LO3: Treatment and Synopsis

 LO3: Treatment and Synopsis

 Unit 5: Treatment 

My product is a 15 minute long TV show extract.

My TV show extract will be a fictional action/ crime piece. It will draw inspiration from the Power and Power Book 2: Ghost franchises. In these the audience follow numerous crime families in there rise and maintenance to and of power. They show the ins and outs of their drug business and how they adapt to overcome adversities. I wish to create a product that draws inspiration from this. My product will be based in Sheffield/ South Yorkshire. I want my film to follow teenagers involved in the UK drug game. My main aim for this product is to have it emulate the grittiness and rawness of Warp Film's This is England; it will be ruthless and if you aren't constantly evolving and learning other people will overtake you and possibly 'take you out' (murder you). My product won't exactly glamourise this life as the group/ person it follows will be put in extreme life and death situations however ultimately the protagonist will always win the situations and therefore it come become glamorous. I want my short film to reinforce the idea that in the life the protagonists are living you will always either die or get arrested. 

There will not be too much backstory to the characters as due to the 15 minute time limit I would run out of time if I went into detail on everyone's backstory. My product will have the audience 'thrown into the deep end' and will simply join the protagonists mid way through their journey to the top. 

After watching certain short films also doing this I find they take too long building up to the 'interesting' scenes. Usually it will take 5-10 minutes of fairly boring dialogue before any action occurs. I will counter this however by having my opening scene full of action and instantly grabbing the audiences attention. 

The overall storyline will be as such:

The short film will revolve around a group of 5-6 males in a group selling drugs. The story will however focus mainly on the leader and his second in command. It will revolve around the leaders need for power and money and show his mind being corrupted a long the way. The leader will become erratic and naive causing the second in command to become resentful towards him as he is slowly becoming a liability to their business and lives. Over time the second in command will begin to realise he is smarter and more suited to being the leader of the group and will plan on becoming the leader.

The film will start with the group of males getting ready to take out a rival group. This will subsequently give them more 'turf' to sell their drugs and take out the competition meaning they have less other groups to worry about. The group will break into the rival groups 'hideout'. The group will originally believe they will simply be robbing and beating up the rival group causing them to move somewhere else. It will quickly take a turn for the worst however as the leader has possession of a gun for the first time causing him to go power mad. He will kill a member of the rival group in cold blood almost immediately to gain control of a situation that in reality they already had control of. He will then cold heartedly kill the leader of the rival group while he begs for his life. Just showing how power crazy he is going already. The second in command will therefore become annoyed by these actions as he knows they will have consequences, whether that is the police getting involved, a rival group attacking them in retaliation or the supplier attacking them because they eliminated the people selling his drugs. These are things that the leader clearly does not think of or does not care about and this causes a power struggle between the second in command and the leader as they have two different visions. 

The leader and second in command several days after their 'incident' will go to collect their 're-up' (re-supply of drugs). They will then begin dropping the drugs off to their 'runners' (lower level drug dealers who sell the drugs they are given). The final runner they reach won't have all the money ready from the last drop off. Instead of the leader reasoning with him, he will murder him in cold blood as well. Therefore creating another liability for the group as this is another dead person that too could come with serious consequences. The two will carry on with their business however as the second in command currently hasn't found a way to take over the leader and as of right now he can not afford to have another dead person come out of the situation. 

Several days later from third person killed the two will be walking down the street in the afternoon (where they are heading will not be specified). A car will pull up next to them at high speed. Several men with masks on will jump out of the car and a fight will break out causing the leader to be knocked out first shortly followed by the second in command however he will put up a better fight than the leader. The two will then be kidnapped and taken to an undisclosed location in which they will meet the rival group that they 'took out's' supplier. He will will first try to intimidate them and then explain that now he has no one to sell his drugs to they have two choices. They either sell his drugs and make up for their indiscretions or he kills them both there and then. The two will reluctantly agree and the supplier will explain that in return for their lives and working for him they must kill their current supplier and send proof within the week otherwise he will track them down and kill them. They will then be blindfolded and thrown onto the street.

The leader will immediately begin planning how to get to this 'new supplier' and kill him as in his mind he will never work with someone that threatened to kill him. To the second in command however this is an opportunity. In his mind it is the leaders fault all of this is occurring and he can kill two birds with one stone. He can kill the leader and convince the new supplier that he has righted the past in discretions while also becoming the new leader and working with this new supplier who can supply them with more drugs than ever before. 

