Treatment - Original Shot List

Setting

A sophisticated bedroom with a dressing table and a bed on the other side of the room, with a red throw on it  – red being the symbolic colour of the woman, symbolising passion and sexuality as well as anger and danger. The lighting in the room will be artificial – symbolic of the artificial world the woman has created (iconography to support this is the make-up and seductive clothing and shoes); it will also allow for detail to be seen, for instance in the perfume spray and zip. The lighting in the hallway is dim, as the man is there, and it is symbolic of him 'being in the dark' with this woman, and also will keep the mystery and ambiance needed for our thriller/revenge drama genre. 

Soundtrack

Vicktor Taiwo Ft. Solomon - Digital Kids (0:00-2:00)

Location

Shani’s house (stairs, landing, bedroom)

Actors

Yssy and Jurgen Kumbulla

Shot 1: low angle close-up of the back of a woman’s lower legs showing that she is wearing heels. Her stance is very strong and she is facing the door she is about to open. She opens the door and walks in. The camera tracks her movement. Low-angle to signify her status and to make her appear intimidating and powerful to the audience. Iconography of the heels signifying her femininity and sexuality and her stance signifies her power and determination. Position of the title (A Lionsgate Production) is: middle right of the frame. She will be standing still; the title will appear and then fade. She will walk off.

The first shot is a good indication that this is an opening sequence and not any other scene from the film as it is clear from the fact that the audience does not see the protagonist’s fact until later on that they have not been introduced to them yet.

Shot 2: Fade-cut to a high angle close-up of a man nervously wringing his hands. High angle makes him appear to be vulnerable and juxtaposes the low angle of the woman in the previous shot. Position of the title (Produced by Enya Phillips) is bottom left of the frame. It will face on the next shot.

Shot 3: Fade-cut to a high angle close-up of the woman’s heels as she walks over to a dressing table and sits down. The camera will tilt up to reveal the back of the woman as she is sitting on the seat. Position of the title (Directed by Shani Thanki-Franklin) is on the bottom right of the frame. It will fade on the next shot.

Shot 4: Fade-cut to an extreme close-up of the woman applying blusher to her face with a brush. The granules of makeup will be caught on the camera in an eerie fashion (reference would be Dexter. Normally mundane, normal actions put the audience on edge). Position of the title (Starring Yssy del Amo) is in the middle left of the frame. It will fade on the next shot.

Shot 5: Fade-cut to the man coming up the stairs. Shot taken from a low angle, to gain depict his powerlessness, and from behind the man, so as not to reveal his identity and keep the mysterious and tense atmosphere - as the audience is still unaware of this man identity or objective, which connotes the genre of thriller. Position of the title (Jurgen Kumbulla) is: bottom right of the frame, and will fade on the next shot.

Shot 6: Fade-cut to an extreme close up of the woman using blusher on her cheek, camera slowly pans out to reveal the smile on the woman's face. Style: Very slow and mysterious, again depicting genre. Red lipstick on the woman's lips and blusher are all to show her femininity and beauty. Position of the title (Alexander Roman) is: bottom right of the frame, as the camera pans towards the smile, fades.

Shot 7: Fade-cut to a low angle over the banister shot of the man coming up the stairs – he is nearly up them now. Again, no identity is revealed, and movement is slowed down, again depicting the genre. Position of the title (Stacy Wade) is bottom left of the frame, fades on the next shot.

Shot 8: Fade-cut to a close up of the woman spraying perfume on her neck; the close-up will be close enough to see perfume bottle and the woman's neck, and will again be slowed down so that the detail of the spray will be shown clearly. The pressing of the perfume bottle will be in time with the soundtrack. Style is almost like the Dexter title sequence, very intense and suggestive. The perfume and red painted nails will again depict this femininity; the nails are painted red along with the lipstick as red represents seduction and passion, but also anger and danger – to which the woman represents all of these.

Shot 9: Fade-cut to the boyfriend walking towards the doorway. The pace is slow, building suspense, making the audience feel on edge. For this shot should it be a high angle of the camera following behind him, or a low angle of just his shoes? (Reference the music video)For the shoes one the camera could be positioned in the doorway at a low angle with him walking towards it (symbolising the mess of woman’s situation he is walking into).

