Influence Maps: Characters and Setting

A few refined influence maps looking at clown scientists, clownfish and mad laboratories.

Initial Influence Maps

Story Progression 4

Having made some tweaks to the previous treatment, I think the story may be shaping up now. Fingers crossed!

Film Review: Reservoir Dogs

The fifth film we watched from the ‘The Cutting Edge’ film programme was Reservoir Dogs, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino and was released in 1992.


Reservoir Dogs is a film about a jewellery heist gone wrong when cops show up 'out of the blue' to apprehend the thieves, leaving a bloody and violent scene as the criminals make a break for a pre-organised safe house. Wally Hammond writing for TimeOut describes the film as:


"Tarantino's powerful homage/reworking of the heist-gone-wrong thriller..." 


One rather interesting point to note about the film is that the criminals all receive agent like names being dubbed Mr. White, Orange, Pink, Blonde, Brown and Blue. In Vincent Canby's 1992 review for The New York Times he writes:



"One of the elements of old Joe's plan was the anonymity of the men he hired for the job, to protect them from one another and from the police. To this end he gave them noms de crime (Mr. White, Mr. Pink, Mr. Orange and so on)..."


The point of this was to keep their identities a secret so if anyone was caught they would know nothing about the others. This however, ultimately led to the downfall of everyone involved, either by killing each other due to trust issues or in Brown and Blue's cases being shot by the police. What was to be used to protect ended up being you against on another.


Due to the non-linear narrative of this film the story jumps from the main body of the film - the aftermath of the heist - and the character directed back-stories that leads up to the heist. This not only provides further evidence of the heist that isn't witnessed but also gives insight into the characters themselves particularly with Mr. Blonde and Mr. Orange. Almar Haflidason writes for the BBC:


"The film essentially revolves around a robbery that has gone wrong. Abandoning the conventional format of natural chronological storytelling, Tarantino creates a tapestry of flashbacks that cleverly build to a conclusion. This allows separate scenes to be showcased as individual vignettes that the cast exploit to the full."




Bibliography


Hammond, Wally (-) Reservoir Dogs.
At: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/76614/reservoir_dogs.html (Accessed on 16.02.11)

Canby, Vincent (1992) Reservoir Dogs.

At: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE6DD113EF930A15753C1A964958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes (Accessed on 16.02.11)

Haflidason, Almar (2000) Reservoir Dogs.

At: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/11/21/reservoir_dogs_1992_review.shtml(Accessed on 16.02.11)

IOR Unit 4

3 Act Structure

Act One:

Act one introduces the two main characters, Honkers the clown and Einstein the clownfish. An audience within the setting is also present. Honkers and Einstein, both partners in a performance, are set to debut their fantastic act. The audience sees that Einstein is unhappy and not receiving the recognition he feels he deserves for his part in the performance. He decides to ruin the clown's chances at fame and success by refusing to perform.

Act Two:

Act two sees the response of Honkers to the lack of performing done by his partner. In an attempt to salvage the performance he resorts to clown tricks all of which fail. Einstein decides to upstage the clown and do his trick revealing his dark intentions. The clown's greed gets the better of him and takes credit for the performance.

Act Three:

In the final act Einstein's intentions are made clear as he burns the set and tent to a crisp. Honkers, dazed and confused, faints as Einstein swims around satisfied with his work.

Character Biographies

The Clown (a.k.a Honkers)

Honkers was born into a family of clowns within the circus that he lives in today. He comes from a long line of some of the world's most famous clowns and as such he was expected to be one of the best too. At the age of five he managed to create his first flawless balloon animal, and soon after he perfected his juggling skills. However, at the age of ten, Honkers was involved in a terrible clowning accident involving a banana peel and a juggling ball which rendered him unconscious. After awakening he finds that his magnificent clowning talents are gone leaving him to gain the reputation of "The Worst Clown of all Time". As he grew older he was teased by the other clowns for his lack of talent and 'funny' thus driving his dream to one day make a comeback and prove everyone wrong. In his early thirties, Honkers has been kicked out of the circus and been disowned, leaving him to fend in the gutter. It is here that he meets his future genius performance partner. The two concoct a routine that was highly entertaining and brilliant, but will this routine ensure Honkers' revival as a successful clown or will it end in disaster?

The Clownfish (a.k.a Einstein)

Originally owned by an partially illiterate five year old, Einstein decided to take the responsibility of naming himself after his owner chose to call him Stripes (only in the child's drawings it was always spelt Strips). Naturally gifted and a genius in every subject imaginable, Einstein felt that his talent was being wasted, entertaining a child with the attention span of pigeon and so he devised a brilliantly incomprehensible plan to make his getaway. Once free, he winds up in a broken glass full of rain water in a back alley, not much to his liking. But it was here that Einstein meets his failed clown companion. The two concoct a routine that was highly entertaining and brilliant, but will this routine make good use of Einstein's genius or will his new partner exploit him?

The Logline

The story is about a failed clown attempting to rise from the ashes with his performance partner, a fish, who is unhappy about the lack of credit he receives from the clown leading to the fish refusing to perform making the clown look bad. Whilst attempting to salvage the performance it takes a turn for the worst as the fish's revenge is realised, leaving the clown a little toasted.

The Premise

Give credit where credit is due.

The Step Outline

Act One:

• Circus tent with strange lights flashing from within it.
• Inside, a clown is putting on a performance with animal tricks involved.
• Clown announces the trick but the fish refuses to take part.
• Clown looks bad, the audience is unimpressed.

Act Two:

• Annoyed, the clown stares at the fish and instructs it to perform, resulting in him being splashed in the face.
• Clown with no act starts to perform his usual tricks each of them failing miserably.
• Fish up-stages the clown by performing the trick.
• Clown takes credit, fish prepares to end the show with a bang. 

Act Three:

• Fish makes another jump knocking over the ring of fire, audience scared.
• Fire spreads, audience runs.
• Clown notices fire, tries to put it out but fails.
• Circus tent turns to ash in seconds, disintegrates and leaves the clown and a satisfied fish in the middle of it all.