Table of Content.

- Development 1
- Premise 4
- Step Outline 4
- Treatment 5
- Three Acts 7
- Character Biographies 8

1
Development.

I had a few talks with a few different people, my writing partner included. The main
topic of discussion was to strengthen the story. It was a bit messy at first and these
discussions where extremely helpful at clearing up the dust and polishing everything.
My first meeting with Chris was useful, as we set at clearing everything and finding
some right structures. Different ideas flew around until we settled on two stories. His
story revolved around an undead skeleton sword swallower, doing a people less show
in an old disaffected train wagon, filming himself in an unending loop of
disappointment. Mine used kids doing a practical joke on two mural painters, and the
resulting effect causing them to spin around using their platform in a similar fashion
to trapeze artists.

The next meeting, which sadly Chris could not attend, involved Paul, Jonathan,
Domantas, Andriana and I. We met in a café in Rochester to pass around ideas with
some more people. This proved to be extremely useful, as everyone got a lot out of it,
strengthening their story and fleshing out the rest. I came out with a few useful ideas,
some of them quit practical. For example, it was said that a fire extinguisher could not
push someone forward, but could push someone backwards. This is obviously
exaggerated but some is the idea of wall painters becoming trapeze artists.

My next meeting with Chris was recorded, so I will paste it here. This one was more
for him as he was asked to rewrite the story.

- So I had a really good talk with Chris about his story. He came to me saying Phil
had disagreed with his current story so we sat down to rewrite it. His three elements
being a sword swallower, a train and a camera, we set down on paper a few ideas.

I will give my opinion here. I find the sword swallower to be a very specific character.
I find it quit gruesome yet quit interesting. Chris's first idea was to have a skeleton
sword swallower who has fallen from grace and keeps a spectator less show in an old
train. So I though it would be interesting to keep this idea of out of favor.
Sword swallowers don't run the streets today, with supposedly only about a hundred
acting today.

So the story involves this out of favor artist. He owns a train and uses it to assassinate
the critics who disowned him in their column. To keep the theme of sword swallower
he has attached his old sword to the front of the train and, having attached the poor
fellow on a small platform set on the track, sends the machine full speed into the
captive. Yet the position of the prisoner is interesting as he is capable of swallowing
the sword. This is still quit vague and I think the train should go quit slowly so that
the sword slowly enters his throat with killing him.

The camera is attached at the front of the train, and the madman captures the face of
horror as the sword is about to be swallowed. He then develops the photograph and
puts it on his wall. At one point we will have a look at the wall with all the newspaper
pages where the selected critics have voiced their discontent. We then see the multiple
pictures of their terrified faces as the madman enacts his horrible revenge.

This might be quit violent, yet we agreed that the violence should only be implied and

2
not shown. The movement and heavy dynamism of the train should explain the
extreme violence involved.

Note to Chris:

- I think the train should not hit him at full speed. He could start at full speed,
terrifying the prisoner, who expects to be crushed. The train should then brake
violently, and we understand that the sword, which is shown earlier, slowly enters the
captive. You could actually have them not die, simply showing the sword entering
their throat, before he activates the reverse and takes it out. Like this you avoid death
being implied, yet you still get the terrified look on the critic's face.

His response:

First things first Paul, thank you for the talk we had earlier, it was definitely a great
insight into what I could do, with, as you say a very specific character.

With your notes here, it seems that you've thought about the story even more since I
left, which is also great. But the whole idea about the train slowing down has me a
little confused. If we go back to what we where talking about, about having this guy
own his own train on his own stretch of track. If he has only a certain length of track
why would he speed up to full speed only to slow down again? I'm trying to imagine
this with the camera work we discussed, the fast cuts of shots? The guy driving the
train is as we discussed a psycho and is looking for revenge, if he speed up and then
slowed down with a roaring brake, it would seem the same as if a normal train driver
saw the tided up captive just in time.

