Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Short Film Treatment: Rubik's Cube

Logline: A man has lost all his passions, a women tries to make him see the happiness and joy in life.

A man and a women wait at the same bus stop every single day for the past year. The man is dressed nicely in a suit, and the women is dressed nicely for her job. The man has a somewhat cynical view on life, he views life as pointless, but he lives life so that he doesn't hurt his family. The woman one day finds a rubiks cube. She tries to solve the rubiks cube but can only get one side. After a month the guy becomes so annoyed that he grabs the rubiks cube out of her hand and solves it quickly, then hands it back to her. She becomes interested in him and follows him onto the bus.

She decides to sit next to him on the bus and tries to talk to him. She asks him who he is and what he does? Over the next week she pesters him but he is solid and wont tell her. Finally he tells her it doesnt matter what he does. It doesn't matter what he or she or anyone ever does because we are all eventually going to die. She pulls out the rubiks cube and tells him that life is like a rubiks cube. Most of the time life cant be solved, its complicated, there are problems, we have struggles. Rarely does anyone solve a rubiks cube, just like how rarely people solve life and are completely content. She asks him that although we all eventually die we should live life to have joy and experience happiness.

3 comments:

  1. Your idea is really good and unique! I just think you need to develop not only your treatment, but the character development of the man and woman and why they view their lives the way they do. I also think you need to develop the 3 act story and put it into more detail. Your theme is very direct which is a good thing. The theme of living life to its fullest is definitely expressed in your treatment. Also, when the woman confronts the man about solving the rubiks cube, I would develop that more. Maybe even show flashbacks for the two people which lead them to their views. I think this will help your 3 act story structure and your character development. This will allow the audience to make connections with the characters through experiences. But overall, you have a really good idea, just keep it going!

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  2. Well kevin i can tell you put a lot of thought into this idea. I commend you for weaving in some effective themes that are portrayed by the story; they are powerful too. I also like the symbolism that you provide for the cube. this small item represents the whole complexity of life and discontentment. Very clever. I would like to suggest a couple of things though. To begin, I would try to make the male protagonist a bit more appealing, since he is the driving force of the film and the communicator of those powerful themes. With that being said, perhaps exchange the idea of him refusing to tell her with something else. But other than that, very good.

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  3. The theme that life can't be solved is present here. Showing this through the rubik's cube is a good idea. Development of the story is key to having a good treatment, which you sort of don't have a structure or different acts. There's no rising action mentioned or development of any character here. You kind of abruptly state a summary of the story.

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