$P@MM3R!!1!

I’m currently working on my biggest film project to date. I’ll be posting regular updates to the blog, but here is the full project proposal for the film…

Working Title: $P@MM3R!!1!

Interpretation

In life, I believe that people are connected by a multitude of common characteristics, needs, and desires. We all eat, drink, sleep, defecate, and are driven to procreate. We’re born, we grow old, and we die. As cliche as it sounds, we all want some sort of validation – we want acceptance, love, whatever you want to call it.

In our everyday interactions, we often ignore these facts. We tend to objectify people, because it makes it easier to get through the day. Most days, we don’t think about the personal needs or desires of the girl cooking fries at McDonald’s, the cashier at the grocery store, the newscaster on the TV, the fat kid with the lightsaber on Youtube, co-workers, students, teachers, or even casual friends and acquaintances. This isn’t a good or bad thing – objectifying people allows us to have basic, surface level interactions with them on a daily basis without the stress of constantly having their needs and desires on your mind; however, it can also allow us to do harm to other people without considering the consequences.

My video will show this in action through a fictional account of a day in the life of Spammer, a character who makes his living sending spam emails. Having done some research into the subject, I’ve discovered that a large part of this business involves an underground “identity trade,” in which bulk lists of names and email addresses are sold on message boards and in chat rooms. Spammers use these lists to maintain databases that they use to automatically send out hundreds of thousands of emails daily, advertising pornography, dubious medication, designer knockoff products, etc. They get paid every time someone clicks a link in one of the emails they send. They can also make more money by selling their accumulated lists of names and addresses to other spammers. The entire industry is extremely impersonal by necessity. Spammers generally don’t even consider the fact that they are communicating with other people: they consider the job to be more related to database management than anything else.

The main conflict will be an internal one for Spammer. At the point in which we enter his story, he has begun to feel dissatisfied with the direction of his life. He is frustrated with his job for various reasons. He spends much of his time indoors, and the friendships he has are pretty shallow and don’t seem to be going anywhere. He’s been surfing the online dating scene with little luck. It’s obvious that he’s on the verge of some sort of break through (or breakdown).

Ultimately, I want the audience to feel a connection with Spammer at a very basic level. He’s reviled by most people because of the job he does, but he still has the same basic needs and desires as everyone else; in fact, the reason he has the job in the first place is to help him fulfill his need to eat and survive. I want the audience to understand that the divide between them and Spammer is a lot smaller than they may think, and through that understanding, hopefully they will gain a better appreciation for other people they may feel prejudiced against due to employment, race, sexual orientation, religion, political views, etc.

Topic

The topic of this video is a day in the life of Spammer, from the time he wakes up in the morning until he goes to sleep that night. The story is set in an unnamed American town (it could be any town, really). The bulk of the story will be set in Spammer’s house and at a restaurant where he meets a woman he contacted through an online dating service. All of the necessary background information about Spammer’s employment, living conditions, family and friends, etc. will be explained throughout the film; however, I intend to leave some things unexplained, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks when necessary.

Action Sequences

The story opens with Spammer being awoken by his alarm clock. He keeps pressing snooze, and by the time he finally drags himself out of bed, it’s after noon. First, he staggers into the bathroom, pees, checks himself in the mirror, and splashes some water on his face, but doesn’t bother showering, shaving, brushing his teeth, or getting dressed (he wears the same boxers and t-shirt he woke up in through most of the film). He goes to the kitchen, where dirty dishes are piled in his sink. He rummages for some food in the fridge and ends up having a mug of cereal (all of his bowls are dirty). After flipping channels for awhile, he’s finally ready to start his day.

Work begins as soon as he walks into his computer room. Well… not really. He checks his email first and curses as he deletes one spam message after another. Buried under all of that, he notices that he has a message from a woman he met through a dating site agreeing to meet that evening, to which he responds.

After surfing the web for awhile, he finally begins working. He opens up a database full of names and email addresses and begins adding more names and email addresses, while also checking various software applications, chatting with other spammers, and checking message boards.

He takes a break and calls a friend. The conversation is pretty superficial. He never mentions work. Makes a few awkward, crude jokes, then hangs up. Next he tries his brother, but no one answers. He peeks outside through the blinds once or twice, smokes a cigarette, pours himself a little whiskey from a bottle next to the computer.

He checks his email again. He has a message that looks like it’s from a friend, but when he opens it, he finds an advertisement for pornography. He mutters something to the effect of, “If I have to see another [insert deviant sexual act here], I think I’ll kill myself.”

Finally, it’s time for the date. He shaves, showers, and tries to dress up a bit (it seems obvious from his wardrobe that this isn’t something he does often). He sprays on a little too much cologne, and finally checks himself in the mirror before heading out.

He meets his date at a quiet, casual restaurant. She’s attractive and smiles a lot – overall, she seems like a fairly nice girl. They start off with food related banter (what to order, etc.), followed by basic small talk. He seems a little awkward, but things seem to be going relatively well.

