Guardian
Logline:
A mythical guardian takes care of a young girl after a loss changes her perspective on the worldConcept:
-Based on the elements of the poem Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou: "All alone at night" and "If I'm afraid at all, It's only in my dreams" (Angelou, 1993).
-A young girl experiences a loss and has a dream/nightmare about wandering through a forest alone at night.
-She sees things that she questions -- are they real or just her imagination? Do they signify a part of a bigger problem that she is experiencing or has created?
-She has to learn to let go, allowing her to wake up.
-A necklace which is connected to who she has lost glows -- it is the "magic charm" which helps her change -- it is the light in the darkness which makes her realise she can keep the darkness at bay.
-This light makes up a guardian character (the necklace completely transforms into them); a mythical being which guides her and takes care of her.
-Similar to the idea of a guardian in A Monster Calls (2016) and the mythical beings in Guillermo del Toro's films such as Pan's Labyrinth (2006).
-Overtonal montage with fast cuts and tense music -- but this often cuts to silence before building to increase audience's expectations that something is about to happen.
-A young girl experiences a loss and has a dream/nightmare about wandering through a forest alone at night.
-She sees things that she questions -- are they real or just her imagination? Do they signify a part of a bigger problem that she is experiencing or has created?
-She has to learn to let go, allowing her to wake up.
-A necklace which is connected to who she has lost glows -- it is the "magic charm" which helps her change -- it is the light in the darkness which makes her realise she can keep the darkness at bay.
-This light makes up a guardian character (the necklace completely transforms into them); a mythical being which guides her and takes care of her.
-Similar to the idea of a guardian in A Monster Calls (2016) and the mythical beings in Guillermo del Toro's films such as Pan's Labyrinth (2006).
-Overtonal montage with fast cuts and tense music -- but this often cuts to silence before building to increase audience's expectations that something is about to happen.
Locations:
-Forest
Characters:
-Young girl
-Guardian
-Guardian
Synopsis:
Over black: silence until something starts to glow. A necklace around the neck of a young woman. It illuminates her face. She looks frightened, looking around, clearly not knowing where she is.
We hear creaking behind her -- a tree appears in the back of the frame. But it has a face, eyebrows furrowed, barring fangs. The young woman notices and jumps. It disappears as soon as she reacts.
She finds herself in a forest. We follow her as she walks around. It seems safe, just a forest after dark, until something roars, bending tree branches and shaking the ground with the vibration.
The young woman doesn't know what to do. She tries to find somewhere to hide. But walking through the trees she sees they all have faces. Their branches lunge out to grab her. She begins to run.
Yet it's so dark, she almost runs into a tree. It's much bigger than the others. Its branches begin to move, as it turns to face her. Her necklace starts glowing more brightly.
This tree also has a face. But it's friendly. It stands, much taller than the young woman and surveys the surrounding forest. All the other trees seem to shrink under its shadow.
It bends down to the young woman. She backs off, but it reaches out a hand to her. Curious, she goes and stands on its hand, so it lifts her up to its face.
They stare each other down for a minute. It's as if the rest of the forest is holding its breath.
Suddenly, the young woman is back on the forest floor. The ground tilts and the trees sway. The big guardian tree is running after her. She begins to run. Her necklace glows and the flash of light gets so. strong that it overpowers everything. It fills the whole frame.
Cut back to the young woman standing on the tree guardian's hand. She gets it to put her back on the floor.
She begins looking for a way out, trying to wake herself up. She comes across a stream, and the water rushes at her in an angry wave, rain comes down and seems to burn her, the ground turns rocky so she slips and slides across the wet, uneven surface.
She reaches a low point, sitting alone, looking at her necklace. It glows the more she holds on and looks at it. The light fills the frame again, and the guardian reappears.
The young woman is upset about the loss of her necklace, and thinking the guardian took it, tries to reach its hands to get it back.
But, it sweeps one hand over the top of the forest, and the colours become less faded. Glowing orbs fill the air, creating bright lights to guide the young woman.
She follows the guardian as it walks away, still pursing the necklace. It takes her to a glade, where it sits down and closes it eyes, as if meditating. It appears to have reached peace.
Even though the young woman yells at it, it doesn't respond. Time-lapse of her not knowing what to do in the glade. We see her pacing, crying, yelling. Until she realises she can't do anything.
