An Outline of the Probable Final Plot

I got it! I truly think I have come up with a plot that is perfect with its originality and ‘spooky’ factor. The film will play on both the fears of being watched and the idea of spirits. Since I wanted to do something that played on actual fears to make the scene realistic and leave audiences with the feeling of “what if this happens to me?”, I decided to use the fear of being watched. After finishing horror movies, many tend to check behind them and look around to make sure there is no one watching. But I did not know if this was an actual fear, so I decided to go speak to a psychology teacher at my high school, Ms. Fonseca. She told my partner and I that it not only was very common, but it is called scopophobia. Anxiety-related scopophobia affects younger people and tends to be caused by some traumatic event, although it is more likely to affect people with pre-existing social disorders. Some of the symptoms include avoiding any activities putting one in public eye, greater chances of depression, having no social life, shaking, sweating, and blushing. [1]

    The scene will open with a young girl, probably around 17 years of age, who has developed scopophobia. As she is in her home, the fear will be made obvious through small, specific details. For example, frames of pictures with people looking at the camera being turned around, the girl doing homework as part of her online schooling, the blinds in her room being closed, etc. I would possibly like to include a friend who enters the house and scares the main character accidentally, but stays talking for a while. The conversation and a comment such as “This fear is getting crazy. You need some therapy right now,” would make it very easy for audiences to understand what is happening. Throughout the two minutes, the girl will be seen stopping and turning around in panic to objects appearing to be staring at her. Every time she turns around it will end up being some sort of stuffed animal or toy to further show the irrational fear.

    Also, the girl will be seen hiding every picture and item, except for the ones with her grandmother in them. She will be seen crying or getting emotional at the pure sight of the images. At night the teen will hide some stuffed bears in her closet or a corner of the room before getting in bed.  She will then turn to her nightstand, containing a framed picture of her grandmother and her, and will say “You were the one person who could help me. I feel so alone. I miss you.” This will lead to the inference that the grandmother was her sole guardian and has passed away. While trying to sleep, she notices she has forgotten a bear on the desk which appeared to be staring at her, so she gets up to hide it with the others. As she is about to place the bear down, she moves the animals out of the way and her grandmother’s face will pop up in between the space she has created.

    I am not sure how I would like to portray this yet, but it will depict the idea that we are the ones that hold spirits back with our mourning. I would like to implement the concept of “let them go or join them” because spirits do not belong in this life, so if they are here it is because they have unfinished business to take care of before going to the afterlife. These spirits remain in purgatory until they have accomplished what was meant for them to do. My scene will play with scopophobia and will creep out viewers with the idea of their loved ones returning to haunt/ take them as a result of their own inability to let go.

[1] https://www.fearof.net/fear-of-being-watched-phobia-scopophobia/