A Short Film Concept

George Rogers
 Plot
Two time travelling contract killers currently in different eras have been set up to assassinate each other.
Contractor 1 is from the 1950’s and is introduced on a steam train opening a letter with the details of the kill
contract. Contractor 2 is from the 1980’s and is introduced looking at a kill contract whilst driving a vehicle from
the period. From here on the character from the 50’s will be referred to as A, and the one from the 80’s will be
referred to as B.

They are set up to kill each other in modern day Britain by a gang and are subsequently captured by the gang.
Once they have been tied up, 2 gang members start pouring petrol around them in a circle. Just before they
light the petrol, their two time travelling devices put them back in time to start again where they were at the
start of the film, This time with the intent of working together to take down the gang.

They take it upon themselves to make their way through various gang members until they meet the gang
leader. A and B realise that they can alter time more freely than before and can perform a rewinding effect at
any time, they use this to great effect to dispatch the henchmen and finally the boss who is driving away in one
of the cars. They vaporise him with a strong blast from the power of the time travelling devices combined.
They realise that they have a similar distinctive mark on their palms and realise they are one in the same.

There is somewhat of an enigma because you don’t know what happens next really, it’s a resolution because
they destroy the main antagonist but you don’t know if there is any retribution for doing that. Weather they
stay together and part ways. If it was a Hollywood movie, this would be a way to set up a potential sequel but is
also fine left alone.
 Concept
This film borrows elements from various genres and could easily be considered a mashup of genres. It has elements of
time travel reminiscent of Back to the Future’s time travel logic and has is also very similar to the short film ‘Spin’ with
the repetition element and the fact that there is no dialogue throughout the film

Moving about in time replaces the actions that happen in that time with the actions that the 2 contract killers do. They
notice the differences because they can travel in time and remember what things were like before they made changes,
but nobody else in the world knows.

It also borrows from action and gangster films from both the 50’s and 80’s. Invincible and overpowered 80’s action stars
from films such as The Terminator inspire style from the 80’s killer.

The 50’s killer is a stylish and professional killer. The style being modelled on the classic 50’s private inspector, jackets
and ties all around.

Start of day End of Day

Start of day End of Day (Different outcome)

Different Actions
 Characters
According to propp’s character theory, the two killers would be described as both the hero, because they
actively seek out the villain or are generally enemies with the villain and the donor because they can only reach
their true potential and vanquish evil because of the other killer being there with their time travelling device.

Of course the gang leader is the villain because he wants to kill the two time travellers and stop them from
causing havoc with gangs and mobs throughout history.

The other characters in the film are either just the gang members who pretty much just serve as a way to show
that there are people loyal to the villain in order to increase his perceived power and influence.
Storyboard
 Mise en Scene and Cinematography
The perception of the era and time will be heavily dependent on Mise en Scene and Cinematography.

In the opening scene, lots of split screen effects where the audience can see what is going on in both timelines
will be used in order to show a direct comparison as to what is going on. Fast editing and short shots will be
employed to give a sense of urgency and excitement.

The music used on the opening scene will be an original piece in two arrangements and will switch between
them depending on setting. In the 50’s it will be a jazz piece featuring upright bass, jazz drums and guitars. In
the 80’s it will be the same melody, bassline and drums but done electronically in order to give it that 80’s
action movie sound. This along with the black and white tone compared to the soft focus, high contrast and
lens flare effects will hopefully really drive home the time difference.

The reveal of the gang leader will be a much slower reveal. He will walk out of the shadows and into the light
into frame for a close up shot. The music will continue where needed but will take much more a backseat in
these tense scenes. It will be more of an orchestral piece that builds suspense but is not distracting. All music
will thematically change in order to fit the setting but be pretty much continuous and very similar in
composition so that t flows together properly
 Setting and Location
The sections in the 1950’s will be set on a steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors railway. With a black and
white filter I believe that this will provide the perfect setting for the era and the type of character I am trying to
depict. I should be able to get a train with nobody else on if organise it well with the railway and film on the
first train there is.

Shots if the steam locomotives and the local countryside is likely to

increase the immersion of the viewer. I think a variety in locations and
settings in general is likely to do this.

If I can get permission from the council or

landowner, I will be using this abandoned
warehouse to film all the other sections
including the first encounter of the two time
travellers, being kidnapped and tied up in front
of the mob leader, and the comeback that they
make to defeat him.
 Setting and Location
Middlesbrough train station, and out the back of my house will also be used as filming locations for the
transition shots of 50’s killer getting off the train and 80’s driver speeding off. An industrial estate in Redcar will
also be used for some of the 80’s shots. The car does not need to be actually speeding, a mix of fast paced
editing and overdubbed engine noise can give a convincing effect of speed.
 Costume / Props General
The gang boss needs to be wearing a black and white suit. It doesn’t matter about the quality or condition of
the suit just as long as he has one, these can be had from charity shops for very little money.

The henchmen will just be dressed in black, this will be easy to do because pretty much everyone has black
clothing of some description. The henchman will have the jerry can filled with petrol (actually water) and an
array of weapons which will consist of stuff we can find. Knives, small baseball bats, prop guns are all pretty
easy to come by and will make for interesting and varied fights between the time travellers and henchmen.

The scene doesn’t need to be too long, as long as you get the idea that they are being defeated by A and B
then that’s fine.
 Costume / Props Main Characters
A will be dressed in similar clothes to those below, a very common 50’s businessman style and will be using a
small pocket watch as his time travel device. B will be wearing very 80’s clothing so things like body warmers
and jeans and his time travelling device will hopefully be a calculator watch or something similar if I cannot
source one.

This makes sense in the context of the film because they will have been incognito in their prospective eras.
 Lighting / Visual Effects
As stated previously, I will be using visual effects in order to properly distinguish between the different eras and
give the scenes their own feel and personality.

Due to the almost entirely outdoor nature of the shoot, I will pretty much have to do all of my ‘lighting’ in post
production. This means applying different colour filters such as very contrasting ones such as purples and
greens in the 80’s parts and a black and white theme for the 50’s sections. Also a retro style soft focus will be
used in the 80’s section and perhaps film grain on the 50’s parts. To make the modern day section feel more
dramatic I will probably be trying to keep an overall dark colour scheme, apart from the ending which will be
quite bright.