TREATMENT:

MEDIA STUDIES ASSIGNMENT 2 :  A treatment is done keeping in mind all visual aspects of a film, being aware of how to keep the camera just as we use our eye. The camera plays the role of an eye the entire time. It’s a true game of camera shots and camera angles taken within a period of time limits and thus, the film shoot is done from scene to scene. Keeping my film in mind, I plan to shoot my film in a way that the meaning, expressions and feel is conveyed just as I imagine it to. And in order to be able to do that, I need to be very visual and careful towards the camera shots I take since my film relies on these shots completely.  My film will be shot at the famous Empress Market of Karachi. In order to show the ‘when and where’ aspect, I will start with an establishing shot of the market which will last for not more than 3 seconds. Next, I would take the shot of a car stopping at the main gate of the market, the camera turns to the ground, taking the shot of my character’s foot stepping out of the car and then it would be followed by a mid shot of the boy, who’s my lead, as he looks towards the market where he is entering for the very first time. This mid shot will enable the audience to notice the physical appearance of the boy, who will be shown as a very weak and over powdered kind of person under the dominance of his mother who would be shown by the help of a long shot showing her posture and physical appearance that would enable my audience to recognize her as the person who is very dominant and is likely to be the reason why her son seems to be so under confident. This concept will become more obvious later within the start credit, but it would help to give the audience an idea of the concept and story behind the scene.  Followed by that, I mid shot of the guy will be taken as he looks towards the market and then scene will be cut to the next scene where the camera becomes the boy’s eye and a long shot of the market will be taken for not more than a second. And so they start walking. Now the camera is behind the boy and his mother taking their mid shot along with taking a master shot of the entire scene when the walk along the area crossing the hip and happening shops of the overcrowded market. Now the camera becomes the boys eye again. He turns his head around often, looking at the things happening all over the place. Keeping in mind that I have to show that the guy isn’t comfortable with everything happening and he feels weak and odd and disturbed, I will take intense close ups of the boy’s expressions along with the activities happening around.  I will do this by the help of Inserts. An insert is a quick shot of an activity, regardless of having characters within the frame. So the guy turn’s his head, he see’s a butcher chopping meat, close up taken, not more than a second. He turns his head the other way, he see’s chicken flapping their feathers restlessly, another close up of this scene, again for at least a second. Then I’d show him through a mid shot, making his expression evident, showing he’s feeling stressed and awkward. Then again id take another master shot of the shops, being the boy’s eye, but things will start to show slightly blur in order to give an expression of the  guy feeling dizzy.  And then the boy turn’s again towards a particular store, that is a store where cloth is dyed. Id take a close ups of the pot in which they boil hot colored water in which the dye cloth stirring it with a huge wooden plank. And then I’d take a long shot of another man in the same store whipping wet bright red cloth harshly in order to get it dried off. And id take another close up of the guy where he’s continuously looking weaker and as if he’s feeling loss of breath. This process of scene to scene, shot by shot will be taken within quick seconds, however I’d be using slow motion a little in between in order to give the feel. Then again id keep taking short inserts of all activities within the market, like men spitting out ‘pan’ and other things that usually happen in our markets along with which I’d keep taking close ups and mid shots of the guy. Coming to the end, I’d take a low angle shot of the guy with the sun showing it the camera right on top of his head and showing his weak and clumsy posture. And then I’d take an extreme close up of the guy’s eyes showing them slowly rolling up.  Now the camera is the guy’s eye again and slowly the camera drifts away going from the sight of the markets towards of the sky leaving the frame empty and giving the imagine as if he’s fainting and his eyes are slowly rolling up. Next I’d take a mid shot of his mother who’s turn back to take a look at what’s happened behind her back and the camera become’s the mother eye and she see’s her son dropped down to the ground with people gathered around him, everything become’s quiet, and the start credit ends.  By: Sakina Ali