Due to only having 15 minutes to tell this story I have chosen to create an extract of a TV show. This means while the story has been written it is likely the ending will not be shown as there will not be enough time. I plan to have the extract end after the suppler blackmailing them has listed his demands as I believe that will be a good place for the extract to end and I should have enough time to fit everything into a 15 minute audio visual product. 

Required Crew:

For this project I would need:

- A director.

- A Script Writer.

- A DP (Director of Photography).

- A Camera Operator.

Required Equipment:

- Camera.

- Lights.

- Props - Fake: Guns, Drugs?, Weapons.

- Stereotypical 'gangster' clothing for actors.

- Computer with premier and after effects.

 Unit 5: Synopsis

Scene 1:

Fade from black. The first shot will be a group of 5-6 males stood in a room getting ready to attack a rival group. It will start with a wide angle shot showing all of the group members. It will then begin cutting to close ups of the males gathering their weapons and putting masks on. Music will be playing in the background. To begin with it will be diegetic sound meaning it will sound low quality as it shows that the group are listening to the music. When the close up shots begin the music will grow louder and while still being diegetic sound it will be much clearer and better quality as it will be music added in post production. While this is occurring it will cross cut from this location to a male stood on the street at night. He will be denoted to be wearing joggers and a big coat looking 'sketchy'. There will be around 3-4 cross cuts between these locations and the male on the street will be denoted to be taking money in exchange for an unknown product (this is to be connoted to be drugs). The males in the room will be continuing to be joking around and gathering their weapons while the cross cutting occurs. The music will also stop each time the scene cross cuts to show the emptiness and quietness of the street the male is on. On the final set of cross cuts the 'leader' of the group of males will send a text on his phone and the males will begin to leave. It will then cross cut for the last time to the male on the street and he will receive the text saying 'It's time to return the video tapes'. This text will connote that something is going to happen and it is time for the male on the street to finish for the night. This text also pays homage to the film 'American Phsyco' as it is a phrase Patrick Bateman repeats throughout the film, often when he is about to murder someone. The text will be seen by graphics on the screen as filming a phone screen often doesn't look good on camera. The scene will end with a fade to black as the male is walking off the street.

Scene 2:

The second scene will begin with showing the rival groups 'shed' they are all sat in. They will have music on and will be laughing and drinking. There will only be 5 members of the rival group however the protagonist group will consist of 6 people. This will remain like this for about 10-15 seconds and a brief dialogue will be shown with them talking about and mocking the protagonists group (who are on their way at the very minute). This location will also be cross cut with the protagonist group breaking in on the outside to build up tension. The rival group will continue laughing. The camera will then cut to an over the shoulder shot of one of the males in the rival group showing a door in the background. The door will then burst open with the protagonists group rushing through the door shouting. A brief fight will break out with all the males. A member of the rival group will stand up looking as if he is grabbing something and will be immediately shot in the head with one bullet. He will then drop to the ground and the room will go silent. The rivals facial expressions will be denoted to be full of fear and panic. Even some of the protagonist group members will appear to be a bit shocked by this. Some of the rival group members will be on the floor with blood on their faces and having clearly been beaten up. Each member of the protagonist group will have hold of one of the rival group except for the leader of the protagonist who killed one of the rival group and his second in command who will be stood next to him. The second in command will then go over to the leader of the rival group who is being held by a member of the protagonist group. He will then punch him a few times and drag the rival group leader to the centre of the room. He will be pushed onto his knees while the protagonist group member stands over him with a gun pointed at him. There will be a brief dialogue between the two with the heroic protagonist explaining that the rival group have been around too long and its time for them to stop doing what they are doing. The rival member will be clearly afraid saying it doesn't have to be like this nearly begging for his life. The final shot will be a low angle shot in the rival's leaders perspective with him saying 'it doesn't have to be like this' with the protagonist groups leader taking a second to think and then replying 'yes it does' showing no remorse or sympathy and shooting with the screen cutting to black. 

Scene 3: 

The third scene will revolve around the power struggle between the leader of the protagonist group and his second in command. The second in command thinks he is a better fit to lead the group as the leader is irrational and doesn't think about the consequences of his actions. The second in command is smart and plans out every move he makes weighing up what could go wrong and how beneficial the outcome will be.

