Costume Justification

Mia's costume in the film needed to represent the danger she is in, and also feelings of loss of hope and threat. Mia is wearing mostly black in the opening two minutes of the film, which connotes the idea of death and danger, and warns the audience of threatening events to come. She also wears a grey top, this represents the feelings of loss of hope which are very relevant as it is what she will feel at the end of the film according to our story-line. Her red scarf makes her stand out, which reflects the way Horatio singles her out as his victim, and the colour red also connotes danger and warning also. As well as this, the red scarf gives her a connection with Horatio who wears a red tie; this helps the audience to make a connection between the two characters.

Similarly, in the film 'Hide and Seek', the young girl wears a red coat in the opening two
minutes of the film, to show danger and threat. It gives the audience an idea that this character could be in danger, or perhaps dangerous. In the case of 'Hide and Seek' the audience get a feeling that the girl is in danger as she seems innocent and happy, and so her red coat is connoting the idea that she may be a victim of threat. In 'Neurosis' the female is being followed, again showing that she is the victim, and could be in some kind of danger. The colour red also stands out and outlines the characters as important key roles in the films.

Horatio's costume in the film says a lot about his character and intentions. The colours black and red again connote the concepts of danger and death; showing Horatio's threat and sinister characteristics in his red tie and black trousers. He is also dressed in quite formal and smart clothes, this makes him stand out against most people his age, and later in the film the audience would see him in contrast to others. As well as this, formal clothes are often associated with intelligence, which is another important part of Horatio's character as he is an intellectual and

uses his intelligence to make his obsession with Mia subtle. His red tie also gives him a connection with Mia, showing him to be the one who is threatening her safety.

Horatio's glasses are an important part of his costume also; they again, like his formal clothes represent his intelligence as glasses, especially ones of Horatio's style and size, are often associated with extreme intellect. Horatio often touches his glasses, or nudges them up his nose during points in the film, this is like his trademark, and shows him to be carrying out a sort of mission to capture Mia. The action shows his determination and focus.

Music/Soundscore

In the first ten seconds of our film we have heavy breathing recorded over the image, we decided to have this in the scene where Horatio is following Mia as it creates a sinister and threatening feel to the first ten seconds. The music we bring in with the first title of our film, and it is a piece called 'Sad Story' we got from a website called http://www.freeplaymusic.com/. The website is a copyright free music website. We chose this music as it begins with a soft piano in the beginning, creating a subtly sinister feel to the opening of the film, yet not obviously threatening; which reflects the fact that Horatio's obsession with Mia is not obvious and is much more subtle, yet the audience know there is something sinister and not quite right about him. The music later builds to a climax towards the end of the opening two minutes, which fits well with our film as in the story-line Horatio's obsession builds up to a climax, it also represents the disruption of his equilibrium, in terms of Todorov's narrative theory, when the pictures of Mia on the wall are shown.

Titles Storyboard

These titles which are featured over black, will be shown over image in the final film.

"NEUROSIS" Breakdown Sheet

Scriptbreakdownsheet 100305111116 Phpapp02

Collage of Mia Breakdown Sheet

Script Breakdown Sheet Collage Of Mia Final

Newsroom Breakdown Sheet

Script breakdown sheet- Newsroom

Film Schedule

FILM SCHEDULE:

Monday 1st March 2010

Time: 2.15-2.55
Scene 1: Horatio follows Mia on Welham Road.
Actors on location: Jemima, Leon and two students.

We chose to film on Welham Road in order to establish the main setting of the story which is set in Graveney School.


Friday 5th March 2010

Time: 11.10- 11.55
Scene 2: Take pictures of Mia outside the theatre.
We chose to take pictures of Mia outside the theatre in order to place her in an ordinary setting. The main aim of this was to create something eerie and mysterious out of a natural setting. The abnormal element to this scene is that Mia is being followed by Horatio who is zooming in on Mia' movements and taking pictures of her.

Monday 8th March 2010

Time: 2.15-2.55
Scene 3: Horatio goes to the newsroom and writes an article about Mia.
Actors on location: Leon

Horatio goes to the newsroom. We chose the media suite as the newsroom because it has many posters and articles that are associated with a newsroom setting. Also, the media suite is home to many computers and in an actual newsroom many computers and printers are needed in order to type and print stories.

