FOTAMECUS Written and directed by Matt Lee Indifference Productions 72 Hanover Street Brighton BN2 2SS 01273 243296 ------------------------------- An outline synopsis of each scene is given followed by more detailed directions where appropriate. SCENE 1: PLOTLINE - Beginning in the cinema we see an audience watching a film, during which the titles and a notice about the intention of the film, the fact that it is a magical working, is displayed. The audience consists of the characters we are about to see in the film and the notice of consent is seen through their eyes, from the POV (point of view) of the film's participants but seen for the audience as though they have switched into the heads of those in the film. Fade IN INT. WS: cinema audience, watching a film, light flickering across their faces. We hear the beginnings of a mantra or chant that is barely distinguishable other than in its repetitiveness. This mantra continues THROUGHOUT the film, varying in level only. The camera is still for 5 seconds before beginning to 'float' towards the audience - as it reaches the front row a face begins to fill the screen. Still moving towards the face we CUT TO INT. WS: the cinema screen. The screen fills the image. ONSCREEN: What you are watching is an experiment (new card) ONSCREEN: An exercise in magic... CUT TO INT. POV as someone bursts through the door into the cinema. They see the audience and the message on screen as it begins to Fade OUT CUT TO INT. WS: the cinema screen but this time as though part of the audience - we see the backs of peoples heads and the screen, still dominating the screen but now smaller and in context ONSCREEN: Your watching is participation ONSCREEN: Your eyes are the means of transmission ONSCREEN: Your retinas are the medium of enchantment ONSCREEN: Your minds are the power of invocation ONSCREEN: We are about to invoke CUT TO Full screen Title card: FOTAMECUS The mantra stops for the only time in the film. Someone cries "STOP" over the top of the title card. As the title card Fades OUT CUT TO INT. MS: figure standing behind the audience, watching the screen. They are panting, hot and sweaty having run up the stairs. CUT TO INT. WS: The screen, full size again ONSCREEN: If you do not want to participate then leave NOW CUT TO INT. MS: figure standing at the back of the cinema turns and runs out the door, the mantra begins again louder than before, clearly discernible now. CUT TO INT. MS: from low down near the ground the figure bursts through another door and runs along a hallway to the stairs CUT TO INT. POV: going down the stairs CUT TO INT. CU: from low down, the feet reaching the bottom of the stairs and exiting the door CUT TO EXT. MS: the figure rushing from the cinema entrance out onto the street. Fade OUT. SCENE 2: PLOTLINE - Cutting to a busy cluttered fast moving series of shots on a railway platform, early in the morning we see, low down, a bustle of feet rushing around the screen. No faces, the camera low to the floor, the noise cacophonous, deep within the confused sound we can pick up on the mantra 'fotamecus' and as we do our eye is caught by a flicker on the screen, an indistinguishable black fleck. We move, staying at ground level, away from the station, to a bedroom with the feet rapidly running through the routine 9-5 day of breakfast, work, lunch, work, tea, TV, sleep, with the focus on the movement from one place to another, feet going through routines, the pace getter quicker, the cuts coming faster, gradually building but without ever really taking off, not so much speed as repetition. Throughout we have the fotamecus mantra, almost inaudible at times, at other times the central voice. The images are of clocks, ticking hands, counting numbers and the movement of the mechanism of society, imageries of mechanism and clockwork behavior. A young child sits winding a large wooden clock and the scene stops moving, only the noises linger, gradually fading until the clock is put on the mantelpiece, its ticking beginning to form a rhythm that in turn is gradually mimicked and then replaced by the fotamecus mantra. As we begin to settle after the frantic day at work, watching the clock on the mantelpiece tick away, these occasional flecks of black begin to form again. We hear a record playing, classical music (Borodin). The record sticks and we cut to a shot of the stylus arm halting in its movement, the record filmed from above, mimicking a clock face. We zoom into the stylus arm, seeing briefly the halting that the scratch has caused in its movement before the camera pulls away fast and swings round, moving low, as though it were the point of view of a cat, sweeping across the living room, down the hallway, through the door to the bathroom before halting on a figure slumped in a bath. We see swirls in the bath, shadows running across the bottom of the bath through the clear water caused by vortices in the surface of the water. The camera halts above the plughole and we watch as the water drains away, the camera finally pulling back to see the figure in the bath, motionless as the water drains away. (continue from previous Fade OUT) CUT TO INT. WS. Brighton railway station. The camera is low down and at a right angle to the row of entrances to the platforms. We see the feet of the commuters rushing through the gate and out of shot. It is early morning. The camera is still for some 15 - 20 secs. CUT TO INT. WS. Facing the gate this time, still low down to the ground, the people walking towards and past the camera. The camera is still again for another 20 secs before we CUT TO INT. WS. Same as the opening shot of the station, except this time a series of black flecks begins to appear in between the feet, as though an energy were left on the ground, almost dripping from the very being of the commuters. CUT TO INT. CU. The stations 'digital' clock, ticking away. It is 8 o'clock in the morning. CUT TO EXT. WS. Outside the station, still low down, again watching the feet walking through the shot. The camera is still for 5 secs before picking up and following one set of feet CUT TO EXT. CU. Feet waiting at a crossing, the same set of feet that the camera followed in the previous shot. CUT TO INT. CU. The same set of feet we have just been following, but this time in the bedroom of their owner, the shoes being put on, shoelaces done up, the person standing up and walking out of their bedroom and through the door. As they go through the door we CUT TO EXT. CU. The same feet waiting at the crossing. They are still for a moment before walking out of shot across the road. CUT TO EXT. POV, low down, as though it were an animal, the camera moves down Queens Street away from the station, the sea in the distance. CUT TO INT. MS. A figure is in the shower. CUT TO. EXT. MS. The feet walking down Queens Street towards the sea. The camera is at right angles to the feet and follows the feet for a few seconds before halting and then panning round, allowing the feet to walk away from shot, the back of the figure beginning to come into view. The black flecks we first saw in the station flicker out of their heels as they walk off. CUT TO INT. CU. An alarm clock on a bedside table, a traditional round face and bells on top, ringing loudly. It is 7am. A hand reaches over from the bed and switches it off by moving a simple lever that stops the bells ringing. CUT TO EXT. CU. The feet reach a doorway, an office doorway entrance. CUT TO EXT. CU. The feet leaving a house entrance, onto the streets. CUT TO INT. WS. Inside the office, the feet coming in the door, the figure seen up to their waist or chest but no head. On the wall behind them is a clock - 9 o'clock. The figure walks out of shot. We are left for a few seconds staring at the clock behind the empty reception desk. INT. CU. A desk, as though from the POV of the person sitting at it. They look at their watch. It is a round face watch with a second hand. It is 10am. CUT TO EXT. CU. The clocktower or some other large public clock. 11 o'clock. CUT TO INT. CU. Another desk, again from the POV of someone sitting at it, staring at a set of papers. To the right is a notepad, almost offscreen, covered in doodles. Amongst the doodles we see round shapes and amidst the scrawl a figure that we will come to recognise as the sigil of Fotamecus. The camera looks up and across the office at another round faced clock - 12 o'clock. CUT TO INT. CU. The feet. Still for a moment but then standing up and walking out of shot. CUT TO INT WS. The figure who owns the feet walks through the office passageway to the front door. They open the door and exit. CUT TO EXT. CU. The office door as the person walks out of the building, straight towards the camera and past it. The shot holds still for a moment and where the feet walked we see a footprint on the ground, as though the feet had been wet except the print has a image of the Fotamecus sigil in the place where the heel would be. CUT TO MONTAGE Clockfaces - 12 clock faces each lasting about four to five seconds each telling a progressing time; 12.13, 12.57, 1.40, etc up to 4.00. Both digital and hands, seconds ticking away. Feet - sitting still, walking, sitting on a toilet, tapping, walking again. The mantra repeats increasingly loudly over the montage sequence which lasts about a minute in total, the cuts becoming faster though never rapid. The final cuts are still at least 2 seconds in length. CUT TO INT. MS. The camera is low to the ground still, the floor spreading away from the camera with a wide angle of vision. In the centre of the frame, like a still life, is an old wooden clock. CUT TO INT. CU. The inside of the old clock from the back. The motion is still. Brass and golden, the mechanism suddenly begins to move as it is wound up, we are seeing the cogs moving. CUT TO INT. MS. The same angle as in the first shot of the old clock, from the front, except this time a young child is crouched over the clock winding it up. We watch this for a while before we CUT TO INT. CU. The back of the clock again, which we watch for a moment as the winding has stopped. A child's hand comes into frame and pushes the pendulum, the clock movement now rhythmically to and fro in front of our eyes. The sound of the ticking begins to increase and drown out the sound of the Fotamecus mantra. The two sounds begin to mesh as we CUT TO INT. MS. From the front of the clock again. The camera almost immediately begins to move towards the clockface, the hands and numbers slowly filling the screen. The child is sitting next to the clock and is soon out of frame as the camera moves towards the clockface. As we watch the clock face the black flecks begin to form again. CUT TO INT. MS. From the side we see the child sitting at the side of the clock. The close the glass door on the front of the clock. The child sits still and we DISSOLVE INT. MS. The clock is being put onto the mantelpiece by an adult. There is a glow of fire from below, the first definite orange-reddish colour in the film, a dark edge to the scene, it is late at night, the clock says that it' past 11 o'clock, moving towards midnight. The mantra and the ticking cross fade again, the mantra coming to the fore this time and as it does the black flecks form again on the clock face. After about fifteen seconds we CUT TO INT. CU. The water pouring forth from the tap as the bath runs. The classical record is playing in the background cutting in quite suddenly from the previous shot and for the first few moments completely obliterating the mantra which even though it is still there is almost 'forgotten' for a moment. The record begins to stick, the mantra gradually fades up again as we CUT TO INT. CU. The record player as the arm sticks. The record filmed from above, mimicking a clock face. We zoom into the stylus arm, seeing briefly the halting that the scratch has caused in its movement. CUT TO INT. POV/MS. The record player. The image is still, the shot from a cats perspective, before the camera pulls away fast and swings round, sweeping across the living room, down the hallway, through the door to the bathroom before halting on a figure slumped in a bath. (what perspective to get the most sense of someone 'watching'?} We see swirls in the bath, shadows running across the bottom of the bath through the clear water caused by vortices in the surface of the water. The camera halts above the plughole and we watch as the water drains away, the camera finally pulling back to see the figure in the bath, motionless as the water drains away. FADE OUT SCENE 3: PLOTLINE - The scene will begin with the magicians seen from the inside of a clock before, with a switch of perspective, we see in the center of a round table, a large clock face beside and on top of which the magicians are baking. They are sitting round the kitchen table in a mundane environment that is laced with subtle and discordant imagery and objects. On the wall are signs of the elements and quarters, a shadow plays across the back wall, an odd, contrived shape that we will come to recognize as the sigil of the servitor. The activity is everyday, making biscuits, though the pots and jars on the table are oversized, and archaic looking, with unfamiliar words on them. The scene is incongruous but essentially mundane. This scene is based around the Time Consumption Rite (see additional materials on website). During the course of making the biscuits we hear, in a casual conversation, about the statement of intent, the purpose of the activity. In the background there is other activity going on, a coming and going and busy scene even though it is never rushed. The black shape darts across the walls every now and then, the sound of children and household appliances nestles against the conversation and the fotamecus mantra continues its gentle rhythm underneath all the sounds, occasionally coming into greater focus before drifting back into the background perceptions of the audience. The camera moves round in a circular direction throughout this scene, sometimes behind the participants, looking over shoulders at faces and forms, at other times turning in a continuous pan looking at the participants from within the center of the circle. (continue from previous fade out, Scene 2) CUT TO INT. WS. From 'inside' the clock on the wall we see the kitchen, the hustle and bustle of a group of people around a table. The shot is 'circular' and as though through a CCTV or spy camera. CUT TO INT. MS. The clock itself, ticking away. CUT TO INT. MS. From above we see the table we saw earlier. On it there is a large clock, covered in various cooking implements - mixing bowls, jars of raisins, measuring scales and flour. We see hands forming dough into shapes, reaching into the mixing bowl to gather some more dough and rolling them into bowls, squashing them flat. CUT TO INT. MS. From the centre of the table we look directly at the chest and hands of one of the participants. They are backlit from the door with a glow and are moulding the dough in their hands. CUT TO INT. WS. Hand held: From waist height we see the group in outline this time. The sound of their conversation, low and gentle till now, is beginning to rise as another person walks into scene, fills the kettle to make a cup of tea. In the right of frame light streams into the kitchen in a large golden beam, reflected from rising incense that drifts across the scene. The camera drifts towrads the right and shows us a little more of the group. We begin to hear the conversation directly now: (to be added) - improvisation of the conversation...only on a few occasions do we see the person speaking. Shots of conversation will all be hand held, slightly wobbly shots. They will intercut with a series of other static shots which will include: a)a large ceramic jug b)an athame and wand on the table c)a staff, sword and bhoran in the corner d)a series of shots as before from the centre of the table, focusing in turn on each different set of hands. These will be MS - WS and each time they come in black flecks will begin to form on the kitchen walls. The kitchen walls will contain images of the Etz Ha-Chayim (Tree of life), the Morrigan, the sigil of Fotamecus we develop, the chaos sigil as well as various other imagery. The last shot of the scene will go from the end of the conversation and will begin as though it were another shot of the hands from waist height before the camera begins to spin around 360 degrees: it will spin round a number of times before we CUT TO SCENE 4: I do not want to set this scene out in any rigid order and thus the plotline description will be the main working script outline unless decided otherwise. PLOTLINE - The next scene begins from the POV of someone walking up a large white winding path, which a sharp bank of green to either side of them, as though they were walking up a cutting. The person walking will look up the bank to the hillside and woods at the top and we will cut to see the magicians walking, in procession, up a steep hill. The first few members of the procession are cloaked and wearing headdresses of some sort whilst carrying staffs, the first 'traditional' imagery. Behind these robed figures are a series of others carrying TV's, boxes and folded banners up the hill. We will watch as the magicians enter the wood in procession. Gathering quietly, the sounds of the woods in the air, the hum of the mantra still low in the background, the space would be briefly consecrated in some form before the magicians relaxed, talking freely as the create the space. Holes are dug and TV's buried within them, a fire lit, a feast laid out and the trees garlanded and the quarters marked out. Finally, as the sun drops, darkness creeps in and the moon lifts her brow, the circle prepared. The chattering dies out, drums or music begins and the circle is opened. After the circle is opened and the fire is stoked a brief rite based around the Fotamecus Empowerment Rite (see additional texts) is carried out, with two central figures for the Rite. These are the robed figures who now reveal from under their robes headdresses and garb based around the animal totems of the Boar and the She-Wolf. The Boar holds a club like instrument and the She-Wolf a long wand. In the background the blacks flecks are intermittent and we also see black shapes moving in the woods. Gradually, these flecks will build into a swirling vortex, still almost indiscernible, like a flux on the film, building into a vortex above the magicians as they reach the end of the rite. In the quarters are TV's, dug into the ground and covered with earth like small mounds, blaring out images of the elements, with the sigil, masking part of the screen, lit from behind and casting a shadow across those in the circle as they move. At one point we see the magicians in their circle from afar, their fire in its center, the woods at either side. The moon is rising and we can see it through a clearing in the woods. As we look up the hill at the moon, the magicians are framed by the arching dome of the hilltop in the background, the moon in its center, the fire below, and the black flux forming above them. At the culmination of the ritual the large clock from the kitchen table, now placed at the center of the circle next to the fire, is smashed, first with the Boar's club and then the She-Wolf twists the wand to reveal a vicious claw handle with which the hands of the clock are ripped from its face. Finally, having smashed and the exploded the clock face, the talisman of Chronos is painted over with the sigil of Fotamecus before being burnt on the fire. We will wind the film down with the feasting and banish with laughter, the magicians eating the biscuits baked earlier, each of which has a sigil of fotamecus on its face. The film will end slowly as we move away from the feast to watch the clock burn, the sigil of fotamecus burning on its face, replaced gradually with a flaming sigil on the screen and then with a moving animated black figure of the sigil on an increasingly white background, the fotamecus mantra now an unbearably loud noise drowning out everything from the film. This last image will last just that little bit too long to be pleasant, before finally cutting to a bright white and silence. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Fotamecus Filmrite 1 OF 10 PAGES CONFIDENTIAL written and directed by Matt Lee This script is the property and copyright of Indifference Productions and the Fotamecus Filmrite working group. 72 Hanover Street, Brighton, BN2 2SS