Jenna Fontaine and Jenevieve Rantisi: Sound Design- Short Film Treatment

Let Me In...title still in progress

Log-line: A girl who is home alone becomes a victim of her own mind when she hears a strange voice beckoning her to “let go of the fear.”

General Flow/Scipt:

The screen is black. We hear a furious tapping noise. Then there is a hand, white against a dark table and casting a shadow. We see a multitude of fast angles, but never the face of the person whom the hand belongs to. The tapping stops, and the camera lands on a girl’s face. We see a close up of the girl’s face, with wild eyes searching. We hear her thoughts: She left me for one night. Just one night...

We see a full shot of

Girl: the small, dark room she is in.

...And now I’m here. Now I’m here...

There is a dull office with a man at a desk sitting across from a woman. The man looks tired and is dressed in a suit. The woman looks distraught and her eyes are looking into space.

Girl: ...At least it’s quiet now.

The man is writing on a piece of paper. He looks up.

Detective: [bored tone] What were you doing while your daughter was at home?

After a moment, the detective coughs. We see the lady close up jerking her head to look at him.

Woman: I left her for one night...

We zoom in all the way into the girl’s eye. We still hear the tapping

Woman: ...Just one night.

We zoom out of a clock set at an evening time and track over to the same woman preparing to leave a house. There is a still soft tapping of the girl’s hand on a table in the background.

Woman: I know I don’t usually go out at night, but work’s been so hectic. I really need a break.

Girl: It’s alright, Mom. I understand.

Mom: Are you sure? I know how you feel about being home alone at night.

Girl: [whispers] It’s alright.

Mom: [sigh] Okay. Hey I’ll order you a pizza! Just cheese?

She puts some money on the banister.

Girl: [quietly] Thanks. [frantic whisper] Lock the door!

Mom: Will do. Love you!

The girl, fear in her eyes, nods in reply. We hear the mother’s footsteps going down a flight of stairs as we linger on the girl’s face. She walks over to the top of the stairs when it closes, listening. She hears the deadbolt click and smiles a bit.

She is sitting cross-legged on a couch with all three lights on. She is absorbed in the television, but her expression is neutral. She jumps at the sound of some people chatting next door. She shakes her head and returns to the TV. Then there is an unintelligible whisper. The girl sighs and turns up the volume on the TV. But the loudness of the whispering dominates the TV. She presses mute, and the whispering stops.

The girls face twists in confusion and she turns off the TV. She gets up and walks over to the next room, a dark portion of the house. The whispering continues.

Voice: [voice of girl, distorted] Come. Come. Let the fear go and be free. It’s easy.

The girl turns on the light, but the voice stops. She turns it off again and the voice starts again, repeating the previous lines. The girl steps out into the dark room and continues, looking for the source.

Girl: [franticly] Mom. Mom! Is that you? Stop it and come out.

Voice: Forget about Mom. You don’t need her. Just come. Come. Let the fear go. Let me in and be free. It’s easy.

The girl runs to her room, turns on the light, and locks the door behind her. The voice begins to overlap. She sits in the corner, eyes shut, hands over her ears, rocking back and forth.

Girl: [frantic whisper]: Shut up. Shut up! [she begins to cry] Shut up! Shut up! Shu...

There is a loud knock on the door. The girl jerks up, alert. The whispers stop. Then there is a single whisper.

Voice: Just do it! Stop the fear for once.

The girl, neutral-faced, stands up, goes into another bedroom, opens a drawer, takes out a gun (fake no worries!) and walks slowly to the door, hand trembling. She slowly turns the deadbolt, opens the door, points the gun at the pizza man,

Voice: Let me in and be free.

Pizza man: Hey, wha...

Bang bang. The girl smiles madly.

Girl: [distorted voice] See, it’s easy.

Zoom in to the girl’s wild eye.

Zoom out of her eye in the dark room again. The girl is still tapping furiously.

Voice: You thought I’d gone. [tapping stops] Wrong. You live your life in fear, so I’m taking it.

Girl: [desperate]: Leave me alone!

Girl: [distorted voice]: [chuckle] Never.

The girl smiles madly. Fade to black.

Sound Design plays and important role in the development of the conflict/character because the distorted voice is what leads the girl to go crazy and kill. The interior monologue is also meant to give a sense of intrigue. It is important to the setting because the girl is alone in the house and the dark room. The subtext is emphasized with the italicised words as well as the captions, especially with the frantic whispering that demonstrates the girl’s fear. We will have foley sound effects for the pen scratching, the deadbolt locking, some of the tapping, the TV, the distant chattering, and the (fake!) gun going off. The rhythmic match will be associated with the opening shots when we see the girl at different angles, but not her face. The sound bridge will be used a few times, such as when we hear the girl finishing her thought in the beginning when the girl says “At least it’s quiet now,” when the mom says “Just one night,” and the tapping noise during flashbacks/forwards. The most obvious leitmotif is the evil twin’s voice. We also associate her with the tapping of her hand because of her anxiety. When there is tapping, we know it’s the “good” girl, but otherwise we depend on the distorted voice to know for sure she’s not. Music will also be added to accompany the different personalities: evil or good. For example, sad music will fade in after we are shown the first shot, but during the very last shot there will be dark music. That will be added in the 2-column script (dialogue was just really important, so we put it in the general flow).