Music/Soundscore

We decided that we wanted to have heavy breathing played over the first 10 seconds or so of our film when Horatio is following Mia because we thought it would make it seem more sinister and creepy because it shows that something isn't quite right without explaining what. After the heavy breathing we want to play a song called 'Sad Story' that we found on http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ which is a copyright free music website.

We chose this music because it is soft piano music at the beginning, like 'Misery', and it gradually builds to a climax, which works with our film as the climax (a.k.a the disruption of the equilibrium according to Todorov's narrative theory) of our opening two minutes is at the end when the shot of the pictures of Mia on the wall is shown.

Wardrobe Justification

Leon as Horatio

Justification:

When conducting my research I found that most of the characters wore either red or black (or both) as they have connotations of death, danger and fear. Therefore, when choosing the colours for Leon's costume we chose to make him wear red and black to fit in with the conventions. Also he is wearing quite smart, formal clothes to not only show his intellect but that he doesn't fit in with other people in his school environment, as everyone else in the shots will be wearing quite casual, informal clothes. Glasses are stereotypically associated with intelligence so Leon is wearing large glasses to show how academic he is. Furthermore, when watching 'Falling Down' (another psychological thriller) the main character wore large glasses as well, as in psychological thrillers stereotypes are often played up to.


screen grab of the main character from 'Falling Down'

Jemima as Mia

Justification:

Jemima wears a lot of black in the opening of our film to show death and fear. She also wears a red scarf to show danger and it is a signifier to the connection that she has with Horatio because he is also wearing a red tie. Furthermore, she is wearing a grey jumper and the colour grey has connotations of a loss of hope, which is what she will feel at the end the of film.

Titles Storyboard

(N.B. although the titles are over black in this storyboard in the real thing they will be over an image)

Timetable of frees

\Timetable Of Frees

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Sript Breakdown Sheets

Script Breakdown Sheet 1

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Script Breakdown Sheet Collage Of Mia Final

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Script breakdown sheet- Newsroom

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Film Schedule

Monday 1st March 2010

Time: 2.15-2.55
Scene 1: Horatio follows Mia on Welham Road.
Actors on location: Jemima, Leon and two students.

We chose to film on Welham Road in order to establish the main setting of the story which is set in Graveney School.


Friday 5th March 2010

Time: 11.10- 11.55
Scene 2: Take pictures of Mia outside the theatre.
We chose to take pictures of Mia outside the theatre in order to place her in an ordinary setting. The main aim of this was to create something eerie and mysterious out of a natural setting. The abnormal element to this scene is that Mia is being followed by Horatio who is zooming in on Mia' movements and taking pictures of her.

Monday 8th March 2010

Time: 2.15-2.55
Scene 3: Horatio goes to the newsroom and writes an article about Mia.
Actors on location: Leon

Horatio goes to the newsroom. We chose the media suite as the newsroom because it has many posters and articles that are associated with a newsroom setting. Also, the media suite is home to many computers and in an actual newsroom many computers and printers are needed in order to type and print stories.

Animatic Storyboard

Roles

Hannah - Film treatment writer and editor

Jemima - Story boarder and actor

Leon - Equipment manager and actor

Arfa - Production manager and scriptwriter

Main Characters

Jemima - Mia

Leon - Horatio

We chose Jemima and Leon to be our main characters because they are part of our group and they will be there when we are filming anyway. This means that we don't have to rely on other people and it also means that we don't have to fit filming around another person's schedule. Furthermore, they are teenagers so their age will be appealing to our target audience. Also Jemima fits in with the convention of the final girl in a psychological thriller because she is white and has relatively long hair. Similarly, because Leon is tall he stands out from the crowd and it is a signifier for him being different to others.

Planning for Filming

Prop List for our film:

· Mobile Phone (the text message Mia receives from Horatio)

· A tie (presumably a red bow tie for when Horatio strangles Noah)

· Apple Mac

· Improvised article on the screen

· Camera

· Pics of Mia

· Geeky glasses

· Flamboyant clothes

· Ankle swingers with white socks

· Black shoes

Location list for our film:

· Media Suite- for the Newsroom

· Possibly the corridor for Red House (1^st floor)

· Welham Road

We chose these locations because not only do they subtly reveal information about Horatio (e.g. that he goes to school, lives in town and is different) and they also fit in with the conventions of a psychological thriller because they are reminiscent of the daily lives of many teenagers and therefore, makes the plot of our film more psychologically scary. The newsroom shows that he takes part in extra curricular activities and is therefore, quite studious. Also as nobody else is going to be in the room with him whilst we are filming it shows that he is perhaps most studious than other people and reinforces that he is different.

Script

“NEUROSIS”

Characters:

Leon Thomas- Horatio Milton Baxter

Jemima Luscombe- Mia Charles

Amy- Tasnim Rohal

School Pupils

Horatio is walking on Welham Road and is gazing at Mia as she walks to school.

Whilst looking at Mia, Horatio loses his balance and falls on the floor, other students laugh at him.

Student #1: (Mocking tone) Oh my god, he’s such a loser. No wonder he doesn’t have any friends.

Student: #2: (Loudly whispers) I heard that he’s going to try out for the football team (group laughter)

Students walk away leaving Horatio on the floor staring at the concrete with a determined expression on his face.

