A Short Film Concept

George Rogers

PlotTwo time travelling contract killers currently in different eras have been set up to assassinate each other. Contractor 1 is from the 1950’s and is introduced on a steam train opening a letter with the details of the kill contract. Contractor 2 is from the 1980’s and is introduced looking at a kill contract whilst driving a vehicle from the period. From here on the character from the 50’s will be referred to as A, and the one from the 80’s will be referred to as B.

They are set up to kill each other in modern day Britain by a gang and are subsequently captured by the gang. Once they have been tied up, 2 gang members start pouring petrol around them in a circle. Just before they light the petrol, their two time travelling devices put them back in time to start again where they were at the start of the film, This time with the intent of working together to take down the gang.

They take it upon themselves to make their way through various gang members until they meet the gang leader. A and B realise that they can alter time more freely than before and can perform a rewinding effect at any time, they use this to great effect to dispatch the henchmen and finally the boss who is driving away in one of the cars. They vaporise him with a strong blast from the power of the time travelling devices combined. They realise that they have a similar distinctive mark on their palms and realise they are one in the same.

There is somewhat of an enigma because you don’t know what happens next really, it’s a resolution because they destroy the main antagonist but you don’t know if there is any retribution for doing that. Weather they stay together and part ways. If it was a Hollywood movie, this would be a way to set up a potential sequel but is also fine left alone.

ConceptThis film borrows elements from various genres and could easily be considered a mashup of genres. It has elements of time travel reminiscent of Back to the Future’s time travel logic and has is also very similar to the short film ‘Spin’ with the repetition element and the fact that there is no dialogue throughout the film

Moving about in time replaces the actions that happen in that time with the actions that the 2 contract killers do. They notice the differences because they can travel in time and remember what things were like before they made changes, but nobody else in the world knows. It also borrows from action and gangster films from both the 50’s and 80’s. Invincible and overpowered 80’s action stars from films such as The Terminator inspire style from the 80’s killer.

The 50’s killer is a stylish and professional killer. The style being modelled on the classic 50’s private inspector, jackets and ties all around.

Start of day End of Day

Start of day

Different Actions

End of Day (Different outcome)

CharactersAccording to propp’s character theory, the two killers would be described as both the hero, because they actively seek out the villain or are generally enemies with the villain and the donor because they can only reach their true potential and vanquish evil because of the other killer being there with their time travelling device.

Of course the gang leader is the villain because he wants to kill the two time travellers and stop them from causing havoc with gangs and mobs throughout history.

The other characters in the film are either just the gang members who pretty much just serve as a way to show that there are people loyal to the villain in order to increase his perceived power and influence.

Storyboard

Mise en Scene and CinematographyThe perception of the era and time will be heavily dependent on Mise en Scene and Cinematography.

In the opening scene, lots of split screen effects where the audience can see what is going on in both timelines will be used in order to show a direct comparison as to what is going on. Fast editing and short shots will be employed to give a sense of urgency and excitement. The music used on the opening scene will be an original piece in two arrangements and will switch between them depending on setting. In the 50’s it will be a jazz piece featuring upright bass, jazz drums and guitars. In the 80’s it will be the same melody, bassline and drums but done electronically in order to give it that 80’s action movie sound. This along with the black and white tone compared to the soft focus, high contrast and lens flare effects will hopefully really drive home the time difference.

The reveal of the gang leader will be a much slower reveal. He will walk out of the shadows and into the light into frame for a close up shot. The music will continue where needed but will take much more a backseat in these tense scenes. It will be more of an orchestral piece that builds suspense but is not distracting. All music will thematically change in order to fit the setting but be pretty much continuous and very similar in composition so that t flows together properly

Setting and LocationThe sections in the 1950’s will be set on a steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors railway. With a black and white filter I believe that this will provide the perfect setting for the era and the type of character I am trying to depict. I should be able to get a train with nobody else on if organise it well with the railway and film on the first train there is.

Shots if the steam locomotives and the local countryside is likely to increase the immersion of the viewer. I think a variety in locations and settings in general is likely to do this.

If I can get permission from the council or landowner, I will be using this abandoned warehouse to film all the other sections including the first encounter of the two time travellers, being kidnapped and tied up in front of the mob leader, and the comeback that they make to defeat him.

Setting and LocationMiddlesbrough train station, and out the back of my house will also be used as filming locations for the transition shots of 50’s killer getting off the train and 80’s driver speeding off. An industrial estate in Redcar will also be used for some of the 80’s shots. The car does not need to be actually speeding, a mix of fast paced editing and overdubbed engine noise can give a convincing effect of speed.

Costume / Props GeneralThe gang boss needs to be wearing a black and white suit. It doesn’t matter about the quality or condition of the suit just as long as he has one, these can be had from charity shops for very little money. The henchmen will just be dressed in black, this will be easy to do because pretty much everyone has black clothing of some description. The henchman will have the jerry can filled with petrol (actually water) and an array of weapons which will consist of stuff we can find. Knives, small baseball bats, prop guns are all pretty easy to come by and will make for interesting and varied fights between the time travellers and henchmen.

The scene doesn’t need to be too long, as long as you get the idea that they are being defeated by A and B then that’s fine.

Costume / Props Main CharactersA will be dressed in similar clothes to those below, a very common 50’s businessman style and will be using a small pocket watch as his time travel device. B will be wearing very 80’s clothing so things like body warmers and jeans and his time travelling device will hopefully be a calculator watch or something similar if I cannot source one.

This makes sense in the context of the film because they will have been incognito in their prospective eras.

Lighting / Visual EffectsAs stated previously, I will be using visual effects in order to properly distinguish between the different eras and give the scenes their own feel and personality.

Due to the almost entirely outdoor nature of the shoot, I will pretty much have to do all of my ‘lighting’ in post production. This means applying different colour filters such as very contrasting ones such as purples and greens in the 80’s parts and a black and white theme for the 50’s sections. Also a retro style soft focus will be used in the 80’s section and perhaps film grain on the 50’s parts. To make the modern day section feel more dramatic I will probably be trying to keep an overall dark colour scheme, apart from the ending which will be quite bright.