Liberal Arts Film Treatment

All the students in the class were required to write a treatment for our Liberal Arts film. This is an example that Phil, my professor, gave us for an idea.

My treatment to the film and will be what I turn in for the class:

The film opens on a college classroom set in the Holland building. The professor is assigning pairs for an essay assignment on philosophy. The two main characters, Elizabeth and Arthur, are paired together. Both of them are less than pleased.

Art is somewhat of a stuck up music enthusiast. He is a hard rocker and spends most of his time with his band. The only reason he is taking this class is because it’s required. Elizabeth, Libby, on the other hand is an art major. She spends her time reading and painting. She took this class expecting it to be interesting. But to her demise, the class is rather a bore.

Both Art and Libby are unhappy with being required to write an essay together. They have nothing in common, except that they both hate the class.

Libby, being the responsible girl that she is, wants to begin the essay as soon as possible. Art thinks that it’s pointless to even write the paper at all. By the end of class the professor warns the class to have the assignment submitted electronically by 9:00 AM the next morning or they will risk failing the class.

The two protagonists hesitantly begin their studies after class. They start at the computers on the 2^nd level but realize don’t have material to work with. Libby sends Art to go find some books. Art returns much later with not much helpful information.

After extracting what little they could for the paper they save the document and go on a journey to find more books. After finding some good reads, it dawns on Art that there are videos available for checking out.

Libby thinks this is a terrible idea. After much arguing Art finally convinces her that any and all mediums or information will be helpful.

The two climb the flight of stairs to the very top floor to acquire a projector to watch the DVDs they found. After watching all of them Art had fallen asleep but Libby received some insight for the videos.

After waking Art, Libby notices that the sun is going down. Art says he must leave for his band practice. Libby is furious and begs him to stay but to no avail. Art left and did not return until much later that night. They spend the next few hours putting all their mindlessly tired efforts into the paper. They go to the vending machines to get some energy drinks to help them stay awake. Not long after, the two fall into a heavy slumber.

Art wakes up at 8 AM in a panic. After waking Libby they begin to understand the paper much more than they did the night prior. Finally coming to a grand conclusion with a quote from Socrates, the two click submit on the assignment at 8:59 AM.