First 3 minutes

First 3 minutes

Thriller

Starts off as a close up shot of a girl’s (Alice O’Brien’s) face. She appears to be drained, tired, with bloodshot red eyes and blotched skin as if she’s been crying. The next shot shows her location; she is in an office room in her own home, it’s painted white and doesn’t appear to be very homely, there’s a pin board with cases on it, a desk with a houseplant and a photo frame with a picture of what seems to be her family in it as well as a record player and vinyl’s arranged in a messy pile. She is dressed in a baggy, stained jumper and leggings and her hair is slightly matted.

The girl, with a quivering hand, places a record on the record player, it plays an old jazz song. The shot goes back to her face and she closes her, eyes, a tear falls down her faces and she begins to shake.

A voiceover (the voice of the girl) starts to set the scene “I had studied as a physiologist for 5 years, I earned my degree, a first- top marks. I was renowned my studies, respected in my workplace- but I’ll tell you on damn thing, nothing prepares you for this.”

The shot goes to a blackout, and immediately shows a whole new setting. The scene seems to be garage, lit only by a single blub hanging from the ceiling that constantly flickers, adding to the effect of the atmosphere. O’Brien is tied up to a chair, the light flickers off. When it turns back on, a man grabs the chair across the floor while she screams in fear. The next shot shows his face- he is wearing skull makeup covering his identity and a black and white suit with a flower in the pocket- she recognises him as H, her insane patient who escaped from the prison she was working at. 

He has a smug yet furious expression and she knows she’s in danger. He explains to her that for the past week since he escaped, he was been watching and ironically ‘studying her’- knowing her address, her family her daily routines. He is now into her head and the roles seem to have reversed. (Shots go to flash backs she has of seeing him across, him seeing her in cars, on her opening the door to an unexplainable bouquet of roses on her doorstep.) He pulls out a knife and holds it close to her face, explaining that if she doesn’t do exactly as he says, becoming a member of his devious gang, her family, herself, and every little aspect of her life will be destroyed. The scene cuts to different shots of H and his followers, starting fires and robbing shop, each have a skull branded and their wrists.

The scene goes to a black out again, it shows the first the original scene of O’Brien in her own home “nothing is the same” she says. She removes the record from the player, her sleeve falls back to reveal her the signature mark of the skull on her wrist. “Nothing is the same” the voiceover repeats, her voice breaking slightly.

Goes to black and cuts to title sequence.