FEATHER - SCREENPLAY STORY DEV by Samantha Hamer
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© Samantha Hamer, Girly Films, 2013
SYNOPSIS FANTASY - DRAMA/THRILLER [CONCEPT IN DEVELOPMENT] An unremarkable young girl, plucked from an unremarkable war and into an unremarkable life. Yet she becomes all too exceptional. A beautifully intimate story of a young girl coming to terms with a new life in a new country. With so much love care and humanity around her. In many ways over protected due the life she was plucked from. Home schooled, kept safe by wealthy adopted parents until her teenage years. Then, then faced with making her way like any other teenage girl, starting a new exciting chapter at a private school. She ends up being drawn to the kids that live on the local council estate and bunk off into her schools grounds. She starts growing into a young woman fast. Then from knowhere an inner struggle starts to take hold, more so than most her age, more so for something quite remarkble thats about to change all there lives. PLOT STORY OBJECTIVES 1.) The cominality/humanity found in thease troubled UK children. There capacity to understand more than the adults in all parts of the story, to learn from them. Drawn from own experiences growing up, then my experiences of Hate Crimes by troubled kids on an estate, but bothering to find out why, along with much more. 2.) Exploring Disability, Difference, Diversity (overt and hidden). Like FEATHER being psyically disabled having lost a leg, but the effects of PTSD/Fits being expressed (in Fantasy bases powers, ergo present what she sees within them as being played out as real, allowing the audience to choise either, might to two versions). Revealing it and mirroring problems of the troubled children, so we dont know Feather has lost a leg, etc straight away, to know them more. To cut through such. 3.) Community Cohesion, how personal and local problems can feel more raw due to international events. How they can be stirred up and how they can be overcome. 4.) Alternative Extreamism [Far Right], compared to focus on religous, pusdo muslim extreamism. 5.) The roles of the Media, Police, Security Services, politions, UN, EU, Military, etc and how there own actions, assumption (being in a bubble, no matter how professional there intentions) can and do exasterbate local and internationally connected problems and dynamics. Some mirrored in the orginal best intentions of FEATHERs adopted parents, being more than they seem too and how small and directly connected the world is more than ever.
2. 6.)We really are simply Human and if thease Teenagers can see through it all, there's no excuse. To truly feel and understand them deeply, that they simply see is each other as they are irrespective of Religon, Disability, Difference and Class. Then to be exceptional them all, when they discover they are directly connected to the most serious internation problems one can imagine and step up to face most challenging reality that unfolds head on.
TEASER EXT. LEEDS STREETS - DUSK People running frantically, armed officers etc, set the panic as if Terrorist attacks have happened like Paris. Close, the noise of a gun battle going in the near distance as if in a urban war zone. (When its a mirage, mass hallucination, apart from the Mosk, Feathers mind, her memories linking her to real time events playing out in Damascus and channelling them). If any one was to click and a young computer nurd and hacker does. EXT. LEEDS MOSK - DUSK Set the scene for the police having locked down the scene for the mosk having been blown up and other, home grown far right terrorist attacks might now be as organised as Paris and Brussels. Scott being treated as if he might be an armed torrist still in the bulding, him coming out to be arrested etc.
INT. LEEDS POLICE STATION - NIGHT Scot arguing with police. Background is that his Father is in prison both a criminal and far right Neo Natzi. Scott himself being truobled, petty crime, fights etc, etc until meeting feather, down time from bunling off from school, spent with other kids in her school grounds. Part of Feathers powerful connection, Scotts far from a bad kid, far from racist, just having to seem to relfect the same attitudes amoung family etc, to survie, due to the violence and abuse sorounding that. The Mosk is linked to his father and Neo Natzi far right
EXT. LEEDS MUSIC FESTIVAL - DAY Scot gets accused with terrorisum as they think what happened is due to his background, father and he is directly involved. (Better name for Scott character what would a Neo Nazi call his son, him just using his nickname or alternative when not around family etc). Actually create a connection to Feathers Father, french Neo Natzi's and the African country orginally being under french rule, providing
3. UN assistance from Boka Harim (more research needed, meeting talking to people directly involved). Setup the wonderful time they where having as they had formed strong so very normal friendships a mix of boys and girls, some from her all girls provate school, some from the kids that bunked off into the school grounds. For Scott and the others, it was there escape to some calm normality and now that had become real. That is until Feather has a fit at the Music Festival. Lead in with this on Scott trying to explaing what really happened to police. Just seemingly normal teenagers having a good time at a music festival (visably with contrasting backgrounds) then chop into the other drama, scott trying to explain what really happened to counter terroism officers and MI5. (use RUSI etc contacts to better reasearch what would happen from point at Mosk onwards, if faced with same in real life)
EXT. WHITE - DAY MUSIC CUE. Islamic blends with British Northern youth Street White reveals a sky bound feather muting the suns rays, as we follow it's dance through the air. The washed out impression of an arid broken landscape form into the clarity of shell wrecked buildings. EXT. DAMASCUS SUBURB - DAY Defined by whats left of it's minaret, the feather plummets from it's height to meet a flurry of cascading feathers. Leaveing only one that folds into a more highten 3D graphic against white. TITLE:- FEATHER Link Kestrel and Kess, Islamic hunting peragrine Falcon Although, round that out to visually mirroring both Falcons flying over the Yorkshire Dales and Syria (Golan Hights or some such) as the post-title in scene Feather's adopted Dad African, french speaking (speaks several Languages) a Doctor Muslim (possibly Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), now involved in more senior UN Role or such. Adopted mother British Photo-Journalist, writer working class made good, agnostic, brought up Methodist. Now editor and agent, mentor to other photo-journalists or such. Bot changing there roles to focus on Feather and reduce the risks they wherre exposed too. Mix that one up too so Feathers history comes back and is more directly linked to them and there actions in terms of rescuing her, not from Syria or Damascus but as a lone child refugee, being trafficked through Europe. Reveal that through Feather too, make audiance assume she was simply recued from Syria and
4. that War Zone directly as thats what they want equally Feather to beleive as they know lots more happened to her, more she saw while being Trafficked, they want and hope she has forggoten due to her age at the time. CHARACTER (parenthetical) New dialog