Also with the Critic, he is a critic, not a sword swallower. I know this is only a
cartoon/animation but we have to be slightly realistic here, the ability to sword
swallow takes years to achieve, not in just one swift motion.

Although saying all of that, the idea of just scaring the victim does take that gruesome
side of the story away, which we both agreed needed to be tamed in a way. But on the
way home I thought of an idea. Imagine the original storyline, the train is speed down
the track, the camera switches from the train to the victim and back to the train and
back to the victim, repeating over and over, train getting closer and closer. Then just
before the train comes in contract with the victim, the camera flashes! Blinding the
screens view, this fades out then fades back into the red light room of the psycho's
'flat/living quarters'. Let me know what you think. Once again thanks for the help.

3
The Premise.

- Anyone can become a trapeze artist.

Step Outline.

- 15th of June 1953, 3 o’clock -

School ends with children running out. Bruno and Lola run across the street.

See mural painters on the façade of a joke shop and decide to do a prank.

Enter the shop and buy some itching powder.

They see a forbidden open door and run through it. Lorenzo the joke shop keeper runs
after them.

The wall painters, André and Maurice are unaware of the ongoing situation.

Chase scene through a stair case.

Kids reach the top, shop keeper, confused, enters an open apartment.

Kids reach edge of building, looking down at unsuspecting painters.

They throw their projectiles, causing havoc below, as Maurice gets hit and scratches
himself. His dropped cigarette sets a paint pot on fire.

Lorenzo sees this through the window and finding a fire extinguisher, he throws it at
André, who avoided trouble.

The platform is dangerously unstable, and with the fire spreading it breaks as André
sprays Maurice.

This sends him backwards, the back of his legs attaching themselves to the side bars.
Maurice catches its opposite.

The motion sends André hurtling through the air. Maurice reacts to the movement as
he is pulled as well.

The choreograph ends when the platform breaks and they fall on an awning.

They fly through the street and are about to land in a pile of bags containing itching
powder.

4
Treatment.

Its 1953 and a clear sky accompanied by a beautiful sunlight baths Paris. The precise
time is 3 o’clock, on the 15th of June 1953. In the 5th arrondissement, a school bell
starts ringing and a horde of children storm out unto an unsuspecting summer.
Excitement is ripe and we notice two youngsters take the lead, running past the
completely overrun circulation police man. Bruno and Lola are eleven and are
possessed of the malicious intelligence that can turn sweet children into ravening
jokers.

A mail truck breaks suddenly and stops right at the front of the zebra crossing, as a
sudden flood of toddlers sweep the asphalt. The leading ones have now reached the
other sidewalk, running past a joke shop, two wall painters, André and Maurice,
repairing the façade. The shop is typical of Paris. Unable to withstand the urge to start
the summer on a fly, they stop as one pulls the others collar in a spectacular fashion
and they both consider the two men.

Being full of mischievous wit, they head inside. We get a look at the two painters, as
the camera gives us two close ups of their faces.

Lorenzo is an old Italian who came to Paris years back, and he can recognize mischief
when he sees it. Yet one is not a joke shop keeper for the sake of it, and he fully
approves of the youths attitude, until it goes to far even for him. Bruno points at a pile
of little brown bags, and asks for two. The brave Lorenzo gives them to him pointing
at a 2 Francs sign, as the two give each other meaningful looks. They suddenly break
out in a run towards a door left ajar. We notice a – Staff Only – sign.

Lorenzo is old, yet he starts to chase them, shouting vulgarities in a way only an
Italian living in France could do.

At the same time, our two muralists are taking a break, their painting left on standby.
One of them pulls out a cigarette, lighting it in spite of the flammable paint next to
him. The other is having a sandwich.

An unbalanced race up the stairs of the old building starts, becoming abstract as they
climb up the stairs. Lorenzo is unable to keep up, annoyance etched on his face. A
bluish tinge swallows the stair case as the stairs become black geometrical shapes. A
sideways view show the children reaching the top, as we sometimes see the old shop
keep struggling in colour to reach them. As the shenanigans reach the top, Lorenzo
reaches an open door, and thinking them to be inside enters determination and a will
to punish those two trouble makers.

