treatment (preliminary task 2)

 Preliminary Task 2 – Treatment 

Niav Rice 

AS Media Studies 

 

A TREATMENT FOR AT BAY 

SNN FILMS – NIAV'S TREATMENT 

6/O4/2022 

 

It is proposed that the film will be of 1.30 to 2.00 minutes in duration, and that it will be filmed at Niav’s house as it fits the warm and welcoming yet eerie feeling we are trying to accomplish. This film is a home invasion film and therefore requires a home that seems safe but also causes an uneasy feeling once inside. This location is also suitable as I know where everything is, including lights and power sources which will come in useful once filming. It is also an easy location to get to as all our cast and crew are on their restricted licenses so this will not be a worry. 

 

This film will include the following conventions of thriller films: 

• Symbolism/iconography --> The women will be dressed ready for bed symbolising her vulnerability and weakness; this is a character the audience can relate with as they too could be in a situation where they are going to be and then experience a home invasion. The man will be dressed a suit that is bit more casual as he is tired and done with the day but also highlight how he is hard working and determined and will eventually find who kidnapped his wife; this is the character the audience will sympathise with as they want him to find his wife. The kidnapper will be dressed in all black as he blends in with the darkness around him, it shows how he is an emotionless character and will show no remorse. The tea cup will also symbolise that feeling of a warm home and welcoming feeling even though the opposite will occur. It also represents the women as she is fragile and vulnerable. The phone will also be used to signify the character’s impending doom. 

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• Sound --> The main concept for our film is to create suspense through silence. We want to create a very realistic scenario so that the audience can leave thinking something like that could happen to them. We will use eerie music throughout the film but we really want to let the diegetic sounds shine through. Silence is intense as at any moment something to could off and immediately break that eerie feeling. It is the suspense of the unknown. The ring of the phone will break the silence at the end of the film, hopefully creating a jump scare moment. The scream that follows from the phone call will leave the audience with an uneasy feeling as the scene will fade to black. 

• Lighting --> We want to keep low lighting throughout the film to create a suspenseful and eerie atmosphere. It will also help in regards with the kidnapper as we want him to fade into the darkness that surrounds him and almost make it hard for the audience to see as they question whether he is there or not.  

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• Narrative --> The narrative creates suspension through those POV shots in the beginning of the film but anticipation is slowly built as Ryle walks through the house and his expressions are shown through shot-reverse-shots. Without showing an abduction scene taking place some may feel intensity is lost but this creates a very realistic scenario that can be made very creepy as we see the after effects of one. This idea of concealment is effective in that everyone is in the unknown; they do not know what has happened. It also leaves for the rest of the film for the husband to undercover the kidnapper but he does not even know who it is; it could be the guy walking on the street, it could be a work colleague, it could even be his best friend. The concealment creates real anticipation. We will also use the camera to jump from an objective and subjective view, which is a common feature Steven Spielberg would use to create suspense. 

• Irony --> This is a clear irony as the house is viewed as a safe place for people to come home to at night. It is where you want to be to feel comfortable. This is twisted in our film as someone very clearly disrupts that peace and comfort. This is uneasy for the audience to view as they too have homes that would be safe places for some but realistically this safe place can also be a place that can completely turn into an invasion of privacy. 

After watching the following thriller films/ openings (hush, intrusion, jaws, variety of Steven Spielberg films, taken) I have been influenced by: 

• Hush --> Hush is a movie that is based on a home invasion. I drew inspiration from this movie as silence is a key concept in their film. They create major suspense through silence and shot-reverse-shots as they show the relationship between the intruder and main character. They really drag out the encounter and this creates a suspenseful film to watch. This is something I hope to incorporate into our film.  

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• Intrusion --> I was influenced by the characters in the movie intrusion. Once again, this is a home invasion film that features the characters of a husband and a wife. Our film features that typical convention of a vulnerable women as she is the one who will face the intruder/kidnapper. In this movie there is a sense that the husband could have a dark or mysterious side to him which is not something we have included in our film but a theme that could be introduced throughout the film. 

