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The Late Shift Treatment by Jez Hill (Ver 1.1 4/Oct/02) updated 27/Nov/02 Overview
Set in an alternate
reality, “The Late Shift” is a
fly-on-the-wall documentary (mockumentary)
as a camera crew follows a SERGEANT and his squad of STORMTROOPERS on patrol on
a normal night in an ordinary (UK) city. The underlying
premise is that they’re here, and have been for some time carrying out the
same (or similar) duties we see from the Police (law enforcement, minor
disturbances etc. etc.). Think
“Troops” only real world, ROUTINE,
grimy, moody, dark and wet,
and set in a real UK City. The public barely acknowledges the troopers going
about their business, much in the same way in real life we ignore a Policeman on
patrol. The troopers themselves are clearly bored, undervalued and under
resourced, routinely policing a planet (Earth) with no strategic value or
importance. They’re just here, now. Everything in this World is the same as we currently have, except for small often-subtle items that have been introduced into the environment due the off-world nature of the troopers (e.g. a Blaster) Locations
Everything
is set in the City, at night. Possibly moving to
the dawn when the film ends. Streets are dark and wet, quiet save for late night
revelers/troublemakers, and the squads of Stormtroopers on patrol. Characters
The central
characters are the SERGEANT and his squad members. Given the documentary
styling, there should be as little “acting” as possible. The trick is
getting the humans (cast or general public) to ignore the Stormtroopers. This
process will be aided through some smart editing, and the lack of people around
due to the time of day (night). 1 Sergeant and 5 troopers should be more than
adequate. The Sergeant and
his troopers clearly want to carry out their job with as little fuss as
possible. They wish to an easy life and hopefully a transfer to somewhere closer
to home. Only occasionally are they forced to adopt an aggressive stance, which
they have the freedom without consequence to adopt when necessary. The
Stormtrooper’s will be required to talk direct to camera, although the
dialogue for this will be overdubbed post-production. The
Camera crew is not seen. There is a requirement for a small number of human
characters, typically those being detained by the troopers. Given their
predicament, the requirement for complex acting or dialogue from them will be
minimal. Note that any dumb or smiling faces will be matted out (with a mosaic
filter), to “protect the innocent” as is typical on real-life Police
programs. Film-making
Equipment
Film in 4:3(soft
matte to 16:9 later) on mini-DV Video (Sony TRV50), edit on Adobe Premiere 6.5.
Bleach/filter colours to achieve grainy, more vivid feel. Use ambient lighting
where possible. Dialogue/Sound
effects/Music
Most of the
dialogue will be overlaid postproduction (e.g. Trooper dialogue). This allows us
to get the movement and direction right (quickly) adding the Americanised
trooper dialogue later. It also is a godsend when editing. Music to be modern
urban throbbing ‘Ministry of Sound’ style tracks. Sound effects grabbed from
movie sources or The Force.net fan film library I’ve
added some dialogue for a (BBC style) NARRATOR, to provide a post-production
voice-over. Special
Effects
Minimal. CG Shots
of Imperial Shuttles landing taking off, tie fighters flying overhead, Static
ATST’s, and possible Scout Bikes are being produced by Andy Hutchinson
(TK1118) and Jason McFee (TK1280). Also requirement for laser burst (single
occurrence only), via Adobe Photoshop. Running
Time
Initially 20-25 minutes screen time. Add to this dependent on interest. by
Jez Hill Draft 1.2(27/Nov/02) TITLES Throbbing background music (MOS), Black titles, INTERCUT with dark slow-mo (b/w?) images of the night streets, troopers on patrol, grime.
1.
EXT. ABOVE the city STREEts - NIGHT
NARRATOR (For over 25 years, the Imperial Civil Policing Unit has bought a level of peace to the UK streets. But the concerns of many have been a perceived trade-off in individual's civil liberty. Tonight we follow a squad, The Tigers Claw, as they patrol the streets of a busy city.......)
Technical Notes: Wide pan of night cityscape, using the (diffused) car lights to provide local lighting. Steady (tripod) LR panFollowed by POV from troopers electro-binoculars.
3.
