes off the hood to reveal it to be him and as he jumps Derek’s screams are cut off as his own neck is snapped by the noose wrapped tightly around his neck with his newly purchased digital camera on a tripod in the corner, the record button flashing. After a few seconds of the camera recording Derek’s final breath a hand reaches over and clicks the camera off and a man walks over the retrieve the DVD from Derek’s player and after fading to black we (the audience) here a thud and a familiar voice saying “hey boyo you dropped you film”. Cut !

Characters: 3

Derek Smith

Benjamin “Ben” Arnold

Various extras (add to the shot)

Rating: 15

Scenes of a disturbing nature with an emphasis on the subject of acute psychological unhealth and suicide, as a result it is unsuitable for ages under 15 years of age due to the disturbing imagery present throughout the film, mostly catered towards teenagers and parents so they can view it, be entertained or shocked and hopefully learn something from it they can take away.

Target Audience: Mystery / Horror / Psychological

Someone into intrigue and mystery with a tint of a twist. Someone who likes to try and work things out for themselves but sometimes never quite gets there. a person who never gives up trying and will always give it a shot on working out what in happening, yet still loves the element of surprise.

Psycho thrillers are generally particularly popular with the under 25's and have a slight female skew. With moviegoers in an attentive and focused mindset, they provide a highly effective, distraction free advertising environment. However it can also be viewed by a parent of a child so that they can take the message the movie tries to bring and prevent it from happeing to someone in their family or to someone they know and vice cersa for any teenagers watching it.

Style:

Quick cuts, fast pace and camera angle changes, music that gives tension and is passy when appropriate. It can be to do with lighting, especially the use of shadow. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies.

The codes and conventions are mainly what the audiences expect to see within a thriller this includes all types of thrillers, such as cross genres in action, adventure, sci- fi etc.

What audiences expect to see is what producers need to include in attracting their audience. The codes and conventions of a psychological thriller that are genres which play with audiences minds by manipulating a character and the film will show this from a very subconcious angle by using voice overs and never allowing the audience to know much outside what the main characters know so as to build tension and shock.

Treatment 1 for final film

Treatment

Title: Final Review

Genre: Psychological Horror

Duration: 5 minute short drama

Audience: Certificate 15, would be preferred by people with more complex film tastes who can appreciate a horror film that involves deep social issues with some horror thrown in.

Distribution: this film would be distributed to Independent cinemas such as the “Showroom” in Sheffield and shown on TV after the watershed. This film would also be distributed on the Internet on websites like “YouTube” and Facebook.

Synopsis: the film is about a recluse man who tends to shy away from contact with other people and rarely goes outside for anything other than work and supplies. The film starts off with an opening of which quickly shows his everyday life. He then goes out for something to eat from the shop and he then gets a DVD almost forced upon him by a shifty stranger in the street who almost seems scared of what the DVD contains. The man then retreats back to his flat and immediately abandons his groceries at the front door as he comes in and rushes to his TV and DVD player. Before inserting the disc he gets out a notebook and pen and inspects the disc before putting the DVD in and pushing play. He watches the DVD with a blank stare as he observes the mysterious figure on the screen slit his wrist bleed to deaf. With no control over his own actions he stumbles toward his messy kitchen and grabs a large knife and whilst glancing at the TV screen proceeds to cut his own wrist. Snapping out of his trance he realizes quickly what he has done collapses to he knees in front of the TV cradling his arms and looking down to the floor as he lets out a weep. He looks up slowing to the TV and sees that it is he on the television copying his exact movements and he rolls over on to the floor and dies. As the TV continues to run, you see a dark figure enter the room, step over the body and walk towards the TV and you see it is the man who gave him the DVD and he smiles and switches off the television. The movie ends to the sound off a DVD be ejected.

I want to reference these opening credits from the movie "se7en" however i will change images and most of the cuts to make it our own interpretation what is relevant to our own film

this is an example of the sort of cuts that we want to use in our own film. it is called the "handless Pianist" and was short at the Cannes film festival in 2008

25 Word Pitch

Reclusive film reviewer discovers a mysterious film which inadvertently leads to him having a series of supernatural experiences ending in a horrific twist.

Film Suggestion

Title :

Cut !

Plot :

A relatively average mid-20’s man who works in an office and sees very little merit in communicating with the outside world other than when he has to. He spends his free time reviewing movies on DVD and writing down his thoughts, opinions and his ratings in a notebook he always keeps on his person.

One day after reaching his 100th review Derek treats himself by buying a HD digital camera with the delusion that he “may” want to create his own film one day. A work colleague (Ben Arnold) notices and starts conversation with Derek at work where they go into a discussion about Derek and his list to which the man makes a comment about what he’ll do when he’s seen all the films out there.

Derek is left pondering this all day and when leaving for work Ben notices Derek dropped his DVD and after the words “hey boyo you dropped you film!” hands it back, Derek can’t remember dropping a DVD but takes it anyway assuming it’s all the excitement of the new camera.

On returning home Derek continues to ponder Ben’s words and after setting up the camera decides to look through his book to reminisce of all the films he’s seen to see if he feels any different about his decisions.

However upon reading through his notebook Derek comes upon an entry marked 0 / 10, this is unusual since Derek only even went to 1 / 10 once before and that was a particular bad film, but never 0. Curiosity piqued Derek searches for the film which was titled Chinese Blank which means little to Derek but actually finds a blank case for a DVD with a Chinese symbol inserted between the front sleeves. Derek remembers it as the film Ben returned at work and decides to watch it again.

After watching it for a few minutes it’s clearly a poorly made home movie, shot in black in white in a dark room with what appears to be a chair and a noose in the centre, a hooded man enters the scene and goes through the process of hanging himself making it a snuff movie, but what scared Derek more was the fact Derek recognises this man, infact it looks almost like him and when the man stands to take his last breath on the chair he takes off the hood to reveal it to be him and as he jumps Derek’s screams are cut off as his own neck is snapped by the noose wrapped tightly around his neck with his newly purchased digital camera on a tripod in the corner, the record button flashing.

After a few seconds of the camera recording Derek’s final breath a hand reaches over and clicks the camera off and a man walks over the retrieve the DVD from Derek’s player and after fading to black we (the audience) here a thud and a familiar voice saying “hey boyo you dropped you film”. Cut !

Film suggestions

Title: A Good Friend
Plot: A Teen Victim of bullying who has treated like dirt all his life, at home and at school. He starts seeing a ghostly figure appear in his room and talks to him. The morning after the entity appears he would wake up covered in blood. In a panic he would cover up the blood on their bed and wash the blood on their face and hands, change their clothes and run down stairs. Over breakfast, a report would come on the television that a body of one of the main character’s class mates, who was often abusive toward them, had been found nearby. On their way to school, they would walk past the place where the body had been found, and they would catch a glimpse of the ghostly figure they saw the night before. Throughout the day the main character would appear through windows and on corridors, but they only get mocked for trying to get other people to see them. When they get home, the characters mother shouts at them ending their argument a mug being thrown at the character. During the night, the characters bedroom door flies open with the entity dragging the corpse of their mother in to the room, as the character panics with monster explaining that its real and not in the characters imagination, the character asks “what are you” and the creature replies “ a good friend” and the scene cuts to back as it begins to swing a weapon.