treatment

Treatment

Characters:

Emma Royds is very sophisticated and strong willed for her age of 19. Although she is sophisticated, she has had a large fear of clowns for just under a year. She is blonde with pretty, yet timid features. To an extent she is happy with her life, she has a loving boyfriend and a group of close friends; however, as the ‘dreams’ occur more frequently, these relationships start to see the strain.

Billy Rubin is Emma Royds attractive, yet sentimental boyfriend. He is a smart, creative artist, specializing in photography. A key component in Billy’s personality is his down to earth, strong non believing mannerisms of anything really ‘outside of the box’.

Annette Curtain is the ‘book worm’ best friend of both Billy and Emma. Emma and Annette’s friendship has been since early childhood; staying close friends due to her trustworthy, and easy to talk to character. Along with being Emma’s boyfriend, Billy gets on with Annette due them both having a strong dislike for anything out of the ordinary.

Ferris is the typical ginger clown, except for the fanged teeth, a large hooded cloak, and the violent intent to kill. Unknown to Emma, he is the figure reoccurring in her dreams, and also the man who murdered her mother. Same time, same place, he is back with a vengeance.

Location:

Woods: A misty set woods, a natural setting with nothing extraordinary except for a china doll, lying on a footpath. The woods should be reasonably dark, giving an eerie feel, where trees are almost shown as silhouettes.

Bedroom: Returning to the bedroom after the opening sequence in the woods, this would be a contrasting, safe ‘haven’. This will show Emma’s personality just through setting, with its pink walls, and stereotypical feminine items, such as make up, perfume and teddy bears. This room will need a window, to have a source of lighting showing some security from the outside.

Synopsis:

Behind Closed Eyes
Emma Royds has had a reoccurring nightmare for many months, waking up at the same point every time. Her mother’s death occurred almost a year previously, due to a tragic accident where the body was never found. The date of her mother’s death nearing, and the nightmares strengthening, Emma pushes it to the back of her mind and carries on with her normal life which includes the majority of her time being spent with her closest friends, although subtle images and frights were beginning to occur in her conscious state. Finally, one night where Emma’s dream was so vivid, (with a small, child-like figure at the other side of a pond), she awoke, wanting to find a resolve to the reoccurring reverie: which started with losing her closest friends to the abnormality of what she was planning, leaving her at a point of no return. With days looming towards the date of her mother’s death, Emma gets closer to her goal: and when the day is reached, Emma is met with her fate. Running through the woods she keeps having flashes in her memory, little does she know that she is reliving, tracing her mother’s steps. Emma reaches the point she recognises in her dreams, at the end of the pond was a cloaked figure, she ran towards it, curiosity leading her towards finding out the truth. Touch the shoulder, Emma finds out the reality, why she was so terrified of clowns. Exactly a year later than her mother, Emma is killed by the same clown like murderer, Ferris. The dreams and flash backs she was having were not her own, but were passed from her mother.

Detailed explanation of the opening sequence:

Opens with a misty morning in a secluded wood side: Emma is running through these woods, looking for the cloaked figure in her dreams. Little does she know that a hooded figure is watching her. As she reaches her destination, the cloaked figure is at the opposite side of a pond, its reflection rippling in the water. She walks round cautiously towards the figure, when reaching touching its shoulder. Turning round her worst fear was there, a clown, baring its rotting teeth. It all fades to black. An alarm goes off, the scene rises from the black, into a pink, feminine bedroom, where Emma is arousing from her slumber.