EXT. City Street. Narrator Much
of a Stormtroopers role centers on the day-to-day monotony of conventional law
enforcement. However tonight, the Squad Sergeant has received a tip-off with
potentially disturbing implications STORMTROOPER SERGEANT talks directly to camera (in close-up/extreme close-up). Sergeant Yeah, we've got a problem. Tonight we, eh, received some information that some illegal arms have entered the city We wanna track it down as quick as we can, there's some stuff there that someone could do so real damage with. We don't want anyone going around blasting the place up. Trooper 1 (joking) No, that's our job! Sergeant (laughs) Yeah, that's what were here for. Suddenly a message comes across their communicators (the message is barely audible to the viewers). The SERGEANT touching his right ‘ear’ (as if this will help him it more clearly), turns away from Camera and subsequently issues a command to his squad. Sergeant Okay, It’s a 211 - lets go to work They start to jog down the dark wet street. Filming
and Technical Notes for Scenes 3 Undecided on whether to have Sergeant and Troopers on a normal street (with brick buildings behind them), or open-space behind them (e.g. car park/roundabout etc.), to allow a CG shot of an Imperial Shuttle taking off and pulling away in the background. 4. EXT. City Street
The squad has come across a vehicle parked up with its rear hatch open. Two persons are at the rear and appear busy in some kind of transaction. The troops approach from the rear. Before the squad reaches the vehicle, one of the figures (hooded), turns and moves away fairly briskly.
Sergeant (turns slightly) Okay, vehicle check. the remaining figure, obviously the driver, turns, see's the squad and goes to close the hatch Sergeant Dont close that. Driver ...oh, okay. Sergeant Is this your vehicle? Got some identification?? Driver Umm, yes, here.. (hands over card or other item) Sergeant (using datapad or reader) ..okay, whats in the boxes?? Driver Oh, tools, for work (becomes visibly nervous) Sergeant (handing back ID) Anything else?? Driver No! (laughs nervously) Sergeant Sure about that? (gestures to Trooper 1) ..check it out. Driver HEY!! Wait a minute.. (becomes animated, arms waving) The
Sergeant pulls his pistol and points it at the driver, who instinctively raises
his arms, clearly agitated SERGEANT JUST hold it right there. What is your problem? this will only take a minute.. Trooper 1 Trooper
1 starts to search the boot, then suddenly notices underneath some rags, a
lightsabre Trooper 1 Well look.. whats this?? Driver (puts hands on head, looks aghast and is seemingly speechless) ..........................! Sergeant Cuff
him! Trooper 2 shoves the driver to the side of the vehicle and applies the binders. Two troopers lead him away and the Sergeant addresses the camera Sergeant (to camera, waves sabre) This is where our job gets a whole lot more interesting... Technical
Notes:
scene 4 A decision needs to be made as to whether this scene should lead into the "bag Snatch" scene (i.e. the mugger in that scene is the Driver, who decides to leg it). The
camera
is at the rear of the squad, in a following position and possibly to one side,
taking in at least half the troop and the view ahead. Upon reaching the main
scene, the camera should ‘hover’ around the sergeant, trooper and driver.
The rest of the squad should be seen
to be keeping an eye out around them and also checking the suspect, eg: they
should not just be standing, but visibly alert. Suggest use of Narration in
small amounts. Extra
Props required for this scene include one vehicle and datapad or reader of some
description. Troopers will have all their own gear. It would be nice to see some
backpacks in evidence. Special note: be aware of continuity (especially in equipment) for the principal characters, ie the sergeant. The hooded figure from early on in the sequence can be a Spotter. This person can revert to spotting after leaving camera view. Recommend use of two spotters if possible, with high-visibility jackets. 4.
EXT. City Street, outside Bar 3/4 STORMTROOPER’S and their SERGEANT arrive (on foot) outside the bar and are about to enter following a minor (drunken) incident. The CAMERA is VERY CLOSE behind them as they enter the bar… 5.
INT. Bar. The Camera closely follows the troopers as they enter the busy bar, making their way through to the rear. Music is pumping out loud and though the punters in the bar acknowledge the Camera and crew, they mostly ignore the troopers as they pass through. As the troopers arrive at the scene at the rear of the bar, there are a couple of troopers already there. A man is SLUMPED on the floor. His assailant, standing over him, is now being held (against the wall) by a STORMTROOPER, who is in the process of manacling him. The assailant does not resist.
