CAT B100
THINK TOUGH ONLINE FILM a treatment by
SUSANNAH HAYES
INTRODUCTION This engaging and dynamically informative one-minute film communicates all the key features of the CAT B100. The film feels like a continuous journey of the phone through two very different scenarios. Everything is spontaneous and taken from ‘real’ life. We see how the key features work through the two very different scenarios, firstly on a Builder on a building site, and secondly a moment in a Blood Runners’ life. We use an emotive narrative based approach, which is captivating, compelling and uses a story to illustrate the key features of the CAT B100. During the film we see that it’s a phone that ‘does what it says on the tin’. The ‘story’ is spoken dramatically through VO by a low powerful raspy man’s American voice. It sounds like Jeff Bridges in ‘True Grit’. The film will be beautifully shot, using film lenses on an HD camera giving a crafted ‘slick’ film like quality. While a viewer watches the film they will see through cutting on action, that the cause and effect of the dramatic moment that would effect a ‘normal smart’ phone have no consequence of the action lives of our builder and Blood Runners’ heroes.
2
NARRATIVE TREATMENT SEQUENCE 1 Our journey begins on a conventional beautiful pack shot our CAT Phone sitting on a slick polished glass table. It is clinical. The lighting and look mirror the kind of pack shot we would have at the end of a top of the range Smart phone commercial. A harmonious light instrumental music track, also akin to a smart phone commercial plays luring us into a false sence that we are in this world. MVO Introducing the new B100 CAT phone. It has all the toughness and reliability you’d expect From any CAT equipment‌.
3
The CAT phone starts to ring and suddenly a large ‘real’ rugged builders hand enters frame, and picks up his CAT Phone. His hands are naturally grubby with dirt in is fingernails. As the camera pulls back slightly to follow the action we see his sleeves are part of a dusty and dirty overall. MVO …all in the palm of your rugged hand. We are instantly engaged in what we are seeing and the camera moves back to reveal the real location form the real world. (it turns out that it wasn’t a ‘pack shot’ at all but the builder’s CAT phone was sitting on a piece of glass from building site!) As the camera pulls back we see the launch set is actually on a real working building site. Suddenly everything is spontaneous and real. Builders walk around holding architectural plans, another carries wheels a wheelbarrow full of bricks. It is a hive of activity.
The camera moves back to follow our hero builder who walks towards us talking to somebody on his phone. During this scene the sound of the instrumental music has been drowned out by the sounds of the building site. We hear the loud drilling sound of a bigger. MOV … Life can get pretty noisy but that is not a problem with the B100’s active noise cancellation. The drilling noises subside as we see our Hero builder in medium shot moving through the site. Our camera follows him. Our hero builder has no problem hearing who is talking to on the phone.
4
5
MVO ...This is no delicate flower. ....It survives the heat. He finishes his phone call and put his phone down on a work bench, right next to a powerful heater. We see the waves of the heat create a mirage. We hear the intense sound of the heat. A builder carrying a large plank of wood accidently knocks the CAT Phone off the work bench. It goes flying. It falls on the muddy ground and naturally skids along the ground, perhaps accidently kicked by another workman to show how tough the CAT B100 Phone is. MVO You can drop it on the ground.... We hear the thud as the phone hits the ground. We cut to a reaction shot of our hero builder who stays surprisingly cool and collected. He moves toward his phone on the ground. We cut to see his POV as the phone has now landed in a deep puddle of muddy water. We hear a huge splash as it falls. MOV ...And even stands water. The camera moves into the moment as the CAT phone submerses in the puddle water. There is a dissolve through to the next scene. During the above we hear the distant sound of an ambulance in the background that leads us dramatically into the next scene. Linking them both together. We dissolve through the water into the next scene.
6
7
SEQUENCE 2 It is dusk. In close up we see our Blood Runner, wearing motorcycle gloves, picking up his CAT B100 phone that he has dropped in a puddle on the clean tarmac. We see the flashing lights from the bike reflected in a puddle. We see a motorbike glove taking the phone. We see a motorbike with a cross on the back (Blood Runner) and A&E and blue lights in the background. The camera moves back to a wider shot, and we see the Blood Runner’s motorbike with ‘Blood’ written on it. It’s also written on the waistcoat jacket he wears. There is a sense that something is going to happen.