• Taken --> Taken is a film about girls who have been kidnapped and their father who wishes to rescue them. I take inspiration from his character for my character Ryle. Ryle is obviously devastated by the abduction of his wife but there is also a sense of determination about him like the father in Taken. He wants to find his wife. His costume of a suit also shows this as we can already tell he is a hardworking man. 

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• Variety of Steven Spielberg films (jaws, the colour purple and Munich) --> Steven Spielberg jumps between subjective and objective perspective views which I drew inspiration from. He breaks up a series of action shots with close up shots. The close-up shots show minor details that have a major impact on the way the audience feels. These are concepts I hope to include in our film. 

 

Problems encountered: 

1. There may be a safety issue with the cars as we will be filming a shot where our actor is driving; we will have to make sure our actor is responsible and takes it seriously. We are all restricted drivers so there should not be a problem. 

2. As we are filming at night, we must make sure that we have enough light shining on our actors. Even though we still want that low-light look we still have to make sure that you can see what is happening. Fortunately, I know of a few power sources situated outside the house so lighting outside will most likely not be a problem. 

3. Due to covid there is potential that actors or crew will pull out last minute to isolate. With this in mind I have made a backup list of people to call on so that we can still film on the date desired.  

 

The film will include the following: 

Characters 

• Lily: 

• Lily is our vulnerable character who is eventually kidnapped. She is the wife of Ryle and a character which the audience can almost relate to as this scenario could very much happen to

• them. She will be dressed in very comfortable clothes to signify her weakness as she is tired and getting ready for the end of the day. Her character is very realistic, which adds to that eerie, uncomfortable feeling as the audience watch her waiting for the inevitable to occur as they would assume she is the vulnerable character. 

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• Ryle: 

• Ryle is the husband and the key character in our film. He is the one who will reveal to the audience that Lily is missing.  

• As mentioned before, Ryle will be wearing a work suit to show that he is a hard-working, determined character. His shirt being white shows that he is pure and only wants the best for his wife but his dark over laying's may suggest something else that if there were to be a whole film his underlying agenda could be revealed. 

• However, other than that this character is what will be the main key in creating suspense throughout the film. He will slowly walk through the house and his expressions will be shown which will indicate to the audience that something is wrong.  

• This character is the character the audience will sympathise with as they want him to find his wife but also uncover that of the unknown; who is the kidnapper? 

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• Kidnapper/intruder: 

• Our kidnapper will be dressed in all black so that he can easily blend in with the dark. We want this so we can easily take shots of his shadow and silhouette. 

• We may not even include shots with the kidnapper but we still thought it would be helpful to take some anyway. 

• We do not want to reveal the kidnapper but keep him concealed to create an enigma throughout ‘the rest of the film.’ His potential motivation is bad blood with the husband.

ideology

We have our vulnerable character in Lily; the women of the film. It is very typical to see a women in this role as they are conventionally portrayed this way. Ryle is seen as that more typical authoritative position as he comes home from work and is also determined to figure out who took his wife but there is also a twist in conventions as he too can be seen in a vulnerable position. He is clueless and unaware of what to do next. Our antagonist is seen in authority as he has everything planned out which is typical for the beginning of a thriller. His concealment allows for there to be suspense and an enigma. It could really be anyone.

The main message we wanted to get across to the audience is too never feel too comfortable in your own home as this could realistically happen to anyone.

mood and tone

The mood and tone of our film is very discomforting; a conventional thriller feeling. An uneasy and eerie feeling is created through the use of silence and realistic scenarios. The low lighting and the film being set at night also adds to this idea of the unknown. An invasion of privacy is portrayed both literally and figuratively. The music or lack of will also add to the suspense. It's a cold thriller which has contrast as you would assume a home to be very welcoming and warm but this film portrays the opposite of that idea.

camera and lighting

Like mentioned before I want to include many of Steven Spielberg's techniques into this film. The first one being that of switching from the subjective to objective view. By focusing on objects that you may think have small value to the scene; you actually start to sense that they may have an impact and this creates suspense for the audience. Once again it's that idea of the unknown. We will also use canted, high and low angles especially when filming for the kidnapper's POV. Our first shot will be an establishing shot of the house with the lights shining through, this will set the film up in a welcoming, warm way as the audience will view a nice safe home but this feeling will be quickly contrasted with the contents of the scene.