Trooper 1 It looks like a little dispute just got outta hand. The second Stormtrooper hands a LIGHTSABRE to the newly arrived SERGEANT. Sergeant Is he dead? (Gesturing to the guy on the floor) Trooper 1 Naah, he just took his arm off (Trooper
2 waves the severed arm at the Sergeant) They continue to discuss the incident, although out of earshot. BBC Narrator Incidences such as this are becoming more and more commonplace as illegal weaponry, such as the LIGHTSABRE become more readily available. (pause) BBC Narrator The Sergeant will be keen to find out where it originated Almost off camera and in the background, Trooper 2 is eagerly trying to remove the gold ring from the finger of the SEVERED ARM. Sergeant (Turning
to Trooper 1) Have you asked him where he got the lightsabre from? Trooper 1 He won’t say, Sir Sergeant (Muttering
under breath) We’ll see about that Grabbing the assailant, they lead him back through the bar and outside. The camera crew follows, but at a distance. 6.
EXT. City Street, outside Bar By the time the camera crew is outside, the ASSAILANT is already up against a (brick) wall, with two STORMTROOPER’S and their SERGEANT around him. They are out of ear-shot, but its clear that the Sergeant (Lightsabre in hand, poking and prodding the butt against the Assailant’s chest), has commenced his questioning. Still some distance from proceedings, the camera attempts to gain a better view of proceedings, but a STORMTROOPER is restricting the cameraman’s movement forward. Reacting to the pressure of his interrogation, the Assailant raises his (manacled) hands to push the Sergeant back, but receives a rifle butt in his gut. He doubles up and falls over onto the wet pavement. The other two Stormtrooper’s start to ‘lay the boot in’ but the camera view is obscured as an advancing trooper puts his hand in front of the camera lens and (gently) pushes it away (down). Trooper 3 You don’t need to see this. Fade out Filming
and Technical Notes for Scenes 4-6 These
are clearly more difficult to film as they require assistance from a number of
Extra’s, or punters in the bar who are prepared to ‘play along’ with the
scene (i.e. no smiling etc.). However, given that the camera on the way into the
Bar is going to be RIGHT behind the STORMTROOPERS, this will be less of an issue
than if it was true ‘drama’. We would similarly need to get buy-in from the
bar owner, but I know a few of these who’d probably be up for it!. When
filming there will be NO LIVE MUSIC, as it will be added in postproduction to
ease editing and continuity. A separately captured ambient sound mix from the
Bar will also allow some cleaning up of the audio (e.g. any extraneous comments
from punters). I.e. its actually less difficult to film than it may seem. 7.
EXT. City Streets - Montage of views to music Late night party revelers staggering home, under the ever-watchful eyes of the STORMTROOPER’S on patrol 8.
INT. Car (moving) Technical
Note: It has to be a Car unless anyone knows how we can mock up a speeder! STORMTROOPER SERGEANT talks directly to camera (in close-up/extreme close-up), trying to explain their role. He believes what he is saying is true, yet his delivery lacks commitment. I guess………… we’re here to help ensure that citizens are able to go about their law-abiding daily lives. (struggling) To make it a safe place, errr…………. Trooper 1 (eagerly interrupting) To keep the peace! Sergeant Yeah, …… keep the peace Camera
crew is riding with troopers in Car/Van, as they patrol the streets. SUDDENLY we see
a MUGGER wrestling a handbag from the hands of a screaming woman. Noticing the
Vehicle (with STORMTROOPER’S and Camera crew inside) the mugger starts to run off down
the street. The car follows him, the Camera tracking him out of the side window until he reaches a pedestrianised area/alley way (with bollard’s). 9.
EXT. City Streets The car screeches to a halt and the troopers bomb out of the vehicle, with the camera crew directly behind. Trooper 1 HALT! The MUGGER ignores the warning. Trooper 2, drops to one knee, and dispatches him with a single shot from his rather impressive looking laser rifle. He slumps to the ground. The troopers approach the lifeless body, picking up the stolen hand-bag from his side.
BBC Narrator (Babbles
on something about ‘exacting summary punishment’), as the camera pulls away
from the crime scene, the music grows louder and we…) Fade to black Filming
and technical issues for Scene 8-9 It
would be nice to have some movement in this scene, hence the car. If there was
someway of mocking up a decent enough looking speeder (e.g. on the back of a
pick-up) then great, otherwise it would need to be a car (viewed from the inside
only). It’s not ideal to use a ‘normal’ car as it may jar in the film.
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