Pathways Final Treatment

This is the final Treatment which Emma has written:

Treatment
Pathways is a one character driven story based around one a middle aged man named Gary who through his captivating life stories which he’s telling us we learn his true predicament and how he arrived there. He’s walking and talking to camera about his life and past events with comical value to them. His only companion is his dog called Ben who follows him wherever he goes. He’s an upbeat kind of guy with a sense of humour as he laughs at his own comical stories. The music you will hear during this will be acoustic guitar track of happy major chords strumming away. He uses humour to cover up his back story which is quite dark and sad. As the story develops the slow revelation of his situation unfolds and the music will change in suitability of the mood. We will also include flashbacks to visualise his memories he’s coming out with. There is also going to be an audio flashback when hes referring to a family holiday at a beach. The sound will relate to the holiday, so we will hear laughter and beach noises as he describes his memory to us.

Narrative Development

It opens with a black screen with the main character Gary talking over it. This line hints towards his gambling addiction but does not spell it out. Then we see him walk into focus and smile at the camera (the voice over is still playing when he walks into shot.) From here we see him talking to camera about his and talks about staying positive through rough times. This is establishing the main character further and started to build on his story of being homeless, but again not spelling it out. By him saying he is positive it hints to the fact that he has something negative in his life he is trying to stay positive about. Then he goes on to talk of his family memories, hobbies he’s into and he also mentions his friend Ben. By this time he hasn’t mentioned straight up his gambling addiction, but we see gambling tickets in his bag. From this he goes on to talk about his baby brother and how he would want to be there for him (suggesting he’s not at the moment). He then goes onto to say he’s not close to his family anymore, and mentions when he started to gamble. Then this reveal has truly come in and he starts to talk about how this addiction has affected his life, especially in terms of his family. This leads to a flashback of his mother handing over money as he leaves the house for good. But we end with Gary seeming happy, as he says everyone needs someone to look out for them, he reveals his friend Ben is a dog.

Audience-Intended audience 16-45 Working class as most could relate to his stories as they are from all stages of his life and he comes from a working class background.

Purpose-Intended purpose: showing stories of homeless guys that you pass in the street everyday. Homeless people do seem to go unnoticed by society as you walk past them on the street and pay them no attention. We want to make awareness that these are humans with stories just like yourself. We want to keep the fact that he is homeless withheld until the very end. People do not need to know of his predicament to get to know the character.

Style-Shot like Sign language, + Barry +_ about a girl. We knew from early on we wanted a character talking to camera like a kind of diary. Shooting style would include lots of close ups, depth of field, shallow focus, cut aways, subtle flashbacks.

Sound- The soundtrack being upbeat and happy acoustic guitar track, very much like that in the sign language piece. In the audio flashback we are going to be using broken glass noises, beach noises and voice overs to convey the memory. We also need clothing ruffles, shoe shuffles, and various other Foley sounds to add depth and realism to the piece

There's not a great deal within this treatment that specifically relates to my role, however there's obviously going to be a few subtle flashbacks and plenty of cutaways. Ill have to focus on making sure the cuts arent jarring and get the right cutaways for each shot.

Pathways initial Script

Emma, Clarice and Connor have got an intial draft for our short drama, we've focussed on getting on a character that is in mid 30s but i think if problems occur with getting hold of actors of that age, we could make a few small changes and develop it for a younger character. Looking at it from an editing point of view it seems pretty simple, however i think it could still develop a little more

