Jude White
A2 Media
9315
Working Synopsis 1
Adam is a recently-divorced single man living alone. One day, a mysterious suitcase appears on his doorstep, and he takes it inside and opens it to discover a Jack-in-the-Box, battered up and damaged. Adam winds the Jack-in-the-Box, unwittingly releasing a demon which was possessing the box.
After going to bed that evening, Adam hears the Jack-in-the-Box playing downstairs. When he goes down to investigate, he finds that the box is sitting open, and nobody is anywhere to be seen. However, Adam hears a strange laugh and footsteps, and waits up all night in terror. The next morning, Adam phones the police to report a stalker. However, when the police investigate they find no evidence that anyone else was in the house, or that any suspicious activity took place.
Upon hearing strange noises the next night, as well as other haunting elements such as the Jack-in-the-Box moving on its own, Adam calls a group of paranormal investigators. The investigators arrive and immediately agree that there is a demonic presence in the house. They elect to stake out the house overnight to try and find out what the thing is and how to banish it, but the thing begins to manifest itself as a clown, and terrorises the four characters. At first they begin to hear auditory cues that include demonic laughter, as well as strange signals over their mic equipment. Soon, he begins to physically manifest himself, appearing to various characters shortly before their mysterious disappearance. Over the course of the night the investigators are all killed mysteriously, the bodies being found with multiple stab wounds; strange for a clown who appears unarmed. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Adam, possessed by the demon, murdered all of the investigators, before being killed himself by the demon.
Working Synopsis 1
Adam is a recently-divorced single man living alone. One day, a mysterious suitcase appears on his doorstep, and he takes it inside and opens it to discover a Jack-in-the-Box, battered up and damaged. Adam winds the Jack-in-the-Box, unwittingly releasing a demon which was possessing the box.
After going to bed that evening, Adam hears the Jack-in-the-Box playing downstairs. When he goes down to investigate, he finds that the box is sitting open, and nobody is anywhere to be seen. However, Adam hears a strange laugh and footsteps, and waits up all night in terror. The next morning, Adam phones the police to report a stalker. However, when the police investigate they find no evidence that anyone else was in the house, or that any suspicious activity took place.
Upon hearing strange noises the next night, as well as other haunting elements such as the Jack-in-the-Box moving on its own, Adam calls a group of paranormal investigators. The investigators arrive and immediately agree that there is a demonic presence in the house. They elect to stake out the house overnight to try and find out what the thing is and how to banish it, but the thing begins to manifest itself as a clown, and terrorises the four characters. At first they begin to hear auditory cues that include demonic laughter, as well as strange signals over their mic equipment. Soon, he begins to physically manifest himself, appearing to various characters shortly before their mysterious disappearance. Over the course of the night the investigators are all killed mysteriously, the bodies being found with multiple stab wounds; strange for a clown who appears unarmed. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Adam, possessed by the demon, murdered all of the investigators, before being killed himself by the demon.
FEEDBACK
Whilst our teacher loved the idea of the haunted box, she was not keen on the idea of investigators, arguing that if the audience did not feel emotionally invested in the characters then their deaths would have no real meaning. As such, we decided we needed someone close to Adam to kill off and subject to terrifying things, as by caring for Adam, the audience would logically also care about those Adam cares about.
Working Synopsis 2
Adam is a recently-divorced single man living alone. He is also a collector of antique items. One day, he purchases an old Jack-in-the-Box from an antiques dealer, without realising that the box is possessed by a demonic entity. When he winds the box, this entity is released.
After going to bed that evening, Adam hears the Jack-in-the-Box playing downstairs. When he goes down to investigate, he finds that the box is sitting open, and nobody is anywhere to be seen. However, Adam hears a strange laugh and footsteps, and waits up all night in terror. The next morning, Adam phones the police to report a stalker. However, when the police investigate they find no evidence that anyone else was in the house, or that any suspicious activity took place.