She sits next to the guardian, shielded in the glade by the trees. Many of their faces now smile at her. She also closes her eyes, and peace passes over her face.
Light fills the screen and the image of the young woman washes away.
They stare each other down for a minute. It's as if the rest of the forest is holding its breath.
Suddenly, the young woman is back on the forest floor. The ground tilts and the trees sway. The big guardian tree is running after her. She begins to run. Her necklace glows and the flash of light gets so. strong that it overpowers everything. It fills the whole frame.
Cut back to the young woman standing on the tree guardian's hand. She gets it to put her back on the floor.
She begins looking for a way out, trying to wake herself up. She comes across a stream, and the water rushes at her in an angry wave, rain comes down and seems to burn her, the ground turns rocky so she slips and slides across the wet, uneven surface.
She reaches a low point, sitting alone, looking at her necklace. It glows the more she holds on and looks at it. The light fills the frame again, and the guardian reappears.
The young woman is upset about the loss of her necklace, and thinking the guardian took it, tries to reach its hands to get it back.
But, it sweeps one hand over the top of the forest, and the colours become less faded. Glowing orbs fill the air, creating bright lights to guide the young woman.
She follows the guardian as it walks away, still pursing the necklace. It takes her to a glade, where it sits down and closes it eyes, as if meditating. It appears to have reached peace.
Even though the young woman yells at it, it doesn't respond. Time-lapse of her not knowing what to do in the glade. We see her pacing, crying, yelling. Until she realises she can't do anything.
She sits next to the guardian, shielded in the glade by the trees. Many of their faces now smile at her. She also closes her eyes, and peace passes over her face.
Light fills the screen and the image of the young woman washes away.
Pros and cons:
- Pros: Setting is interesting and would be possible to get access to since there are many forests nearby; could experiment with light and colour to show emotions such as with the necklace and the shots at the beginning and end which could be contrastingly dark and light; overtonal montage which could use shots which tilt and spin, immersing the audience in the film and story more
- Cons: A lot of CGI, especially for the monster; it would be difficult to figure out how to get a shot from a height for when the monster picks the character up (possible with a green screen?); the poem deals with a strong woman narrator who has a lot of agency and because the woman in this story solely follows the guardian it could be argued she doesn't have much agency -- she can't do anything for herself but is at the guardian's mercy; would have to find a forest with a tree which is much bigger than the others, which could be possible, but bigger trees usually grow together, away from smaller trees
Conscience
Logline:
A worried student gets guidance from her conscience -- in the form of a lively cartoon characterConcept:
-Similar to Lizzie McGuire (2001-2004), although both characters appear in the same scenes.-Based on the concept of having a "magic charm" (Angelou, 1993) to overcome fears from Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou.
-The cartoon character guides the student through her fear, helping her to overcome it step-by-step. We see them go through the process together, until the student doesn't need the cartoon character anymore.
-She realises that the cartoon is an embodiment of her own positivity, confidence, and resilience -- she can also adopt this outlook if only she takes the steps to.
Locations:
-School
-Home office
-Home office
Characters:
-Student
-Cartoon character which is the embodiment of the positive aspects of her personality
-Cartoon character which is the embodiment of the positive aspects of her personality
Synopsis:
A young girl sitting at a desk in a classroom. She appears to be stuck in her own head. The teacher breaks her train of thought, asking her a question. But the student gets nervous and can't answer. She doesn't believe she has the knowledge.
We see her at home, trying to do homework. She keeps writing and crossing lines and words out, scrunching up paper, pacing around the room. She sits in her chair, fed up, close to giving up.
Until a cartoon character appears. She walks into the frame -- the student in cartoon form -- making the student jump. The student tries to swat the cartoon away with her book, until she realises it means no harm.
The cartoon asks the student what she is so afraid of. The student can't give her an answer.
The next day at school. The student sits alone in the library, trying to work, but she still keeps panicking. The cartoon comes to look at her work, even though the student tries not to let her see it.
The cartoon gives the student help with her work by making her laugh about it. She uses books from the shelves to help confront her problems.
Montage of the student spending time with the cartoon. They study in the library together, do homework, the cartoon making the student take regular breaks/getting her lunch.
The student sits alone in the canteen. She looks hopefully at the other kids. The cartoon tries to encourage her to go over and talk to them, but the student is afraid to. She leaves without saying anything.
