Full Film Treatment

The Remembering

Duration; 119 minutes  

Audience:
Our audience would be mainly teenagers as they are the most interested in the horror genre. We will include elements for most age groups such as a mysterious plot for the older generations whilst the horror aspect will mainly be based on teenagers due to the jump scares.

Certificate
12

Synopsis
Three friends are recovering from the death of their friend Piper and one year later when they are ready to let go she is back. But not in the way they expected. Piper is watching them around every corner as they attempt to figure out how she died and why. Whilst the friends trust one another there is a twist around every corner without them knowing where the next surprise is going to come.

Full Film Summary
Opening shot is the camera panning across photos hung on a wall in a room. The camera then slowly pans down to a photo frame with a pamphlet next to it revealing it to be from a funeral. The camera then journeys through the house listing the actors in the film. The camera travels through the house and introduces a group of friends hosting a memorial party for their friend who they begin talking about in memory. The group of friends continue their conversation before deciding to take a group selfie to mark the anniversary of their friend’s death. The group stand and pose and take the picture. As the camera flashes the scene cuts to the flash of a police report and the photo of a dead body (Piper’s). A montage runs of the police report whilst an audio plays of the police notes. As the police complete their report, a CSI officer prepares a white cover to mask the dead body, as the CSI officer wafts the cover over the body the film cuts back to the memorial and the group are laying out a while cloth for a party game. The group start to play spin the bottle, as they spin the empty bottle the camera captures a dark silhouette pass by the door frame. The group carrying on, growing excited over the game whilst an audio of eerie whispers ring through the camera. Creepy music plays as the camera slows down the spinning of the bottle and the group’s smiles and facial expressions are slowed, the film then speeds up and the bottle stops spinning and points out of the room and appears to point at the balcony. The friends look up and the silhouette of Piper’s ghost is stood staring back at them. The friends are shook in fear and stare blankly unable to move. The lights then flicker off but turn back on to reveal Piper missing, the friends are shook and hold onto each other frightened at what's just happened. Then all of a sudden shot glasses fall off the table and shatter, amidst the shards of glass one of the friends picks up a note reading ‘My death was because of you’. As one friend reads the note another picks up a photo of Piper with the 4 of them, as she stares at it the sound of glass smashing echoes around the room, frightened they look at each other for comfort. The friend with the photo then looks back to see it cracked with a silhouette of Piper stood at the opposite end of the room. With a loud ringing of eerie music the title sequence rolls. THE REMEMBERING. After the title sequence rolls the camera fades back to the group of friends at their school sat in one of their lessons on the back row passing notes to each other. The camera films in front of them as they pass the notes but cuts to a behind shot to allow the viewer to read the notes as well. Carter is given the note last and nods towards Bree and Elias and they agree to meet on a school bench at lunch outside to discuss what happened at the party. The bell rings and the 3 gather their bags and head out of the room, the camera cuts to them walking down the hallway talking and then walking outside and sitting on the bench, as soon as Carter and Elias sit down Bree loses it and the stress and fear becomes too much for her resulting in her shouting at the boys, Carter stands up and tells Bree to sit down and calm down, he tells her that they all must have had too much to drink and the fact that they were remembering Piper made them see things, Elias questions Carter’s logic and claims that all 3 of them couldn’t’ve seen the exact same thing or the photo frame cracking or the bottles flying. Carter once again tries to take charge and dictates that they were drunk and Piper’s ghost wasn’t actually there. Bree looks down and folds herself into herself obviously still terrified and worried, Carter still remains stood up to maintain authority and Elias grabs his bag and tells the group he’s going to his lesson but the conversation about the situation isn’t over. The camera cuts from Elias leaving the group to Carter in the lunch queue, he turns around and sees Bree sat at a table by herself on a computer, Carter joins her and turns her laptop to see what she’s working on, the screen is from a Ghost hunting website. Carter tells Bree that she needs to stop looking into what happened and that ghosts aren’t real. Bree tries to tell Carter that she knows what happened was real and she can’t forget about Piper or the memorial like he can. The film then cuts to Elias in his lesson, as he opens one of his books he sees a note in between the paper fold, he reads it under the desk and it reads “You forgot about me” in the same writing as the note from the memorial, frightened he immediately raises his hand and asks to leave lesson due to him feeling ill. Instead of going to the toilet or to the school nurse he stands, leaning against a wall round the corner of his class and texts Bree and Carter and tells them to meet him in the school library. The film cuts to Elias throwing the note down at where Bree and Carter are sat, Bree goes to read it but Carter snatches it away, he then asks if this is some sick joke, Elias explains that it was in his maths book and it proves what happened at the memorial was no drunken mirage. Bree gets her laptop out to log onto the ghost hunting website but Carter closes it accusing Elias of forging the letter to evidence the Piper hoax. Elias becomes angry at Carter and they begin to argue, Bree intervenes before the librarian tells them to leave or be quiet, Elias says he’s going back to his lesson