The two artists are unconcerned and greatly unaware of the danger heading their way!
Bruno and Lola have now reached the edge of the wall, looking down at the two men,
and the supporting structure of their platform to their right.

We then start a sequence of quick alternating camera views of the two conflicting
groups. The children are raising their arms, their projectiles proudly held high, ready
to be thrown. The men are unaware of the danger. They throw the bags, whose
content is still unknown to us. They land in an explosive manner, itching powder

5
spreading everywhere as Maurice starts moving around, drops his cigarette inside the
paint pot, setting it and himself on fire.

Lorenzo sees the flames through the window. He grabs a fire extinguisher on the side,
runs and throws it at André. The painter catches it and sprays Maurice, as the burning
platform burns and breaks under their weight. Turning on the fire extinguisher propels
André backwards as his legs catch the edge of the platform and he is pushed back
wards, the bar under his knees, in a similar fashion to a trapeze artist. The motion
shouts him upwards, the counter effect being shown as Maurice who has grabbed the
opposite bar is swinging behind him. They spin once. We see André fly past the two
bewildered jokers. Maurice follows, as the platform as trouble holding their weight.

It breaks! The two unlucky painters fall downward unto the awning. They bounce in a
spectacular and comical manner. This makes them fly across the street, under the
incredulous eyes of a really outreached police man.

We see the back of a truck with Mail written on it driving by, leaving a pile of bags
behind. The two men fly towards it and as we get a look at what is written on the
bags, we can read – Itching Powder – all over it. After a last look at the terrified faces
of our two sties, the story ends.

6
Three Acts Resume.

Act 1,

Bruno and Lola come out of school. We get a first look at André and Maurice, the
wall painters. We meet Lorenzo and his shop.

We see the location in its entirety.

The two kids buy the bags.

Act 2,

The chase scene in the stair case whose intensity only stops when the kids are about to
throw their bags. Lorenzo enters his own apartment by mistake.

They throw the bags.

Act 3

The bags explode revealing the itching powder. This causes the fire, which leads
Lorenzo to throw a fire extinguisher to André who sprays Maurice. The platform
breaks and both are sent spinning around in front their house.

It breaks and they fall on the awning. This sends them across the street into a pile of
itching powder.

7
Character Sheet - I

- Maurice Pichot

- Age: 38
- Height: 1m64
- Weight: 76 Kilos
- Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Maurice Pichot was born on the

12th of December 1908, to Pierre
Pichot and Emilie von Steinbeck
in Auvergne. His mom was
originally from Germany, and stayed
in Paris after she had followed her
then husband, Albrecht von
Steinbeck, into France in the 1870
war between Prussia and France.
Pierre Pichot was a simple farmer
who add been conscripted into the
French army and sent to Paris. There
he escaped and fled to Strasbourg,
where Emilie was staying. They met
and ran off together, coming back to
Paris, where there first son, Jules,
was born. Maurice soon followed.
Maurice was young when he left
school, heading to work back in Auvergne on his father’s farm now held by his
brother-in-law, George. There, Maurice helped fix the farm repainting the whole
complex on his own, which consisted of two large barns and multiple small ones, plus
the main Master house. After a few years working around the village painting and
repairing old houses, he moved back to Paris in 1944, after the liberation of Paris,
joining a small wall painting company called Peinture Bastille, owned and directed by
Mathieu Delembert. He stayed there only one year, and after meeting a young co-
worker called André Dupont, decided to associate with young man in creating there
own company. Their company took a more artistic direction, as people interested in a
colourful façade would enjoy their interesting play of colours and shapes.

