Finished Product

Storyboard Pictures

Treatment

Working Title- Born In Captivity

Writer –

 Joel Lampkin                    Home Number- (0151)-269 7645

JL Productions

10 Liminate Street                 Fax – 334 – 511- 9869

Liverpool, West Derby

England

L8 7UY

Logline- Drugged, beaten, abused, threatened, starved, sold. Meet Michael the boy denied Freedom.

Key characters-

Michael- Sold by his mother and father because of their extreme poverty issues. He was modelled as a prodigy for a major drug lord, everyday of his short life he was beaten, burned, mentally and emotionally tortured. Crying himself to sleep one night, he suddenly realised his life mattered more.

Alexander Solimir- raised in a family heavily involved in mass drug rings in Eastern Europe raised Alexander. Alexander was scarred emotionally as well as physically by his father who was a drug addict as well as a supplier. Alexander treats everybody in a harsh way in order to command respect.

Dmitri-  A private investigator that has been tracking Alexander for 3 years. He believes that alexander has been harbouring children and using them to distribute his drugs in an unsuspecting manner. Dmitri grew up in a family of police officers and keeps the family traditions strong via his work

Arnolk Sweech- a lackey with a warm heart. Arnolk always states how much he hates his job, we find out that his daughter is suffering with cancer and that this job is the only job he can find with a sufficient wage to cover her treatment costs

Stavan Hontawitz- Stavan is the meanest of the enforcers; Stavan has a past history of violence and only got a job with Alexander due to killing a man who was attacking him. An avid drug user, with more brawns that brains, his head is very rarely at 100% due to his drug taking.

Roman Angelov- He is the most likeable out of all the Enforcers as he makes sure the other enforcers do not treat the lower ranking workers too badly. A typical teenage life changed with the murder of his parents with no where else to go he lived on the streets before a former worker of Alexander offered him shelter and food in exchange for work.

The story revolves around Michaels life story, the story shows how his life has evolved from typical poverty childhood poverty in Eastern Europe to being sold for money in order for the remaining family to survive. We meet Alexander Romanov and his team of henchman and find out about all of their stories. We see that Michael is planning to escape, this brings in private investigator Dmitri who may either be the saviour or the devil in disguise. The story is set in forest of Russia, with flashbacks to the childhoods and early life of every key character. The forest is the ideal place for a drug company and it achieves less attention than from a public factory or building. The story is told in order to show how children have been exploited in the drug world; the themes in the story revolve around childhood and how family can either lead us to our own demise or save us in the end.  The story takes place in 1990’s with flashbacks ranging from 1973-1987.

Act One

We are introduced into Michael in stages as he is in a dimly light room, explaining everything that happened to him in his life. Michael tells a story and we are gradually shown his body to reveal his scars then his facial features. As the story continues we flashback to the beginning where Michael is standing next to his family as a young boy with Alexander and two Men in front of him and an exchange sees Michael taken away, with his mother falling to her knees crying. The lighting in all these scenes are very dark to create a dark atmosphere that the audience can recognise as bad. Michael is led away and told to forget about his old family and brain washed into believing Alexander was his true

Act Two

We see Michael attempting to escape numerous times then being heavily beaten. Michael eventually escapes the factory and is running through the forest at night. The character is constantly chased by enforces of Alexander who realised Michael had escaped hours after he got out of the factory. Michael eventually becomes too fatigued to continue and slumps to the ground. A mysterious stranger who eventually ties him up and calls the police helps Michael off the ground. The mysterious stranger turns out to be Dmitri who is a private investigator he believes the child was a drug smuggler and arrests him instead of believing he is a prisoner.

