Treatment

Director: Mariah Smallwood
Producer: Rebecca Firth
Director of Photography: Hugh Stephens
Sound Mixer: Matt McFarling

Circles Treatment

A documentary short exploring the reasonings behind women shaming from a large demographic, showing us that women from all ages experience gossiping, backstabbing, and broken friendships.

In other words, high school never ends...

Act 1: Teen Queens

Scene 1: Monday Lunch (1 minute Narrative Skit)

Black Screen. The school bell shrieks on a fall Monday as doors slam open while obnoxious chatter and loud footsteps fill the room. The screen flashes to the bird’s eye view of the circular lunch table with 2 girls who are dressed in pastel sweaters matched with jeans while rocking a high ponytail. The two girls, Nicki and Katie, begin gossiping about their friend June. Katie begins whispering to Nicki saying that she heard June was making out with Daniel at Heather Bateman’s party last Friday night. As the girls continue bashing their friend and munching on their salads, June approaches the table holding a tray with a PB&J and a bag of chips on it. As June sits down, the girls immediately stop gabbing and then ask June if she is still on for hosting the Saturday Night Sleepover this week. The scene ends and a magazine begins to flip pages until we see 3 teenage girls sitting on a couch surrounded by teen magazines while laughing and chatting.

Scene 2: The Sit Down- Group Interview with teenage girls in the same friendship circle.

The magazine pages continue to flip until it stops on 3 teenage girls sitting on a couch surrounded by magazines. Light pop music is playing as a bowl of popcorn sits down on the coffee table. The girls begin to recall true accounts of when they have gossiped about friends or when they were gossiped about. The high school girls will tell stories of past friendship mishaps with a mix of an observational approach as we see the girls chatting in their natural environment. The girls individually will recall true accounts of when gossiping has hurt their friendships with others and what they hope to do differently in the future. Then the girls collectively discuss why they think women shame other women and the effects from it.

Act 2: The “40 Years Young”ers

Scene 1: The Mommy Bunch (1 minute Narrative Skit)

Black Screen. With a “Brady Bunch” themed set-up, there will be a 4-window frame with Easter egg colored boxes. In the top left box, a close-up of Brenda appears as she is on her pastel colored phone. Suddenly a phone rings and Traci appears in the top right box next to Brenda, answering the phone. Brenda begins to complain about another neighbor, Robin and her obnoxious child who vandalizes the neighborhood. The two women both continue to negatively bash Robin and her parenting methods until Brenda gets another phone call and answers. A close-up of Lisa appears in the bottom left box as she enters the conversation. It does not take long before the two women let Lisa in on their hateful gossip about Robin, in which Lisa jumps on board and continues with them. The dialogue begins to fade as we hear another phone ring, Traci is getting another phone call so she tells the others in the call group she’ll be right back. On the other line with Traci is Robin who appears in the bottom right box. Robin asks her if their tennis match and mimosa date is still on for the next day. Traci responds excitedly and claims the date is still on between the two. Robin closes the conversation and the two happily make kissing noises as they say bye to one another. Traci joins back into the call group with Brenda and Lisa, telling them it was just the telemarketer on the other line. They continue to the trash talk behind Robin’s back as the picture fades out with upbeat trumpet tune. The conversations between the women are upbeat and fast paced.

Scene 2: The Sit Down- Group Interview with middle aged gal pals

The scene fades in with 3 middle-aged women sitting on a screened patio with glasses of wine and appetizers on the table. The women are sipping wine and chatting with one another, symbolizing their close friendship and a group. The women will tell stories of their past experiences with women shaming and how it has or has not changed now that they are adults and mothers. The women will tell stories of how their personal friendships have changed overtime, and their role of being a friend has transformed over the years of maturity. Along with interview questions about gal pals, the women will chat amongst themselves in their natural environment and let the subjects form their own topic of conversation.

Act 3: Cookies with Grandma

Scene 1: Merle, Virginia, & Wanda’s Cooking Show (1 minute Narrative Skit)

The observational footage cuts to the Cooking with Granny Show.  Three elderly women, Merle, Virginia, and Flossie, are standing behind a kitchen counter. On the counter, there are pots, pans, dirty dishes, and a big cake in front of them. Virginia tells the viewers they will be right back after these messages as the director says cut and tells everyone to take 5. Flossie leaves and quickly after, Merle begins complaining to Virginia about how Flossie has been adding cinnamon to all of the dishes and she thinks it is distasteful. As the women clean up to set up for their next dish, makeup and set department come on the stage to get ready for the next take. While production staff is buzzing around them, Merle and Virginia bicker back and forth about their friend. Flossie comes back to the stage as Merle enthusiastically rushes her to the front and center. The Assistant Director counts down to 1 and yells ACTION! Cuts to Black like an old-fashioned TV.

Scene 2: The Sit Down- Group Interview with life loving Grandmas

The scene fades in with three elderly female friends in a kitchen decorating cookies. Colorful kitchen tools and cookie cutters are scattered on the counter top with messy icing tubes squeezed and disarranged. The women are chatting and laughing back and forth. The elderly women will tell stories of past and present friendships and how them being a friend has changed over their lifetime. The women will individually tell stories of friendships, backstabbing, gossiping, and the changes of these over time in different circles of friends. The women state their closing remarks about past, present, and possibly future friendships and how they have evolved over time. The screen cuts to a bird’s eye view of a circular sugar cookie being decorated.

Ending:

A voiceover of an elderly woman recalls the cycle of personal friendships and how relationships with gal pals have evolved over time. The voiceover looks at the big picture and illustrates how friendships overtime grow or crumble, depending on the amount of trust and reliance friends put on one another. As the voiceover continues, a montage of shots, representing women from all ages, doing everyday activities with the symbol of a circle being represented. From little girls running in a circle on the playground and a preteen putting on lipstick with her mouth wide open, to a mom turning a steering wheel and a grandmother baking a casserole in a round pan. The clips within this montage continue to speed up until the picture goes black. Credits roll.