'River' Treatment

'River': Film Treatment

Genre: Dark comedy, fantasy

Duration: 5-10 minutes

Target audience: Anyone over the age of 12

Outline: A man, named Kevin, dies from alcohol poisoning, collapsing onto the side of the road. The fabled 'Ferryman' (a prominent figure from Greek mythology) comes to 'collect' him, who takes him 'through the river' to the afterlife. This version of the afterlife appears to be some form of purgatory, as The Ferryman takes him to different parts of his life, and to see a number of different people who mean something to him. Yet this world also seems to have a society in itself, with The Ferryman's role being his actual occupation, and with other ferry men working at the time. As his journey through memories comes to an end, The Ferryman must send Kevin up or down...

Character breakdown:

• Ferryman/Ron (John Campbell): One of the ferry men. He seemingly used to be a plucky, enthusiastic man, but has now been de-emotionalised by his monotonous regime and is cynical about it's repetitive nature. He sees Kevin as unknowing, which irritates him as he knows the ins and outs of the ferry man business.

• Kevin (Caolan Plumb): The man that has passed away from alcohol poisoning. He is confused and dazed, as he is new to his surroundings. Ron must help him to understand these surroundings, and the afterlife in general. He is emotional about the people he has lost, yet at the end, he becomes accepting of the fact that he is dead and understands his fate.

• Limbos: These are people stuck in the river, most likely for their questionable actions in the real world, scary characters, look menacing

• Amy: Kevin's girlfriend, who doesn't know where he is, and becomes worried throughout the film.

Visual Elements: 

• Lighting - Natural for outdoor shots, standard lighting for indoor
• Camera movement - Mix between tracking shots and stationary
• Editing - Highlights the different emotions both Kevin and Ron feel throughout the film
• Setting - Purgatory, world is known as 'River'. Outdoors in Twinbrook, yet a few houses used for memory
• Actors:
• Caolan Plumb
• John Campbell
• Amy De Meulemeester
• Cathal Tierney
• Aaron Esteban
• Costume- Overcoat for Ron, generic clothing for Kevin, Limbo's will wear black, Amy also wearing generic clothing. 

Audio Elements:

• Soundtrack and music: Recorded by Eoin, all based on the Gregorian chant 'Dies Irae'.
• Sound effects: Generic noises recorded externally to add to the quality.

Rationale: I found the idea of life after death interesting, yet all of the short films I watched seemed to portray it in a comedic way, and I think it'll make a good project as we have been working on making it original by adding a darker tone to it.

Research: We looked at the ancient Greek God 'Charon', also known of 'The Ferryman', to portray these important things accurately, while also conveying the idea of him taking the dead person down the River Styx, metaphorically with the title of the project.