Developed story and meeting with Directors and DOP #12
Concept/Synopsis
A man, lost in a dark void and illuminated by a spotlight, is losing his memories. He enters his mind and sees a figure stealing and covering things up. He manages to get rid of the shadowed figure temporarily and looks through his mind at his fragmented memories. Once he has organised things to a certain degree, he leaves; now satisfied because has a key to the door. However, he forgets to lock it and the figure re-enters his mind as he walks back to reality.
Story
We see a door left ajar; a spill of lamp light pouring out from the inside of a house. The light is temporarily blocked by the passing of a shadowed figure who is clearly inside the house. He opens a box that lies in the corner of the room. Frantically and blindly, he pulls out the contents, as his vision is distorted due to the lack of light; the only light being from a tall lamp in the corner. We catch a glimpse of his body; dark, slender and empty. A sinister looking character with no real features to tell us otherwise. As the figure closes the box, we are introduced to our protagonist in a different location. Within a void of darkness, a spotlight illuminates the face of an older looking man; a scar across his shaven head. He holds his hand up to block the bright light and we see a hospital bracelet around his wrist; his name blurred out. We enter back with the figure in the house, who we see uncover white sheets and start draping the furniture with them. He’s covering furniture up and carelessly so. Our protagonist at this point in time, is still outside under the spotlight. He places his head in his hands, confused as to where he is. As he does this, festoon lights turn on to reveal his surroundings and a warm glow from the house will hit the side of face. He stands by a bench, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He notices a string of these lights leading towards the mysterious light so he follows. Trailing his hand along them, he soon reaches the house; light pouring out of the window. He notices the door left ajar but thinks nothing of it. Wiping away the condensation on the window however, he reveals the figure inside this darkened room. We see this shadowed man taking no care while displacing things in the house and taking things for himself. The man outside doesn’t know who he is but knows that he should not be there. He bangs on the window in an effort to scare the figure away. We see a shadow scurry away and realise he’s gone when the man comes to enter the house. Once inside, he sees a blanket of festoon lights above him that turn on as he enters; illuminating the room and suggesting an exchange in energy. He notices objects scattered across the floor that the shadowed figure has carelessly thrown around. He picks up a photo that he vaguely recognises. He puts it in his pocket and explores the rest of the room. He sees the covered furniture and tries to take the sheets off. Failing the first time, he tries again and we see the shadowed figure re-appear in the window behind him; standing there watching, waiting. The man doesn’t notice this. He finally manages to pull the sheet off to reveal an old armchair. He sits on it, worn out, taking in the rest of the room. This place is familiar to the man but he can’t fully understand why. There’s a clock on the wall with no hands but checks it anyway, in an effort to bring a sense of time to this world. He notices a box in the corner of the room and walks towards it; the lid slightly open. He feels around inside. The box is empty apart from a single key that he pulls out. The shadowed figure has taken everything else. The man makes the connection between the key and the door to this house. He immediately walks over to test the lock, making sure no figure can make its way back into this space. He clicks it in the door and realises it works. Satisfied, he turns away from the door, checks the clock again; time still empty. He approaches a wall of fragmented and empty frames. He pulls out the photograph he earlier placed in his pocket and, holding it up to the wall, realises it’s the perfect fit for one of the empty frames. He slips it in and admires his wall of fragmented memories. He turns to the door, unlocks it and steps out where the figure is still standing by the window, looking in. The man is oblivious to his presence. He shuts the door, holding the key in his hand and turns around believing he has locked it. Clearly lost in thought, he has not. As the man walks away, content that this house is now safe, we see the shadow enter and hear the closing of the door once again. We see from the man’s face that he’s heard it to. There’s nothing he can do. This figure will never stop coming back.
We see a figure in the set taking things from a box (low-angle shot). (the hanging lights are off)
CUT TO-
Man is on a bench (because he’s lost - he’s losing his memories/amnesia. We can make this clear through what he’s wearing i.e. pyjama pants and slippers, hospital band around his wrist).