Act three

With the police on their way, Alexander and their henchmen confront Dmitri and demand them to return the boy to them; the boy with his mouth taped shut is helpless to diffuse the situation. Guns are pointed at Dmitri, who in turn puts a gun to the boys head, unknowing that Alexander actually wants him to be killed in order for him to not reveal his secrets. A gun shot is heard and it fades out to Michael talking in the police station about his version of events 

Recce report

Recce Report

 

Before we begin filming we should take these following concerns into consideration and find out which of the following concerns will have an effect on production. I thought it was with best intentions to scout out several locations suitable for filming. It is best to the asses the locations we have decided good for filming to be able to evaluate the situations to ensure that they are suitable for filming, the following concerns are:

•    Health and Safety concerns

•    Parking or equipment access

•    Electrical outlets/power supplies

•    Available lighting sources (natural and artificial) 

•    Requirement of permissions to film on site

•    Viability in creating a suitable and intended atmosphere

•    Space and filming possibilities.

•    Area for shooting, cast, equipment

 

Wood Scene

For this scene we are looking to film within a park that has a lot of trees, this is to be able to act as if the setting is within a lonely enormous woods. However the main obstacle we have come across is locations, as although Liverpool has many parks not many nearby contain a lot of trees suitable to be able to pass off as a woods.  We ideally would like to film at a massive park such as Everton Park or Caldestones park as there we would have plenty of space that would mean we would be able to find suitable locations that we will be able to film by ourselves without pedestrians interfering with the number of shots.  The camera battery power supply will be able to last the length of time we need, this would then cause no problems regarding power needed. The location during the time we plan to film will be the type of setting we will look to produce, as it will be rather cold and this is the type of setting we would like to replicate. The locations have a large car park, many route around it and many places suitable to filming.

Character profiles

Character profiles

Each actor chosen was selected from a possible group of 3. The actors were told to stand in certain positions and read in a certain accent, the best of the 3 were chosen for each part while the other two were asked whether they were interested in any other parts.

The character profiles allow the actor to maintain a better understanding of the character they are portraying, this is helpful as they can picture the characters life and imagine as if they are actually the characters themselves.

 

Mike

Actor:

Name: Daniel Cantlay                        D.OB.: 15/05/96

Personal Appearance: He is small for his age due to malnutrition and years of basic captivity; he is light skinned and pale. Hair colour is a mixture of light and dark brown; his clothing will be a hooded top, grey jogging pants and trainers.

Personality: Mike is very reserved and very quiet due to his very limited human contact from his captivity. He may seem very weak and unable to truly come into his own but he still shows fight and courage to carry on.

Background: Mike was born in Russia in July 1978; he was born to a poor family in the Ivanovo region. He was an only child, he lived with his parents for the first 4 years of his life before a revolution began and he was taken from his family and recruited by the drug lords to eventually fight against the dictatorship that was occurring. He was trained in a warehouse with many hundreds of children for 5 years until he was 9 years of age, at this time the dictatorship had fallen and Russia was a lost country. Drug lords ruled the country and Mike was sold to a smaller drug lord who used him to make drugs within a building deep within the woods.

Captor One

Actor:

Name: Scott Jenkinson                       D.O.B: 07/08/96

Personal Appearance: He is not really intimidating in size or height, he is pale and his hair colour is unknown due to him wearing a hat all the time. His clothing is a black parka coat black jogging pants and trainers.

Personality: Real name is Roman Angelov, his personality is rather unknown we know that out of all the captors he is the most likable in the building where the boys are held captive. He is skilled at fighting and he is well trusted and has goodness inside of him. His clothing is grey jogging pants and trainers with a purple parka coat.

Background: Born in April 1959, he was the middle child of 5 brothers; his parents were gunned down in a mass shooting by the gang of a drug lord. He joined Alexander Solimir when he was homeless and needed money. He slowly built his reputation up and become one of Alexander’s right hand men.

 

Captor Two

Actor:

Name: Ellis Fitzgibbon     D.0.B: 06/4/96

Personal Appearance: Stocky with broad shoulders, his face is rarely seen but when it is he has medium length brown hair. His clothing is a black parka coat black jogging pants and trainers.