After hearing strange noises the next night, as well as other haunting elements such as the Jack-in-the-Box moving on its own, Adam's friend Mark becomes concerned for Adam and decides to come over. When Mark arrives, Adam sees Happy Jack looming threateningly over Mark in the living room mirror. Adam forces Mark to leave, fearing for his safety, but over the course of the next few days Adam receives several photographs of Mark at home, each letter also containing threats to Mark's safety. Adam, panicking, asks Mark to come over, and explains to him that the Jack-in-the-box is haunted. Mark initially does not believe Adam, but throughout the night Happy Jack becomes very aggressive, sending objects flying towards the two men, causing power outages, and ultimately striking fear into the two characters. The night of terror culminates with Happy Jack's brutal murder of Mark, following which Adam is arrested for the crime. From his jail cell, Adam sees Happy Jack taunting him. The film ends on a cliffhanger, with someone else purchasing the haunted box at a public auction.
FEEDBACK
Our teacher much preferred the idea of friends being at risk, but also stated that multiple friends being at risk, plus the use of more subtle scares, may make the trailer more effective.
Working Synopsis 3
Adam is a recently-divorced single man living alone. He is also a collector of antique items. One day, he purchases an old Jack-in-the-Box from an antiques dealer, without realising that the box is possessed by a demonic entity. When he winds the box, this entity is released.
After going to bed that evening, Adam hears the Jack-in-the-Box playing downstairs. When he goes down to investigate, he finds that the box is sitting open, and nobody is anywhere to be seen. However, Adam hears a strange laugh and footsteps, and waits up all night in terror. The next morning, Adam phones the police to report a stalker. However, when the police investigate they find no evidence that anyone else was in the house, or that any suspicious activity took place.
After hearing strange noises the next night, as well as other haunting elements such as the Jack-in-the-Box moving on its own, Adam's friend Mark becomes concerned for Adam and decides to come over. When Mark arrives, Adam sees Happy Jack looming threateningly over Mark in the living room mirror. Adam forces Mark to leave, fearing for his safety, but over the course of the next few days Adam's television comes on at home, at random intervals, cycling through CCTV feeds. It finishes cycling on a feed of Mark at home, holding a knife to his own neck and then killing himself. Following this, a knife appears next to the JIB on the windowsill. Over the next week, Adam's TV comes on once a day, each time showing a random stranger being killed in accidental circumstances, or by non-paranormal murder/suicides. After each death, the screen displays the message 'I want you', and something different appears next to the JIB, each time associated with the cause of death. Adam feels responsible for the deaths, knowing that Happy Jack really wants Adam to surrender himself. One day, the screen comes on to show a man standing in the road outside Adam's house. Adam tries to run out and save the man, but the man is hit by an oncoming car. Adam turns back and looks through the house window, to catch a glimpse of Happy Jack turning and walking away.
FEEDBACK
Our teacher said that whilst the move towards CCTV-style footage was a step in the right direction, the ending felt far too forced, incomplete and blatant to be effective. She also noted that the trailer needed a little more substance. She disliked the idea of involving the police as she said it would make the trailer less scary.
Working Synopsis 4
Beginning:
Adam, a recently divorced antiques collector, enters an antique shop and purchases a vintage suitcase and an old, battered Jack-in-the-Box. Intrigued by the item immediately, especially given that the box is taped shut, he takes it home.
Upon arriving home, Adam makes a cup of tea and sits down at the dining table with the box in front of him, and a desk lamp illuminating the object. He is clearly examining it, looking for manufacturers' seals etc. as any antique collector would. He finds nothing. Curious, he removes the tape using a knife.
After removing the tape, Adam decides to try winding the box. The tune plays and the jester pops out, startling Adam; one eye is missing, and the thing is dirtied and battered. Inside the lid of the box, the message 'let's play' is written. Adam checks the time and sees that it is getting late, so he goes to bed, mildly disturbed by the bizarre item.