The scene will start with a wide angle shot of all the group walking down the street at night as they have just eliminated their competition. They will be laughing and joking and celebrating their victory. The second in command however will not be as energetic and will be annoyed that in the space of a few minutes they have 2 dead bodies to deal with or otherwise risk getting caught. The leader will realise that something is off with there second in command and those two will leave the group. The rest of the group will leave down a genal while the leader and second in command carry on walking down the path. The leader and the second in command will then get into a dialogue with the leader being annoyed that the second in command isn't happier about what they have achieved. The SC (second in command) will explain how the leader is acting reckless and explain that prior they agreed that no one was supposed to die, they were simply meant to 'kick 'fuck out of 'em'. He will then explain that now this leads to a world more trouble, they could now have the police looking around and the other groups 'plug' (drug dealer) could come after them now in revenge. The leader will tell him to leave it and enjoy the victory for now however they will both be annoyed as the second in command believes he should run things as there would be less liabilities and the leader is now aware that the he may not be able to trust his right hand man like he believed. The scene will end with the two characters somewhat sorting their differences out and carrying on walking down the street. 

Scene 4:

It will be connoted that this scene takes place at least a few days after their previous encounter however it will never be said.

The scene will begin with the leader and SC sat in a car waiting for their 'drugs drop off'. Their dealer will bring them 2 large duffel bags. While the audience never saw what was in the 'drop offs' before this it will be connoted that it is a larger shipment than they have ever had before and shows they are moving up in the drug game.  A possible shot could be the camera in the back seats with the two in the front. When they two get out of the car a back window could be open allowing the camera to follow the actors as they exit creating a smooth and clean transition. The 'plug' will hand off the drugs to the pair making some small talk. As the two go to leave he will pull Charlie to one side and explain that Harrison somehow knows they were the ones behind the attacks on Harrisons lower level dealers. He will tell them to keep their heads down until they can work out a way to resolve the issue. 

The two will then get back in the car and begin their drop offs to their 'runners' (lower level drug dealers that work for them). 

Scene 5: 

The beginning could feature a short part showing them dropping off the drugs in various locations. It would be short and cut together in order to prevent the audience becoming bored from monotony. 

The two will be doing their last drop off. The runner who is picking up the drugs will be on the phone to someone. He will be explaining that Adam and Charlie won't find out it was him that told Harrison about the hit. He will then end the phone call and the camera will see that the individual was on the phone to Harrison the whole time. Adam and Charlie will then arrive to the drop off. They will make some small talk and the good will be exchanged. The runner will then ask what they are doing later and if they want to get a pint. Adam will say what they are doing and that they are busy. The two will then drive off and the runner will once again ring Harrison explaining where the two will be. 

Scene 6: 

This scene will start with the two walking down the street in the evening. They will be laughing and joking despite the recent upset between the two. A car will then come speeding down the road and pull up with masked men jumping out the car with weapons. They will run up to the two and the leader will reach for his gun but will be beaten unconscious before he has time to use it. The second in command will then have one of the men run over to him and try to grab him however he will end up punching them resulting in the masked man dropping to the floor. The SC will then pick up his weapon and attempt to attack him further however he will be knocked unconscious from behind by one of the men. 

One of the main points of this scene is to connote that even though the SC (Charlie) doesn't always agree with the leaders actions he too isn't afraid to fight and possibly even kill despite how he has been denoted so far he simply choses his moments more carefully as to avoid unnecessary situations. Ironically this situations he is in was caused by the leaders unnecessary actions at the beginning.

Scene 7:

This scene will start in a dark room with the two tied up to chairs (if possible they will have bruises on their faces from the previous altercation). A man will be sat across from them and will throw water on them to wake them up. He will be denoted and connoted to be 'someone you just don't want to fuck with'. He will talk calmly however there will be a slight edge with what he says connoting he is in control. He will possibly have a variety of weapons on the table as well to scare the two characters. He will explain that he was the supplier for the other group and now their leader has been 'removed' he now has no one to distribute his product and that is because of the actions of those two. He will give them two options. They can either kill their supplier and sell his product to make up for their 'indiscretions' or he will kill them there and then. Reluctantly the two will agree to work for him. The supplier says they will have a week to execute their supplier and send him proof and if they don't they will be hunted down and killed. They will then be blindfolded and thrown onto the streets.

This will be the turning point in the short film for the second in command. This will now show him he can no longer work with the leader anymore. While the leader will be working out how he can kill this more powerful supplier instead of killing his own the second in command (unknown to the leader) will be making a deal with the more powerful supplier to take out the leader of the group and work for them with the rest of his group but now as the leader. The second in command will begin to resent the leader more and more however he will have to make the leader believe he is on his side in order to take him out further down the line (reinforcing to the audience that the second in command is clearly smarter and more rational when it comes to making decisions. 

This could potentially be the point at which the short film ends depending on how long it ends up being.