Something Wiccan Comes (495 Film Treatment)

Something Wiccan Comes {Working Title}-Project Description

Dir. Jessica P. Jackson

Runtime 12 Minutes

A dark room is lit by several flickering candles. Inside of a cauldron mysterious juices are boiling and an odd smell fills the air. Animal bones are scattered about the floor with cobwebs dangling from the ceiling. From the shadows, an old woman approaches to begin stirring the pot. Her big, pointed hat sits atop her head, nearly covering her whole face, but revealing her mouth just enough to show her crooked smile and rotting teeth.

Elsewhere, men and women of various ages stand in congregation and recite dialogue after a chosen leader. Candles are blown around by the breeze of the leader as they walk around the circle and invite their followers to rid themselves of negativity. No, this is not a cult nor is this how witches act. This is an average Wiccan ceremony.

The Wiccan religion has remained highly controversial over the years, often being compared to witchcraft or Satanism. While wiccans can be witches and vice versa, this is normally not the case. Wicca is a form a paganism, and despite how that sounds, more often than not the religion focuses more on having its members become in tune with nature. Like other religions, they have top figures such as a God….and also a Goddess.

In reality, Wicca has many similarities to Christianity, yet there is a stigma surrounding Wicca because of its misunderstood link to witches. Movies such as Stardust (2007), The Witch (2015), and the upcoming film The Blair Witch (2016), portray witches as nasty and evil. Wicca is far from what is seen on screen, and our film will shed light on this religion that so many are misinformed on.

The film will begin in a creepy setting with high contrast and dark lighting. Wiccans will be sitting in a circle surrounded by candles, in meditation. Close-ups will reveal that they are chanting as the camera slowly passes by each person. Nothing is heard except their chants, and as they becoming increasingly louder, the camera starts pan by them faster. It all builds up to a climax, until everything stops and there is a black screen.

At this point, our title, Something Wiccan Comes, will slowly come into view out of the black background. Clips from various movies showing witches performing cruel tasks will start playing as a narrator describes the role of the witch in these films. This brief montage will come to an end as the narrator asks the question, “Do these portrayals of witches relate to how true Wiccans practice their religion?”

A single candle fades back onto the screen as the chanting is now heard in a quiet, more peaceful manner. The lighting is much brighter and the overall feel is no longer ominous. Our first expert’s voice will begin speaking over more b-roll of the ceremony as he or she begins talking about the religious practices of Wiccans.

After several b-roll shots, the expert will come into view with a title card in the bottom right of the screen introducing he or she. Once he or she has finished describing what the participants are doing in the circle, we cut to vox pop interviews where random strangers in downtown Wilmington and downtown Asheville are describing their initial thoughts about the Wiccan religion.

As the film progresses it is revealed that the religion has been long misunderstood and it does not deserve the reputation it has gained thanks to unfair representations of witches throughout the years, and the notion that Wicca and witchcraft are the same practice.

Lack of knowledge has linked Wicca directly to witchcraft and Hollywood has painted witches as gruesome, but our film will show nothing but the truth behind the Wicca religion and their peaceful methods. Through our expert interviews of a long-time Wiccan and a beginner Wiccan, our film will share their experiences and inform our audiences of how the religion works. Viewers will walk away with a different perspective on these wrongly named witches in seeing their true nature.