Whilst lying in bed, Adam is quite restless. He is awoken by the umistakable sound of the box playing its tune downstairs. He slowly gets up to investigate, terrified. He grabs a wooden bat from beside his bed on the way down, expecting to find a burglar. When he gets downstairs, however, nobody is present. He does
a quick sweep of the house before turning to go back to bed. As he turns around, the tune finishes playing and the Jack pops out. Adam picks the box up and locks it in the suitcase he bought, before putting this in a cupboard and going to sleep.
When Adam gets up the next morning, he awakes to the sound of a vinyl record playing downstairs. He goes down to investigate, and takes the needle off the record. He turns to find the box under the lamp where he originally left it the night before. He checks the cupboard. The suitcase is still inside the cupboard, locked.
The doorbell rings and Adam starts slightly. He goes to the door to find his friend Mark outside. Mark seems concerned, so Adam invites him in and they sit down in the living room. Mark begins to ask Adam if he is alright following the divorce, and Adam dismissively states that he is fine. During the conversation,
Adam spots a clown hat in the mirror, standing behind Mark. (Maybe overlay other footage over this section too?) Adam quickly makes up an excuse and forces Mark to leave. He takes the box out to the garden and burns it.
Adam comes back inside, satisfied, and sits down with a cup of tea in front of the television. The television channel bizarrely flickers and changes, showing footage of a man killing himself with a knife. Adam is startled and terrified at once. He turns off the TV quickly, and goes to the telephone in the dining room. However, reaching the dining room Adam finds a perfectly intact Jack-in-the-Box, and next to it a bloody knife.
Adam panics and disposes of the knife and the box in a bin bag.
Adam goes to work. When he returns home, he finds the TV already playing. A woman is sitting on a sofa, overdosing on pills. On top of the TV is the JIB. He opens it up to find a pill bottle inside the box. Adam throws the JIB in the boot of his car and drives it out to a remote location, abandoning it there.
Adam believes he has been successful, but about a day later the TV comes on again to show a man being shot dead. The JIB and a handgun appear on Adam's table. As the TV goes dark, Adam catches a slight glimpse of the clown's reflection.
Terrified but unsure who to turn to, Adam phones Mark, and tells him everything, but Mark simply calls Adam hysterical and blames the divorce. Adam is angry and terrified, with no options left, and hangs up. As soon as the call is over, the TV comes on, and Adam sees Mark going to kill himself. Adam rushes out of
the house and gets in his car, driving to Mark's in a bid to save him. When he arrives, the door is open. Adam enters the house, to be met by a wall of Mark clones, who all stare at him. Their faces momentarily spasm into unnatural smiles. The apparitions disappear, and Adam rushes to the kitchen to find Mark. He is too late.
Adam rushes back to his car. As he drives away, he sees Happy Jack's hat in the rear-view mirror. Adam drives home to find a box of his old family slide photos sitting in the middle of the living room floor. As he looks through them, he makes out the box or Happy Jack hiding somewhere in each.
Adam goes to bed, but in the night begins sleepwalking. During this sleepwalk, he tries to kill himself before being snapped awake and realising what he is about to do. He decides he cannot allow himself to go to sleep until he has disposed of the box once and for all.
Adam attempts to render the box inoperable in several different ways, but ultimately fails. He throws the box in the trash, then locks every door in the house and draws every curtain. Thinking he might be safe, he turns around and finds himself face to face with Happy Jack (END OF TRAILER)
He spends the night being mercilessly haunted, almost as if Happy Jack is playing with him rather than actually trying to kill him; objects move and are thrown around violently, but as the sun rises this suddenly all stops. Adam somehow managed to survive the night, and when the TV comes on the next day a message is displayed on the screen; YOU WIN. However, at the end of the film we see someone else's TV displaying Adam's own death, and pan across to the JIB on their shelf.