8
9
Out of focus in the background we see a building that looks like it could be in the car park outside A&E. Out of shot but casting a light, we see the flashing lights of an ambulance over the images, giving it a sense of emergency.
MVO (The voiceover is enjoying giving us this challenge.) …Try unlocking your smooth slick smart phone… We cut to the Blood Runner’s hands as he turns on his phone.
We cut to this ‘real life’ attractive character full face as he looks down confidently at his mobile phone. He wipes the phone down. It is still working perfectly. The camera moves in to investigate the phone. MVO …And how about this app? It’s called ‘seriously long Life battery’ 16 days of it. So no need to frantically Look for a charger every 4 hours… We see a brief moment on our Blood Runner’s face that he confidently switches the long life button on his phone. MVO …Oh what are these things on the surface? They’re called buttons, and they’re BIG For BIG fingers… The camera, like a curious character, moves in to the large buttons, exploring the phone.
…With gloves the size of gorillas hands in 55 Degree heat. Just try it! We cut to our Blood Runner’s face as he confidently moves through the wonderful apps on his phone. Because it is dusk the actual scene of the phone is vivid and strong, with less reflection on the glass than in daylight hours. MVO …And yes it’s got a great camera, Internet access, And loudspeaker… The Blood Runner naturally presses the buttons on his phone. We see a wonderful display of the variety. This will be shot on location, but the apps will be put in in post. (We will shoot plate at the real location so the glass on the phone reflect the reality around it. It will look totally real.) MVO …But what’s really impressive is that it has a super high-speed processor. Why you ask?...
10
11
Our Blood Runner’s phone starts ringing really loudly. MVO …Well when a Blood Runner …..
MVO …you can bet it’s a matter of life and death…
His gloved fingers easily answer the call. We see a flashing ‘Emergency’ on the phone’s screen.
He switches on his flashing light and turning on the powerful engine of his bike.
We cut to his concerned face as he answers the call. Through his expression and voice we see that he has everything under control.
MVO …These people don’t need a flashy showpiece… Our Blood Runner pulls down his visor on his helmet.
MVO ….needs to deliver a heart to a dying girl across the city in minutes…. The camera pulls back to see the whole action. As he goes into professional action in an emergency mode.
MVO …They need a phone that just…. Works. With a final roar of his bike he rushes off into the distance.
12
ENDING SEQUENCE Our journey ends where it began. We see our conventional beautiful pack shot of the slick polished glass table, and the Blood Runners had come in placing the phone back in its original position. The camera moves smoothly in to read what’s on the screen in close up. SUPER ON SCREEN … A PHONE FOR THE REAL WORLD. CAT B100 text appears.
13
CASTING & PERFORMANCE The casting for this film is crucial. We need to find really good actors who are totally natural and spontaneous in front of the camera. They need to be able to put their own unique personalities into the roles and work using improvisation so that everything we see is like real genuine moments in real life, rather than actors performing the script. Our Builder and Blood Handler need to look like ‘real’ men from the ‘real’ world rather than being handsome model types, they need character and living faces. They need to have the ability of creatively and naturally improvising around the moment, putting themselves into the role, so that everything we watch is spontaneous and real. We could perhaps cast a real Blood Runner, who not only can put his own experience and personality in the role, would also come along with his own Blood Runners bike. Please see this very beautifully shot corporate film by Blood Runner Charity as an example of the sort of man we could get. I feel he is totally the man who would use the CAT B100. WHITE KNIGHTS RECRUITMENT FILM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMTuKrZW6jU
14
LOCATION & ART DIRECTION REAL BUILDING SITE We would film on a real building site, with a part the building still being contracted under shelter, so we can be confident in getting our beautiful looking pack shots even if it rains ! It should have all the elements of a site. Muddy building area, cement mixers, ladders, bricks etc. Please see reference pictures for the complete picture. We need to bring in our own dirty bucket, and the blasting heater. There could be the possibility of bringing in some CAT building equipment, but the film should feel natural and real and not over branded so I don’t personally feel this is essential.
