The Advantages of Being Colorblind by Van Atanasov Treatment

December, 2017 In a growing megalopolis called NEWPORT. Dream 1: The Red Feather CHARLIE dreams a black-and-white dream. A Native American CHIEF is asking Charlie to bring him the red feather. Charlie sees only grey feathers. (Note: The rest of the film is in colour.) Scene 1: The Comedy Club Friday night in a COMEDY CLUB. In documentary fashion we meet the OWNER, the BARTENDER and a WAITRESS, who share their thoughts on main protagonist Charlie, who is a regular visitor on Open Mic Nights. They say he comes alone every time and tells almost the same jokes. They speculate that he might have mental issues, or that he might be part of a local gang called The Brotherhood, or that he might just be a weird lonely person. Nobody really knows him. Then we see Charlie on stage telling jokes about being COLORBLIND and about today being his BIRTHDAY. Hes not bad, but not terribly funny either. Scene 2: The Streets of Newport After the show, as Charlie is unlocking his bike, he is approached by a Rastafarian guy in a Hawaiian shirt, who is obviously drunk. This is TOBIAS. He tries to hug Charlie and tells him that his story has really touched him, as he cannot imagine a life without colors. Charlie attempts to leave but Tobias tells him that he can help him see colors again. Charlie reluctantly agrees to walk with him. Tobias tells Charlie about TRISTIAMINE a new drug that is extremely rare and expensive, but he has got hold of some. They reach a tall block of flats. Scene 3: Tobiass Flat Inside, Charlie meets his flatmate RAPHAEL, a bookish philosophy student, who speaks really fast, giving a very scientific explanation of the effects of tristiamine. The word is Latin for melancholy or blissful sadness. It reverses your emotions and causes you to feel pleasure from emotional pain. It also causes you to see impossible colors. Tobias brings forth a wooden box, which contains five ampules of tristiamine. He calls it ambrosia the nectar of gods. The sudden sound of screeching tires comes from outside.

Tobias looks out of the window and sees SIBA THE WARPRIEST, the leader of the Brotherhood, who has apparently learned of the tristiamine and has come to take it. His gang is coming with him. Scene 4: Up the Staircase Charlie, Tobias and Raph run up the stairs. Theyre going to CHARLOTTEs place. Charlotte or LOTTIE is a woman of questionable reputation, who used to be romantically involved with Raph. Hes still angry and bitter about their break-up. The guys knock on the door and call Lottie. However, the person who answers them from the other side is not Lottie, but her new flatmate MARY, a religious girl. She doesnt like Tobiass appearance, nor is she cool with the fact that hes a known drug dealer, so she refuses to let them in. Lottie eventually appears and lets them in, but Mary confronts them with a baseball bat, screaming for help. Tobias grabs her and covers her mouth. She tries to fight him. This continues until she sees Charlie. Then she is suddenly enthralled by him. Dream 2: How God Spoke to Mary We go into a flashback inside Marys head, where we see her praying in a CHURCH, reading from the Bible, going to sleep, then dreaming of Charlie and how she is getting MARRIED to him. She calms down and they all walk in. Scene 5: Charlottes Flat Tobias, Raph and Lottie explain things to Charlie. There used to be five of them a circle of five friends who tried the first five doses of tristiamine. But now there are only four. When Charlie asks what happened to the fifth one, they say he suffered from short term memory loss and one day suddenly disappeared like demented elderly people tend to do. The fifth extra dose of tristiamine is now Charlies. During this conversation Lottie is unconsciously flirting with Charlie. This goes on for a while, unnoticed by anyone, except for Mary, who is excluded from this conversation and her frustration slowly builds up as she watches Lottie hit on her future husband. Then, suddenly, she grabs the bat, swings it and STRIKES Lottie down. Chaos ensues. Tobias and Raph try to revive Lottie, while Charlie handles Mary. It seems that he is trying to get her to calm down (he tells her hes on her side), but what hes actually does is make her step back into her room. Then he locks her there. Lottie will live. She regains consciousness but all the commotion has drawn the Brotherhoods attention to the flat. Theyre trying to break in. Tobias grabs a rope with a hook and says theyre going to ELIs place the hard way. They get out of the window and climb the building on the outside.

Scene 6: Elis Flat Eli is a pianist and is practicing the 3rd movement of Beethovens Moonlight Sonata, when her playing is interrupted by something crashing through her window. Its her friends and Charlie. They explain the situation. They dont have much time if they want to keep or use the tristiamine. They gather in a circle. Eli starts playing a soft melancholy tune. They take and ampule each and in a single sentence tell about their worst emotional experience. Then they drink, as if raising a glass for a toast. Charlie drinks last. The Brotherhood are trying to break in. The door swings open. Darkness. Silence. Dream 3: Tristiamine Then... music. People dressed in bright COLOURS come in. It's a huge party crowd. Flowers and confetti fly in the air. They hold up posters reading 'Happy Birthday, Charlie Charlie looks around. Tobias, Raphael, Lottie and Eli are around him. Tobias says: We're glad to have you back, friend Charlie's vision is filled with colors. They begin to merge and dance and form weird beautiful shapes. It is bliss. Then he sees the Chief, in color now, and realizes the red feather, he was supposed to be looking for, has been part of the Chiefs headdress all along. We dive into the vibrant RED. The End