ANIMATIC STORYBOARD

Photographs of Actors

This is our main character, Horatio Milton Baxter, played by Leon Thomas. Our group chose to use Leon as Horatio partly because he is in our group and so this meant we would not have to rely on other people outside of our group to be in our film. We also thought Leon would be a good person to play Horatio because he is tall and therefore stands out; making it easy for an audience to gather the idea that he is a key character and perhaps controversial to others.

Our group decided that I should play Mia, because again, I am in our group and so it makes filming time easier. Also, out of the people in our group I fitted in most with the characteristics of the character; since I'm white and have quite long hair, which are both characteristics of the females that tend to be in this genre of film.

Prop and Location Lists

Prop List for our film:

Mobile Phone (the text message Mia receives from Horatio)

A tie (presumably a red bow tie for when Horatio strangles Noah)

Apple Mac

Improvised article on the screen

Camera

Pictures of Mia

Geeky glasses

Flamboyant clothes

Ankle swingers with white socks

Black shoes

Location list for our film:

Media Suite- for the Newsroom:

Possibly the corridor for Red House (1^st floor):

Welham Road:

We chose these main locations for our film as they give subtle clues to the audience about the character of Horatio. The Media Suite being used for the newsroom shows Horatio to enjoy writing and the fact that he is writing about Mia and has lots of photographs of her, shows his obsession, as well as him taking on a journalist-type role; journalists in many ways have to be sly, suggesting that Horatio is a sly kind of person. Horatio walking down the road by himself will show his seclusion and isolation from others, and also telling the audience that he is a student as he is walking to school. Also, these locations are quite ordinary and everyday, most films we looked at of this genre opened in an ordinary setting in generally domestic or everyday situations, and so in this way we are following the codes conventions of the opening locations in films of the psychological thriller genre.

Timetable of Frees

View more documents from guest7d6423.

Script of "Neurosis"

“NEUROSIS”

Characters:

Leon Thomas-Horatio Milton Baxter

Jemima Luscombe-Mia Charles

Amy- Tasnim Rohal

School Pupils

Horatio is walking on Welham Road and is gazing at Mia as she walks

to school.

Whilst looking at Mia, Horatio loses his balance and falls on the floor, other students laugh at him.

Student #1: (Mocking tone) Oh my god, he’s such a loser. No wonder he doesn’t have any friends.

Student: #2: (Loudly whispers) I heard that he’s going to try out for the football team (group laughter)

Students walk away leaving Horatio on the floor staring at the concrete with a determined expression on his face.

In the afternoon, Horatio secretly follows Mia and takes various pictures of her. He goes to the student newsroom afterwards and starts to write an article about Mia that will be published in the Graveney Express

Horatio: (Camera follows Horatio’s typing) At first glance, Mia Charles seems like an ordinary girl who comes to school, does her work and enjoys a colourful social life with her friends. (Heavy breathing) Popular girl {muttering} we all come to school for {..} unique…

Camera zooms out to reveal a collage of Mia’s pictures.

Homepage

Final Film Treatment

Film Treatment: By Hannah Ram, Arfa Shah, Leon Thomas, Jemima Luscombe

Monday 8th 2010 Rated “15” by the Author

NEUROSIS: Psychological Thriller – Completed Treatment.

Horatio Milton Baxter, a teenage genius who is isolated from his peers, has led a troubled life. Uprooted from his hometown in Essex, Horatio Milton Baxter soon develops a crush on a popular girl called Mia that spirals into an unsightly obsession. The dangerous path he takes and the facade that he becomes leads him into the heart of a love triangle, mental anguish and ultimately death.

“N E U R O S I S” by Hannah Ram, Arfa Shah, Leon Thomas, Jemima Luscombe

Synopsis and Treatment for A psychological thriller For film (Approximately 90-110 Minutes in Length)

COPYRIGHTED © BY PHANTOM RSTL INC

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jemima Luscombe

Leon Thomas

Tasnim Rohal

Chelsea Osei-Owusu

George Jesse

SUPPORTING CAST

School Pupils

Police Officers

Teachers

Citizens of London

Main Characters Mother

SETTING OF STORY (suggested)

Tooting, London

TIME OF STORY

Past and Present

SYNOPSIS OF STORY

Horatio Milton Baxter, a teenage genius who is isolated from his peers, has led a troubled life. His parents spilt up leaving his mum heartbroken and contemplating suicide. When she is taken into a mental clinic for a nervous breakdown he is forced to live with his father in London whom abandoned him after the divorce causing him years of internal conflict and suffering.

