Project Title: Hope Dies Last.
Genre: Short Drama.
Date: 30/04/2014.
1. Opening Image:
The film starts with a series of shots, blurred and fast paced which will give the audience an idea of what happened before the events of the film, but it would still keep some form of mystery and confusion to these events which will be answered later in the film. This sequence will only last around twenty to thirty seconds, and will fade in with the title, and be almost like the title sequence of the film. Soon enough, when this sequence is over, the audience will realise that what they just watched was snippets from the protagonist's nightmare, and the main events of the film will begin with him waking from this nightmare, and therefore pulling the audience out of the dream world and into the reality of this film instead.
These shots will show clips of a war, although it is not yet stated what the war was about, or who won. It would then move on to shots of a land ravaged by famine and disease, and people leaving a City for some undescribed reason to live in the barren lands instead. There'll also be a shot of the main protagonist holding a young baby, but the second or two of happy footage would be interrupted by the same character holding a dying woman in his arms, who we assume would be his lover, a young girl standing by their side. I'm not completely sure yet, but then there may be some footage of the girl growing up to be about the age of eight or nine, and then another fight, in which masked armed forced forcibly take this girl away from the protagonist and another man in a firefight.
Accompanying this will be a number of sounds and voices, perhaps short sentences and words to help the audience understand this otherwise confusing sequence of clips before being pulled into the present time that the film is set in.
These shots will show clips of a war, although it is not yet stated what the war was about, or who won. It would then move on to shots of a land ravaged by famine and disease, and people leaving a City for some undescribed reason to live in the barren lands instead. There'll also be a shot of the main protagonist holding a young baby, but the second or two of happy footage would be interrupted by the same character holding a dying woman in his arms, who we assume would be his lover, a young girl standing by their side. I'm not completely sure yet, but then there may be some footage of the girl growing up to be about the age of eight or nine, and then another fight, in which masked armed forced forcibly take this girl away from the protagonist and another man in a firefight.
Accompanying this will be a number of sounds and voices, perhaps short sentences and words to help the audience understand this otherwise confusing sequence of clips before being pulled into the present time that the film is set in.
2. Theme Stated:
I've not yet decided on the theme of the short film, and will decide on this at a slightly later date. I will possibly have it something to do with the control of the government over the people, or the importance of family and dedication to each other.
3. Set-Up: (0-1 minutes.)
Within this point of the film, the main protagonist and his brother will introduce the audience to the world that the film is set. More information about the clips we saw during the opening sequence will be revealed here, as well as a few more, less-important characters. The audience will learn about the main protagonist's daughter being kidnapped - which we saw during the opening - and their plans to get her back. They'll also learn that this is not an easy task, either. The brothers are injured, and getting the girl back will involve them infiltrating the oppressive government's headquarters, and with them being high priority targets as they were the first to rebel, and lead the others to join them, all eyes will be on them; both from the government and the other exiles/rebel forces. A number of other exiles/rebels will remind them of this, but the main protagonist will not seem to listen, completely focused on getting his daughter out of there before anything happens to her. He lost his lover, and he's not planning on losing his daughter too.
The 'six things' that need fixing with the main character and/or their world would be:
-The oppressive, controlling government.
-The people living in exile within barren lands for rebelling against the government.
-The brother's injuries from the previous fight.
-Retrieving the main protagonist's daughter.
-The citizens being controlled by the government, and brainwashed to believe the exiles are the 'bad guys'.
-The sixth thing I am still thinking about.
The 'six things' that need fixing with the main character and/or their world would be:
-The oppressive, controlling government.
-The people living in exile within barren lands for rebelling against the government.
-The brother's injuries from the previous fight.
-Retrieving the main protagonist's daughter.
-The citizens being controlled by the government, and brainwashed to believe the exiles are the 'bad guys'.
-The sixth thing I am still thinking about.
4. Catalyst: (1.2 minutes.)
The catalyst for this film is not completely decided on yet, but I was thinking about a video transmission sent to the main protagonist from the person working in the government who's main mission is to either catch the brothers, or kill them. It would be rather taunting, and show that they have the girl within the city and they state that they have a day to turn themselves in, or they will kill her. The main protagonist obviously is willing to lay down his life in exchange for his daughter's, but the other characters manage to just about convince him not to go rushing into the city without thinking.
5. Debate: (1.2-2.5 minutes.)
The debate within the film will be how they are going to get the girl back. Do they walk into the city empty handed and surrender their lives, risking the fact that they may be lying about letting the girl go? Or do they fight, and try to break her out of the city - a move that could easily get them killed, but then again, they have a chance to survive, whereas they would not with the other choice. The other characters convince the main character to choose the second option, and they begin planning and organising an attack against the government, asking others to help them - which many accept.
6. Break Into Two: (2.5 minutes.)
This is when the brothers - accompanied by a number of other exiles/rebel forces - head to the city. It shows some more of the world in which the film is set, and allows the audience to see how bad the lands are in which they have been exiled to, as well as the conditions of the city and how the citizens are forced to live - in a world with only black and white; no grey. The people that live there are barely in control of their own decisions and actions, and live limited lives although they are convinced otherwise.
7. B Story: (3 minutes.)
The brother of the main protagonist could easily be the B Story within the film. Although he's quite a main character himself, it could possibly be revealed that he promised the main protagonist's lover that if anything ever happened to her, he'd stop his brother from making any stupid or risky decisions - and that he plans to stick to this promise, which is why he was so against them surrendering to the government.