At some point, she drops the bomb on him: “so where do you work?” He dodges around the question and seems obviously nervous. First he says he works with databases. She tries to delve deeper, and he says he just updates databases, customer lists and that sort of thing. She infers that he works for a sales company, and asks what he sells.

He finally snaps. It’s not clear whether he’s having an epiphany or a breakdown, but all of the nervousness disappears. He smiles and says “Oh… Lot’s of things… Designer handbags, medication, bestiality porn…”

She smiles nervously, looks mildly confused and asks him to repeat himself, which he does, enunciating clearly. She’s visibly disturbed and obviously doesn’t now how to respond so he continues.

“You know those emails you have to delete every day? I send those out. I tell people all over the world that their tits are too small, or that their cocks aren’t hard enough, or that they should check out www.gayincestrapesex.net. Every day, millions of people silently curse me when they turn on their computers. Honestly, though, if I have to see another [insert deviant sexual act here], I think I’ll kill myself.”

He smiles. It looks like a huge weight has been lifted just in the act of saying this to another human. She looks like a frightened rabbit. She says she’s going to the bathroom, but she never comes back.

When the food finally arrives, he informs the waitress that his date won’t be back. He eats at a leisurely rate and absorbs the ambience of the restaurant before heading home. When he gets back to his apartment, he checks his emails. There’s a message from the dating site stating that he’s been temporarily blocked due to a complaint. This doesn’t surprise him. There’s also a message that looks like it’s from a friend, but when he opens it, it’s the same porn advertisement from before. He calmly picks up his keyboard, takes it outside, stomps on it in the snow, and throws it away. He stands out in the snow for a little while, lights a cigarette and takes in his surroundings. Finally, he breaks loose: he drops into a snow drift and makes an angel. He begins to laugh. He builds a tiny snowman, using rocks for the eyes, his cigarette butt for the nose, and sticks for the smile and arms. Eventually he wanders back inside, but the camera remains focused on the smiling snowman.

Main Characters

Spammer: The main character of the film. Mid 20s to 30s. He seems to have mostly given up on himself – he’s lazy, slovenly, doesn’t bother to get out much, and doesn’t seem to have many friends. He’s starting to feel disillusioned with his life, however. He wants to meet people and get outside more. He wants to feel good about his job, or at least he doesn’t want to feel nervous about telling people what he does. Spammer isn’t really a likable character in some respects, but through his development, it becomes obvious that he just needs to take control of his life and take responsibility for his actions.

Spammer’s date: Spammer’s date that he met online. Mid 20s to 30s. She seems smart, attractive, and sweet, although perhaps a little naive. She’s perhaps a bit of a romantic, and believes that all people are inherently good at heart, mostly because she hasn’t really experienced the shit side of life. Inevitably, it’s her naivete in pressing questions about Spammer’s work that pushes him over the edge. Of course, having just met Spammer, she’s nowhere near prepared for his epiphany and freaks out. It’s pretty obvious at that point that he’s become completely alien to her – she no longer understands him or even sees him as another human being: he merely represents a situation from which she wants to escape.

Conflict

The main conflict in this piece is one of internal ideals. Spammer is maturing beyond the point where he can perform a job that requires him to objectify and take advantage of thousands of people every day. This may be a conclusion he’s been coming to for awhile, which could be why his life seems to be in such a shambles. The confrontation in this case happens in multiple ways. First, through Spammer’s interaction with his home and work environment. He doesn’t clean the house or take care of himself. He procrastinates and avoids working, which indicates how repugnant it’s become for him. He also openly curses the work of other people doing the exact same thing as him. The final confrontation happens at the dinner table, when the desire to be honest and to connect with someone overwhelms his embarrassment about his work.

There’s also conflict that arises between Spammer and his date when he reveals the truth about himself. Essentially, he’s come to a major turning point in his life and is attempting to establish his humanity by being honest and taking responsibility for what he does. She doesn’t understand this, and rather than seeing an honest, vulnerable human being, sees a bad situation – something foreign to her, and thus, something to be afraid of. Spammer wants some affirmation, but she just wants to get out!

Audience

I’m intending this film for a general audience. Not to over-generalize, but I believe that the message in this film is pretty universally applicable, so I want it to be entertaining enough for public consumption. The cultural references should be readily accessible to anyone who has used a computer: spam is an experience anyone with an email account has to deal with, and online dating is still generally viewed as the “last resort” for desperate people (although public opinion does seem to be slowly shifting on this topic). I will be playing on both of these cultural conceptions. In the case of spam, I want to show that there is a human face behind all of those emails, which is something that I don’t think most people ever consider. For the online dating, it’s kind of a mixed bag, since Spammer seems like an obvious candidate (he could be seen as desperate), but his date seems like she could easily meet someone through more “culturally acceptable” venues.