In class, the student gets feedback on the work she was able to complete from her teacher. The teacher doesn't like it as much as the student. But instead of being nerved about it, the student gives her reasons for why she completed the work like she did to her teacher. Her teacher is impressed at her new confidence.
The student still has to redo the work. She feels negative about it, so tries to get out of doing it. But the cartoon character won't let her.
They have an argument and the cartoon disappears. The student is now alone again. After getting used to the company of the cartoon, she realises she is lonely without it.
In the canteen the next day, the student asks some of the other kids if she can sit with them. She joins them, and begins to make friends.
Montage of the student doing the activities she had done with the cartoon with her new friends: studying, relaxing, having lunch.
The cartoon reappears when the student is alone at home that night. The student has just finished redoing her work and thinks her teacher was right -- it is better now because she redid it.
The student wants the cartoon to return. But the cartoon can see she doesn't need her anymore. She is her, just the positive parts. And the student has begun to adopt these traits more.
If only she continues to have a positive outlook like this, she begins to see that positive things, such as her making friends and overcoming her loneliness, and her completing the work and overcoming her fear of possible failure.
The cartoon character walks out of the frame, as the student's friends come to get her.
Pros and cons:
- Pros: Interesting idea; possibility to learn animation and create two somewhat opposing characters who fight both internal (worry, fear, loneliness, insecurity) and external conflicts (teacher, work, other students, each other)
- Cons: Too far from the poem; could use more techniques like types of montage and more interesting shots such as canting, shadows, and other effects; a lot of locations and extras which could be hard to get access to, especially since a main location is a school classroom and canteen
Fear Itself
Logline:
A woman must overcome her fear of change when her fear manifests itself as a shadowy figure
Concept:
-Also influenced by Maya Angelou's idea of having a "magic charm" to overcome fear, as well elements of the poem: "Shadows on the wall; Noises down the hall", "Strangers in the dark", and "Tough guys fight; All alone at night" (Angelou, 1993).
-A young woman moves house after losing everything to start again. But the house is old and run-down since it is all she can afford.
-She has to learn to make do and stand on her own, as well as adjust to her new surroundings.
-A young woman moves house after losing everything to start again. But the house is old and run-down since it is all she can afford.
-She has to learn to make do and stand on her own, as well as adjust to her new surroundings.
Locations:
-Empty house
Characters:
-Young woman
-Shadow
-Shadow
Synopsis:
A taxi outside of an old, run-down, rickety wooden house. It pulls away to reveal a young woman on the pavement, surrounded by suitcases. She looks at the house like it's the last place she wants to be.
She dumps her stuff in the front hallway. The vibration of the heavy weight hitting the floor makes a picture fall off the wall, creating a large, swirling dust cloud.
The dust clears as we cut to her trying to haul her stuff up the stairs. She's almost made it to the top, and is about to breath a sigh of relief when her foot goes straight through one of the steps.
Having made it up the stairs, we see the woman drag herself through the doorway into one of the upstairs bedrooms. She's cautious now -- expecting the doorway to crumble around her ankles or fall on her head.
The woman surveys the room. The only furniture is a moth-eaten sofa. There is no carpet and the walls are unpainted, large holes in places.
Outside again, but by the light time has passed. The woman drags and pushes a box along the pavement. She looks tired, yet determined.
She blows up an inflatable mattress in the upstairs room. Montage/time-lapse of this -- she doesn't appear to be able to keep it inflated. She discovers there's a hole in one of the sides.
The woman settles down on the mattress for the night, the side enclosed in a mass of duct tape. She tries to sleep but can't. Shouts echo from outside -- some guys arguing with each other -- and then a sound that sounds suspiciously like gunfire.
She sits up and looks around, on alert. But on the wall next to her she notices the shadow there is not only hers. A clawed being has its talons outstretched to get her. She rubs her eyes, sure she's hallucinating.
It pounces, causing her to get up, and run away from the wall. The noise outside ceases. The shadow follows her, getting longer and more defined as it looms over her on the ceiling. Shadows pass over her, and just as we think she's about to be swallowed by darkness...
The woman wakes up in daylight, sunlight hitting her eyes. She looks at the walls, the ceiling. There's nothing there.
