Hw 48

Film Treatment

Since I am still not sure exactly what the guidelines are for this film, I decided to write the treatment based off of my brainstorming ideas from assignment 47. Here it is:

Scene 1: Rap music, traffic.

(optional segway: teacher walks into the school past a group of 'hooligans' misbehaving. This can optionally include, after a few normal examples, incredibly exaggerated shenanigans like kids playing pool outdoors for no reason. (Alternitavely, they could pass the exact opposite of this scene, complete with people of different races skipping arm-in-arm and lemonade stands, which might be funnier but harder for an audience to understand. It might be clearer if the rap music continues to play over it.) The teacher enters the school, but not before glancing back at them from the doorway and shaking his head in despair at how society has failed them.)

Scene 2: The teacher waits outside of the principal's office with other teachers, and is called in. They eagerly shake hands with the principal, and begin talking. It is mentioned that this is their first teaching job. The principal says something like "don't let it intimidate you" talking about it being their first teaching job, which the teacher takes as a 'warning' and responds with something like "don't worry, no matter how hard it is, I know I can reach these kids!" and practically skips off to class. The principal looks after them, puzzled, and mutters something like 'yeah, ok, you go ahead and do that...'

Scene 3: Teacher enters the classroom to find all students in their assigned seats, buzzing quietly about who their new teacher will be. He enters the room from the back, unnoticed, and when nobody responds he gives an exasperated sigh and runs to the front of the room. At this point everyone has stopped talking, but this does not stop him from slamming a book down on the desk to get their attention. He gives an impassioned speech (perhaps mentioning death or their relative smallness at some point) about how this is the type of behavior that made the last teacher quit, but if they think they can drive him out too they'll have to do better than that because he's not giving up on them that easy. A student politely raises their hand and, when the teacher vaguely motions to them while recovering from his emotional moment, points out that the last teacher broke their ankle and will be back in a week. The teacher responds with something like, 'ok, um, well then, class dismissed' at which point the one actual troubled student points out that they've only been in class for like a minute. The teacher laughes awkwardly.

Scene 4: Unfortunately, due to the length of the film, this scene must be a montage. It spans the next week, and involves a series of moments where the teacher provides unnecessary and annoying encouragement, such as yelling "you can do it! I believe in you!" In the ear of a student taking a test.

Scene 5: The old teacher returns, cast crutches and all. This is only seen briefly in a shot where the new teacher is seen from afar talking to her (their conversation is not audible). Closer to the camera, the one troubled student is watching them talk from outside the school (they are sitting on a stoop, eating a sandwich). The teacher slinks out, disappointed that they were not able to reach anyone in their first week of teaching. The troubled student notices this and comments on it. The teacher sits down next to them and immediately opens up about how they were hoping it would be like a movie, etc. Afterward there is a pause, in which the teacher seems to be thinking "aw, what do you care." The student surprises him by giving him half of their sandwich. They begin talking.

Scene 6: This is a several hours later, they have been talking the whole time (the scene opens with some sort of orphaned punchline from the teacher, like "...and I swear, it wasn't even a fish!") and it is now dark out. The teacher notices the time, and, startled, jumps up and proclaims that their [insert loved one here] wanted them to [insert errand here]. The student wishes him luck, and hopes they see him around. He mentions that it's pretty late, and they should probably head home. The student mentions that they don't want to go home, and when asked why they reveal that they are having family troubles. The teacher pauses for a while, and then offers to go home with them and talk to their family about it.

Scene 7: Also a bit of a montage. This starts when they get to the student's home and the situation is explained (the problem is neither parties fault, it's mainly a misunderstanding), and then as they begin talking the audio fades and the view switches to outside the window where they can be seen talking inside. Following are several snippets of their conversation, containing therapeutic insights such as "well maybe she's just acting that way because she's not ready to let go of the relationship you had" that seem to span several hours.

Scene 8: The teacher (let's call him Adam Lester) leaves their house at 2:00 am, the family shakes his hand and thanks him on the way out. The student catches him on his way to the bus stop and calls after him "Hey, thanks Mr. Lester!" He turns and says "call me Adam."