Treatment (Actor)

(Completed by Tom Crump)

Film Title

Actor

Theme/Core Idea

This film explores a tough love style relationship between an aspiring actor and a producer.

Outline

In scene one we cut straight in to a montage scene of auditions, Charlie (the aspiring actor) walks in to frame from the right. The producer is off screen but still diegetic. He begins his performance imitating a scene from Goodfellas, from this point on the montage begins cutting to his impersonation of iconic lines spoken by a range of prestigious actors, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Samuel L Jackson, Robert Deniro, Brad Pitt (as Tyler Durden from Fight Club), and Charlie Chaplin. Following on the montage then changes from focusing on the actor to focusing on the Producers rejecting him, all thanking him for his time and saying that they will let him know whether he was successful for his roles.

During scene two we follow Charlie as he gets ready for his audition styled in a montage like sequence. The Scene starts from black with an alarm clock going off. We see the alarm clock on the side table next to Charlie’s bed. He turns it off and gets up. Pieces of scripts are stuck all around his bedroom, on the mirror, on the wall, in the bathroom on his wardrobe. While he brushes his teeth and gets dressed making himself look presentable he is constantly reading the script and going over his lines, practicing how he is going to play the part. He has a clear drive and passion for his craft and its clear during this scene.

Scene three is where the bulk of the film will unravel and is the penultimate scene. We see Charlie sat in a cluttered hallway anxiously waiting to be called in to the audition room. He gets up from his chair and goes to a water fountain across the hall. A gentleman comes and greets him. Here is where we see the Gentleman (Robert a.k.a the producer) begin to question him as to whether he is here for the auditions. Charlie however doesn’t realise that this man is indeed the producer, unaware Charlie responds to his question asking if he was here for the auditions too, soon realising that this man is actually the producer. This is where the tough love relationship between these two characters begin, as their convocation progresses and Robert gives Charlie some advice on not giving up due to rejections from his previous work and tells him a story about how Meryl Streep was turned down from her audition for the role of Ann in King Kong and how pushing her to the edge was what made her so great. Robert then leaves and Charlie returns to his seat. He is then called into the audition room where he is introduced to Robert, as Charlie tries to say that they have previously met Robert ignores him. This is the first sign of the tough love approach that Robert is about to use in order to get the fullest potential out of Charlie. The scene becomes quickly heated as Robert begins to be very cold and direct with Charlie stating that his attempts at reading the lines aren’t good, at first seeming to be putting Charlie down. This continues through the scene with Robert becoming more and more confrontational and harsh in his criticisms, ending with Robert whispering into Charlies ear that he will never make it in the industry and demanding him to leave. Charlie now put down leaves and goes home wondering what had just happened, as the scene is coming to a close he suddenly has a flash back to the story about Meryl Streep and what Robert had said to him. The scene ends with Charlie simply smiling as he realises what Robert was doing in the audition room.

Appraisal

This script was written by Josh Beattie and is largely inspired by the work of Damian Chazelle and his film Whiplash. It’s taking the idea which Damian had explored in that particular film about a tough love styled relationship between two characters where one character is seemingly pushing the other character to the limit to see if they really have what it takes to become the best. I believe that Josh has shown this style of relationship very well and is very reminiscent of Whiplash whilst remaining an original piece of work. The interesting use of Meryl Streep and a real story about her career, in my opinion helps to maintain the illusion that this scenario could happen in real life and does happen in real life. From a critical analysis stand point I feel that we could have more scenes establishing this relationship from the beginning of the film and using the progression of the film to further solidify the relationship between the two characters. Overall the film is a concrete idea and has had a lot of thought put into it in order to create and develop these two characters.

Vices Treatment

Film Title

Vices

Theme/Core Idea

The idea that someones vices can stand In the way of their success, The idea that life isn’t always a happy ending.

Outline

We’re greeted with an opening shot of a night stand the lighting in her room is dark and cold with blue tones as though what we’re experiencing is happening during a twilight period or early morning. We’re unaware of who’s night stand it is, however the sound of a woman vomiting is quietly heard in the background along with the sound of rain hitting against the windows. We can see a collection of pictures of a young girl dressed in a ballerina outfit, the sound of an old fashioned news reporter with received pronunciation begins to overlap the vomiting and rain as he begins to report about a child prodigy called Sheryl and how she’d made it to the final at the world dance competition, allowing us to get some backstory to the photographs. As the shot lingers on the reporters voice begins to crackle as though it was coming from a radio that is losing signal as the picture frames fade into empty liquor bottles, with one bottle knocked over and spilling some left over alcohol onto an old newspaper with an article on how at the world championship finals for dancing Sheryl slipped and broke her leg which ultimately cost her the competition title. This sequence shows us how Sheryl’s life spiralled into an alcohol addiction following the loss of her dream, The sequence ends with a cut to Sheryl in the bathroom vomiting, which allows us to understand it was indeed her that had been drinking.

Fade to Sheryl has gone to see her mum that same morning, we first hear the sound of a television playing countdown and a kettle boiling. Sheryl and her mum are engaged in a reminiscent convocation about the dance studio that Sheryl’s mother used to own. It is here that we discover that Sheryl is actually unemployed, or so her mother thinks. As her mother begins to question Sheryl about finding a job and suggesting vacant positions that she’s noticed in the paper the sound of the boiling kettle becomes a whistle, as her mother continues to push about the jobs Sheryl gets more and more uncomfortable, and as Sheryl gets more uncomfortable the kettle gets louder and louder until it’s ringing in the audience’s ears until she snaps and says that she’s been looking for a job in attempts to move the convocation forward. The reason Sheryl is so uncomfortable is because she’s actually resorted to prostitution to fund her alcohol addiction. Her mother a bit shocked from Sheryl snapping tries to be less pushy about the situation, and states that she has big news to tell her. 

Cut to a tracking shot of Sheryl walking down the street from a side view with a bottle of vodka in her hand which is almost empty. We see her approach a car parked at the side, she bends over to talk through the car window and it’s here that we discover she is meeting a client. All we hear is the sound of what’s happening in the car whilst only seeing the outside of the car. This is also mixed with the convocation between Sheryl and her mum through out the entire sequence, which she explains the big news that she only pushes about the job because they both know that Sheryl’s mum is dying of cancer however is dying sooner than they initially thought, and she would like to know that Sheryl can handle the funeral costs and it is in fact that reason why her mother lost the dance studio. We also hear Sheryl’s mum attempt to change the topic before Sheryl’s visit becomes too depressing for both of them and explains that if neither Sheryl or her Mother can provide the money for the dance studio, then owner ship will completely change to a man who wants to turn the studio into a strip club. 

Cut to Sheryl sat at home drinking and looking at the small amount of money she made from that one client, we can hear the rain beating at the window and the same cold blue toned lighting from the introductory scene. She spots a jar hidden amongst the empty bottles on the floor and comes up with an idea. She labels the jar “Mums Studio Deposit” and begins to put all her money into it. After she does this she gets a call from another client this time more of a business man, he explains that he searches online for women in the same line of work that Sheryl is in and offers them opportunities to make a lot of money through pornography. This is Sheryl’s chance she accepts the offer and feels like her luck might finally turn around, for the first time we see a smile on her face.

Cut to the same dresser table, only now with the jar dead centre of it surrounded by the bottles, A calendar is also on the table. In a time-lapse fashion, we see the money begin to build up in the jar and the days begin getting crossed off on the calendar. As each day goes by more money appears and as more money appears the bottles begin to disappear. During this sequence we hear the phone ringing asking her if she can make a shoot for an adult film, as well as clients ringing to meet up with her, this shows us where all the money is coming from and what lengths she has gone to just to make her mum proud by hopefully buying the studio back. However just as the last bottle is about to disappear and the last bit of money is about to go into the jar we notice one of the calls is from the hospital. They explain how Sheryl’s mother was found dead inside her home, giving their apologies and inviting her to come see her mother at the hospital one last time, all of her efforts now stripped away, she was too late to make her mother proud one last time.

Cut to Sheryl at her mother’s tombstone, she’s drinking yet another bottle of vodka which shows us she’s already started to spiral down again. She apologizes to her mothers grave and says how she wishes she could have been a better daughter. As she finishes her monologue she takes out a pill bottle (this will hold connotations of suicide).

Cut to black.

Appraisal 

The initial idea of writing about an addict came from my personal experiences with friends that have become addicted to certain substances. From seeing this first hand I had a good idea on how to create such a character as addicts are very much to themselves, they’re deceptive as Sheryl is with her mother so as to not let anyone find out about their problems. I feel my treatment is strong in terms of visualising the cinematography and getting a sense of atmosphere through sound. The weak points to my treatment I feel is the overall idea of following this character’s journey as it may be difficult to do this through a short film, however I believe that the way I have structured it will allow me to pull it off. As I think the use of sound to tell a lot of the story whilst we are watching something else that builds on the story will enable me to tell this complexed story in a matter of minutes. Some areas are more in depth about what is happening visually as well as audibly so that is also another weakness, but overall I believe the treatment gives a great idea on how the film would go and also I believe it’s quite captivating. 

Pitch (Actor)

Original Idea (Vices)

Script:

Vices

Scene one

ext graveyard - approaching mid day

we're greeted with a scene of Sheryl visiting her fathers grave, she has a bouquet of flowers that she is laying on the grave, she looks distressed and grieving.  

