Storytelling & Commison From Script to Screen

By Anthony Faulkner

The Lonely Performer

>Magician >Trombone >Attic

Premise of the Story

Would being in isolation drive you insane?

Logline of the Story

Archy A magician that is put in isolation because he is seen to be crazy. He wants to be a performer but he is in a constant battle with himself. Half of him wants to be a musician as a talented trombone player and the other a magician. Will he ever get a chance to perform in front of a real crowd?

The Story Step Outline

Opening scene of Venice lit brightly, very saturated colours, following a canal boat as they sail past the building that Archy is living above. Panning shot upwards toward to the attic, going past a sign about Archy the Magician show tonight!, with children also running over the bridge. Keeps panning to the window of the attic, where it zooms in to a close up of Archy. Establishing shot of a huge attic with a stage where Archy is based. Close up of Archy doing magic tricks in front of a crowd. Cut back and forth between the crowd and Archy with various reactions from the crowd. Close up of Archy, turns 90 degress to see Archy as a musician. Cut the the musician Archy, who gets a better reaction from the crowd. Each have a faceoff over who can win the crowd, going back and forth with various stunts. Big flash from the magic Cuts the lighting storm from the window. Pans down to reveal Archy sitting there on the stage worn out and confused. Pans around to reveal wooden cut outs of the audience and little run down attic room with Archy on his stage. He picks up his staff and gets up to turn around to a mirror where he sees the musician in it. Shakes his head, to reveal a reflection of himself and walks past the camera. Pans away from Archy, out of the window to reveal the outside world being run down, signs torn down, rainy and dark whist in a thunder storm.

Character Biography
Archy

Name: Archy Age: 37

Gender: Male Location: Venice

Human or Animal (Chameleon)
Undecided

Backstory:
Archy is a performer who is split between two minds where one wants to a be a magician and the other wants to be a musician, but he cannot perform as he has been moved to a town where he is in isolation. The doctors said he was crazy and suffers from split personality disorder and therefore is not aloud to socialise with others. Each day he performs his dream to be an entertainer but the other half always seems to put up a constant fight against him. He was always told that he was extraordinary and people never accepted that there were two Archies when they meet him; because of his time in isolation it has driven him mad and his interpretation of the reality is somewhat distorted and he is living his life in an imagined fantasy. Over the years he has got worse and worse where he can imagine whole performances that can last days at a time. With him being by himself all the time he will only get worse.

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