Coursework 1: Final Project Package

CIN500: The Business of TV and Film

Tanisha Harron (B00889053)

“Part Of Me”

Synopsis

Ryan Donnelly a hard-working husband, becomes reliant on alcohol to battle the dark
thoughts that circle in his head, he becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of
another life. Ryan starts to notice that he is not alone when it comes to his mind. He quickly
discovers that it's not only his mind that can be overrun but his body too.

Treatment

In this film is a man with a dissociative identity disorder, who has no idea just how fast his
life is about to change. He and his wife are having problems and it does not help that Ryan
constantly turns to a bottle for comfort more than his wife. Fed up with his behaviour his
wife decides they should separate for a while as she can’t bear to watch him slowly drink
himself to death. Ryan was left devastated by this as his wife was the one sense of normality
left in his life. Ryan had noticed that his behaviour was changing but had no idea why. He
would black out and wake up in strange places not sure of the events that transpired the
night before.

He is sitting looking at a photograph of his wife, it was from their anniversary and they were
happy. His wife enters the room and sighs. She begins to give him a lecture on his drinking
and that she is only there to collect the rest of her belongings. When she leaves the room
Ryan can hear a whispering noise coming from his bathroom. He gets up and decides to
investigate where this noise is coming from. Once he enters the bathroom he catches a
glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He suddenly gets a migraine and the lights begin to
flicker. Ryan is brought to his knees in pain a ringing sound can be heard as his head tilts side
to side.

We can see that something else is taking over Ryan as his face looks like it's being pulled
apart and has become distorted. When Ryan gets back onto his feet he glances at his
reflection and it is of him smiling sinisterly. We can clearly see that Ryan has completely
shifted into somebody else. The reflection continues to smile creepily, the other personality
begins to talk to himself saying things about his wife such as

“She needs to go”.

“We need to get rid of her”.

The words “kill her” can be heard getting louder and louder until a bang from the bathroom
door rips his other personality from him bringing Ryan back to his reality. He is dazed and
confused about what has just happened. There was no blackout this time Ryan was solely a
passenger in his own body. He once again looked up at the mirror and his reflection was
smiling back at him. Ryan touches his face but his reflection isn’t mimicking his actions. He
turns on the tap and splashes cold water on his face, trying to convince himself that it’s not
real. When he looks back up at his reflection it is normal again. The water droplets fall from
his wet face.

Ryan sighs and explains how he needs to stop drinking as he really believes this was some
sort of alcohol trip that was messing with his mind. Time has passed and we see Ryan
waking up in his bed, his room and bed are completely covered in pieces of paper and
drawings. He grabs a piece of paper off his face and sits up clearly still half asleep until his
eyes widen at what he is looking at. A photograph of his wife with her eyes scratched out
and the words “KILL HER “can be seen on the photo, next to a drawing of her dead body.

Ryan is alarmed, he jumps out of bed and cleans away the mess that surrounds him. He
catches a glimpse of his reflection and notices that his ears have dried blood in them and
there is blood underneath his fingernails. Ryan once again grabs the Jack Daniels bottle to
drown his sorrow and confusion. A notification goes off on his phone making him pick it up,
this is where he realised that a whole day has passed, and he has no recollection of it. When
he unlocks his phone there is a video loaded on his screen, it is blank. He clicks play and it
shows his wife standing at the sink in her new place, heavy breathing can be heard in the
background. The camera flips around and shows Ryan holding a knife and he starts to
chuckle. Ryan feels the urge to vomit after watching the video so he gets up and runs to his
bathroom. This is where he and his other personality have a conversation. Ryan jumps back
terrified after his reflection replies to him. It keeps telling him to let him take control of the
body and that he can make both of them happy again. Ryan fights back as the personality
tries to take over but eventually gives in. The pain was just too much. The other personality
gives himself a shake as he exits the bathroom.

The front door knocks and his wife can be heard talking through the door. The other persona
looks at the camera with a smirk and the screen goes blank. We can see that Ryan is held
hostage in the dark and is screaming to be let out.

Vision Statement

I want to take the audience on a journey, what I mean by this is that I want to have them
second-guessing most of my film. Is that the real Ryan? Is that his alter ego?
I personally love that feeling when I’m watching films because it keeps me on the edge of my
seat, it keeps me invested. I hope to also make the audience feel uneasy with the use of
editing, sound and lighting. As I am currently seven months pregnant I am very limited on
where I can go to film so this project will be filmed mostly at my apartment and my dad's
house. Even though I am limited to these locations I feel that I can still capture creative and
interesting shots within these four walls. I also think that filming in a confined space can
communicate that Ryan has nowhere else to go with his emotions. I also feel like it will help
the audience feel a close connection to the character as we see him as we would a friend in
everyday life.
I will use a lot of the colours grey and blue when it comes to editing this piece as I feel those
colours can capture the depression and confusion happening in the main protagonist's life.
His wife has left him he is a borderline alcoholic. I feel that using a darker colour scale in my
film will bring that feeling to life. I feel like ‘Split 2016 did an incredible job of capturing what
it’s like to have multiple personality disorders. I also like the fact that the film was mostly
filmed in the room where the girls were kidnapped so it gives me hope that I can achieve a
high grade in this project even if it is just filmed at home. Another amazing example of
dissociative identity disorder in media is Marvel’s TV show ‘Moon Knight 2022. In this mini-
series, we follow Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift shop employee, who becomes plagued
with blackouts and memories of an entirely different life. Steven discovers he has
dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector.

Schedule
My timetable may be different to the rest of my peers, because as I stated above, I am
currently seven months pregnant, and I am due to give birth in January. Because of this, I
plan to film my final project as soon as I receive feedback from my lecturer. Once Victoria
has given me the green- light in terms of my idea and preparation I plan to film that
weekend.

Production Schedule Wednesday 11th – November 11th – 12th November 25th –

2023/24 13th October 26th
Pre – Production The concept of the
started. film idea was
finalised. And script
was drafted.
I finished my script
Script, casting and and cast my main
location. character. I also
chose to film at
home as I am heavily
pregnant.
Filming begins at my
Filming. apartment all day.
The following day I I plan to have my
will record all the final project filmed
scenes needed at my and edited by
Editing. dad's house. these dates.
Concept Board For “Part Of Me”

Research Abstract

“How can I use editing to portray genre in film”.

My goal for this project will be to explore all the different stereotypes and conventional
aspects of horror. I want to be able to create an atmosphere just from the use of editing
such as using a darker colour palette to make the viewers feel uneasy or add effects that will
give my project more of a professional feel. I know that sound goes hand in hand with horror
such as the use of sound effects and music. I plan to research that topic more as I really do
believe sound is what helps drive a horror film. I want to be able to create tension through
the way I can cut scenes, I want to master the pacing of a horror film as I strongly believe
that pacing is important. Location can be important for film too, but it’s not always the case.
If we talk about the first ever ‘Saw’
film 90% of the filming was done
inside one room. If we took out
the dull colour palette, we would
be left with a high contrast film
which would not be appealing to
watch. Due to the limits, I am
facing this year I am hoping to get
a better understanding of how to
portray genre through editing,
rather than extensive amounts of
make-up and scary locations.