Ultimatum: Treatment

The log-line used to describe our opening title sequence was: "A retired assassin and single dad settles down with his son, but when his past catches up with him, he must take up his old line of work to protect the thing he loves most." We felt this was most suitable to the ideology's which we intended to represent in our opening title sequence.

After thoroughly discussing what the opening shot of our title sequence would be, we devised some ideas in which we thought would work well with portraying the right ideas in the mind of the audience. Firstly, we thought of having an a young parent sitting on the sofa with his son, establishing their relationship so the audience clearly reads and interprets the stable relationship in which the two posses. We then pictured the two sitting in a coffee shop together or a public location when there is a sudden ringing of the fathers phone with a darkness falling over the contact from an unknown number. The group then decided to incorporate the words 'When money is the measure of success' and then as the father answers the phone 'What lengths would you go to' to clearly signify a basis in which the film is trying to portray. Furthermore, the scene then cuts to a shot of the man walking home at night where the  words 'to give your son the best things in life', then the opening of a box full of deadly weaponry, 'but another mans life is the cost'.

We agreed that the first few seconds of the opening title sequence should device a sense of a chilling thriller amongst the audience, with the inclusion of lots of darkness and violence related imagery to rally set the scene and let the audience know what they're in for without giving too much information away. We thought that when it comes to editing, we could use lots of effects including using purely black an white colour to give an old school thriller feel about the film as well as imagery of dark hallways and flickering lights which were available with the shooting production in Daniels garage. Then when it came to introducing characters to the audience, we would have a long-shot of the featured adult and his good friend, known as adult 2 for treatment purposes, engaging in a friendly hand-shake establishing the relationship between them. Adult 2 would then withdraw either pictures or a map of the location of the target they are after in order to give his son a better life, with the inclusion of a chilling soundtrack which will begin to play on the emergence of the target required to kill.

The title sequence should then show the producers and companies of who we are going to be featured in the following production of the film which will follow after. An example of this would be, whilst all of the action is going on in the background of the production, Sony Pictures appears in a steady, bold font underlining the genre of the title, swiftly followed by the introduction of antagonist adults 3 and 4 who will be shown in a shadowed light showing there darkness in comparison to the other characters, potentially doing something on a computer with high values of money to show that they are both serious and meaning business. The plot will generally be about showing the relationship between adult 1 and his son, this will be conducted at a park scene perhaps with the son playing on a swing with the father pushing him. The film will also centre about adult despising his current job with signs of stress and insomnia, with adult 2, his best friend meeting with adult 1 discussing how they have been after a long-time-no-see frenzy. Fashbacks with show how the pair used to be trained assassins and showing the clear bond that the two possess together. Then suddenly, adult 1 will receive a phone call from an unknown number asking to come out of retirement to complete one last job for the record, worth millions of pounds to give his son, the greatest life possible and should the adult refuse, this unknown character will kidnap character 1's child. The phone call comes to an abrupt end, with the mysterious number leaving adult 1 an 'ultimatum' and time to think about what needs to be done, with the inclusion of flashbacks with adult 1 with his wife, who died in a car crash after the son was born, and the child.

Adult 1 will then phone his best friend, adult 2, to inform him on the situation and ask for his help in taking down the unknown villain and giving his son the best life possible. Once the two are paired, they set out to complete the final job, kill character 3, in order to save his son. Fully equipped and ready for action, this is one thriller you won't want to miss.