OUT OF THE WATER Written and Directed by Joanna Cooper Out Of The Water is an Experimental short film that explores how our over consumption of plastic is affecting the Ocean. The tale is told through the eyes of the protagonist, an outsider who feels trapped. She cannot resonate with the ideal’s and social norms that society has inflicted upon her and instead longs to be part of the ocean, the only thing that makes her feel free. She spends her days romanticizing about it, until it consumes her every thought. But all is not as it seems as it too has been corrupted by the very society she is trying to so desperately escape from. TREATMENT FOR M O O D B O A R D C H A R A C T E R P R O F I L E A P P E A R E N C E H A I R S T Y L E J E W L E R Y S T Y L E M A K E U P This film will be cut to the beat of a monologue voice over that will play over every scence. I have included extracts of this within the treatment. Opens with a wide shot of the protagonist sitting rigidly in a grand velvet arm chair. The room is eerie and dimly lit, the wall paper behind her is flaking, picture frames filled with insect drawings hang on the wall behind her and a taxidermy zebra head sits above her. The camera will explore the details of the room before cutting to a close up of the half empty fish bowl she has placed on her knee showing her, gently rocking the water back and forth mimicking the waves of the ocean as she aimlessly stares into it. The opening title’s will show the mesmerizing movements and colours of a magnified gold fishes tail dancing across the screen. As the film title Out Of The Water appears a whisper will voice over ‘With every breath you take, you are connected to the ocean’ whilst sounds of waves play in the background. ‘Did you ever think that you were meant for more? Sometimes when my mind is silent, I can hear the waves calling my name, the ocean beckoning me vast and wide. When I close my eyes, I picture myself floating. Gently rocking back and forth and back and forth and I wonder if this is who i’m meant to be? What I was destined to be?’ O P E N I N G T T L E M O N O L O G U E S C E N E 1 M O N O L O G U E I’ve always admired the way she shimmers under the touch of the sun. The way she moves so freely with a mind of her own.Malleable she can shape shift into many forms, a master of disguise and adaptability. There are lessons we can learn from her as she scarifies her wellbeing to support every life form that surrounds her. The protagonist has collected an array of miscellaneous glass items that she has filled with water. Her curiosity encourages her to play with them as she realises their ability to distort her face and body from an array of different angles. As she picks them up, she will begin to pour them over her head leaving the water to run down her body and onto her feet. The camera will then cut to an image of her feet standing on shoreline with water slowly washing over them. This scene will be predominantly shot with a fish eye lens to further the distorted eerie dream like feel. M O N O L O G U E As the water pours over my feet, my legs tingle as she runs across my skin. I feel like she’s part of me and I part of her, together we’re bound by the clocks that drive us, by the sun that wakes us and the moon that puts us to sleep. By the golden rays that I follow during the day and the twinkling light of the moon that guides her at night. Opens with a close up of the of protagonist’s face staring out to the ocean. Standing by the cliff edge she stares at the waves crashing below her with admiration, as the wind sweeps under her hair and dress. She will then proceed to walk towards the rail behind her, interacting with the fish on it, rocking them back and forth like pendants carefully examining each of them. Before taking a fish from the clothing rail pinching its tail between her fingers swinging it in front of her face like a pendant following it with her eyes as it rocks from side to side. The camera will then pan down to a close up of her feet showing the audience that she has tied water filled plastic bags around them. S C E N E 2 S C E N E 3 M O N O L O G U E A close up will show the protagonists hands carefully preparing a fish on the kitchen counter delicately wrapping in a blanket of pink salmon, before carrying her finished plate to a dimly lit room and placing it on the table. She will sit down staring at the TV in front of her as adverts from the 1940’s appear relaying the benefits of plastic, without looking at the plate she will bring her first bite to her mouth. The camera will follow this with a close up of the fish turning into plastic as she chews it. M O N O L O G U E A mid shot captures the protagonist’s hands and face pressed against a glass window staring forward. A wide shot will capture her from behind as she stares into her grey lifeless concrete garden at a deflated paddling pool. S C E N E 4 S C E N E 5 M O N O L O G U E A close up will show the protagonists yellow flippers hanging over the edge of the pool. The camera will pan from her flippers and follow her legs until it reaches her upper body. A bird’s eye wide shot will show that she has submerged herself into the water with only her nose and mouth peaking above. She will then take a deep breath put her head under the water allowing her hair to dance as she sways it from side to side mimicking the movements of the fish from the opening tittles. As water wraps around her like a comforting blanket she will smile as she finally becomes at one with the water. A close up of the protagonist’s mouth whilst she frantically tries to blow up the paddling will open the scene; this will be contrasted against the image of a fish lying on the concrete struggling to breathe. M O N O L O G U E A fast-paced scene we will see the protagonist desperately trying to fill up the paddling pool using a watering can. She will go back and forth from the outside tap with a steady cam filming her journey. Close ups will catch her repeatedly pouring in the water into the pool. M O N O L O G U E S C E N E 6 S C E N E 7 S C E N E 8 M O N O L O G U E A close up will show the protagonist standing in the ocean her head wrapped in a fishing net, plastic in her hair, she is panicked struggling to breathe the plastic around her neck cutting at her airways. She uses all of her strength to begin to move out of the water frantically trying to untangle herself she falls onto the shore and begins to crawl along the beach. The camera will follow her as she staggers out of the water and across the beach pulled by a fishing line in her lip. M O N O L O G U E The final scene will take the protagonist back to the deteriorated interiors of scene 1, only now it too has been consumed by plastic. A Wide shot will show the protagonist sitting in the velvet chair tears slowly trickeling down her cheeks as she gently strokes a lifeless giant trout that she has wrapped tightly in her arms. Whilst this image appears the protagonist will whisper ‘many have lived without love, but none without water’. S C E N E 9 T H E E N D ANNABEL COOPER Written and Directed by Joanna Cooper DEDICATED TO