BBC - Mark Kermode's film blog

Monday 29 March 2010

Running From Empty

Handed in the final draft for the story-telling project. I'd like to get as much feedback as possible! not entirely sure it's clear, but would like to hear your opinions if possible?

Treatment

Running From Empty is the portrayal of a young man on the run from prison, whose paranoid state of mind is asking the question: “Did I escape?” or “Am I a free man?”
Waking up in the blue haze that enshrouds Kent’s evergreen woodlands, Sonny Mertens blinks in the mist soaked woods. Brushing the cold leaves from his arms, he stumbles upwards. 23 years old, he stands at a heady 6ft 4” of part Indian decent his skin is dark topped by short jet-black, his thin eyes, dark and stoic. Stubble smothers his jaw line, and his cheekbones appear prominent we see a scar hidden beneath the ear. The scar, we discover, originates from an injury sustained as a child and resulted in frequent blackouts and fits through out his life.
Located in an anonymous forestland near Dartford, Sonny appears lost and running scared.
Moments are unearthed from his past in panicked flashes; they introduce Chris, who along with Sonny was convicted of murder: we soon realise he and Chris had shot a Police Constable 8 years before.
There’s a shift in his memories to a mahogany courtroom, there we discover the judge’s verdict. The fate of his collaborator is realised: life imprisonment. Sonny’s face is glazed in guilt at the verdict
Slicing through the scene and back to the forest, it cuts to the sun slipping through the giant trees, of which begin to thin to a clearing. Glancing up, a vast limestone aqueduct thumps into view, towering over a country road. In the distance a 4x4 appears, the man inside looks to be after Sonny.
Sonny is desperately dashing through the open field when the 4x4 picks up speed. Sonny knew he had to get away but asked himself why? He didn’t know where he was and how he got there.
Running From Empty questions clarity of mind: encountering a desperate man seeking truth. It’s an adrenaline pumped drama, unearthing details from his past. We learn weather Sonny’s running an innocent man or a man guilty with a bounty on his head.

Pitch

Running From Empty tracks 23-year-old Sonny Martens across Kent’s woodlands. He is running from prison, but is he an escapee or running scared and confused after so long inside?

1 comment: