Nicole Hoskins
28th July 2016
Treatment Draft
Title
Dollhouse
Introduction
This short film is about an 11-year-old girl named Autumn, who finds a dollhouse and china doll secretly hidden in her house. As she tries to hide it from her strict mother, she discovers that the doll comes to life. This is the beginning of a journey into a parallel universe, where Autumn can escape her harsh reality.
Synopsis
Rain is seen outside from a bedroom; poorly-lit by only a night light and lamp. Camera slowly pans from the foot, to the head of a bed, revealing Autumn, an 11-year-old girl, tucked in the sheets. Silence is broken by a plate smashing in another room. Her mother is cursing to herself, so Autumn goes to investigate the kitchen. Point of view shots reveal her mother strictly telling her to go back to her bedroom immediately. Panning long shot shows Autumn walking up the stairs to her room, a side cupboard door opens, it creaks. She steps back and discovers inside is a dollhouse and china doll. A mid shot from inside of the cupboard shows Autumn reaching out to the dollhouse. Autumn then drags the dollhouse back to her room, attempting to be quiet. Her mother calls her name from the kitchen in suspicion of the noise. Autumn quickly hides the dollhouse in her closet among her clothes and jumps into bed. From Autumn’s perspective in the bed, her mother is shown rushing in to investigate the noise. Once her mother leaves, Autumn looks at her cupboard in which the dollhouse is in. Close up of her face. She begins to close her eyes but then hears something knock over in her closet. A Mid shot shows Autumn getting out of bed towards the cupboard, curious, as she investigates and finds that the china doll is missing from where she placed it. Shot cuts to her mother discovering that the small cupboard door is open, the dollhouse isn't inside. Shot cuts back to Autumn in her bedroom cupboard, her mother calls her name right before the closet door closes and she is locked in. Darkness. Autumn finds that she is unable to get out. She pulls out a flashlight sitting at the bottom of the closet. Shot scans around the closet, the flashlight reveals the empty dollhouse and no sign of the china doll. A close up of Autumns surprised face as she tilts the flashlight up. The flashlight reveals that the doll is life-size. Autumn isn't afraid, she examines the doll, then slightly jumps when it begins to move. Mid shot of them facing each other in the dark closet, the doll begins to talk with her. Point of view shots of the characters are used as they converse. The doll then goes to the cupboard door and opens it. It is bright on the other side. They are now in a different location. From the outside of the door, the camera follows Autumn as she emerges from a small door. Large Orchestra music. She slowly arises to her feet in awe at the sight in front of her. Autumn walks forward and out of frame. Cut to black.
Resources
Setting:
Autumn’s Bedroom Libby Gunther’s bedroom
House Kitchen Libby’s kitchen
House stairs/Cupboard Bella’s house
Closet Libby’s bedroom closet
Door to underworld ???
Characters/People:
AUTUMN: 11-years-old, adopted, innocent, curious, introverted, doesn’t talk very much, some can argue that she is going insane as she starts hallucinating/having a dream about a real life china doll
MOTHER: Parent-age, Autumn’s adopted parent, doesn’t like her very much, strict, barely shows compassion
DOLL: Begins as a lifeless doll, becomes real, a little creepy, piercing eyes, she can arguably be either in Autumn’s dream or actually is a cursed doll
Props:
China Doll
Dollhouse
Flashlight
Costume:
AUTUMN: matching pyjamas, bare feet, half-up hairstyle
MOTHER: black long skirt, grey top, strict scarf and jacket
DOLL: TBA (depends on which matching outfits are obtainable)
Justification
I chose the name Autumn for my main character because it is the season between Winter and Summer; two juxtaposing times of the year, one is cold, and the other hot. I decided to make this a metaphor for the transition between the ‘cold’ Reality and the dreamy fantasy world. In addition, as I took a lot of inspiration from Alice In Wonderland for my film it just so happens that Alice transitions between reality and ‘Underland' by quite literally falling down a hole. Autumn is another name for Fall.
My reason for having a cliff-hanging ending is because Tim Burton’s films are very plot-driven. If I were to create an entire Time Burton-inspired film, it would have to go over the one-hour mark. My short film is similar to that of an opening scene of a much longer movie. However, it is up to the audience to make up what happens next. Because of this, it is also my aim to spark different ideas of endings, and provoke theories about the characters.
I began my short film with a young girl in her bed as it is a common aspect in a few of his films. For example, Alice In Wonderland, and Edward Scissorhands, begin with young Alice and Kim’s granddaughter lying in bed talking to an adult before going to sleep.
The lighting in my film is very minimal; however, very purposeful and specific. Autumn’s house is very poorly-lit, especially her bedroom. Inside the cupboard, is pitch black except for where the flashlight is pointing towards. This keeps the mise en scene true to the Tim Burton style of the short film. Also, the juxtaposing bright lighting for the parallel universe acts as a symbol for the ‘cold, dark reality’ versus the ‘bright and exciting underworld’.
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