Personality: Real name is Arnolk Sweech, Arnolk’s personality is rather confusing, he claims to love peace and want peace on earth but we never see the true Arnolk as (he is an avid drug user and in most scenes he is under the influence). Arnolk does reveal he hates his job but does it for his child with whom he aims to find once he has enough money. He was a former wrestler in high school who was taken off this path via drugs.

Background:  Born in December 1961, he is an only child who grew up in a middle class family in the farmlands of Russia, his father died of cancer aged 12 and took up wrestling as a distraction only to be hooked on cocaine and marijuana by the age of 18, he took up a job aged 22 as a small time drug seller and grew a successful partner with Alexander Solimir who took him under his wing and taught him a lot about the drug industry.

Captor Three

Actor:

Name: Jack Hughes               D.O.B: 15/08/96

Personal Appearance:  Real Name is Stavan Hontawitz and he is the biggest of all the captors and has the most power in terms of strength. He is pale and has medium length black hair and some stubble; his clothing will be combats, a bubble coat and trainers.

Personality: He is very mean and treats the prisoners with the most disrespect due to him being the “enforcer”. He is a avid gym goer and is very self conscious and is constantly paranoid that people are mocking him.

Background: Born in February 1958, he was born to parents Austov and Peggy right when the famine hit, he barely survived, he had one brother who died mysteriously in Stavans house but he was acquitted after questioning, he was left homeless as his parents no longer wanted to know him so aged 20 he was working for a larger drug lord who ordered him to work for Alexander

 

Back up Actors (understudies)

Harry Rendell

Paul Fletcher

Matthew Murphy

Director Research

Cell 211
Director- Daniel Monzon
Born in 1968 he was journalist and film critic for a magazine called Magazine Still and was previously a deputy director of a Spanish television program called "Film Days". For his best known film Cell 211 he received rewards for best film and also received a Goya for best director amounting to Cell 211 winning 8 Goya's which is the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars... I think

In an interview he stated that the reason he sought a career in film was after he watched King Kong. He is a keen admirer and appreciator of England stating that he loves it here and that his film being released in British cinema is his career highlight. Cell 211 was not his idea it was originally a novel that producers offered to him to direct which he accepted. He spends a long time during pre production of films as he spent 8 months selecting the cast to get the film balance correct.

The Prophet
Director- Jacques Audiard
Born in April 1952 he was the son of a Michael Audiard who was like him a successful film writer and director he was won many awards for his films the most well known film worldwide is "The Prophet" of which he won a BAFTA for best film not in the English language. He has released Music videos also as well as directing six other films and writing over ten more.

Audiard has been labelled the French Scorcese and has often been criticised for his slow creations and laziness. He began directing in 1994 but has since just produced six full length films a low amount for someone who has been labelled a Scorcese don't you think? Audiard is forever trying to creep out of his fathers shadow and become his own film maker rather than it being compared to his father's work, that's why in some of his films a father figure is often shunned and or rejected in order to show Jacques rejecting the connotation that he aims to be like his father or create similar films. Out of the two directors Audiard is the one who claims auteur status and his film the prophet is set for a big Hollywood production with translation.

five minute sequence

Setting

Woodsy area, possibly destinations include the woodsy area by the school field. Another destination also includes the railway loop line or a park that has a lot of trees around it.

Actors

The  scene  from the narrative  I will be producing will be one that includes a fair bit of running away as this type of acting I think I will be able to create. The scene will open with a long shot of a person running away before it shows a a number of other camera shots including close up and medium shot. This scene shows how the boy aims to escape his captors as he sprints away through the woods the clip will include a close shave where the boy is almost caught by his former captors but he manages to evade them.The scene will become really intense and there will be a lot of tension created via the music coming from the non diegetic music playing, the faint sounds of the main character breathing will be able to be heard over the sound of the music until he has a bag placed over his head from behind. A muffled scream can be heard until the picture fades out to black as it then shows a POV shot of the boy being dragged along the floor