anyway and Bree leaves as well to go study during her free and takes her laptop back off Carter. The scene cuts to Carter on his bus journey home from school, he gets off and begins walking home. He walks along the path home, the film cuts to flashbacks of him and Piper spending time together and laughing, as he keeps walking along the path the flashbacks continue and his memory of the two of them grows stronger. However the flashbacks start to grow darker and sounds of Piper screaming and becoming scared, eerie, high-pitched, suspense music plays before a loud scream from Piper and a flashback of her body. Carter screams and tries to wipe his eyes and rub his face as he blames his tiredness to be the cause of the nonsense, as he wipes his eyes he looks into a car mirror and the silhouette of Piper’s body is stood behind him at the other end of the path, Carter looks back but she isn’t there, he begins circling and looking around him but there’s no sign of Piper. He leans on a fence and a car drives past, through the car windows the silhouette of Piper can be seen on other end of the road, he leans forward to try and get a clearer view. As he looks a closer he is frightened by a dog who begins barking at him for leaning on the fence, the silhouette isn’t there when he looks back again. The camera cuts to Bree at home on her laptop looking at arguments as to why ghosts haunt and how to talk to them or rid them. Bree searches all over and scans through pages and pages of websites, the most common answer she finds is performing a ouija board and the ghost could still be present due to seeking revenge or refusing to let go. Bree texts Elias to tell him about looking into them performing a ouija board experiment, her phone then rings and she picks up the phone to Carter, the signal is poor and Bree struggles to hear Carter, the signal begins to crack and suddenly the only voice Bree can hear is that of Piper’s constantly saying “My death was your fault”- “My death was your fault” the phone call then cuts off and Bree tries to ring Carter but can’t connect and her texts won’t send either. Bree grabs her coat and texts Elias to meet at Carter’s house. The group assemble at Carter’s house and Carter tells them what just happened, Bree then brings up her ouija board idea and for the first time ever: Carter agrees with her. The scene then cuts to the 3 of them sat around a ouija board with the lights off and candles surrounding the board. Elias is the first to call out and he asks if there are any spirits that wish to talk to them, nothing happens and the planchette stays completely still. Elias keeps trying but hits no avail and Carter starts to become aggravated at Elias and once again the two start arguing, during the arguing the table they’re resting on nudges and a candle blows out, they quickly stop arguing and they accuse Bree of faking it- she promises it wasn’t her and Elias once again calls out, the planchette then starts to move. Elias asks if the presence in the room is Piper and the planchette moves to yes, the group of friends gasp and pull away exchanging scared expressions, Elias shrugs of his fear and puts his fingers back onto the planchette, Bree screams no, shaking her head and tells the boys that she’s changed her mind and doesn’t want to do this anymore. Carter tells Bree that they need to know what Piper wants and if she needs their help, reluctantly Bree re-joins the circle and places her fingers back on the planchette, Elias calls out to ask if she needs help. She says no, Carter tells Elias to ask about the note, but as Elias begins to open his mouth the planchette moves to goodbye. Carter desperately keeps shouting questions aloud but the planchette doesn’t move, suddenly the sound of the printer catches the trio’s attention and pieces of paper begin printing off piecing together: ‘My death was your fault’ Carter grabs the pieces of paper and goes to turn the printer off but is shook when it isn’t even on! The final print is the police officer’s examination photo of Piper’s dead body. Bree screams when she sees it and Carter still shook rips the pieces of paper up, Elias looks at Carter and says “What have we done?” the group of friends stare at each other confused and helpless on what to do, suddenly a gush of wind sends the sheets of paper flying round the room and the whispering of: “My death was your fault” repeats and echoes around the room and the candles start to flicker again, Elias runs to the ouija board and tells Carter and Bree to hurry as well. Elias immediately asks if it is Piper and the planchette becomes ice-cold and moves to yes, Elias asks what the recurring note means and if one of the group killed her and the planchette moves to yes. The group gasp and Elias hesitantly asks who killed Piper, the planchette spells out Carter. Bree screams in fear and shock, Elias falls silent and just stares at Carter, Carter looks at his friends and says she’s lying but the group don’t believe him and grow angry and scared of their friend, Carter grows more and more angry and pushes the table over throwing the ouija board across the room. Carter storms out slamming the door leaving Bree and Elias disturbed sat in the room staring at each other. The next day at college Bree and Elias are sat in the lunch hall; Bree is on her laptop and Elias is studying, Carter walks up to them and asks if he can talk to them, they blank him, he closes Bree’s laptop and pushes Elias’ books off the table, Elias then looks up to confront Carter and that they can’t be friends now that they know he killed their friends, Carter tries to explain himself but Elias gets his stuff and Bree follows him. Carter sits on the table by himself and goes on his phone going through photos of him and Piper together, as he swipes he sees a picture of him and Piper but with the silhouette of Piper’s ghost behind them, he looks closer and the silhouette jumps out of its pose holding it’s hand out to grab him, Carter jumps backwards throwing his phone of the table in shock, he looks around and quickly gathers his stuff and runs to the bathroom, he splashes his face with water and looks into the mirror to rub his eyes and take heavy breaths. As he