File: Citizen 202 (Working Title)
Logline:
A curious young girl and her mechanised companion explore the dystopian city past it’s limits, but that is strictly against the rules. The enforcement sends out their best and most dangerous peacekeeper to stop her before it’s too late.
Concept:
Far in the future, the majority of the population are suppressed by an authoritarian oligarchy, forcing the working class into poverty and dilapidated living conditions, terrifying them with military power that destroyed half the city to fight their scapegoats. Unbeknownst to them, there is much freedom outside their walls, which the ruling class want hidden at any cost.
One young girl is the child of two mechanical engineers who crafted her a robotic companion to accompany and protect her, which is rather necessary given her intense curiosity about the world beyond. Using her skills at navigating the city, she comes across a way through to the outside, finding luscious greenery overgrowing around the decaying ruins of what was once her people’s home.
However, she is being watched by cameras and soon a powerful and dangerous Peacekeeper is tracking her. It finds her, intent to kill, but her companion sacrifices itself so she can escape. Now outcast from the city and grieving the loss of her companion and possibly her family, she disappears into the outside world.
Key Characters:
Protagonist: Young Girl (Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’)
Citizen 202
Lizzy is a curious, brave but reckless young girl of approx. 10 years old, marked by the enforcement as ‘Citizen 202’. She begins happily moving outside from her house with her companion, she is an orphan with her parents' picture shattered on the floor as she traverses outside.
As she explores, she comes across the border to the Outer City and crosses over in her curiosity. She continues her Journey towards the edge of the outer city as the Peacekeeper appears behind them, she slowly moves back as the hollow ground collapses to the touch. As the companion and the Peacekeeper fight, she traverses the trench on rusty old pipes still connected to the outside world.
She looks back to see her companion fall into the trench with the peacekeeper, saddened but knowing there is no way back she continues towards the unknown outside world to begin a new adventure. Character development of moving on from unfortunate circumstances and becoming independent from others such as her companion who forces this upon her to continue into the new world.
Side Character: Companion
Rust ‘Rusty’ Buket
Energetic, bouncy, very dog-like, and rather cowardly, he is quite scrappy, having been crafted from spare parts recycled from junkyard. He was created as a companion, pet and protector for Lizzy. Throughout the short, it attempts to stop Lizzy from hurting herself, and if she ever gets in trouble, he is quick to follow and help her, finally sacrificing his life to keep the Peacekeeper from hurting her.
Through the short, we see Rusty being rather cowardly, wanting to avoid anything dangerous, even if it’s fun, but by the end, he sacrifices himself to protect Lizzy. At the end of the short, he pushes her to leave the city entirely, letting her go in his trust that she will be fine without him.
Secondary Antagonist: Peacekeeper
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Loyal, aggressive, short fuse, rigid and mechanical in movement, sharper, sleeker design, Cerberus-type structure. It’s very fast, can climb vertical walls, has high stamina, sensitive sight and hearing, and is very strong.
Initially passive-aggressive but quickly becomes more aggressive as orders are ignored.
Primary Antagonist: The Enforcement
Not shown in the short
Acts:
Act 1 / Beginning - Inner City
Lizzy and Rusty explore the city coming across the border to the outer city.
Act 2 / Middle - Outer City / Ruins
Filled with curiosity they cross over, being caught on CCTV by Enforcement
Act 3 / Chase - Both pursued by Peacekeeper through ruins. Rusty sacrifices themself distracting the peacekeeper allowing for Lizzy to escape.
Act 4 / End - Outside, greenery
Lizzy falls through ground into a trench, crawls into a pipe, leading to outside the city.
Epilogue:
Throughout the story including the working title of the film it is shown to be a surveillance camera video of an incident that occurred with Citizen 202. After the defeat of the peacekeeper and the girl’s escape it gives a cliffhanger on what possibly could happen next as the enforcement are aware that she has escaped.
The girl developed her own independence as a sort of coming of age style ending with the saddened loss of her companion. The ending is widely open to the audience's imagination. An example of this is that they will increase the standards of their security to prevent such an incident happening again leaving a more somber and dark moment for everyone else within the city.
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