Cath Tomkinson - Just an Update

So we have FINALLY decided on an idea, and to be honest, it is the best one we had (thank you Luke!).

Just for some background on the other idea it could have been, here is a basic storyline for 'Nyctophobia'.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nyctophobia is based on a fear of the dark. The main character is a psychiatrist doing a study on people affected by phobias. Her main case study has an incredible fear of the dark - he sleeps with multiple lightbulbs next to his bed just incase the room light goes out during the night, he sleeps with as many lights on as he can so that he doesn't have to 'face the shadows' (see what I did there...) during the night. The psychiatrist is living in a half way house with this character to study his behaviour and monitor him from day to day.

The introduction begins at night time, when the psychiatrist is getting ready to go to sleep. It is a montage of generic nighttime activity - brushing teeth, washing face etc. As she goes to sleep she reaches over and turns off her lamp on the bedside table. The screen goes black and 'Nyctophobia' comes up on the screen, then fades out and 'n. an abnormal fear of night or darkness.' replaces it.

The main narrative begins during the day. We see the psychiatrist and patient interacting together, most importantly the psychiatrist has to be detatched from all situations, always studying the behaviour of the patient rather than fully interacting with whatever he is doing. We see them in several situations, outside (possibly in the botanical gardens), shopping etc. whilst emphasising his fear of the darkness.

As the sun begins to fade we can see the patient becoming more and more agitated. the psychiatrist wants to test him to see how long he can last outside whilst it is getting dark, however he becomes too much to control and they have to go inside to the intense brightness of the half way house. We then follow the psychiatrist into her study where she begins making notes and observations from the day. We hear a telephone call where she begins to complain how difficult the project is and how she wants to finish the case study as soon as possible so she can go back to normality. The phone call could be held with a neighbor who will be introduced later on.

The next scene shows the patient playing on a video game/watching a movie (possibly) when suddenly, the TV cuts out, and then the lights suddenly go down. The screen is blank, perhaps except for some highlights from a street light outside? We hear profanities from the patient as he starts to have a panic attack. He mentions getting outside as it is lighter out there, we hear fumbling and crashing as he forces his way outside. The psychiatrist realises where he has gone moments later and follows him.

When outside the patient is wandering in the road, lit by streetlamps. He is panicking. All of a sudden there is bright light upon him as a car approaches. He slams his hands on the bonnet and you hear the car horn. The driver gets out and goes to check he is ok - she puts her hand on his shoulder and he reacts, he swings round and unintentionally hits her. She falls to the ground as the psychiatrist is running towards them. The driver is the psychiatrist's friend who she was talking to earlier.

The screen fades out to black. We hear a voice over from the psychiatrist explaining how the patient was readmitted to hospital for tests due to the panic attack. Her friend is fine, and she has finally got the case study finished. This voiceover could be over a repeat of the introduction, however at the end, as she goes to switch the light off she hesitates, and instead leaves it on. The shot could then fade to white(?) and the credits roll.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That turned out to be more detailed that I thought it would!
Anyway, I think we have the better idea in the future message service - it has more character dynamics and is quirky.

I think it would be helpful to look at similar stories. The time traveler's wife (Review here --> http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/time_travelers_wife/review/) isn't exactly similar in most ways, but it has the romance aspect of a science-fiction piece that isn't often explored to the full.

Anyway, I'm going to shut up for now. See you all in the morning!!