looks into the mirror he hears the sound of scratching and looks to see his name being scratched into the glass and stood beside him is Piper he looks behind and she’s not there but looks back to see her still stood behind him in the mirror. He runs the tap and tries to wash his face, he splashes water but when he looks back into the base he sees Piper’s face staring back. He texts the group into the group chat what’s happened and the picture of the photo with Piper in the background, when he sends it he gets an instant reply saying “My death was your fault” Carter runs out of the bathroom to try and find Elias and Bree, running down the hallway the trio bump into each other; Carter pleads if he can explain. The film then fades to the group sat on a bench with Carter explaining what happened and a montage of flashbacks play of Piper’s final day; Carter and Piper were on a romantic date and they stayed out on the river for too long, the waves became too strong and they rowed out too far, the waves started to tip the boat rocking sideways, the waves become too strong and Piper gets thrown overboard, Piper beggings struggling and Carter desperately tries to save her, Piper can’t grab onto Carter’s hand so he leans further, Piper desperately calls out for him but he can’t reach her, he knows that if he leans any further he’ll grab her but fall in too, he tells her he can’t save her and begins to roe off. Carter gets back to shore and begins crushing the boat to make it seem like the boat was destroyed and hopefully hide what he's done, he wets his clothes and rings the police, he throws the broken boat planks into the river and watches as they drown, the camera films the wood sinking following under the water to show the corpse of Piper sinking. The film then cuts back to Carter sat with Elias and Bree at college. Elias claims that Carter has to apologise otherwise Piper won't leave; she has to move on but Carter doesn't know what she wants from him. Bree suggests another ouija board to talk to her but Elias isn't too sure it'll work. Instead he tells them to go round to his house again as he's got an idea. Bree and Carter leave and Elias looks at the spooky photo a second time before locking his phone. The film then cuts to Elias placing candles around a memorial photo of Piper and with a notepad ready, the group arrive and they form a circle and begin to write the note; apologising for her death and asking what she wants from them. The group place the note with the candles and photo and leave the séance room. The group order pizza and sit around whilst eating their pizza they hear a thump coming from the room they performed the séance. Elias calls out to see if any intruder is their but the door knob starts to rattle and the group begin questioning whether it is Piper’s ghost in there. They go over to the room and try and open the door but the rapid rattling of the door handle is too strong and neither Elias nor Carter combined can stop the power or open the door. The 2 step back when their feet suddenly start to feel cold and they look down to see what leaking from behind the door and flowing through under the bottom of the door. Carter shouts through the door asking “Piper to stop and they he’s sorry for her death, he loved her but was scared and selfish and an idiot and has never forgiven himself for it” The door opens and the candles have fallen off the table and have extinguished in the water and the photo is flat on the table. Carter goes to pick up the note but as he reads it he sees that the note is blank. He shows it to the group and they stare as their writing has completely vanished, Bree says perhaps that's all she wanted to hear but Carter wants to give Piper a proper send off that he never gave her before. The three of them walk down to the river where Carter and Piper spent their last date together and on a small boat Carter pushes out a candle with a photo frame of a collage of photos of the group with a note also in a frame declaring their love for her. As the both sails away the trio stand together and a montage of the group as a 4 plays over them, the final montage is of Piper and Carter together and of their first kiss. The montage fades back to the trio and of the candle light flickering as it fades into the distance. Life goes back to normal with Elias and Bree studying in the hall however the music of the film starts to grow more eerie as the camera pans over to Carter, who is sat outside holding hands with another girl, it's a windy day and the rubbish from students lunch is flying around however a note lands on Carter’s lap, he reads “I thought you loved me” he stares at the paper and goes over to the bin, screws it up and bins it, he stares away and as he turns back his new girlfriend isn't there and the college feels eerie he shouts out to see if anyone's there and he feels an icy cold presence, “I thought you loved me” whispers behind him and as he begins turn round and the movie fades into a dark canvas and The Remembering ends. The End.

Suggested Elements

Impact cut
During our film there will be several scenes where Piper jumps out the characters which we will do by using an impact cut so that its fast paced and leaves the audience in suspense which is one of the main aspects of our film as we want to shock the audience and leave them in suspense throughout the whole film.  

Low lighting
This will give the film the atmosphere that we would want our film to put across as it allows it to set the scene of a dark and in suspense that something is going to occur.

Real locations
This will use all of the locations that are mentioned in the original synopsis such as a barn close to the house. This will allow us to make sure we are using all the aspects of the film by allowing it to be a realistic setting therefore allowing the audience to be in suspense as it is an actual location.

Flashbacks
The flash backs allow the audience to try and piece together what has happened in the past allowing them to be brought along with the mystery of their lives and why Piper is following them and trying to figure out what she wants from them. It also adds to the suspense part of the film as it allows for more pieces of horror.