15
BLOOD RUNNER LOCATION We need to find a location very close to the building site. It should be a building and a car park that could physically be outside an A&E and we would dress it to be so. With ambulance flashing lights that are out of shot. (These also create a dramatic mood to the scene.) We will hire a real Blood Runners’ bike and he will wear the correct uniform and motorcycle. The dressing of this location is a key element for a real dramatic feel.
16
CAMERA AND STYLE We would shoot on Cannon C300 or Canon 5D camera. These have wonderful film lenses to create a dynamic depth of field. The smallness of these cameras will allow us to capture the dynamic low angle needed and get right in there with the action. We will use a simple steady cam rig for the C300 or D5 Canon cameras. This will mean that we can create slick and fluid-moving action, giving a journey feel to the film , as it constantly follows our heroes through the scene. This style will also enable the camera to be actively engaged in the scene, following the moments, and almost adopting a personality itself. This will work wonderfully through the film, but especially in the sequence where the camera and the voice over actively ‘explore’ the phone.
LIGHTING AND GRADING The lighting will appear to be totally natural, to create our slice of real life feel, and we will use as many natural light sources as possible. And care will be found when finding locations to ensure that this is possible. Within the natural light our DOP will add a few fill lights and reflectors to ensure whilst remaining in reality our character look naturally attractive. The overall grade will be natural and real, but we would take care in bringing out an overall natural feel and the vivacity of colours within the frame.
17
WARDROBE AND MAKE UP Our Blood Runner and a builder’s wardrobe should be taken from that they would naturally wear in the real world. Nothing should be over styled. They have their own individual style that feel naturally trendy without being over stylish. Make up and hair should also be natural, they are filmed in a real moment in their lives so nothing should be over groomed.
18
LENGTH OF SCRIPT AND
CUTTING LINES Within the treatment I have sorted and rejigged some of the script to add to the dramatic structure our story. I am totally open and would love to develop this creatively further with the creative’s in the agency. I would suggest that we shorten this as although it gives energy and personality to the voice, I don’t feel it adds to the drama, and often just echoes what we are seeing visually. Would love to develop this and talk about it with the creative…
SOUND & MUSIC We are going to use sound very creatively to intensify the drama. This works in a number of ways : • We begin with a conventional Phone commercial type music that is dramatically and surprisingly drowned out by the real life sounds of the drill on the building site. • The sound of the digger will be dramatically lowered when the builder uses his reduce noise button on his CAT Phone. • The intensified sounds of the phone falling on the floor, passing the blasting heater, and a huge dramatic splash when it falls in the bucket of water. This will work impressively well when combined with the slow motion of that scene. Really dramatically showing what the CAT B100 is all about. • We will dramatically link Sequence 1 and Sequence 2 with the sound of an ambulance that will heighten the drama and the introduction of the Blood Runner. • When the phone is being ‘displayed’ by the Blood Runner we will hear the loud speaker and other impressive sounds opposing on the phone. • The emergency call coming from his phone will be loud and a really strong call to action. • On the ‘pack shot’ at the end of the film we should hear the same instrumental music track as at the beginning of the film, but this time the instruments playing are more base, strong and male sounding. This will book end our phone’s journey.
19
EDITING The editing should be seamless during the scenes, so that it appears to be one fluid moving moment in time. We will often cut on the movement of the camera to enhance this fluid feel.
GRAPHIC ON PHONE The graphics and apps shown on the phone will be put on in post production. For the close up shot of the phone in the Blood Runners hand, the camera will not be locked off, as we need to keep the spontaneous and real life feel of the film. So allowances will need to be made for tracking in the Flame suite. We will shoot reference plates on both locations for the glass screen on the phone so that we can add them in post, so it looks beautiful, but also totally real.
20
CONCLUSION I feel that this really strong and visual film actively dramatizes the ‘down to earth’ features of the B100. It’s a phone that ‘does what it says on the tin’. I would love to be involved.