The Treatment (Revised Again)

Title

FUN, FROLIC AND FRIENDS

Treatment June 2025

Nancy Nelson

Format:

Fun, Frolic and Friends is the theme of a promotional video for  the 2025 Eldridgeville Spring Fair. The short film will be composed of short video clips, still shots, cell phone photos and drone footage as it is reviewed by the six person fair board.

Logline:

The 140th Eldridgeville Spring Fair takes place June 7, 2025 at the Eldridgeville Soccer Fields. It is the spring event where residents and friends come together for fun and frolic while enjoying country-style festivities from the opening parade Saturday morning to the closing fireworks Saturday night. The fair board has gathered to review clips of the 2024 fair and to make a promotional video for local cable TV.  

Outline:

Using video clips, drone footage and photographs of the 2024 Spring Fair, the Fair Board reviews and tries to depict the excitement of the fair parade, the noise and action of the midway and concessions, the presence of Miss Eldridgeville Fair Queen, and the many displays and exhibits by local competitors. A reading by local children's author, Ms. H. Beady showcases local talent for children and adults alike but the real enjoyment of Eldridgeville Spring Fair is the pie-eating contest. Lively fireworks at the end of the day wrap up another successful spring fair.

Characters:

The Eldridgeville Fair Board

The board is composed of three men and three women ranging in age from 22 years to 87 years.

Barrett Alexander:

The handsome mayor elected in 2023 is popular with the women who elected him.

Barbie Armstrong:

Miss Eldridgeville Fair Queen is a voluptuous blonde beauty with unknown talents.

Ms. H. Beady:

An animated local children's author who recently published "Albert Einswine on the Run" (based on the real-life event of "Charlie", Eldridgeville's pig escapee) reads to a captive audience.

Bertha Brutmeier:

A part time bouncer at the "The Refined Rose", stands 6 foot 3 inches and weighs 240 pounds. She is a past champion of the annual pie eating competition.

Sterling Reed: A health conscious and physically fit 35-year-old eats a gluten-free, sugar-free diet and returns to defend his pie eating champion title.

Extras: Contestants and residents attending the fair

Act I

2024, The Fair in Review

The fair board gathers in the community centre to review and edit footage from the 2024  make a promotional video for the 2025 fair.

Clip 1

Eldridgeville Spring Fair kicks off with a parade that involves as many participants as spectators. Leading the parade, Mayor Alexander and the Queen of the Fair ride in a Mustang Convertible. They sit on the trunk of the convertible with feet draped over the back seat of the car waving to all who line the streets. A drone shot of the parade and colourful fairgrounds captures the mayor gently stroking the thigh of Miss Eldridgeville. The rest of the parade follows into the Soccer Fields with two small floats, three dogs led by children, and a semi-famous pig named Charlie.

Clip 2

The enthusiastic and animated local children's author, Ms. Beady sits in a rocking chair inside the soccer dome. A comfortable area for the weary fair goers invites children and adults to sit on child-sized chairs or a plush rug at Ms. Beady's feet. She reads her recently published "Albert Einswine on the Run" based on Eldridgeville's own Charlie, the escapee pig. The camera captures twenty empty chairs and a large plush rug with nothing on it but a milk crate with copies of her latest book and a cash box. Ms. Beady reads in a steady enthusiastic voice and turns pages in order for her vacant audience to see the illustrations as she reads.

Clip 3

The pie eating contest is the annual favourite event of the spring fair. Limited to five contestants and five apple pies, competitors have their hands tied behind their backs and race against each other to completely lick the pie plate clean in the fastest time. Bertha Brutmeier is "hungry" to win the title back from Sterling Reed. Bertha boasts behind the curtains prior to the start of the race that she has won the event nine times and has taken second place four times. She is dressed in a tent-sized purple and orange caftan (her lucky colours). Sterling Reed has competed in the four previous fairs and is an undefeated champion. He wants his family to be proud of him although he is concerned that pie eating doesn't fit his gluten-free, sugar-free lifestyle. Bertha regains her champion status until the judges find that she has dumped most of her pie on the floor beneath the table cloth. A replay of the video confirms Bertha cheats and has probably cheated in years prior.

Clip 4

The perfect fair day ends with lively fireworks on the outdoor soccer field. The entire community of Eldridgeville delights at the display of fireworks. Cameras capture sparkling eyes and smiles on the faces of young and old. Zooming in on one brightly lit face, the photo shows the mayor's wife with a gun pointed at Barrett and Barbie.

Epilogue

Having reviewed photos, videos and drone footage of the 2024 fair, the Fair Board decides it would be less embarrassing to staple  posters to the hydro poles around town  than televise such embarrassing footage. The fair must go on!