Fluorescent Hum and Fading Futures

### **FLUORESCENT HUM AND FADING FUTURES**

**A Film/TV Treatment**

**1. Logline**

A disillusioned convenience store clerk, trapped in the fluorescent hum of his dead-end job, discovers his store is a nexus for lost souls and unfinished stories, forcing him to confront a mysterious entity that "collects" the forgotten when he finds an object it left behind.

**2. Synopsis**

LARRY (20), a college dropout numbed by the monotony of his overnight shift at a 24/7 convenience store, sees his world as a blurry, dead-end trap. His bleak reality is punctuated by a series of strange, late-night customers who treat the store less like a place of commerce and more like a liminal space. First comes PAUL, a ghostly man who buys a single bottle of wood polish with a reverent intensity, leaving behind an aura of unspoken tragedy. He is followed by BETTY, a frantic former classmate, who uses the store as a temporary refuge while on a panicked phone call, speaking of a terrifying "place" that acts like a black hole and emits an unnatural smell. When Larry’s world-weary older co-worker, MRS. YERSHOVA, arrives, she dismisses the night's oddities as business as usual, revealing the store has a reputation as a magnet for "unfinished" things and people with "troubles." She cryptically mentions another regular, THE BELLMAN, a strange old man who believes the store is a former post office for undeliverable messages from the "un-found." The Bellman himself then appears, delivering a chilling prophecy about a being he calls "The Collector," who gathers the "loose ends" of the world at this very crossroads. After he leaves, Larry discovers a small, tarnished brass bell hidden behind the counter—a "reminder" left by the Collector. As he holds the cold, heavy object, he feels a shift in the store's atmosphere, realizing the chilling stories are not just stories, and he is now holding a direct link to the supernatural force that haunts the fluorescent aisles.

**3. Character Breakdown**

* **LARRY (20):** A classic slacker archetype masking a deep-seated existential dread. He is a keen observer, accustomed to being a passive witness to the lives of others. His journey will be one from detached observer to unwilling participant in the store's hidden life. He's our anchor to reality, even as that reality begins to crumble.

* **PAUL (40s-50s):** A ghostly, quiet man who moves with a deliberate, sorrowful grace. His eyes seem to absorb light, and his presence is heavy with an untold story. He represents the quiet, personal grief that gravitates toward the store.

* **BETTY (21):** A live wire of anxiety and raw fear. Her electric blue hair is a stark contrast to her terrified state. She is a frantic warning from the outside world, proof that the strangeness of the store is connected to something tangible and dangerous beyond its walls.

* **MRS. YERSHOVA (60s):** Built like a brick and just as pragmatic. She is the store's grizzled gatekeeper, having seen it all and choosing to believe none of it—or at least, pretending to. She is the keeper of the store's lore, which she dispenses with a cynical, dismissive air that makes it all the more believable.

* **THE BELLMAN (70s):** A wiry, eccentric man with a perpetually surprised expression, clad in a dusty suit. He is the cryptic guide, the one who understands the rules of this hidden world. He speaks in metaphors about "The Collector" and "lost things," acting as a harbinger of the true nature of the store.

**4. Scene Beats**

* **THE HUM OF NOTHING:** We open on LARRY, lost in thought, watching a lone fly in the sterile, fluorescent glare of the convenience store. The setting is established: mundane, stuck, slightly grimy. His inner monologue reveals his sense of a future as blurred and indistinct as the slush-stained floor. This is his prison.

* **THE UNFINISHED STORY:** The door jingles. PAUL enters. His movements are silent and deliberate. He ignores all the brightly packaged goods, his dark eyes scanning the aisles for something specific. He buys a single, old-fashioned bottle of wood polish, his interaction with Larry minimal and unsettling. He leaves an aura of mystery and a story untold.

* **THE FRANTIC WARNING:** The bell jingles again, this time violently. BETTY, a frantic young woman with electric blue hair, bursts in. She isn't a customer; she's seeking shelter. On a hushed, terrified phone call, she describes a "place" that "doesn't get hit by the light" and has a horrible smell. Her fear is palpable, infecting the store's quiet atmosphere. She leaves as abruptly as she arrived.

* **THE CYNIC'S LORE:** MRS. YERSHOVA arrives for her shift change. She immediately senses the lingering tension. She grumbles about customers leaving their "troubles" behind. When Larry mentions Betty's fear of a "place," Mrs. Yershova scoffs, but then provides the first piece of real lore: the store is a magnet for the "unfinished." She mentions the Bellman and his strange theories about the building's past as a "post office for the un-found."

* **THE HARBINGER'S PROPHECY:** As if summoned, THE BELLMAN enters. Damp from the rain, he seems heavier, more serious than usual. He speaks directly to Larry, warning him that "The Collector" is active tonight—a being who comes for "loose ends" and "stray threads." He explains that the store is a crossroads where the world sheds its unwanted things, and that the Collector "rearranges" them, leaving behind a token of his visit.

* **THE FOUND OBJECT:** The Bellman leaves. The store is silent again, but the air is charged. Mrs. Yershova points out that the Bellman often leaves "trinkets." Larry looks down and finds it: a small, tarnished brass bell, tucked away in the grime behind the counter. It's cold and unnaturally heavy. As he picks it up, he feels a tremor and imagines a faint, distant sound. The Bellman's warning echoes in his mind: *"He likes to leave a little something, too."* The abstract threat is now a real, physical object in his hand. The store's quiet hum feels different now—predatory. Larry realizes he is no longer just a witness.

**5. Visual Style**

* **Lighting:** A stark contrast between the sickly, high-frequency buzz of the overhead fluorescent lights and the deep, inky shadows they create in the corners and under the shelves. The lighting should feel sterile and artificial, making the store a hermetically sealed box. Outside shots will be muted, washed-out by the Winnipeg spring, making the store's glow seem both safe and sinister.

* **Color Palette:** Heavily desaturated, dominated by the institutional beige of the walls, the grey of the worn floor tiles, and the sickly greenish-yellow cast of the lights. The only vibrant colors come from the garish packaging of junk food and lottery tickets, which should feel alien and out of place. Betty's electric blue hair will be a shocking, jarring splash of color in this mundane world.

* **Camera Work:** Primarily static, locked-off shots to emphasize Larry’s entrapment and the oppressive stillness of the environment. When the camera does move, it will be with slow, deliberate pans or creeping zooms that build tension, focusing on unsettling details: the grit on the counter, the way Paul’s fingers grip the polish, the deep shadows between aisles, and finally, the tarnished bell.

* **Sound Design:** The soundscape is crucial. The constant, low-frequency hum of the coolers and lights is the sonic foundation—a character in itself. This hum will be punctuated by sharp, diegetic sounds: the thin *jingle* of the door bell, the soft *clink* of a bottle on the counter, the crinkle of a candy wrapper. Silence will be used as a weapon to amplify tension. The final moment with the bell should be accompanied by a subtle, low-frequency sound design, an almost infrasonic thrum that only Larry (and the audience) can feel.