He is clearly panicking and puts his head in his hands.
CUT BACK TO-
The inside of the set where the figure is now spreading a white sheet in the air and draping it across a piece of furniture.
CUT BACK TO-
Man is crouched on the bench clearly distressed. A trail of festoon lights now turn on above him. He brings his hands away from his face and looks up at the lights in wonder. He then stands up and begins to follow the lights away from the bench. (We will track him here to the set as it’s a short distance). As the man gets closer to the set the light from the window will appear on his face, the camera will then move to an over the shoulder shot where we can see through the window. We will see the shadow of the figure causing chaos in the room, when the man sees this he will bang on the window angrily. The shadow then quickly scatters across the room then disappears.
The man will then open the door, enter the room (the hanging lights will turn on) and look on the floor where post-it notes and pieces of paper are scattered. He sees a photo frame faced upside down on the floor and bends to pick it up as he does the back comes off and the photo falls out which he then picks up. The man turns it around and sees a family picture of a woman, man, two little girls and a dog - the man's face has light going through it (if we can do this - EXPERIMENT - pin hole photos look at Amy Friend). Man turns to take in the rest of the set, he notices the draped over furniture and slides the photo he is holding into his pocket. He tries to uncover the blanket, struggles and fails. He tries again with more gusto (here the shot changes from behind him, to him facing the camera and we can see the window in the background). At the window the same figure from before stands watching him (waiting for him to leave so he can recover the 'memories'). After struggling and uncovering an arm chair he decides to sit on it and almost gives up, but he then starts looking at the rest of the room in front of him. He notices a box slightly ajar and gets up putting both his hands on the side of the armchair and walks over it. The box looks empty at first (we presume the man has stolen everything) the man will feel around inside the box and find a key against one of the corners. He will bring the key close to his face to inspect and then turn to the door and lock it, leaving the key in the lock. Then the man will notice a collection of frames on the wall - some will be empty, some will have photos in them but the photos will be fragmented and things will be cut out of them such as the location or the person he was with. The man will reach into his pocket and retrieve the photo from earlier, he will hold it up to an empty frame and realise it’s the perfect fit. He will then slip it into the frame and take a couple of steps back to admire all the photos on the wall. After a moment he will then turn to the door, unlock it and exit the set closing the door behind him. He will stand at the door for a moment with the key in his hand as if he’s about to lock it. The figure is still standing at the window right beside the man looking in - but the man will not notice this. The man pauses before slipping the key into his pocket (thinking he’s locked it). He begins to follow the festoon lights back to the bench. In the background we see the figure move from the window and enter the room through the door OR we just hear the door slam and we don’t see the figure enter. When this happens the man still walking away, pauses for a second and frowns like a thought has just crossed his mind. He then brushes it off and continues walking back to the bench.
Ideas for set
Post-it notes saying things such as ‘Sarah coming over at 4’, ‘Remember dinner is in the fridge’ or ‘Appointment at 1’. This will show that he has a family that cares for him and helps him as he can’t remember these things on his own.
Draped over furniture - the figure will be responsible for covering up these as it’s like a personification of whatever is taking the man’s memories.
Picture frames on the wall - there will be a collection of these, some empty and some with photos. Whatever photos are left will be fragmented (look at Amy Friend for inspiration)
Festoon lights leading to the house.
Hanging lights - as discussed before but festoon lights instead of single bulbs as this is more feasible.
I still like the idea of plants with roots on the window sill - maybe some could be alive some could be dead.
Box or trunk or suitcase will be in the corner of the room rather than the middle.
Clock with no hands.
Hospital band with blurred out name.
Slippers and robe or jacket replicated in the room (we’d have to get two of everything).
Discussing ideas for the new story with Rodrigo, Leah, Victoria and Kaitlan
During this meeting, Rodrigo suggested Victoria took on the director role as she has been more involved in developing the narrative. Our director is now Victoria.
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