Monday 20 December 2010

IDEA FOR A CONTEMPORARY NOIR

Rough synopsis: As a college student, the hero has not much on his mind but girls and A levels. One day he is smiled at by a girl, who then approaches him as he leaves college. She asks him out for a coffee, and he agrees. They begin talking, and soon start a relationship. He thinks he has hit the top, but one rainy night she comes to his house late at night. She is crying, soaking wet and covered in dirt. He invites her in, worried and she begs him to hide something for her. He is wary at first, but she convinces him and eventually they sleep together. He then decides that anything is worth it for her, and doesn’t question what she has hidden in his house. Life goes on as usual for a few days, but suddenly the girl stops talking to the boy. He sees her around with another guy, and begins to get jealous. He remembers the package she hid, and opens it one night when he is home alone. He finds lots of packets of £20 notes. He gets worried, and there is a knock at the door. He opens the door and two men are standing there with their faces in shadow. They grab him and he is forced into a van. He is gagged and bound, and the doors are closed behind him. He feels the van move, and rolls into something hard but blacks out. When he comes around, the van doors are open slightly and light in shining through. He notices he is amongst two other young men. The doors are pulled open and all the men are dragged into a garage. They are then interrogated, and it is revealed that the money belongs to a rich man that the girl had wronged. She stole the money from him to help her family, who were suffering due to excessive government spending cuts. She was meant to be babysitting his children, but took it upon herself to earn money by stealing it from him instead. It turns out that the other men that were also tied up in the van are people who the girl used to hide the cash with. The total amount is shared amongst all three boys. They are tied up, and then the girl is brought in. She is forced to explain to them what is happening, at gunpoint. She is asked where the money is, and says it is at the boy’s house. The truth is it is spread equally, but she lied to save two lives. Or so she thinks. The other two boys are taken away, and their houses are searched. The girl and boy are left in the garage and the opening scene plays out. When he comes to, he wakes up to a gun by his head. The girl is holding it, and by her legs is one of the men who had captured them earlier. She says she has it all planned out. She’s going to run away, but she can’t leave any evidence behind. She unties him and he thinks she is going to make him leave with her. Instead, she shoots the boy, but fails to kill him. She drops the gun in shock, and slides to the floor in tears. She buries her head in her hands and the boy grabs the gun. She looks up and realises what is going on, a look of fear appears on her face as she is shot in the heart. He runs out of the garage and collapses on the floor outside.

Rough idea for the opening sequence: The opening sequence would start as many Film Noirs do, with the end at the beginning. The main character will be gagged and tied up in a dimly lit garage. He will talk about his situation using voice over narration, giving an insight into the storyline. The audience will then view the story from the start, with an introduction to the main character, his friends and the femme fetale. The audience sees that the main character goes to college, and the relationship between the main character and the femme fetale is set up.