Treatment Draft

DRAFT

The lead actor is walking through the park on his/her way home. Halloween music starts to play during a POV shot of the man/beast high in the bushes breathing heavily. The breath of the man/beast is focused on then cuts to the lead who then walks normally for a few seconds then stops and shivers feeling the man/beasts presence/breath. The lead is then shown walking away as if nothing has happened whilst being watched by the man/beast with a POV shot. The next shot is of the lead carrying on with their journey home. The beast is then shown jumping from the bushes on to the pavement from a POV shot then transitions to a mid shot of the outline of the beast. Then the POV gets closer and closer creating suspense with the Halloween music climaxing until the anti-climax of the lead receiving the phone call. POV stops moving forward pulls back and goes back to the bushes. The next shot is a high angle shot of a shadow moving swiftly across the pavement showing that the man/beast has retreated and giving the viewer a false sense of security.

Link To Full Movie

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=18G8HSX6

Script/Dialogue

The first dialogue we hear in the film is a voiceover by a softly spoken women which sounds like a young person this gives the impression that she is more then likely a student at the university and maybe even a relative of one of the people who died in the plane crash, adding to the emotion of this true story when she says “each year on the exact same day at the exact same hour the water to this fountain is turned of and in this moment once every year throughout the town, throughout the school, time stands still” these words alert the viewer that something tragic has happened in the schools past.

An effective technique in the football game is the commentator narrate the play on the field, which links the game and the people listening anxiously back home then when the camera is down on the field the only dialogue you can hear is from players and coaches which gives the viewer the feeling that they are right there in the huddle

Music

The use of soft piano music and light violin throughout the present scenes make the town seem peaceful and quiet which is what the director is trying to portray to show what its like on the day of the anniversary of the Marshall plane crash.

The football game uses fast upbeat drums to match the fast paced action on the field. The drums are the kind you would expect to find from the local college band in any college sporting fixture, setting a real life atmosphere for the game. The drums speed up and go down in time with the speed of play on the field making the crucial play seem all the more important and dramatic.

Mis-en-scene/Composition

The Football Game – The use of pull focus from the back of the Marshall coach’s head when it drops, after losing to the opposing coach and players who are celebrating on the other sideline illustrates two different emotions associated with sport. By starting the shot on the back of the Marshall coach’s head you feel the pain he feels as his head drop’s out of shot, then the focus switch’s to the winning team who seem all the more powerful jumping up and down over his head. Also in the football game, the use of expansion of time builds added suspense to the exciting end of the football game. The final seven seconds are extended to fit in the emotions of the players on the field, coaches on the sideline, cheerleader on the sideline, and family and friends back home.

The suspense is concluded with the ball spiralling in the air while the camera traces it in slow motion. This achieves greater suspense along with the low angle shot which makes the ball look like it falls from the air and into your living room when the marshall player drops it and loses the game. The slow motion rams home the moment of when the game is lost that would other wises pass to quickly in real time.

Shot Size/Angle + Camera Movement

The Present – All the shots used are wide shots except for the very last shot of the fountain. These shots are used to establish Marshall University’s location in a small blue collar town and helps portray the lack of life following the football team’s plane crash. The first three shots over the mountains, river, and steel mill are high shots that track over the town. This makes the town look small and vulnerable on the university of its darkest day.

Genre/Atmosphere

The tone of the opening in the present is one of time standing still. In contrast the football game is fast paced and delivers great anticipation.

The mood of the opening in the present is very peaceful and reflective. It gives you a feeling of the calm before the storm and leaves you wondering what tragic event is about to unfold. The football game on the other hand is full of suspense and action.

The present Atmosphere is created by shooting at what appears to be dawn, with the sun rising and hardly a car on the roads or any sign of living things. As well as a quiet voiceover and soft piano music. Contrastly the music becomes loud up beat drums when it cuts to the football game which builds suspense to the tight game along with a mixture of fast action shots and slow motion.

Reason for Selection

The opening begins in the present, providing a fly-over look at the small town of Huntington, West Virginia. The fly-over stops at Marshall University and the schools fountain a memorial to the school’s 1970 plane crash victims. It then jumps to 1970 and the football team losing a game just hours before they would lose something greater their lives.

The opening illustrates how important the football team is to the community, setting up a dramatic true story. The present scenes show a town without a sole visible at the time of another anniversary of the plane crash. While the tense nature of the football game is carried throughout the film.

It appealed to me because you really feel the loss of the community in the open fly-over shots leading up to the fountain. Then in the football game you get a contrast where it is all about people, from the players and coaches to the community huddled around a transistor radio in a diner.

The Decision

After putting alot of thought into the movie I will study, and considering different sorts of movies I have decided to select and study "We Are Marshall".