Downstairs she finds someone has smashed one of the windows in. She cautiously checks the rest of the house to make sure no intruder is still about. But they obviously left quickly when they found there was nothing worth stealing -- nothing to steal at all.
The woman comes back with some replacement glass and fits it in the window. It's dark by the time she's finished. She goes into the house as fast as as possible, making sure the door is locked, bolted shut.
She's asleep when she hears glass breaking downstairs. The shadow looms over her, even bigger and blacker this time. The woman is terrified.
It sounds as if someone is climbing the stairs. She hears a yell as they stick their foot through the one which is missing.
The shadow follows her as she goes out to see if the stranger is still stuck. By the time she gets there, the front door is wide and the sound of footsteps flies down the front path.
The woman closes the front door, still pursued by the shadow. When she tries to go back up the stairs, it pushes her, and they fight. The shadow wins, keeping guard at the bottom step.
The next day. The woman is exhausted and appears to have had enough. She's armed with several cans of paint -- half full, bargain stickers stuck to their lids -- and rollers being held together by willpower.
We watch the house transform as the woman decorates, reinforcing the windows and doors, as well as painting the walls and floors.
It's dark by the time she gets to the upstairs bedroom. The shadow is back and waiting, arms crossed, excited for another fight. But the woman isn't willing to compete. She ignores it, concentrating on painting.
The shadow swoops down at the woman, trying to distract her. But when its arm touches the paint it gets stuck, and pulling it out it finds its arm has completely disappeared. It becomes afraid.
The woman sees this and begins going after the shadow with the paint (yellow paint to emphasise the positivity needed to overcome fear?). She catches it, and paints over it, making it dissolve into nothing.
Guys shout outside again, fighting. But, this time, the woman doesn't react this time. She just continues with her painting.
She dumps her stuff in the front hallway. The vibration of the heavy weight hitting the floor makes a picture fall off the wall, creating a large, swirling dust cloud.
The dust clears as we cut to her trying to haul her stuff up the stairs. She's almost made it to the top, and is about to breath a sigh of relief when her foot goes straight through one of the steps.
Having made it up the stairs, we see the woman drag herself through the doorway into one of the upstairs bedrooms. She's cautious now -- expecting the doorway to crumble around her ankles or fall on her head.
The woman surveys the room. The only furniture is a moth-eaten sofa. There is no carpet and the walls are unpainted, large holes in places.
Outside again, but by the light time has passed. The woman drags and pushes a box along the pavement. She looks tired, yet determined.
She blows up an inflatable mattress in the upstairs room. Montage/time-lapse of this -- she doesn't appear to be able to keep it inflated. She discovers there's a hole in one of the sides.
The woman settles down on the mattress for the night, the side enclosed in a mass of duct tape. She tries to sleep but can't. Shouts echo from outside -- some guys arguing with each other -- and then a sound that sounds suspiciously like gunfire.
She sits up and looks around, on alert. But on the wall next to her she notices the shadow there is not only hers. A clawed being has its talons outstretched to get her. She rubs her eyes, sure she's hallucinating.
It pounces, causing her to get up, and run away from the wall. The noise outside ceases. The shadow follows her, getting longer and more defined as it looms over her on the ceiling. Shadows pass over her, and just as we think she's about to be swallowed by darkness...
The woman wakes up in daylight, sunlight hitting her eyes. She looks at the walls, the ceiling. There's nothing there.
Downstairs she finds someone has smashed one of the windows in. She cautiously checks the rest of the house to make sure no intruder is still about. But they obviously left quickly when they found there was nothing worth stealing -- nothing to steal at all.
The woman comes back with some replacement glass and fits it in the window. It's dark by the time she's finished. She goes into the house as fast as as possible, making sure the door is locked, bolted shut.
She's asleep when she hears glass breaking downstairs. The shadow looms over her, even bigger and blacker this time. The woman is terrified.
It sounds as if someone is climbing the stairs. She hears a yell as they stick their foot through the one which is missing.
The shadow follows her as she goes out to see if the stranger is still stuck. By the time she gets there, the front door is wide and the sound of footsteps flies down the front path.
The woman closes the front door, still pursued by the shadow. When she tries to go back up the stairs, it pushes her, and they fight. The shadow wins, keeping guard at the bottom step.
The next day. The woman is exhausted and appears to have had enough. She's armed with several cans of paint -- half full, bargain stickers stuck to their lids -- and rollers being held together by willpower.
