Bangamahbamup – The Feature Film Treatment

bangahmabamup cover HZWith the essentials of the short film in the can, Adam and I were able to relax and get ready for the shooting of my short film, The Souvenir.  But before we started in on that, we were out for another morning walk and I posed the question, “With Bangamahbamup, what would happen next?”

We had a laugh and started riffing on what would be the next seven minutes of film.  And that lead us to the next seven minutes.  By the end of our walk, we had laid out the entire feature film based on our short film.  When we got back to Adam’s place, i grabbed my iPad and wrote down everything I could remember we talked about.  Then we had breakfast and started shooting my short film.  As I was heading into the airport, Adam said to me, “I’m expecting a finished treatment by the time you land, mate.”

My flight was delayed leaving so, hungover and with coffee in hand, I started working on the treatment for a feature based on the short film.  Turning that pile of notes into a logical progression of scenes, with all the plot twists and situations we’d come up with.  Once on the flight I continued working on the story, fleshing it out, both before I crashed for some sleep and after I woke up.  It was the best and most efficient writing I’ve ever done.

By the time I landed in Vancouver and was waiting for my flight to Victoria, I was able to upload to Adam my first draft of the treatment for the feature film for Bangamahbamup.

How the treatment became a screenplay is next.