Shot 10: A close-up eye-level shot which only involves the back of the woman's head and upper back. As her shoulders are revealed, it becomes clear she is taking off her dressing gown. The slow pace in which we see this happens accentuates the sexuality and represents the themes of sexuality and vulnerability in which she will use herself and sexuality later on to get her way.

Shot 11: Cut to a close-up of just the boyfriend’s mouth. No identity is revealed, all we see is his mouth gradually form a suspicious smirk. This builds suspense, leaving the audience to question how the two cross cutting images relate to one another, feeling on edge as to why he is smirking just after we see her take off her dressing gown. This represents the thriller genre portrayed in our film, as throughout the film the audience will constantly be ‘edge of their seats’ as it is a story full of dramatic irony, uncertainty, cliffhangers and surprise.

Shot 12: Cut to a mid-shot of the women pulling down her dress, in a way that suggests she has just put it on and is adjusting it to make herself presentable. Only the lower body is seen. From the waist downwards Her dress will either be black or red, which are striking colours to represents her strength emotionally and physically. However the seductive nature of the dress also represents her sexuality and femininity.

Shot 13: The man is now walking inside the room – the camera tracks his entrance into the room from behind him, and the shot ends as he reaches towards the woman’s – who appears unaware of his entrance- back, which has the undone dress on it. Style: again very slow and intense and suggestive and the identity of these characters are still not fully revealed to depict the genre and keep audience in suspense. This shot will also reveal details of the room; the desk will have several things on it to reveal aspects of the woman. Lots of make-up and perfume to reveal the feminine aspect of the woman. There will also be a picture of her and her sister placed very prominently to show her driving force and importance of family/her sister. Also there are lots of books piled up on the side of the dressing table to show her intellect. The dressing table is very organised to show her neat and organised nature.

Shot 14: Cut to a mid-shot of the man grabbing the zip of the undone dress on the woman. Style is again very slow and tense.

Shot 15: Cut to an extreme close-up of the zip being done up – with the camera tracking the zip being done up all up the woman's back. Style is again quite slow and intense – again depicting the thriller genre.

Shot 16: Cut to a mid-shot, from a side-angle, of the woman, with the man behind her, in the mirror. The woman will be smiling slightly deviously and the man will be looking admiringly at the woman. The woman will then turn around to face the man. The fact the woman is smiling deviously at herself in the mirror shows that she is up to something, and the man will look very susceptible to her seduction, by looking lovingly at the woman; this will establish their relationship, and also be the first time their full identities are revealed.

Shot 17: Cut to a slightly closer shot, focusing on the interaction of the women fixing the boyfriends tie. This is done in now hurry which strengthens and emphasises the chemistry between the women and the boyfriend. Her alteration of the tie suggests her control of their relationship, and his willingness of her control suggests his admiration and love towards her. Their interactions establishes their relationship once more.

Shot 18: Cut to an over the shoulder shot, where the boyfriend is in view and we can only see the back of the woman. The soundtrack gradually becomes quieter to focus on our first line of dialogue,of the boyfriend lovingly questioning the women as he says “are you ready to meet my dad?”.This dialogue suggests the extent of their relationship, as meeting a parent of your partner is considered a large step. The fact he is asking her if she is ready, suggests that the woman has put in time and effort to the preparation of meeting him.

Shot 19: The shot type remains the same as the women goes into hug him. The soundtrack gradually becomes louder, back to its original volume, the pause of her response builds suspense and makes the audience question as to what exactly ‘meeting his dad’ actually resembles.

Shot 20: Cut to a reverse shot, the woman's face and expression can now be seen, and only the boyfriends back is in view. She closes her eyes and she tightly squeezes him and opens them to say, “I've been waiting a long time for this” into his ear in a very suspicious fashion. This suggests that what she is saying has a double meaning, and what the boyfriend will interpret from this is is not what she means at all. As the boyfriend cannot see her as she responds, introduces themes of deception of the women and their corrupt relationship.