Page 1 – Treatment
One True Love
Tony is an introverted and quiet teenage boy who has collected trinkets all his life such as a specific type of stone, and specific gold coins. Tony has never had many friends but has one close friend called Harry who he confides in about his thoughts and worries.
In his first class of the new high school year, Tony sees a girl across the room and instantly becomes infatuated with her beauty. He tells Harry who encourages him to go speak to her, but Tony never does. Instead for the next few months, Tony just watches the girl, and she begins to consume his thoughts. He finds out where she lives while walking home from school one day and discovers that she is only a few streets away from his house. At home, she is all he can think about.
Harry finds Tony at school one morning and explains that he’s just overheard that the girl is moving overseas to study abroad in the next few days. Tony is devastated and for the whole day grows more anxious. By the end of the day, Tony explains to Harry that he needs to do something, or he’ll go crazy and has decided that he will go to the girl’s house that night to confess his love. Harry is doubtful at this plan and doesn’t understand why Tony wouldn’t just do it at school or during the day but supports his friend.
After dinner, Tony sneaks out of his house and makes his way to the girl’s house. As he approaches the house, he hears voices and sees lights on. His breathing heightens as he sneaks over to the living room window and peers through it. Inside, Tony sees three beautiful, identical girls. His expression changes to confusion and shock, and as he looks between all three realising, she is a part of a set of identical triplets, he eerily smiles. Still smiling, Tony turns around and slowly begins to walk away from the house back down the street.
Page 2 – Plot Points
The Concept Sentence: An obsessive teenage boy who has collected similar looking knickknacks all his life finally decides to ask out a beautiful girl in his class who he has been pining over for months but saddens when he discovers that she is moving overseas to study abroad, only to discover whilst creepily peering through her front living rooms window one night that she is actually part of a set of identical triplets and his gaze suddenly broadens.
Inciting Incident: A boy who is seen obsessing over his collections of small things in life such as collecting specific stones and collecting specific gold coins, is starstruck when he spots a beautiful girl in his class.
Goal/obstacle for the inciting incident: The obsessive boy wants to talk to the girl but is far too shy, so stays back and watches her from afar for months.
Act turn: The boy discovers that the girl is moving overseas to study abroad.
Goal/obstacle for the act turn: Heartbroken, the boy decides he is finally going to speak to her but explains to his friend he is too shy to do it at school and wants to go and talk to her at her house, so instead finds and goes to the girls home late at night to confess his long-lasting love.
Twist: When the boy peers through the girls living room window, he not only sees the girl from his class, but he sees two other girls who are identical to the girl he has been in love with all year. Realising she is a part of three identical triplets, the boy forgets his interest in the girl moving overseas as he realises there are two others he can obsess over or collect…
Genre: A dark comedy/psychological thriller…
Page 3 – Reflection
My film ‘One True Love’ is somewhat of a hybrid genre short film, which I think can be very enticing to audiences, or even attract a wider variety of people. It is a slow-burn short film, however I would ensure, when making this film, that there would never be a dull moment, only slower moments of tension or anticipation. I have labelled it a dark comedy/psychological thriller, because there is a shift in tone and nature of the film when the twist happens. Though leaning towards more of an absurd twist, I think it is effective when we know the boy’s obsessive nature throughout the treatment and film. By the end of the film, the audience will understand that though absurd and comedic, it is also a social commentary on the male gaze and how a man’s obsessive personality can become dangerous as the audience realises that Tony doesn’t even know the girl’s name, he has simply become fixated on the girl’s looks. This week I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo for a film class, and I actually noticed some similarities between it and my story in the messages it is trying to convey. The film focuses on the eery ideas of how the male gaze can lead to obsession and objectification of women. This is the sort of off-putting ideals I would like my film to emulate.
Having an absurd twist can be good when done well but is a tricky task. Writing this twist was my most challenging plot point, but I think if I were to work on this concept for a longer time, I would have a strong enough vision to pull off this complex idea. When producing an engaging film, I think the twist can make or break it. It is the final piece of the puzzle and ultimately is what heightens or changes emotions in the audience. Of course, all elements are important. A film that has a boring act turn likely won’t even keep an audience watching in time for the twist. Each element works to support the others to build a strong and entertaining film.
If I were to develop my story further, I think doing so in a group would be highly beneficial. Once there is an initial idea, multiple people can work off of it to produce the best version of that idea when getting it from paper onto the screen. I enjoy listening to other people’s thoughts because everybody has different perspectives on situations. Somebody else might view my concept in a completely original way that might make my story even more intriguing!
As I am not driven to create films like others are, I would definitely work with a director and screenwriter to get my concept made. I do feel strongly about my short film concept as it is a topic that though dramatized, is very much real to a lot of women and I would love to be able to bring awareness to the subject. I would also want to work with others for story plot points advice. I think I am not the most talented storyteller, so I would appreciate a director’s notes on how to make it the best it can be.