Our lighting will have many aspects of low lighting especially that it is set at night. This already creates minor suspense as typically most bad things happen at night. We hoping to make sure of most of the lights situated around the house but we will be bringing the lighting set just incase. We may also create a cold blue hue with cellophane so we can have that unwelcoming feeling but we may also do this artificially later on in post production.

themes and motifs

There are major themes of vulnerability represented by our women character which fits that mold of how women are usually displayed in film. There will also be a sense of cluelessness and vulnerability displayed by the husband. Through that phone call at the end it's almost like the kidnapper has won and this leaves Ryle in a desperate situation. But he also represents authority and determination which is typical for a man to portray. You think he may actually find his wife. There is also a sense of enigma as you don't know too much about these people at all and you question whether or not this was planned, was Ryle in on it, who is the kidnapper?

narrative

Our narrative creates suspense through the silence and expressions of the husband. A problem arises throughout our film but there is no resolution as of it yet. This being an opening scene we have given a problem but only a sense that there will be a resolution so that it intrigues the audience to continue watching.

Mis-en-scene/setting

Our film will be set at my house as it is an easy location to get to and beneficial as I know where everything is like power sources and light switches. It also has that nice welcoming home feeling which we thought was needed so we can contrast the outside of the house to what's actually happening inside.

symbolism

Lily will be wearing comfy clothes symbolising the fact that she is nearly ready for bed and that she is tired and therefore probably weaker than she would be to begin the day. This shows her vulnerability. The darkness and low lighting symbolises the inevitable that is going to occur, its like the darkness is closing in around the house. The teacup symbolises Lily as it is tiny and fragile. When it's revealed that it is smashed it could be a foreshadow moment as to what has happened to Lily. The phone on the counter symbolises impending doom and the fact that the worst is yet to happen.

sound and music

I have yet to decide if I even want music in my film. As mentioned silence is key in that creation of suspense so I don't want to take away from that with chaotic background music. If there were to be music it would be quiet and slow but also a little bit eerie to represent what is happening in the film. This is a decision for post production when I come to edit. There could also be a heartbeat in the background to resemble that of Ryle but once again I don't want that to overpower what is being shot. I want the diegetic sounds of the wind outside and cicadas to be heard overall.

credits and logos

Our logo will appear at the beginning of the film and there will be a nice slow dissolve to the establishing shot of the house. Our logo was created in adobe after effects and we will most likely carry this over into all our films. The credits will be displayed mostly at the beginning of our film, flashing up towards the bottom of the scene. We will also have a credits roll at the end of the film which goes into the different roles with a bit more detail. I also hope to create an opening title with adobe after effects.

editing

We will use fades to slowly go from one shot to the next. We really want to prolong this film and that feeling of what's happening next so we will most likely get longer shots. With the fades we hope to attain a very slow but cold transition that keeps that eerie atmosphere and uncertainty. In editing we will also enhance sounds that we want heard and either expose and heighten the lighting and make it even darker. This all depends on how the shots turn out.

Summary of the opening of our film: 

The wife Lily is seen starting to make tea getting ready for bed when she makes a phone call to her husband who is still at work. He informs her that he will be home soon. She finishes making her tea all the while someone is outside watching her in the darkness. She suspects a little but ends up shrugging the feeling away. She gets her tea and makes her way upstairs to bed. Time passes and Ryle, her husband, arrives home. To his surprise the front door is already slightly open and there is no need for him to use his key. Confused, he walks into the house calling out to his wife. Upon inspection he finds her broken tea cup and the window upstairs wide open with the curtain blowing in the wind. He goes back downstairs to find out more. Eventually the phone breaks the silence and Ryle answers the phone. He is met with the breathing of his wife’s abductor and the screams of his wife. 

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