Film Treatment: The Cabin
Logline: A mockumentary-style film that makes fun of horror movies set in cabins in the woods.
Market Research: Mockumentary-style films and TV shows have become more popular in America in the past decade or so, with shows popping up such as “Modern Family,” “The Office,” and “Parks and Recreation.” A few films in this style include “Best In Show,” and the new comedy, “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” There are many documentary-style horror movies, such as “The Blair With Project,” and many handheld found footage-style horror movies, but an actual mockumentary of the horror genre is hard to come by.
The mockumentary style is known for making fun of the subject at hand. “The Office” makes fun of your average salesperson in every day life. “Parks and Recreation” makes fun of the government from a small town perspective. “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” makes fun of the ridiculous nature of some celebrities. Why not make fun of horror movie cliches (especially those set in old log cabins in the woods) through a mockumentary-style short film? Unlike Joss Whedon’s “Cabin in the Woods,” a successful, satirical horror movie that goes against and makes fun of horror cliches at the same time, this mockumentary will be more personal because an unseen camera crew will “interview” the actors, and the actors will be able to break the fourth wall (looking into the camera directly).
This film will be relative to our cinema studies class, because we will have a main female lead, who is an obvious feminist and who goes against typical body norms of women in movies (I don’t want this girl to be a stick, model-like figure). From all of the mockumentaries I have seen personally, the intelligent women are often ignored, or looked down upon. This will not be the case in this short film. The actors will be comedic, but they will actually listen to the female lead after a short while, which will be the one factor that fights against the horror and mockumentary cliche.
Descriptions of Major Characters and Scenes:
This movie will stick to the usual 4–5 character group of college kids, headed to a vacation in a dungy cabin in the middle of nowhere.
Alice. Early twenties. Preferably latina. A petite, curvy woman with curly hair. She is fluent in sarcasm. Biology major. She spends the movie leading the way to survival and defeating demons.
Josh. Early twenties. White. Your typical jock guy. In love with Alice. He spends his short time in the movie crushed that he’s been put in the friend-zone. He also is the one who “accidentally” summons the demons in the cabin. Runs away a lot.
Amber. White. Early twenties. Blond. Alice’s best friend, even though she’s dumb as a rock. Spends most of the movies looking into the camera and screaming.
Danny. White. Early twenties. Amber’s beau. He’s not completely stupid, but not all there, either.
Jonny. African American. Early twenties. Smartest guy out of the group. Nearly avoids death throughout the whole movie, which makes fun of and goes against “the black guy dies first” stereotype.
Our film will start out directly AT the cabin, because we don’t have an hour and a half to shoot this film. The group goes into the cabin, and of course, it’s dirty and creepy and there are bones of dead animals on the walls. Maybe there will be some old books on satanic rituals in one room, or some old alter covered in old blood, potion bottles, etc. Think of everything you’ve ever seen in a cabin in the woods movie, and it’ll probably be there.
Amber will look into the camera with a horrific, yet comical look on her face as soon as they enter the living room. When interviewed by the cameraman, she’ll probably say something along the lines of, “I’m sleeping in the car tonight.”
Josh almost automatically summons not one, but two demons with horrendous names that will be almost unpronounceable. I’m not sure HOW I want him to summon them yet, that is open for discussion.
As soon as Alice figures out what Josh did, she automatically starts to put together a plan. Unfortunately, as she’s brainstorming, Danny becomes possessed, which is ironic because he is the one trying to convince Alice that nothing is wrong. This is when the group realizes they should probably listen to her. Amber goes into hysterics. Josh runs away from the cabin. Jonny kills Danny. Of course, in between this time, the camera will cut away to funny interviews.
This film can’t be too long, so one by one Josh and Amber die. It’s a cliche to have the two love interests still be the last one’s standing, and in doing this, Alice and Jonny will defeat the demons in the simplest of ways — figuring out how to pronounce their unpronounceable names.
Discussion of Themes: Alice goes against gender and body norms, and in turn will embody feminism. Our film will explore not only a heroine that isn’t a thin white girl, but it will also explore how she does not need or pursue love during the movie. People cast primarily white actors and actresses, so in this movie, they die first. Black men in horror movies usually die first or second, and in refusing to do that in a movie that makes fun of horror cliches, this movie will go against the typical race of actors in horror. An interview with Jonny at the end will have him remark something about this. The ending will also have a hilarious segment of Jonny and Alice laughing about how the rest of the cast were cowards. Oh, and they don’t have a romantic relationship in the end, at all.
