Appendix 5
Story Treatment to The Last 3 Minutes by Po Chan
[Each scene was accompanied by a photo capturing the feeling of each scene. The photos are not reproduced here for copyright reasons. –Kurt Lancaster]
The Last 3 Minutes
The story of the last three minutes of William Turner’s life and his beloved CRYSTAL.
by Po Chan
William Turner
(Scene # 1)
William Turner, a weary 68-year-old office janitor who lives alone in a rusted trailer, with no family and friends. He is known to the employees as a quiet old man with few words. Never likes to interact with others. Keeps everything to himself.
One night William is working in the office alone as usual. Suddenly he feels a lightning pain in his chest. He drops to one knee, bead of sweat starts to run down his forehead. Fear in his eyes. As the pain intensifies, a crystal ball falls out from his pocket and rolls onto the floor. He desperately tries to reach the crystal, but he loses his balance and falls to the ground.…
The Crystal
(Scene # A1)
He falls to the ground next to the crystal. His shaking hand struggles to reach for it, he slowly holds it up to his eye. He looks deep into it. He always loves to see the world around him through this crystal, but this time, he sees more than he expected. His whole life starts to flash back in front of him, in reverse, through this crystal.
Camera as William’s POV looks deep inside the crystal, we see a woman’s face suddenly appear.…
Transition
We are using transition effects throughout the film, which are the reflection of his next memory that are layered over his previous memory.
From transition into …
The memory of his wife leaving him
(Scene # 2)
Transition back in time when William was 35 years old.… Everything after this point does not even register in his mind. His memory stopped after his wife, who is carrying his unborn child, walked out the door.
William’s POV through the crystal. He sees his pregnant wife’s face close to the crystal. She is crying. He pulls the crystal away and his wife walks off.…
The memory of his wife leaving him
(Scene # 2 continues)
His wife walks to the bed and picks up a suitcase on the left side of frame. We see a bottle of whiskey come into the right side of frame.
William is drinking. His wife looks at him one last time; tears continue to fall. She walks out the door. As she walks out, a dress drops on the floor. William picks it up.
Transition to …
The memory of his wife and her dress
(Scene # 3)
Transition back in time when William was 30 years old.…
William’s POV sees his wife wearing the same dress. She seductively takes off the dress and crawls under the sheet with William.…
Transition to…
The memory of the good time with his wife on the beach
(Scene # 4)
Transition back in time when William was 30 years old.…
William’s POV sees his wife lying next to him on the beach. A hyperfocus view of the sea water and sand on his wife’s beautiful skin, the water dropping down from her wet hair, her smile, her beautiful face, her lips. Setting sun flares behind her. She gets up and runs into the water.
William follows. Waves splash into the lens, cut to…
The memory of his best friend dying in his arms during the Vietnam War
A bomb blast…back in time when William was 26 years old
Dirt, grass, fire… William’s POV as he crawls to his best friend and sees him covered with blood. His best friend struggles to pull out an unsent letter to family from his uniform pocket.… His friend dies in William’s arms.
CU of the letter, we transition to…
The memory of seeing his best friend writing the letter
(Scene # 6)
Transition back to two days before his best friend died.…
William’s POV sees his best friend using the flashlight on his helmet, writing a letter back home in the dark. He turns to William; the flashlight flares the camera (William’s eyes); we still can see the silhouette of his best friend’s face, sadness in his eyes.
The flare transition to…
The memory of marrying his wife with soda can tabs
(Scene # 7)
A flare transitions back in time when William was 18 years old.…
William’s POV of him and his wife exchanging soda can tabs as wedding rings. William leans in for a kiss. Focus blurs out.
Transition to…
The memory of his Jr. Varsity baseball game
(Scene # 8)
Transition back in time when William was 13 years old.…
William’s POV as he slides into home plate. His team wins. Teammates rush to the camera and cheer.
A teammate offers him a hand to get up.…
Hands, transition to…
The memory of his father
(Scene # 9)
Transition back in time when William was 10 years old.…
William’s POV of CU of his father’s rough hands working in the field on the family farm. His father gets up; William’s POV follows. His father takes off his hat, wipes off sweat from his sun-drenched face. He looks at William with a smile. Playfully puts his hat on William’s head, covers the lens…
The memory of the first street fight he got himself into
(Scene # 10)
Transition back in time when William was 10 years old…
William’s POV as he is about to start a fight with a kid; a girl tries to separate them. The kid pushes the girl away, then pushes William (camera). He falls backward…
Cut to …
The memory of migrant farmers on the road
(Scene # 11)
Transition back to when William was 5 years old.…
William’s POV as he rides in his father’s truck. He sees a couple of migrant farmers walking on the side of the road, with everything they own on their back. The farmers sadly look at William when the truck passes by them.
Time is suspended as William makes eye contact with one of the migrant farmers.
The memory of the good time with parents
(Scene # 12)
The movement of the truck transitions to…
William’s POV as his parents spin him around on the family farm.
Camera spins into…
The memory of wonderful things in his childhood
(Scene # 13)
The weather vane spinning.
The memory of his mother measuring his height
(Scene # 14)
Transition back to…
William’s POV sees his mother measuring his height by the wall. He turns around and looks at the markings.
The memory of the wonderful things in his childhood
(Scene # 15)
Transition back to…
William’s POV of the grass dancing in the gentle wind; he touches the grass.
He looks up and sees…
The memory of watching a sunset with his parents
(Scene # 16)
William’s POV sees his parents arm in arm watching a sunset.
The memory of the wonderful things in his childhood
(Scene # 17)
The sound of the wind chime.
The wind blowing the white curtain…
Transition to …
The memory of his mother and the clean laundry under the sun
(Scene # 18)
Transition back in time when William was one year old…
William’s POV as he stares at the white sheet dancing in the wind in front of him; he looks at his mother’s face and the clean laundry under the sun. She bends down, gives him a smile.
A white sheet wipes the frame into …
The memory of the day he was born
(Scene # 19)
White fade into when William was born…
William’s POV as newborn child. This is the first time he sees his father and mother.
A midwife wraps him in a towel and hands him to his mother. His father looks at him, overjoyed. He reaches into his pocket and takes out the crystal. He slowly puts it into William’s eye (the lens). The crystal is the thread; it was a gift from his dad at birth.
Cut to …
A look inside the Crystal
(Scene # A19)
Newborn William’s POV, looks deep into the crystal.
Cut to…
Back to present time
(Scene # 20)
We cut to a close-up of William’s hand as the crystal rolls out of it.
His life ends.