Foundation Portfolio - Treatment

Prepared by Triple J Studio and Jackson Doudney

19/05/17

It is proposed that the film will be of 1-1:50 minutes duration, and that it will be filmed at the following locations:

Garage/Mechanics Workshop

There is a used and worn down look to the area, as if it has been used and lived in for years which works very well with what we imagine with this dirty and grounded future. The claustrophobia created by this space as well is a huge help as when the robot attacks the cluttered space seems to trap them with this unstoppable force.

School Classrooms/Library

This represents a place of learning and knowledge, and we are trying to express the creativity and brain activity that young Jim is using. It also is a great way of presenting Jim as a very anti-social child, completely isolated in his thoughts and dreams. The open space and cleanliness shows the purity of his imagination, there is no dark foreshadowing or cluttering of his mind, there is only the vast creative hope he has.

This film will include the following conventions of thriller films:

Darker Lighting

This helps give a solemn tone which can convey foreboding, giving the tension more unease and a more gripping atmosphere. This can make audiences more interested in what is happening on screen by making them question everything on screen on a basic curiosity level. This is also a convention used in many thrillers to represent the dark nature of the content of what is happening on screen, giving us a pathway into the darkness of what is being created, a contrast to the hope of what the android could be.

Slow-Build Tension

Builds much more anxiety because you draw out the tension more and more, the audience forced to watch that little bit more of whether it will all work out for Jim or not. This is also a clear way of contrasting how the characters would feel at this point of time as well, they would feel like this chaos is happening in split seconds yet it is actually plummeting slowly, the decent into chaos taking its time. This is will be used through the technique of a slower editing pace.

Use Of A Gun As A Weapon

A very common symbol in the thriller genre, this is a symbol of danger but is being used to help the main character, ultimately being used as a weapon of momentary destruction for the robot. It is a contrast to the high-technology, symbolising how the old values and ways of life are not simply a disposable, out-of-date system, they hold value.

A Slower-Editing Pace

Unlike action thrillers, the editing of this film is planned to be a little bit slower than what is conventional in an action thriller, which is usually more fast-paced and contains quicker cuts to feel a more rush of action. In our film, there are a few quick cuts to help jump-start the tension and get the action moving, but it is mostly based on what goes on inside the frame and the use of composition to heighten tension. For example, in this shot to the right we use Jim in the foreground and the robot in the background, slowly walking forward and hard  to
see to indicate the build towards Jim's death.

After watching the following thriller films/thriller openings I have been influenced by:

The Bourne Identity

After studying this film, I saw the way that director Doug Liman used dark lighting to really help sell the uncertainty and mystery of the origins of Bourne, managing to turn the ocean into an almost claustrophobic space. We have incorporated this palette of dark lighting to help emphasise the claustrophobic atmosphere of the garage. There are moments to breath in The Bourne Identity such as when he visits Marie at the end where she is hiring out motorbikes for a living. We have this space at the beginning of our short, a dreaminess helping to elevate Jim's naivety, the reality hitting two thirds into the short.

Vertigo

The way this opening incorporates the seamless transitions from the face to the inside of the eye did help to inspire the opening credits of our short, where the camera transitions from the Triple J Productions logo to the piece of paper then up to young Jim. This use of presenting the main character without actually showing him is also an idea which is used in Vertigo, the use of spirals presenting the main character's biggest weakness immediately, and we do this through showing young Jim's plans on pieces of paper.

Problems Encountered:

-The stunts involved with Joseph being thrown against the wall. We will solve this by using the           metal  shelves as a way of stopping the audience the audience from seeing the full impact.
-Stunts involving Jordan Parratt being thrown around and beaten up. We will solve this by having the   actual impact of Jordan hitting the ground being slightly distorted and out of focus and out of shot   slightly.
-Small area to film in, so we will have to make use of the all the space carefully.
-Operating the steadicam will need to be precise with such little space. We will solve this by                 alternating between the steadicam and the shoulder mount to get certain shots.

The film will include the following:

1) Characters:

-Jim:
The main character and driving force of the film; he desires to create a groundbreaking invention that will forever change the world, but is over hasty; he symbolises a warning to the dreamers and entrepreneurs of our time: create, but always be cautious, because you could be creating the next world-changing invention for good or bad.


-Kodie:
Jim's assistant who is the robot's first yet certainly not last victim; wants to help Jim create this game-changer of an invention; he is just another victim of Jim's drive and creative mind; he symbolises the people that can be affected by the drive and determination of the inventors of today.


-Android:
The masterpiece of Jim's determination; is simply doing what his virus-filled programming is making him do; it symbolises today's technologies and its dangers; the virus symbolises that little bit of motive or wiring that can completely change technology's function.

2) Ideology:

-Our overall message of the short is basically a warning for any sort of inventive project: be careful,   you can either create your dream or a nightmare.
-The robot represents all the creative advancements which have happened in recent years and soon to   come.

3) Mood and Tone:

The overall tone of the short is quite dark, with hope being slashed and wiped away mid-way through. This can be associated with a lot of action thrillers where the opening scene sets up the danger for the rest of the film.

4) Camera Shots, Movement/Lighting/Angles:

-Near-to-none wide shots, mostly medium-wide to close-up
-Very few completely still shots, mostly movement throughout the   shots
-Lighting of the shots is quite dark, with darks being crushed and   people illuminated by very specific   light sources

5) Themes and Motifs:

-The gun is a symbol of protection, but it is fighting against violence
 which is its nature, it could be   taken as a symbol of the quote,
 "Death begets death begets death etc".
-A theme, although subtle, is selfishness, which is shown through   the character of Jim. He presents   this theme in the way he strives   for his technological advancements without thinking about the         others  who could be in harm's way.
-How technology can harm os instead of help, it can be something   as small as a virus that can ultimately wipe out those who interact   with technology.

6) Narrative:

An inventor full of dreams and creativity finally creates his biggest dream: a fully functional android. But a virus floods its servers, and it turns on both him and his assistant, killing them and the inventor's dream of a better future.

7) Sound and Music:

-I want most of the audio in this short to be diegetic, with the "soundtrack" a throbbing bass in the   background
-There is a slight chance of there being non-diegetic audio, such as some music to help ramp up the   tension or audio-ended up using Chromatics' Tick Of The Clock as our main source of tension-   building audio

8) Use of Credits and Logos:

The opening logo is what is going to transition us into young Jim's world, and the credits are going to help show us his inventive abilities as we see his plans for the future. The final end logo with the Techno Terror expresses the journey to the terror of technology ruining our species.

9) Editing:

It is going to vary in parts, whereas the building to the robot's attack is slow-paced, the actual attack is fast-paced. There is a continual build towards the resolution, with the use of a fade in-and-out of black representing the character's POV, expressing his struggle to focus on the future which he envisioned, he has finally woken up to the awful reality that this world will never exist.

Summary:

Beginning

Young Jim is dreaming about his future, and we see Jim and Kodie uploading files for the robot.

Middle:

The robot beats Jim into a bloody pulp, but Jim manages to destroy the computer which keeps the robot going.

End:

The robot lies on the floor, Jim and the assistant dead, but it gets back up, finishes the monologue it started at the beginning of the short and walks away.

Conflict/Tension in the Sequence:

-The robot attacks the assistant after a virus infiltrates its system, and is advancing towards Jim
-It is ironic how when the robot goes haywire and kills the assistant that Jim has been so obsessed   about this project, yet he doesn't realise what is happening when it is advancing to attack him

Further Notes:

-This robot is a constant threat to human life, and the rest of the film would follow a human being   trying to do everything in his power to stop this android from wiping out society.