Pitch and Treatment Steps I-IV

I.Title and Producer: "Lost Cause" by Jasmine Elmiari
II. Genre: Neo-Noir
III.Log Line: A student trying to improve his life meets an unfair demise
IV.General Flow: Treatment: "Lost Cause"
Most of the class is goofing off, throwing paper airplanes and texting. An eighteen year old boy is avidly working on his assignment. This boy is wearing skinny pants, a black hoodie, and an Avenged Sevenfold shirt. The bell rings and the boy hands his work to the teacher, who looks questioningly at the boy. The boy walks out with his similarly dressed friends.

His friend, "Drake", tells him about his latest dealings with a drug dealer as they walk away from school through the glass doors. He say hasn't paid him back yet, but he probably won't get in too much trouble. Drake asks the boy if he'd like to go with him to get some weed later. The boy drops his skateboard to the ground suddenly, looks Drake intensely in the eye and says "Look man, I don't do that anymore". The boy gets on his skateboard and starts skating off. Drake yells from behind him "Look, I know that your still bitter about that, but you gotta move on!" as he jumps on his skateboard and follows after him.

Later that night, the boy gets a call from a cheerful sounding girl named Mel. They talk about random things while the boy awkwardly walks around his bed room. Mel comments that the boy has gotten a lot better at school, and that she really likes this side of him. Time seems to stop for a little bit as the boy works up the courage to ask Mel to the school dance. Mel seems to pause forever, but in a second she says, "Of course!" The boy shows utter happiness, and awkwardly ends the conversation and walks away.

A week later, as the boy is preparing for homecoming by adjusting his tie and combing his hair, his cell phone ring in the corner of the room. As he goes to pick it up, he accidentally knocks over a glass and breaks it. Visibly bothered, the boy picks up the phone, and Drake desperately tells him that he needs him to come to the bleachers at school with $50. The boy gets really angry and hangs up on him. The boy flops onto his bed and texts Drake, "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Don't ask me to do your crap again."

The boy drives up to the bleachers in a remote part of the school at dusk to find the familiar face of the drug dealer and Drake. The dealer smiles and comments on how the boys brother got beat up badly by the dealer when he did not pay. The boy physically winces in pain and throws the money at the dealer. The dealer catches the money and says that its not enough. The boy says forcefully that there's $50. The dealer smiles cynically and shoves the boy, saying "Add interest; $100." Drake interjects, saying no and starts fighting. Some students early for the dance gather to watch the fight, and start cheering. The boy tries to break up the fight as distant dance music plays in the background, but the dealer breaks away and pulls out a gun. Drake looks on as we hear a shot and the screen goes black. Sirens blare as the boy's voice says "Maybe I was always a lost cause."

Chinatown Presentation Reflection

Positives:

Our presentation was very strong in accenting how each example we used was artistically shot in order to add to the essential moody and raw atmosphere in each scene. I think that this was important for our topic of textured images for in film the images and the action/dialogue are inseparably connected to each other. Our examples were normally parts of integral scenes in the film that were exemplary of the mood of the film and where there was good use of textured images, but not always. We used a lot of filmic terms applied them in detail to our choice of screenshots. They were not always the most obvious ones like perspective (which Alejandro nicely expanded on with power relationships), but also one source lighting and color values. Also, I think that it was organized reasonably well.

Improvements:

Our focus question could have been worded more eloquently, as well as more specifically. It covered what we meant to say, but it could have been smoother. We connected back to film noir by saying what filmic techniques were signature of film noir and a bit on how Chinatown may have went against some noir techniques because of the time period it was made in, but we could have improved this by connecting the images and the dialogue back to film noir a bit more. I think we understood the topic well, but we might have gone off on some tangents. Also, it may have been an improvement if we had connected our slides in a more unified fashion; you could easily tell that each person did a different slide. The presentation itself could have been improved if we had practiced it more together, but it was still congruous.

Film Noir and Chinatown Overall:

Chinatown is not technically a noir film of the 1940 and such, but it still has the same type of moody and raw atmosphere that many movies would not dare to portray in the 1940s nor the 1970s, when Chinatown was made. This film genre is very interesting to many people because it is not afraid to show the harsh realities of the world, and it does not "sugar coat" the truth and condition the film into a happy ending. Film noir has many characteristics that are signature to it because of its entirely different atmosphere from most other films. It likes to use images that are rough, dark and confusing; these images connect to the dominant themes of entrapment, isolation, fragility and betrayal. Stylized dialogue is used to show the character's strengths and weaknesses, as well as to create an air of cynicism and mystery. The characters of film noir are like real humans who get hurt, make mistakes and cannot always obtain a "happy ending". This style of film can connect to us today similar to the way it used to connect to people in World War II and the Cold War, for our world is in a state of turmoil over events in the Middle East, the economy and much more.

Chinatown Story Analysis

Chinatown is a movie about a private eye named Jake Gittes who is brought into a conspiracy involving a drought, a death, a dam, and family intrigue. It has an intriguing, complicated plot with a depressing ending, but that is a main characteristic of film noir.

There is no real narrator, for the story tells itself. The implied narrator is Gittes, for the story follows his actions and where he goes and what he knows.

The spectators add to the atmosphere of not being able to control all of the corrupt and horrible things around them; this movie creates a feeling of not being able to do anything to make the world better, or at least not enough. For example, the valet doesn't know what to do when Gittes and Evelyn are fighting over whether or not to "talk" more.

We fill in some of that gaps such as how Gittes comes to his conclusions while on the case and why he is going there, especially with the scene in the library; it took me a little while to figure why he was there. Also, it is implied that Gittes and Evelyn sleep together, as well as when Evelyn is shot and horn blows.

The time is presented chronologically; everything is in order. There really isn't any flourishes on the time order. It is probably classical, for it cuts to the parts that the director wants us to see, but is still in chronological order.

The genre is neo-film noir, for it is a color film made after the 1950s that has elements of film noir. It is a very dark, gritty movie at times; there is no "sugar-coating" the truth, like original film noir. It uses color to emphasize the light and dark, similar to film noir.

This movie says that at the time people were probably wary of government conspiracies, even within their own government.

The narrative tells of basic human traits such as greed, desire, and idealism. Many people try to force their ideals on other people, but they cannot change the way the entire world is. Gittes was a man with flaws and wished that the world had a better sense of right and wrong, but in the end the entire world is like Chinatown in his view: you cannot do anything.