A
Minute of Your Time
Treatment,
[12/15/2023]
Mujahid
Muhammad
Logline: A
seasoned filmmaker seeks to waste your time with a series of tasks he wishes to
complete, all within a minute of his own.
Synopsis: Doug
Reaves is a film student hired to film a show titled: “A Minute of
Your Time,” where the object is to demonstrate how much progress can be made
within a single minute. The show’s host, Dr. Lou, achieves this by setting a
timer with a set number of seconds for every task he seeks to complete. All
appears to be going well as they meet every Friday in a theater room to film a
total of five episodes of a short series. However, he soon becomes confused
when he loses his sense of time while filming. Doug begins to question how much
time passes every time Dr. Lou sets his own clock while filming. What he
finds after confronting him about it is a man who can control time through
hypnosis. The lesson behind this story is a simple one. Time waits for no one,
so don’t allow distractions or even people to waste yours.
Act One:
The story opens with Dr. Lou introducing his show and
the purpose behind it. The show is titled: “A Minute of Your Time” and showcases
how many small tasks can be done within one. He wishes to make the series only
5 episodes, each exactly a minute in length. Dr. Lou begins every episode by
setting a timer for a set number of seconds that range from 10 – 20 seconds
before he completes a task. He continues to repeat this process until he
reaches 60 seconds and concludes the show. His hired camera guy, Doug Reeves,
is new to working with him and doesn’t really get where his film is going, but
he still does his job. Lou has scheduled them to meet every Friday in the
afternoon to film the project, and Doug follows the agreement with no issues
because he’s getting paid, and it doesn’t conflict with his schedule. Doug also
spends the weekend editing the video before posting it every Monday on Dr.
Lou’s channel.
Act Two:
Doug and Dr. Lou reunite again on Friday as planned and begin to film again. As they film, Doug notices the time to record his show is growing longer than expected despite Dr. Lou still following his own timer. Dr. Lou’s tasks appear to occur longer despite his clock cycles remaining between 10-20 seconds. This strange occurrence leaves Doug perplexed when he realizes how late their filming sessions end without evening having any do-overs and starting in the afternoon. As a result, he decides during their third session to set a timer of his own while recording the show in its entirety. After Dr. Lou leaves, he discovers that his timer ran for several hours despite having only been a “minute” of recorded film time. Extremely alarmed by this, Doug decides to wait until the fourth session before he questions Dr. Lou about this strange phenomenon that occurs while recording.
Act Three:
Friday comes again and the duo gathers in their usual
meeting spot to prepare the footage for the fourth video. Unsure how to feel
about this, he decides to bring it to Lou’s attention that his video is taking
way longer than a minute to record. Lou becomes angered by this and asks him to
just be quiet and do his job. This response offends Doug, and he begins to
argue that his show is pointless anyway because time moves faster than the time
he sets. Lou is taken aback by this response and argues that time is special,
and he’ll prove its value the next time they meet. Doug is determined to prove
that his point is false through timing the entire session. Once Friday arrives,
Doug arrives early to prove that Lou’s theory about time is false. Lou also
arrives early, this time with a different demeanor than his normal easy-going
personality. He appears to have a trick up his sleeve and Doug is ready to
debunk it to the fullest.
Both begin to film the final episode and Doug has his
timer currently going as he films. As Dr. Lou runs the same opening dialogue
from all his previous episodes, Doug begins to feel an alarming shift in how
time moves. Dr. Lou explains this effect is due to hallucination and those who
make eye contact with his watch will also experience time in the same duration
as the clock runs. Despite the camera having documented 10 seconds, they had
already been filming for an hour with still 50 seconds left of recording to
finish. Doug starts to panic as he realizes the truth, Dr. Lou simply responds
with a laugh, stating that time stands still for him and his timer alone.
Character Archetypes:
Dr. Lou (34) is a seasoned filmmaker and Alumni of the
film school Mr. Reaves attends. He is currently filming a series where he
intentionally seeks to waste the time of his audience watching with clever
tricks to keep them engaged. He While those unfamiliar with his work may
confuse his behavior with him simply seeking to entertain his audience in a
comedic way, he truly believes there’s value in using a timer to help seize the
moments that time inevitably forces people to lose. Dr. Lou resides in Washington,
DC, and visits his old campus often to gain inspiration for new films he wishes
to create.
Doug Reaves (24) is Lou’s hired cameraman and film
editor who enjoys doing freelance projects in between his downtime as a film
student. He was born and raised in Maryland and seeks to become a filmmaker
once he graduates. He originally met his client Dr. Lou while on campus screening
another film. While he still agreed to assist as the camera man for his short
series, he doesn’t understand the purpose behind why using a timer is so
important to Dr. Lou.
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