Screenplay
EXT.
A man of around 35 is sat on a bench in the street of an
urban city. He has short brown hair, unshaven however not
untidy. He is from a working class background.
GARY
(Laughing as though someone
has asked him something)
Yeah, I’d defiantly say it’s got
way out of hand.
(Laughs)
You’d have thought i would have
realised by now.
(Pauses)
The one that has always been there
for me is Ben, don’t no what I’d do
without him to be honest.
Even before everything happened
we’d go for jogs together, you
gotta keep healthy, however then on
way back stop of at the pub for a
sneaky pint, gotta balance it out.
(Pauses)
CUTS TO BLACK
EXT.
Gary is walking along side the camera, he comes across as a
happy go lucky type, however has something deep that
troubles him.
GARY
You have to laugh at your own
mistakes, it’s what gets you
through life, other wise you’d just
worry about the smallest things.
(Pauses)
I remember this one time when i was
a kid, i was an only child at
still, and my mother was a stay at
home mum, my dad worked with the
police.
NEED IDEAS
All i heard was my mum shouting
from the kitchen
(Puts on a feminine voice)
Gary what you doing now, i swear
you’ll be the death of me one day,
always up to something, silly boy.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.
GARY
We used to be quite close, went on
holidays together, usually the
cheap one out of the paper.
(Laughs)
My dad was always a tight git.
(Pauses)
However he always wanted us to have
a good time and make the most of
the holidays we went on.
Gary looks down, looks as though he is looking for something
which is out of shot. He shows the camera a photo from a
past holiday with his parents.
GARY
This is from before my brother was
born, after he came along it all
changed.
(Pauses and seems to drift of
in his own world after a while
a smile comes on his face and
he starts to laugh, Audio
sounds of beach, such as
children and waves)
This was one of the best holidays i
went on as a child, we was staying
in one of the smallest caravans iv
ever seen, it must have been the
first full day we was there, it was
proper pissin’ it down. I was sat
probably moaning, my mum was laid
on the make shift bed trying to
ignore me as she had an headache,
think that was my doing. My dad
had, had enough and packed us all
into the car, we had only walked to
the car and we was drenched.
(Pauses)
I have no idea why he thought it
would be a good idea, but he drove
us to the beach, me and my mum
looked at each other, we thought
he’d gone mad.......he had stripped
down to his boxes and was of
running down the beach in the
pouring rain, mental!
The crazy fuck went for a swim in
torrential rain, apparently it was
to cheer us up, i just think he
went a bit mad stuck in a small
caravan with me and mum.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.
Turns out the whether for the rest
of the holiday was hot and sunny,
however my dad developed a cold
over night, so for the rest of the
holiday we had him moaning about
having ’Man Flu’.
EXT.
Gay is sat back in on the bench, looks more dishearten than
before, more serious and looking at a dogeared picture.
GARY
This is a picture of my kids, I
don’t get to see them much any
more, i guess it’s for the best
really.
(Pauses)
My boy, I’d like to think, is a
chip of the block.
(Smiles to himself)
He sees the good in everything, and
a little accident prone just like
his old man.
I would love for one day, to take
my kids on holiday, but for now
that won’t be happening.
EXT.
Gary is walking down the same street as before. Looks as
though he is pushing something, can’t see what it is.
GARY
It all started when my brother was
born, my parents where more
bothered about pleasing the baby.
(Says this in a sarcastic way
and rolls eyes)
I’d started hanging round with an
older crowd, bad idea to be honest.
Looking back now, at the time i
knew it was wrong, but i didn’t
like to admit it. They would all go
to the dogs, or the footie and
would always place bets, i felt
like I’d have to join in....It just
got out of control, every time I’d
win it was the best feeling ever,
like a thrill, a kind of high.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.
(Pauses)
My parents didn’t notice i was out
most of the time. I knew my dad was
disappointed in me, and i knew he
was aware i had started gambling. I
just couldn’t help it, I kept it
under control.
(pauses)
I’d met my beautiful wife, had to
kids and was planning on having the
third.
(Pauses, blank expression on
his face)
We lost the child. I couldn’t cope.
It just got out of hand, Tess had
it hard not only did she have to go
through the miscarriage but i
wasn’t there for her, I’d be out at
all hours, i lost all our money
near enough. That’s when she’d had
enough. She kicked me out. That was
the worst day of my life, i could
she the kids in the upstairs window
while she thew my clothes out. She
had found all the mail I had hid
saying I’d missed a payment. I was
stupid.....
(Goes quiet, into his own
world)
EXT.
Gary is sat, leaning against a wall. He is sat on the floor
but we are unaware of this.
GARY
So now im out on the streets, my
mum and dad are to disappointed in
me to help me out, not that I’d
take anything from them, its my own
fault.
He goes to take out a watch out of his pocket, however with
it he pull some scratch cards out with it.
GARY
Oops, you weren’t meant to see
that. Every now and then people
will leave me money, and I just
want to try and get back on my
feet....I just have a feeling that
this time it will happen. I did
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.
GARY (cont’d)
once win the pound back (laughs), i
guess that doesn’t count though.
It’s not all bad though, Ben is
still around keeping me company,hes
always around and has been through
everything.
When i got thrown out, he was there
to pick up the pieces. Bless him im
sure he gets fed up with me
sometimes.
It gets pretty lonely on the
streets, everyone needs someone
there for them no matter who it is.
TWO-SHOT: GARY AND HIS DOG, BEN.
Don’t we ben lad!
He feeds the dog a biscuit and ruffles his head. He gets up
and walks off with the dog lead in one hand and pushing a
trolley.
FADES OUT: