IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY…

A TREATMENT FOR THE FIRST TWO MINUTES OF A FULL LENGTH

FEATURE-FILM.

HEADS OR TAILS STUDIOS Film

(Robert Abel)
(Jack Arnold)
(Dean Turner)

December 2010
The Present day
A Suburban Residential Area (exterior)
Mid-Morning.

A house is shown, it is serene, pleasant; just a happy family household. The door to
the house opens and out steps a male TEENAGER. He is dark haired, fair skinned. He
is attired in a T-shirt, jogging bottoms, and running trainers. We see him stretch his
muscles (shoulders, legs, arms). The teenager then begins to set of at a steady walking
pace down the same road as the house. He then quickens his pace into a slow jog…

Present Day
An Area Of Woodland
Mid-Morning.

The opening of a forest area is seen, animals scurry, bird’s sing. There is an eerie
atmosphere present. The teenager arrives and stops jogging. He looks at the
undergrowth cautiously, as though daring himself to enter. He has run this route
through the forest many times, but today he feels as though something has changed.
He decides he is being irrational, shakes his head to show this, and then sets off
jogging again, into the woods.

The teenager continues jogging through the forest, placing his music earphones in to
listen to music as he runs. The music from the teenager’s earphones is heard only; the
peaceful sounds of the forest are masked by the powerful sounds of rock music. The
teenager is then seen at a distance, a cluster of bushes are shown, hiding an
UNKNOWN CREATURE who is peering at the teenager, he sees him running. The
creature is breathing heavily.

The teenager slows down and looks around with a confused expression. He takes his
earphones out and scans the area after feeling like he’s being watched. He soon
concludes there is no cause for concern. He replaces his earphones and continues
jogging.

The teenager continues to follow the footpath, whilst the creature scrambles through
the undergrowth, always keeping the teenager in his sights.

The teenager stops again. The creature is extremely close to him; he is hiding directly
behind a bush less than two metres from the teenager. The teenager takes one
earphone out. A brief chilly wind sweeps past his neck, causing the hairs there to
stand up. When he turns around he again sees no sight of any follower. The teenager,
full of tension mingles with fear, sets of running again but begins to quicken his pace.
He gets faster and faster until reaching a sprint, and as he increases his pace, his rate
of breathing rises rapidly also.
The creature waits for the teenager to get a certain distance ahead, before rushing
from his hiding place and charging off into the woods. The teenager is running
towards an opening to a field. He continues out into the field, though runs no more
than 30 metres before stopping for a rest. As he gathers his breath, he catches sight of
the creature for the first time, who is watching from a crouched position by a tree. The
teenager screams and charges off into the woods

The teenager is terrified and is sprinting at his top speed. He dodges past large trees
and vines, trying to escape from the unknown being. The landscape is very dark and
clustered; his clothes are now torn and dirty, showing that he has been dashing
through thorns etc.

He then trips over a protruding root on the floor, he props himself up with his arms
and looks around for the creature, he cannot see him, though he takes no chances and
darts to the cover of a tree. He pulls out his phone, and calls the police. He hurriedly
tries to explain the situation and where he is hiding. However, midway though a
sentence, the teenager screams when his leg is clutched. He drops his phone as he is
dragged off into the woods. The phone is still turned on however, and the police are
still trying to communicate. They get no answer… the only listeners to the police are
the ancient trees and the autumn leaves.