Structure

Time will progress rather quickly in the film, as I intend for it to be (at most) about thirty minutes long, and it will be covering approximately twelve hours worth of material. To show time progression, I will be using montage segments to link the primary action sequences (i.e. montage of Spammer waking up, eating breakfast, etc. before starting work). These montage segments will not only push the narrative forward, but will also help to flesh out Spammer’s character.

Most of the important information in the film will be conveyed through Spammer’s interactions with his home environment and through dialogue with his date near the end of the film. The story reaches its dramatic climax at the dinner table as Spammer breaks down and tells his date what he really does in graphic detail. This can be seen as something of a breakthrough for him as a character, since it indicates that he has finally come to a conclusion in regards to his internal conflict over his job. Initially it’s unclear as to whether his conclusion is resignation (i.e. he realizes that this is what he’s going to do, so he might as well stop pretending) or whether he’s decided to quit. Also, considering the repeated threat of suicide, one can imagine that he my be plotting to end it all. This climax ends when Spammer smashes his keyboard out in the snow, indicating that he’s moving on, which is further indicated by the sudden rush of joy that he experiences out in the snow – as if a weight has been lifted.

Form and Style

Spammer is intended to be a dramatic dark comedy. I don’t want the piece to become overly bogged down in its own message – the audience should be able to see the humor and irony in situations within the story (i.e. the irony of Spammer cursing the spam emails he deletes; the awkward conversation and negative reaction of his date).

The film will be shot from the point-of-view of an imaginary third person who never leaves Spammer’s. There will be no narration or internal monologue or any other device that would give the audience insight into the characters’ motivations other than through their actions. Essentially, it will be as if the audience is eavesdropping on a day in Spammer’s life.

Natural lighting will be used through most of the piece, with the exception of the final scene in the snow, which will require some minor additional lighting. Scenes will be shot in a documentary fashion using a tripod and minimal camera movement.

There will also be a unicorn. A big pink one with cotton candy wings that eats flowers and shits rainbows.

Resolution

The film starts out with little fanfare. Spammer is a slob, he’s obviously not a happy person. He doesn’t smile much, and when he does it seems forced. In spite of these facts, this is not intended to be an unhappy film; therefore, the ending needs to reflect Spammer’s change in attitude. There’s a fairly obvious internal struggle going on for Spammer up until the climax in the restaurant. From that point on, there’s a dramatic change in his demeanor – he smiles easily, he fidgets less, and seems calmer. The final expression of his epiphany is his liberation – he feels free to finally vent his frustrations on the object of his torment (his computer) and to play out in the snow and openly express his newfound light-heartedness. The film makes no promise as to how this personality change will affect Spammer’s environment – he screwed up his date, still doesn’t seem to have any meaningful relationships, and is most likely unemployed – but the indication is that this change will hopefully lead to Spammer being more proactive in taking control of his life.

Budget

Well, let’s see… most of the equipment I either already own or will borrow from the art department, so there’s no concerns there. The restaurant scene will require me to pay for dinner for two, which shouldn’t be more than $40 – again, not a problem. I’ll also have to contact the restaurant ahead of time to make sure that they don’t mind me filming (most likely I’ll try to find out when they are the least busy so I’m not getting in anyone’s way. Ideally I need an actor to play Spammer and an actress to play his date. I’ve got a lead in the theatre department who might be able to help me find actors, but if all else fails, I can always play Spammer and enlist a friend to play the date.

As for props, I can mostly use things from around my apartment, although I will need to find an old keyboard and monitor for Spammer’s “prop” computer. Hopefully I can find something at a thrift store or pawn shop, since the keyboard gets destroyed at the end.

All production, graphics, etc. will be handled by yours truly, and since I already own the necessary software, there shouldn’t be any added expenses… although I may break down and spring for a copy of Final Cut Express, which will set me back about $70 if I buy through the school’s computing center. All total that puts the maximum budget for this flick at right around $110-120.

Logistics

I’m currently working on fleshing out the script. Plans are to have that and storyboards finished in the next two weeks. Once that’s done, I’ll begin filming the scenes in and around Spammer’s apartment. The snow scene could be problematic since the last snowfall we had is already melting. I may have to just wait and keep my fingers crossed, or if all else fails I can just rewrite that scene.

While working on the script and filming the initial scenes, I will be on the lookout for actors. Once I’ve got them confirmed, I’ll give them a week or so to work on the script (a lot of the small talk will most likely be improvised, but the key dialogue will be scripted). I hope to be able to film the date scene in one night (minimizing the amount of time that I have to impose on the restaurant staff!); however, if necessary I could stretch it out to two nights.

All in all, the filming should be done within the next four to five weeks, which will leave time during the last few weeks of the semester to work on the editing and soundtrack. This will also give me time to rerecord sections (if necessary). The film should be finished and ready for presentation to the class by the end of April.