8. Fun And Games: (3-5.5 minutes.)
The main protagonists reach the government headquarters, and are already approached by a number of masked government forces. They manage to fight these forces, and either kill or knock them unconscious and take their uniforms/masks, allowing them access to the headquarters without being under too much suspicion. The rest of the exiles/rebels wait in hiding outside the building, waiting in case anything goes wrong and the two brothers need help.
9. Midpoint: (5.5 minutes.)
Whilst infiltrating the headquarters, the two brothers make a mistake by revealing their true identities to the girl when they find her. This is caught on cameras as they free her, and causes the government to raise the alarm. This sends forces out looking for them, and alerts the other exiles/rebels outside that things aren't quite going exactly to plan, with reinforcements being called in to help try and catch/kill the three of them before they have a chance to do anything.
10. Bad Guys Close In: (5.5-7.5 minutes.)
With the alarm raised, the brothers are forced to try and escape the building before they are overwhelmed by forces, which is a strong possibility at that point in time. With them being so far into the building, and the others having been waiting outside, they are currently on their own, and have to make sure to protect the girl too. This clearly turns out to be a difficult task, and the main protagonist tells the girl that if anything happens to him or his brother, she needs to keep running and not look back to meet up with the others who have promised to look after her for them.
The three almost make it to the exit of the headquarters where the others are holding the reinforcements outside at bay for them. The exit is in sight and it looks like they are going to make it, but a large group of reinforcements appear with the main villain from before, blocking their path. They manage to take cover, but with them aiming more for the main protagonist, he tells the girl to go with his brother and for them to split up, him drawing the villain's attention away from the girl, giving them more of a chance to escape. The brother completely disagrees with this, however, thinking that it is a risky decision - like he had promised he would not let him make - but the protagonist does not listen and heads the other way before his brother had a chance to stop him.
The three almost make it to the exit of the headquarters where the others are holding the reinforcements outside at bay for them. The exit is in sight and it looks like they are going to make it, but a large group of reinforcements appear with the main villain from before, blocking their path. They manage to take cover, but with them aiming more for the main protagonist, he tells the girl to go with his brother and for them to split up, him drawing the villain's attention away from the girl, giving them more of a chance to escape. The brother completely disagrees with this, however, thinking that it is a risky decision - like he had promised he would not let him make - but the protagonist does not listen and heads the other way before his brother had a chance to stop him.
11. All Is Lost: (7.5 minutes.)
With the main protagonist drawing the villain's attention away from the other two, he finds himself cornered by the same villain from earlier who had sent him the video transmission. He manages to hold them off for a few moments, but is soon shot down by him, finding that he was completely at their mercy at that point in time.
12. Dark Night Of The Soul: (7.5-8.5 minutes.)
His daughter catches sight of this and cries for him, alerting his brother to what was happening. Seeming torn by whether to help his brother like he had promised the protagonist's lover, or help get the girl to safety.
13. Break Into Three: (8.5 minutes.)
The brother of the main protagonist gets the girl out of the building, shutting the door behind her and forces it to stay shut, turning back to help his brother. Although she is not completely out of danger, she is no longer inside the building where the fight is going on, and still has a chance to run before the government forces catch up to her again.
14. Finale: (8.5-11 minutes.)
The brother shoots at the villain, but finds himself too late. Although he hits his target, the shot making the villain stumble, he was barely seconds away from saving his brother's life. Now overtaken by rage and guilt that he could not fulfil his promise to the protagonist's lover and keep him safe by not letting him take reckless decisions, he targets the villain, almost managing to kill him before he is shot down to by another one of the government forces, leaving the girl alone outside, watching the scene unfold within the building. The injured villain turns to the girl, demanding that the others get after her as she seems to be frozen in grief and fear. A van soon pulls up just outside the building, however, containing some of the exiles/rebels who pull her into the van to take her to safety before she was killed too.
15. Final Image: (11 minutes.)
Just like a few of the other points in the film, I'm not completely decided on what the final image of the film should be. It will definitely involve the girl back in the barren lands with the other exiles/rebels who now take care of her, but I'm considering making it so that she's a few years older, maybe fourteen or fifteen. I want to leave it open for the chance to continue the idea on, and make another film - or extend this one - in the future, so I was thinking having the girl being older and standing by two empty graves of her father and uncle, accompanied by a few other exiles/rebels. She could be standing by the graves with the sun setting in the background, not having to say anything, before clenching her fists and turning to walk away from the graves - walking into the camera to finish the film like she is planning on getting revenge for her dead family, although it is unclear how she would even do such a thing, which therefore leaves it open for something to continue the story on.
Just like a few of the other points in the film, I'm not completely decided on what the final image of the film should be. It will definitely involve the girl back in the barren lands with the other exiles/rebels who now take care of her, but I'm considering making it so that she's a few years older, maybe fourteen or fifteen. I want to leave it open for the chance to continue the idea on, and make another film - or extend this one - in the future, so I was thinking having the girl being older and standing by two empty graves of her father and uncle, accompanied by a few other exiles/rebels. She could be standing by the graves with the sun setting in the background, not having to say anything, before clenching her fists and turning to walk away from the graves - walking into the camera to finish the film like she is planning on getting revenge for her dead family, although it is unclear how she would even do such a thing, which therefore leaves it open for something to continue the story on.
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