Treatment v.1

Title:

TICKTOCK

Duration:

6-7 minutes

Main Characters:

John –

Male, early 20s, the protagonist. A young man who is struggling to cope with his relationship with his girlfriend Sarah as she begins to show signs of suspicious behaviour and John feels like he is losing control. This leads to insomnia induced paranoia and the exploration of his subconscious mind and the demons that lurk within.

Sarah -

Female, early 20s, the antagonist. A young woman who is putting John through emotional turmoil by showing her true colours; she begins to spend less time with him and more time with another man that John fears may lead to her straying from their relationship. We see her loyalties deteriorate as she leads John into a state of intense paranoia.

Ben –

Male, mid 20s, the complication. A work colleague of Sarah’s, who has shown significant interest in Sarah. His enigma is the cause of John’s mental spiral and he isn’t even aware of the effect he’s having upon them.

Synopsis:

One of the influences behind this short film was from the lyrics of ‘Insomnia’ by English electronica band ‘Faithless’, as portions of the lyrics explore insomnia and mental process because of a lack of sleep and how the person in the song deals with it.

Deep in the bosom of the gentle night
Is when I search for the light
Pick up my pen and start to write
I struggle, fight dark forces
In the clear moon light
Without fear... insomnia
I can't get no sleep

I used to worry, thought I was goin' mad in a hurry
Gettin' stress, makin' excess mess in darkness
No electricity, something's all over me, greasy
Insomnia please release me and let me dream of
Makin' mad love to my girl on the heath
Tearin' off tights with my teeth
But there's no release, no peace
I toss and turn without cease
Like a curse, open my eyes and rise like yeast
At least a couple of weeks
Since I last slept, kept takin' sleepers
But now I keep myself pepped
Deeper still, that night I write by candle light
I find insight, fundamental movement, uh
So when it's back this insomniac take an original tack
Keep the beast in my nature under ceaseless attack
I gets no sleep
I can't get no sleep

I can't get no sleep
I can't get no sleep
I need to sleep, although I get no sleep
I need to sleep, although I get no sleep

In this short film, John is dealing with insomnia because of an argument he had with his girlfriend Sarah because of his demand to have a sense of control and his suspicions of infidelity, and her tendency to do what she wants, where she wants – with whoever she wants and how a sense of distrust develops between the couple. This is all told in the form of a flashback which shows the development of a communication breakdown which leads to arguments, violence and eventually mental breakdown.

Beginning:

Its 1 AM in the morning. John can’t sleep as he tosses and turns. His eyes are heavy and bloodshot. He’s pacing around his room as the sound of rain pitter-pattering against the window accompanies the tick of a clock; time melting away. John’s vision is drained of colour as his mind torments him.

Conflict:

John walks to the kitchen, where he opens the fridge – to find there’s

nothing in it. As he closes the door of the fridge, a picture appears to be attached to the fridge with a magnet. John rips the picture off of the fridge. He sits down at the kitchen table.

FLASHBACK: Sarah and John sitting at the table. “Why are you doing this to me?” John proclaims. “Doing what exactly?” screams Sarah. “You know EXACTLY what I am talking about. What time did you get in last night, where were you?”

“I was with people than give me my own space, unlike somebody…”

Sarah leaves the room.

FLASHBACK: Sarah and a man in a café. John walks past the window and sees the two of them. Sarah waves. John walks.

BACK TO KITCHEN: John stares at broken glass on the ground and the puddle surrounding it.

FLASHBACK: Sarah comes into the kitchen. John is staring through the window. “I’m leaving; I don’t know what time I’ll be back. See you sometime, John.”

“If you walk through that door, you’re throwing everything away.” John speaks softly, while clutching a glass. The front door slams. John screams and throws the glass of water at the kitchen door.

Resolution:

John starts pacing around the kitchen. He’s angry. He sits down and he stands up. He can’t stay still. His heart is pounding in his head. He sits down at the kitchen table.

FLASHFORWARD IN JOHN’S IMAGINATION: The front door slams. Sarah walks down the house’s path and through the gate. She gets into a car with Ben. “I thought you’d change your mind…”

John is sitting on the stairs. He is drained.

FLASHFORWARD IN JOHN’S IMAGINATION: Sarah is sitting with Ben in a bar, sipping drinks.

John runs upstairs and starts looking through his wardrobe. He suddenly pauses and he leafs through Sarah’s bedside drawer. He finds a book, rips a page out and throws it on the bed.

John runs downstairs and slams the door.

The phone rings, it’s Sarah. She leaves a message; she was never at Ben’s. She admits she was wrong and if Ben picks up she’ll knows it’ll be ok to come home.

We see Ben’s page in her address book missing…

Soundtrack/ Score:

Score:

Ambient and foreboding soundtrack, to reference claustrophobia and tension.

Foley:

Key elements of the mise en scene; clocks, doors, the rain etc. – all used to reference the cacophony of sound that is available in every day life, but because of John’s overactive mind – every pin drop sounds like a tree falling.

Creative Intention:

A social realism take on the breakdown of a relationship and the inner monologue of the protagonist, to give the impression of someone who is verging on being mentally unstable, induced by paranoia and broken trust. The story develops to a climax where we then learn that Sarah has realised the error of ways, but is it too late?

SFX:

- Use of black and white to show comparison between reality and imagination.

- Washed out colours

- Use of contrast to reference being uncomfortable

- Letterboxing to show point-of-view

- Quick inter-cutting of key characters