SHERYL

(remains speechless as she places the flowers on the grave, sadness is filling her face)

Her phone rings, she checks it and sees that it's her mum, she ignores the call.

SHERYL

"where do i even begin?"

(said still in complete disbelief at the her dad has died)

SHERYL

"i bet you'd have known what to do if..."

(Said with a slight chuckle to mask her sadness)

Sheryl's interrupted by her phone as she receives a text, she checks it and it's her mum saying "Don't forget that you have to visit today" Sheryl begins to get agitated at her mums interruptions.

SHERYL

"you're not really there are you?..and i look insane"

(feeling awkward)

Sheryl receives yet another phone call, again by her mum, getting angry she switches her phone off and pulls out a bottle of vodka from a carrier bag she is holding to take a sip.

SHERYL

"i don't know how you did it for so many years, she's relentless"

(Venting her frustrations towards her dads grave after which taking another sip)

SHERYL

"i mean it's not like i don't try"

(Taking another large gulp of vodka)

SHERYL

"no one understands..not like you do...did"

(tears are rolling down her face as she takes yet another giant gulp)

Sheryl turns her phone back on only to see 3 more missed calls from her mum, now slightly intoxicated Sheryl bursts out into tears at the fact that she has to go see her mum.

Scene two

int sheryl's mums house - now into mid day

Sheryl is at her mums house, hiding the fact that she is drunk and hating the idea of been there. She walks into the room with a tray of tea and biscuits, how ever spills the drinks slightly as she stumbles due to her intoxication. 

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"careful, it's a new carpet"

(concerned for her carpet and not so much Sheryl)

Sheryl looks at her mum in disgust without any care for the new carpet.

SHERYL’S MOTHER

"So as i was saying, you know Lynda from down the road?..Well apparently she's been getting it off with the postman"

(Spoken as though continuing a previous convocation)

SHERYL

"oh right..."

(Sheryl seems uninterested in the gossip as she really doesn't want to be there)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"Some people just don't have their priorities straight these days"

(said in a patronising tone as she takes a sip of her tea whilst looking at Sheryl)

SHERYL

(Unresponsive and not caring what her mum has to say)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"So, how're you doing? it's been a while since you last popped around"

(sounding concerned for Sheryl)

SHERYL

"i'm fine"

(very brief and with a slight sigh, again signalling her hatred for been here)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"did you go to That chippy hiring down the road i told you about?"

(again in a patronising tone)

SHERYL

"they'd had too many applicants"

(lying to her mum)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"well that's why you needed to go the day i told you"

(annoyed at Sheryl for not trying hard enough)

SHERYL

"hmm"

(giving a verbal response just to shut her mum up)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"you'll lose that tone, lady, all i ask is that you at least try to do somethin..."

(now getting angry however interupted by Sheryl)

SHERYL

"like what? prance around in a leotard?" 

(Snapping with anger and due to her intoxication at her mum)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"How dare you...I've given you everything and this is how you repay me? i gave you violin classes, ballet classes..."

(In disbelief at Sheryl's disrespect and interupted by sheryl)

SHERYL

"yes when i asked if i could do judo or play in a rock band"

(interrupting and finally starting to speak her mind to her mum)

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"someday you'll have to get your head out the clouds, otherwise you're going to..."

(stern and trying to be the dominant character)

SHERYL

"Never be good enough?"

(she says this interrupting before her mum has time to say amount to nothing)

Sheryl storms out of the house hurt and disappointed, she's had enough of the arguing. 

SHERYL'S MOTHER

"Sheryl Wait..."

(Her words have no impact on Sheryl as she still storms off)

Scene Three

Int Sheryl's house - during Twilight

Here we cut to a shot of Sheryl in her apartment she is drinking heavily and there is multiple bottles of alcohol strewn across her apartment. She is enraged, heavily intoxicated and very emotional.

SHERYL

"FUCK YOU"

(Slurring her words and tearing up photographs of her mum)

SHERYL

"I'M IN CHARGE NOW, I’M AN ADULT"

(Throwing family picture frames breaking them and still drinking more and more vodka)

Sheryl walks up to a mirror in her apartment with a picture of her mum that shes scrapped the eyes off of and proceeds to mimmic her mum very drunk which soon turns into a rant.

SHERYL

"Look at me, i'm so perfect, unlike my piece of shit daughter, go get a job, come visit, be more like fucking me"

(In an utter rage.)

Sheryl walks over to her bed and picks up her keyboard and begins to play as the camera zooms out.

(If needed i can write a song here that Sheryl could have written about her mum and how she needs to trust her and let her figure her own life out for the closing scene)