Idea Two
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Title: One Night
Tagline: when the paths of two people intersect each other and their lives change forever
Plot: Girl has narcolepsy. She can’t control when and where she sleeps. Girl doesn’t have a stable job, or a stable income, or a stable relationship because of her condition. She always gets fired because she sleeps during her shifts, or sleeps in the middle of a conversation with her boss, or sleeps in the middle of an important meeting. No one understands or sympathises with her condition; they think she is just lazy. Most of the time, her relationships end on the first date when she fails to make it to the date because she falls asleep on the way. If she is lucky, her relationships might last until the third and fourth date, before the guy gets annoyed because she always sleeps while listening to them talk about their day and seems uninterested.
Boy has everything he wants in life. He has a good job, a beautiful girlfriend, and stability...but he is still unhappy. He works overtime and his girlfriend gets angry at him when he’s tired and doesn’t remember their anniversary. He doesn’t love her anymore, but he stays because it is all he’s ever known. He’s scared of change.
Boy works until 12am one night. He is on his way home when he sees Girl. Girl is having a bad day and thinks it will be a good idea to stay out. She falls asleep on the sidewalk and wakes up, experiencing sleep paralysis – which she hasn’t experienced in a long time. She panics and tries to scream, but no sound comes out. She can’t move and she is hallucinating. Boy is confused, before rushing to help the girl. He doesn’t know what to do as he watches Girl having what seems like a seizure attack before snapping out of it. Boy asks Girl if she is okay when he receives a text from his girlfriend threatening to break up with him if he doesn’t come home right now. He doesn’t reply and the girlfriend spams him. Boy looks at the Girl, who is embarrassed, and looks at his phone again. The girlfriend breaks up with him. Boy looks up and sees Girl running away.
A week later, Boy is on his way to work when he bumps into Girl at the cafe. Girl has been sleeping at the table for an hour when the waitress comes and tries to make her leave. Boy interferes and asks for two cups of coffee. He sits, reading, as he waits for the girl to wake up. Girl wakes up and sees Boy. Boy looks up from his book and smiles, “So what about coffee?”
Potential Flaws, Problems
Parallel storylines – will it be difficult to convey/clearly expressed? It can be confusing if not done professionally and effectively
Story depends heavily on characterization – can be good or bad, depending on whether or not it is effectively portrayed
Finding mature looking actors to play the characters
More research on sleep paralysis – actor must convey it realistically to make it believable
Is filming in a coffee shop allowed? Also, the level of difficulty of finding an actual waitress to act in the film must be considered – an alternative would be getting an apron and asking another actor to pretend to be waitress.
Locations or Possible Scenes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zL3YJKygd4 - Love, Rosie