In the afternoon, Horatio secretly follows Mia and takes various pictures of her. He goes to the student newsroom afterwards and starts to write an article about Mia that will be published in the Graveney Express

Horatio: (Camera follows Horatio’s typing) At first glance, Mia Charles seems like an ordinary girl who comes to school, does her work and enjoys a colourful social life with her friends. (Heavy breathing) Popular girl {muttering} we all come to school for {..} unique…

Camera zooms out to reveal a collage of Mia’s pictures.

Evaluation of Treatment

How Our Film Treatment Fits In With Psychological Thriller Conventions

The majority of the idea for our film fits in with the psychological thriller conventions. For example, the title 'Neurosis' was chosen because it has connotations of what our film is about and it is a shortened version for psychoneurosis, which is what our main character suffers from. This fits in with conventions because films such as 'The Butterfly Effect' link in with what the film is about and it is also the name of the mental disorder that the main character suffered from.The main theme of our film is the mind and obsession, this fits in with psychological thrillers conventions because all of the films we looked at play on the mind and a few of them were also to do with obsession.

Similarly, our film is set in a town like 'The Butterfly Effect', 'Blue Velvet' and 'Panic Room', which makes it fit in with the typical conventions of a psychological thriller. Our film is also set in the past and present and a lot of the films that I looked contain flashbacks (e.g. 'The Butterfly Effect', 'Misery' and 'One Hour Photo' all contain flashbacks, however, only 'The Butterfly Effect' and 'Misery' does this within the opening).

Film Treatment

Film Treatment:

By Hannah Ram, Arfa Shah, Leon Thomas, Jemima Luscombe

Monday 8^th 2010

Rated “15” by the Author

NEUROSIS: Psychological Thriller – Completed Treatment.

Horatio Milton Baxter, a teenage genius who is isolated from his peers, has led a troubled life. Uprooted from his hometown in Essex, Horatio Milton Baxter soon develops a crush on a popular girl called Mia that spirals into an unsightly obsession. The dangerous path he takes and the facade that he becomes leads him into the heart of a love triangle, mental anguish and ultimately death.

“N E U R O S I S” by Hannah Ram, Arfa Shah, Leon Thomas, Jemima Luscombe

Synopsis and Treatment for

A psychological thriller

For film

(Approximately 90-110 Minutes in Length)

COPYRIGHTED (c) BY PHANTOM RSTL INC

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jemima Luscombe

Leon Thomas

Tasnim Rohal

Chelsea Osei-Owusu

George Jesse

SUPPORTING CAST

School Pupils

Police Officers

Teachers

Citizens of London

Main Characters Mother

SETTING OF STORY (suggested)

Tooting, London

TIME OF STORY

Past and Present

SYNOPSIS OF STORY

Horatio Milton Baxter, a teenage genius who is isolated from his peers, has led a troubled life. His parents spilt up leaving his mum heartbroken and contemplating suicide. When she is taken into a mental clinic for a nervous breakdown he is forced to live with his father in London whom abandoned him after the divorce causing him years of internal conflict and suffering.

Uprooted from his hometown in Essex, Horatio soon develops a crush on a popular girl called Mia that spirals into an unsightly obsession. He joins his school newspaper, the Graveney Express, in the hopes of capturing her attention by writing an article on her, highlighting her academic achievements and social status. However, whilst writing the article he finds himself infatuated with her life, his emotions spiral out of control and is thrust into a world of bitter romance in which he is willing to do anything to attain her.

His classmates soon begin to victimize him because of his academic achievements both inside and outside school. He tries out for the football team to try to win over peers and it is here that he sees Mia for the first time sitting in the stands cheering for her boyfriend, Noah. Noah, the captain of the football team, impedes him during the tryout, which leads Mia to ask him if he is okay. After talking to Mia for the first time Horatio develops a crush on her.

Horatio Milton Baxter suffers from undiagnosed psychoneurosis, which is a functional disorder characterized by feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts and compulsive acts that dominate his personality. It is triggered by the rejection he faces from his peers, Mia and his parents and it acts a catalyst to his own self-destruction and the decomposition of other people’s lives.

Despite Noah’s foul play Horatio gets into the football team. On a bleak rainy day after a match Noah and Horatio are the last ones left in the changing room, after scoring the winning goal Noah brags about Mia and being the best player on the team. The mention of Mia’s name triggers obsessive thoughts and believing that Noah is the only obstacle in the way of his and Mia’s love Horatio follows him into the showers and strangles him with rope, he then proceeds to tie the body to beam to make it seem like Noah had committed suicide. Before leaving Horatio steals Noah’s phone and texts Mia. In the text Horatio, whilst pretending to be Noah, creates a fictional affair between Mia’s best friend and Noah, claiming that the guilt that Noah faced everyday was too much to live with.

After Noah’s death Mia turns to Horatio, after being told by the school guidance councilor about his mother’s attempted suicide and their similar circumstances. Mia and Horatio soon develop a friendship, as Mia abandoned her social group after the alleged betrayal of her best friend, Amy. Their friendship soon turns into romance. Whilst being at Horatio’s house she finds Noah’s phone and proceeds to interrogate Horatio about why he has it. The argument between the two quickly becomes a power struggle as Horatio believes that the only way to abstain from being thrown into prison is to kill the love of his life. However, Mia gains the upper hand and accidentally pushes Horatio out of his third story bedroom window and he falls to his death. Ultimately, the dangerous path he takes in order to attain her love leads him into the heart of a love triangle, mental anguish and ultimately death.