Finally got the background story for my 1 minute film done. It is fairly simple and is helping loads in the writing of my monologue =) I have overcome the wall, the burden of naming characters.
Paul Borlucci
Paul is a business negotiator for a Drug Baron/Don known only as The Boss. He is in charge of agreeing prices with suppliers and arrange sales of imported goods with dealers. As part of this, Paul takes care of information retrieval from non-compliant customers/dealers or anyone else they need something from. With his excellent sales skills, Paul has a very convincing manner and can get anything from anyone, but not without the help of his brutal sidekick Kesic, who has no aversion to doing anything to someone physically. They always get what they want, one way or another.
Recently though, Paul has been increasing his intake of cocaine after the Untimely Death of his wife. Her battle with cancer was short and fatal and Paul is not taking it well. He’s getting sloppy; turning up late, carelessly leaving evidence and just in general, not getting the job done, not to mention the paranoia. The Boss summons Paul to talk. He is surprisingly understanding; he too has lost a close family member to cancer. Needless to say, he is still very concerned with Paul‘s performance and gives him a Challenge: Pull off the Big Deal or your career is over (in this case almost certainly meaning death). Paul assures The Boss he can succeed.
Unfortunately, the advice was not heeded. The next day, Paul is high again and Illegally Parks whilst picking up a beverage. When he returns to his vehicle, The Police are there and request to search the vehicle, where they inevitably find his personal cocaine stash (and with his recent habit’s, this is no small stash). He is taken is custody and is quizzed by a detective investigating their cartel, Clive Vincent. He is given an Ultimatum, give information to Clive on the Big Deal or face a lengthy prison sentence. He is to give this information to Clive on the 0508 Tram the next morning in full or face a certain downfall. After a lengthy decision, Paul decides it is in his best interest to give up the information and face a reduced sentence. He meets Clive on the 0508 Tram and gives him everything he would need to incriminate The Boss, Kesic and other key Mafia members. Paul leaves the meeting relieved and sleeps a lengthy sleep for the first time in a long time. He is awoken by a phone call from Kesic. Details of a new captor have emerged and he is to head to The Safe House as soon as possible to help interrogate. They meet outside and enter. Here, Paul see’s the captor is Clive. Then commences the Death Monologue.
Clive Vincent
Clive is a detective in the Drug Squad. For years he was suspected to be a corrupt agent; taking bribes and beating perpetrators, you name it. And he was. He was the best, always covering his tracks adequately enough not to be discovered. He was doing well for himself.
However, it did not last. One year ago, the Untimely Death of his mother scarred him. He started drinking to ease the pain, but this made him sloppy. He crucially left a incriminating piece of evidence at the scene of one of his crimes. The Chief summons Clive to talk. He is surprisingly understanding; he too has lost a close family member to cancer. As for the corruption, he is aware of nearly half of the department being corrupt, but unfortunately, he’s been caught red handed and The Chief can’t be seen to just let this slide. Needless to say, he is still very disappointed with Clive and gives him a Challenge: Pull of the Big Case or your career is over. Clive assures The Chief he can succeed.
Fortunately, the Mafia second in command (a man named Paul Borlucci) was brought in custody for an illegal parking ticket and they found a kilo of cocaine in his possession. However, the situation wasn’t as successful as Clive had originally hoped. The suspect was extremely intoxicated and couldn’t function in an interview. Clive then decides the best course of action is to blackmail Paul into releasing information about the Mafia’s next Big Deal. He instructs him to meet him on the 0508 Tram with all the information or face a lengthy jail term. Clive received exactly what he’d been hoping for; information on The Boss‘s Big Deal. In his excitement, he traveled the location of the deal that evening to investigate potential vantage points and co-ordinate raid plans. Unfortunately, he draws unwanted attention to himself when he Gets Out Of His Car to go get a beverage. On returning to his vehicle, The Mafia security take him hostage, after searching his vehicle, where they found information given by an unknown source about the Big Deal. He is taken to a Safe House by a tall Russian man and given an Ultimatum, give information on the Snitch or die. Clive gives the information, leading to Paul being lured into the trap. Paul enters and see’s the captor is Clive. Then commences the Death Monologue.
As these are the two possible characters for the monologue I have given them several similarities to simplify the writing process. The monologue will be pretty vague so that it can apply to either of these two characters, but it will have important information like the 0508 tram to intrigue the viewer int finding out the rest of the story. Oh, and Kesic (Steve Kesic) the third and final character he isn’t important to the storyline so I will do his background later. He will be most important in the film so habits/vices and this general aura will be the area to focus on.
Character sheets for the three characters:
