In this blog post I’m going to quickly outline the basic plot of my year 1 FMP as it currently stands. I will be referencing this post in my other work just so I don’t have to continuously repeat myself. The purpose of this isn’t to analyse the plot it is just here as reference material.

I will mention that I used Dan Harmon’s story circle as a way of structuring my film as I found it worked really well for short films compared to the classic ‘hero’s journey’. So I will be explaining my plot in reference to that, so here’s a picture to help (there’s also a video which I watched to help me understand it better but the photo summarizes it well)

I don’t have a lot of experience using this method of story structure so my plot slightly strays off course around the middle but for the most part I tried to follow this pattern.

Like in most films, stages 4, 5 and 6 repeat slightly. For ease of reading I will write up the story in narrative order and where structural stages repeat I’ll just label them 4.2, 5.2, etc.

1 – Comfort Zone/establish the protagonist

In the beginning we meet Ben. If you want to read a detailed analysis of his character you can read it here: https://taranfieldyr1fmp.movie.blog/2020/05/20/fmp-characters/ but all you need to know is he’s a 17 year old boy who’s coming to the end of his time at secondary school, in fact, the film takes place on the last day of school. Ben has been labelled a loner and a weirdo his whole life and has now convinced himself that he is a psychopath. It must also be mentioned that Ben is still struggling with the his mother’s death which happened when he was a child, 10 years prior to the events of the film.

2 – Need or desire

Ben’s desire is to rebuild a friendship with his childhood best friend, Anna. The two stopped being friends as a result of the death of Ben’s mother where Ben became very cold, after all the years, he now wishes to reconnect with her (disclaimer! In all previous drafts it is actually Anna who is trying to rebuild the friendship, I only recently decided I want to switch this because Ben felt like a passive protagonist).

However, Ben’s need is to come to terms with the death of his mother.

3 – Unfamiliar Situation/Crossing the Threshold

Ben finds Anna outside of school where they have a quick conversation which leads to Anna inviting Ben to hang out with her friends in a nearby woods. This is extremely outside of Ben’s comfort zone, but as it gets him closer to his desire, he accepts.

4 – Adaptation

Ben meets Anna’s new friends and we are introduced to Anna’s boyfriend Henry, who Ben is very envious of. Ben quickly realizes that he stands out like a sore thumb. In an attempt to fit in, he joins the group in smoking a joint, something he has never done before and something which goes against what his mother taught him.

5 – Get what they wanted

Ben does succeed in spending time with Anna.

6 – Paying the price

Ben embarrasses himself by being unable to properly smoke the joint which prompts a nervous breakdown. In this breakdown he sees visions of himself killing Henry.

4.2 – Adaption (maintaining the act)

Most of the group go home after Ben’s breakdown leaving just himself, Anna and Henry. Anna suggests they go to her grandparents holiday cottage which is nearby and empty. Ben, still processing what he saw in his vision, wants to stay away from Henry. But his desire to rekindle his friendship with Anna is stronger and he agrees to join them.

Henry is quite spaced out at this point leading him to act quite passive – aggressive towards Ben prompting another vision of Ben’s murderous visions. But Ben is forced to suppress his emotions.

5.2 – Get What They Wanted

Anna and Ben move into the kitchen away from Henry, getting Ben super close to his desire.

6.2 – Paying the price

Ben is now very emotional as a result of the nervous breakdown and visions he’s been having and what starts out as a friendly conversation breaks out into quite a nasty, emotional argument. The argument is mainly driven around Ben blaming Anna for betraying him and getting new friends.

Hearing the argument, Henry bursts into the kitchen and assaults Ben. Ben escapes and locks himself in an upstairs bathroom where he is completely overcome by his emotions, emotions he has left under wraps for years. His emotional state turns violent and the visions return just as the audience discovers Ben took a knife from the kitchen before he left.

Downstairs Anna is extremely worried about Ben despite Henry’s best efforts to calm her down. She pushes him aside and runs upstairs to the bathroom Ben is locked in.

Suddenly Ben seems to wrestle back control of himself, he examines the knife – he has made his decision. He goes to head to the kitchen but as he opens the door he runs straight into Anna.

Snapped out of his almost trance like state, Ben’s emotions return and another argument breaks out, but this time the topic has changed – they are talking about the death of his mother.

7 – Return to Comfort

All this time, Ben has believed that Anna abandoned him after his mother died but, for the first time, he is forced to listen to Anna’s side of the story. Despite its aggressive nature, they are having the conversation they should have had years ago and are finally communicating properly.

This sudden new information hits Ben and his anger is replaced by an overwhelming sense of sadness. But also relief; Anna never abandoned him, they could become friends, and maybe, just maybe, he isn’t a psychopath after all.

8 – Having Changed

Although the film ends here, it is clear Ben will be able to turn his life around and achieve his desire of getting his lost friendship back.

It is also clear that with this new perspective on the situation and the support of Anna, Ben will be able to come to terms with the death of his mother, fulfilling his need.

You may be asking yourself, ‘how on earth is all that meant to fit into a short film?’. Well here’s my most up to date draft so you can read for yourself.