Uprooted from his hometown in Essex, Horatio soon develops a crush on a popular girl called Mia that spirals into an unsightly obsession. He joins his school newspaper, the Graveney Express, in the hopes of capturing her attention by writing an article on her, highlighting her academic achievements and social status. However, whilst writing the article he finds himself infatuated with her life, his emotions spiral out of control and is thrust into a world of bitter romance in which he is willing to do anything to attain her.

His classmates soon begin to victimize him because of his academic achievements both inside and outside school. He tries out for the football team to try to win over peers and it is here that he sees Mia for the first time sitting in the stands cheering for her boyfriend, Noah. Noah, the captain of the football team, impedes him during the tryout, which leads Mia to ask him if he is okay. After talking to Mia for the first time Horatio develops a crush on her.

Horatio Milton Baxter suffers from undiagnosed psychoneurosis, which is a functional disorder characterized by feelings of anxiety, obsessing thoughts and compulsive acts that dominate his personality. It is triggered by the rejection he faces from his peers, Mia and his parents and it acts a catalyst to his own self-destruction and the decomposition of other people’s lives.

Despite Noah’s foul play Horatio gets into the football team. On a bleak rainy day after a match Noah and Horatio are the last ones left in the changing room, after scoring the winning goal Noah brags about Mia and being the best player on the team. The mention of Mia’s name triggers obsessive thoughts and believing that Noah is the only obstacle in the way of his and Mia’s love Horatio follows him into the showers and strangles him with rope, he then proceeds to tie the body to beam to make it seem like Noah had committed suicide. Before leaving Horatio steals Noah’s phone and texts Mia. In the text Horatio, whilst pretending to be Noah, creates a fictional affair between Mia’s best friend and Noah, claiming that the guilt that Noah faced everyday was too much to live with.

After Noah’s death Mia turns to Horatio, after being told by the school guidance councilor about his mother’s attempted suicide and their similar circumstances. Mia and Horatio soon develop a friendship, as Mia abandoned her social group after the alleged betrayal of her best friend, Amy. Their friendship soon turns into romance. Whilst being at Horatio’s house she finds Noah’s phone and proceeds to interrogate Horatio about why he has it. The argument between the two quickly becomes a power struggle, as Horatio believes that the only way to abstain from being thrown into prison is to kill the love of his life. However, Mia gains the upper hand and accidentally pushes Horatio out of his third story bedroom window and he falls to his death. Ultimately, the dangerous path he takes in order to attain her love leads him into the heart of a love triangle, mental anguish and ultimately death.

Roles and Responsibilities

Hannah Ram - Film Treatment writer and Editor

Arfa Shah - Production Manager and Scriptwriter

Leon Thomas - Equipment Manager and Actor

Jemima Luscombe - Story-boarder and Actor

Title of Film and Film Treatment Evaluation

We chose the title 'Neurosis' for our film for several reasons. Firstly, as the film is a psychological thriller we wanted to suggest some kind of psychological condition in the title to introduce to the audience straight away that this would be main idea throughout the film. Secondly, the condition 'psycho-neurosis' is what our main character Horatio suffers from in the film, we want the audience to understand this, and for the title to relate to the character's life. 'Psycho-neurosis' is defined as; "a minor mental disorder characterised by inner struggles and disturbed social relationships" according to depression-guide.com. The essential features of psycho-neurosis are that it is precipitated by emotional stresses, conflicts and frustrations. These features relate to the experiences Horatio has been through in his past, and so explain his mental disorder. The title of our film relating to the life of our character is an idea used in the film 'The Butterfly Effect', where the butterfly effect (or chaos theory) is a theory that says; "It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world." This theory relates the life of the main character in this film; and his condition or struggles throughout the film are due to this idea that a small action can cause a great corruption half way around the world. In this way we are following this convention of a psychological thriller and using the idea that the title of the film suggests a lot about the film's content and also the life of the character.

As well as the title fitting in with the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller, our treatment in many ways does as well. For example the film is set in a town, like many of the films we looked at, the film has flashbacks, jumping between past and present which again is another convention we noticed was common in films of this genre.

Genre

As a group we decided on the genre of Psychological Thriller as we looked at various genres and this particular one appealed to us the most. We also thought that psychological horror was very popular and wanted our genre to be slightly controversial and so we decided on a thriller instead of a horror.