Section 5: Treatment

Deadline

Synopsis

A pair of police officers are given a date and time to stop another murder from happening. They soon find out that their own lives are about to become entangled and on the line in this chilling crime-thriller. How will the officers cope with the pressure and will they meet their Deadline…

Treatment

The opening sequence opens with a scene that has a female character inside -what the viewers believe to be - her own home working on a computer. She looks tired, as if she’s been doing work for a long time. We see her looking out of her house window as she’s paranoid someone’s watching her from the outside. She closes the curtains despite it being daytime as she believes it will pass her fears, this shot would be filmed from the outside so the audience can see what kind of setting she’s in. It will also be from the killer’s perspective before he’s entered her home so the viewers are introduced to this mysterious character without any reason as to why he’s watching her; this creates anticipation for what the sequence will include. Before this shot we’d give a point of view shot from her to show where she thinks this unseen person it hidden. This shot will be used to portray how she’s on edge in the confinement of her home. She decides to lock her houses so she can feel some kind of security. This implies how a safe location of your own home can become a threat to you. Therefore the audience can sense something will occur soon as tension is being purposely built. Effects used to show the passage of time, for example strobing to portray her working; typing, researching, filing her documents. This passage of time shot will show her feelings of her becoming more and more exhausted throughout the day. In addition to this there’s a cup of coffee next to her which will go down to show that time is passing to the audience. She wakes up later on at the computer and it’s now night time. She’s still tired and goes downstairs, to the kitchen, to make a cup of coffee. The audience are given the feeling that she’s being followed. As you see her moving around the house the viewers identify certain clues in the background, for example a knife is shown and a handprint in blood on the wall. Through certain camera shots such as point of view shots and angled shots, the audience will realise someone is watching the woman in the house and towards the end of this opening sequence the camera moves rapidly towards her to give the feeling that she’s being attacked. This would be from the attacker’s perspective so viewers can’t identity what his appearance is but can see her initial reactions to his portrayal of violent actions.

The police then investigate the scene of the crime yet they find no motive or evidence as to why the criminal would do this. One of the detectives goes home to find a blood message written on a wall inside his house in a different language. An investigation begins on the message as to what it means and how it can relate to the intentions of the killer. The police decode the message and find out that it is a date and time relating to a planned killing that'll take place in the future with another innocent victim. Several clues are left for the police in the message to lead them on a trail as to finding where the killer is. The given clues tell the detectives that the next person in line will be killed soon, in a short space of time. The clues get more specific as to who will be killed and in what location, they seem to point towards the victim being the chief of police as the killer seems to have been wronged by the police in the past. The killer’s incentive to do this stems from actions he’s performed that lead him to be in jail for a long time. This time in prison lead him to create and prepare a plan to take back revenge for his time in jail.

However the detectives soon find out that other people may also be involved and their lives are soon to be in danger. The audience find out that only one of the police officers is being targeted and his wife and colleague are captured and taken to an unknown location where the killer is set up. The detective has to make a tough decision on which member of his family he's going to save before the given upcoming deadline. After an intense but thrilling scene, the detective chooses to save the love of his live, his wife. Although she gets brutally killed and the killer frees the others as he’s taken his plan into action by committing his aim to target and get revenge on the police officer. The audience then see the two main characters in the confinement of their own home with the outcome of the attack complete. The Killer is feeling accomplished whilst the Police Officer is heart broken and helplessly lost.