8
Character Sheet - II

- André Dupont

- Age: 29
- Height: 1m72
- Weight: 70 Kilos
- Hair Colour: Light Brown

André Dupont was born on the

7th of May 1919, to Jean Dupont
and Julie Magret in Aquitaine.
Jean Dupont took part in WWI,
where he lost an eye. This sent to
a field hospital where he met
Julie Magret, then a nurse. They
married right at the end of the
war, the smoke not even cleared
from the battlefields. André was
soon born after, and was surely
conceived during the poor man’s
recovery. They all moved
to Paris when he was 10, coming
to live next to Bastille, in the
11th Arrondissement. In his
youth he enjoyed painting,
covering the walls of his room in
what would become a vocation.
Painting walls when from random childish designs to efficient coverings of paint. He
left school at 16, becoming an aide to Mathieu Delembert, who owned a small wall
painting company called Peinture Bastille. In this first test of life, André would follow
his boss, repainting walls and cleaning up old buildings. He worked with Mathieu for
10 years, rising through the ranks. After WWII, where he avoided conscription, he left
the enterprise intent on starting his own. He met Maurice Pichot, another employee
would had been in the company for a year, and convinced him to associate. Their
company took a more artistic direction, as people interested in a colourful façade
would enjoy their interesting play of colours and shapes.

9
Character Sheet - III

- Bruno Duchemin

- Age: 11
- Height: 1m35
- Weight: 30 Kilos
- Hair Colour: Light Brown

Born in 1942 on the 7th of June in the country

side of Lorraine, in the East of France, Bruno
found himself in Paris at the age of 6. He joined
the école publique of the 5th Arrondissement at
the age of 8. There he met Lola, daughter of the
classroom teacher and together, they where to
form one of the most notorious class groups of the
20th Century. A lot of theories are running around
the parents meeting as to whether the joke shop in
front of the school is the cause of the disruption.
Words strongly denied by Lorenzo Copaccione,
the owner. He has been proved right, as children
under ten are not allowed inside the store. Yet
Bruno has just turned 11, which might be the
forecast for some truly memorable pranks from
the youngster.

10
Character Sheet - VI

- Lola Germain

- Age: 12
- Height: 1m45
- Weight: 36 Kilos
- Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Born in 1941 in Paris, she lived a

difficult first 3 years amidst a
German occupied Paris. At the
liberation, she joined the école
publique, where her father, Etienne,
was a school teacher. Though she is
a good student, her strong friendship
with Bruno has caused her reputation
to be somewhat tarnished by the all
powerful parents council. She is also
notorious for being friends with the
old Lorenzo Copaccione, the joke
shop keeper. Yet its stays a healthy
relation as she is not much of a
buyer. The turning of age of her
friend Bruno might change that.

11
Character Sheet - V

- Lorenzo Copaccione

- Age: 72
- Height: 1m67
- Weight: 68 Kilos
- Hair Colour: White

Lorenzo Copaccione, born in 1881 in Florence,

immigrated to France in the 1930’s under the
pressure of Mussolini’s regime. Such a good
hearted person, always looking for the best
prank and who was considering a joke shop in
Rome, was never going to be tolerated in the
authoritarian regime. He left Italy his heart
broken, arriving in Paris on the eve of WWII.
The phony war was at its peak, and this only
pushed Lorenzo to higher level of pranks. His
happiness spread to others, and he was allowed
to open his beloved joke shop. He opened it in
the 5th arrondissement in front of the école
publique on the 24th of May 1937. His success
was instantaneous, the children coming out
everyday avid to try out the myriad of exotic
objects present in the shop front. Yet Lorenzo
was famous for his incredibly powerful itching
powder. So infamous it became that it was considered to ban it. Yet Lorenzo did not
give up and it stayed his star product. When the war started, his shop became a
meeting point for the Resistance, where he helped the brave freedom fighters in their
fight against the invaders. Hiss powder was used against officers, effectively taking
them out of their command for a few days so potent it was. After the war, now an
older man, enjoying a frank respect from all who new him, he stayed in his joke shop,
but decided to renovate the house on top so he could live in it, his old age keeping
him from doing to many trips between his home and the shop. He asked Peinture
Bastille to do a colourful renovation, their skills as artists know to everyone.

12