We watch the house transform as the woman decorates, reinforcing the windows and doors, as well as painting the walls and floors.
It's dark by the time she gets to the upstairs bedroom. The shadow is back and waiting, arms crossed, excited for another fight. But the woman isn't willing to compete. She ignores it, concentrating on painting.
The shadow swoops down at the woman, trying to distract her. But when its arm touches the paint it gets stuck, and pulling it out it finds its arm has completely disappeared. It becomes afraid.
The woman sees this and begins going after the shadow with the paint (yellow paint to emphasise the positivity needed to overcome fear?). She catches it, and paints over it, making it dissolve into nothing.
Guys shout outside again, fighting. But, this time, the woman doesn't react this time. She just continues with her painting.
Pros and cons:
- Pros: Similar to the poem; could experiment with shadows, light and colour to show emotion; interesting sound design would be possible
- Cons: would need an entirely empty house which we could decorate; it could be clearer that what the woman fears is change, maybe by using flashbacks of her old life in contrast to her new surroundings; the shadow could do more -- for example, in a workshop film I made which was similar to this, the shadow clearly represents a fear of an essay deadline since it throws the paper the main character has previously scrunched up back at them
AGAIN
Logline:
A physics student must use her knowledge to overcome her fear of a deadline
Concept:
-The little girl from Life Doesn't Frighten Me grown up and facing a deadline for a student paper.
-But she's afraid and has to find a way to overcome this so she can complete the work in time.
-We see the process she goes through, shown by overtonal montages.
-But she's afraid and has to find a way to overcome this so she can complete the work in time.
-We see the process she goes through, shown by overtonal montages.
Locations:
-Home office-Forest/beach?
Characters:
-Physics student
Synopsis:
Over black: Heavy breathing and running footsteps. A young girl comes into the frame, terrified of what is pursuing her. We can hear roaring.
This intercuts with an image of a clock, washed in red, and ticking. The sounds make a rhythm, which motivates the cuts.
This gets faster and faster, until the red washes out of the clock. We pan out from the clock, to see the young girl lying on the floor of her home office.
She stares at the ceiling, where stars are swirling. They each spin, faster and faster, until the stars superimpose on the young girl's face. The spinning ceases when she sits up.
We push in on a wall calendar, one of the days defined by capital red letters spelling 'deadline'. The character goes over and counts the days until deadline. She tries not to panic about how little days are left.
She heads over to her desk. We see elements of the room as she crosses over there, hinting at her being a physics student.
She sits at the desk. We see a montage of her trying to write and getting frustrated. She glances at the window, hearing noise in her head of a busy city. This seems to frighten her.
The image becomes distorted, dissolving to a nightmare sequence. The character's hands are tied, so she can't write. There are labels on her forehead which state negative attributes. The labels build up.
The character jolts awake. She doesn't know what to do. But she notices a rainbow coming out of a refraction prism on her desk. She decides she needs to get out and face her fears.
Outside sequence: The character uses her knowledge to overcome her fear of the deadline. We see her exploring a forest or beach, measuring the motion and scale of trees, waves. The shots emphasise the physics of the environments.
Character back at her desk. She finishes the paper and leaves with it. Time passes. She comes back later, pleased. But she's still got the paper.
When she puts it on the desk, we see it has a failing grade on it, and feedback stating she has to write it again. But she's unfazed. She sticks another label on her head: "Powerful".
Sequence of her getting ready to tackle re-writing the paper. The last shot is of a comma at the end of the first sentence she is rewriting -- is it ever really over?
Pros and cons:
- Pros: Close to the poem, but far enough to be its own interpretation; the main character is a strong woman with agency -- feasible she is the narrator from the poem grown up; possible to experiment with the shots, light and colour since the story is centred around physics so the the physicality of these elements can be emphasised to convey this theme; variety of montages; influenced by many other directors from different eras (for example, the spinning shot is a trope used by the director of Whiplash and La La Land Damien Chazelle)
- Cons: Work out where the "outside sequence" would be -- it needs to relate directly to the character's struggle so sending her to a forest or beach may seem too random
Because of how the pros outweighed the cons so much with this idea, and I liked it so much, I decided to use it as the final idea for the film. [Film proposal]
Comments
Post a Comment