The Human Ransom

**The Human Ransom** is the one-hundred thirtieth video in the lonelygirl15 video series.

## Transcript

(*The video starts with scenes of a highway, scenery, and driving in a car. A sign says "La Brea Ave, Hollywood". Cut to driving through the city. Cut to a tall glass building, the camera zooms in on the top floors.*)

(*Cut to Bree inside the building, as Jonas films.*)

**Jonas:** (*offscreen*) Sure you're ready for this?

**Bree:** Daniel saved my life. It's the least I can do. Take care of him, okay?

(*Elevator opens and reveals Daniel blindfolded with hands tied, accompanied by Lucy and three other men in sunglasses.*)

(*Cut to Daniel (still blindfolded) and Bree hugging.*)

**Jonas:** Bree, I...think they're getting impatient.

(*Lucy moves to cover the camera with her hand*)

(*Bree is still hugging Daniel.*)

(*Cut to Bree in the elevator looking out with Lucy and the three men looking down. Door closes. Goes to black.*)

**Bree:** Wait!! Stop!!

(*The interior footage plays back quickly in reverse. Tachyon's theme song kicks in as a Malaysia airplane lands at LAX and "**TACHYON**" flashes across the screen.*)

(*More footage of driving, presumably from Brother's point of view.*)

(*Shot has a black/blue and white tint to it: Bree in elevator looking directly at (presumably hidden) surveillance camera.*)

(*The video returns to normal color. We see oil fields and more driving.*)

(*Shots now have a black/blue and white tint to them and are replaying what we just saw through Tachyon's perspective through cameras stationed in the hall, similar to her previous video and Brother's video.*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 1**
(*Bree with Jonas as he is filming.*)

**Text: ELEVATOR NO. 2**
(*Inside the elevator with Lucy and men*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 2**
(*Doors opening with Daniel.*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 3**
(*Same as last shot but at different angle and with Lucy in the frame.*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 4**
(*Front view of Daniel and Lucy, who is behind Daniel's right shoulder. Lucy leans forward towards Daniel and appears to be whispering something to him*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 5**
(*View from the side of Bree hugging Daniel and whispering something.*

**Text: ATR - ELEV 1**
(*Cut to facing Bree; we can clearly see she is saying something to him.*)

(*Cut to a far away shot of them hugging and Lucy crosses in front of them to block the camera Jonas is holding.*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 1**
(*Bree looking out of elevator towards Jonas and Daniel.*)

(*Cut to shot of a close up of the camera Jonas is holding and we can see Bree through the display screen.*)

(*Cuts to door closing as Bree makes a sudden move forward. (thought to match up to when she says "Wait!! Stop!!")*)

**Text: ATR – CAM 1**
(*Door closes. Jonas and Daniel are visible but Daniel now has his hands untied and the blindfold off.*)

**Text: ATR – GROUND 1**
(*Lower half of elevator door is seen closing as a flashbang is rolled in from the left toward the gap. The video freezes, and the word "**flash**" appears in the upper right corner, then fades.*)

**Text: ATR – GROUND 2**
(*The grenade banks neatly into the narrowing gap of the elevator door. The video freezes again, the word "**bang**" appears in the lower left corner, then fades. Cut to black*)

**Text: for a girl who scored 112 the last time she went bowling,
that's an impressive shot!**

**Text: ELEVATOR NO. 2**
(*Inside the elevator, there is a white flash from the grenade. Cut to black.*)

**Bree:** (*voiceover, almost inaudible*) Daniel? (*normal, concerned*) Daniel? (*shouting*) RUN!!

(*Goes back to normal color.*)

(*We see a shot of a stairwell. Bree is holding Daniel's elbow as they run up the stairs. Jonas follows them with the camera.*)

**Jonas:** Bree!?!

**Bree:** Go up the stairs!

**Jonas:** Are you sure we can trust this guy? He's not like really (*muted*) Brother is he?

(*The group reaches the top flight where a ladder leads to the roof.*)

**Daniel:** What are we doing?

**Bree:** If she says we can trust him, we can trust him. I'll explain it to you later.

(*Bree starts climbing the ladder, Daniel looks down at his right hand. He is still holding his blindfold.*)

**Jonas:** Go! Go! Go! Go!

(*He pans down the stairs where Lucy can be seen chasing after them.*)

**Bree:** Jonas, put down the camera. Come on, help him!

(*A helicopter can now be heard.*)

(*Bree continues climb as Jonas pans back.*)

**Jonas:** Seriously, go!

## Notes

* Tachyon has been in Fiji, which is why she is arriving on a plane from Malaysian Airlines.
* The reference to bowling a 112 comes from one of Tachyon's drop videos, Knock 'Em Down, in which Tachyon scores 112 at the "Sea Bowl" bowling alley in Pacifica, CA.
* The flashbang that Tachyon threw was actually thrown by Greg Goodfried. The shot was attempted twice, and he successfully got it into the elevator both times. The flashbang itself was actually a stripped can of soup modified to look like a flashbang in post-production. [1]
* The flashbang grenade is a type of stun grenade that incapacitates by letting off a deafening blast and a blinding flash of light. Flashbangs usually cause about 5 seconds of blindness and a temporary loss of balance due to the blast that disturbs the fluid in the semicircular canals of the ear. Since the grenade remains entirely intact and there is no shrapnel or fragmentation, serious injury is rare. However it is likely that the effect of the blast was enhanced by being inside a 100 cubic foot elevator. It is unclear how long Bree and the others were incapacitated from the effects and if there were any serious injuries done such as permanent hearing and balance damage.
* The original concept for this video involved Bree putting a knife up to her throat. Because she had to remain unharmed, the Order allowed her to walk out of the building with Daniel. However, this idea was scrapped. [2]
* Although the camera zoom up at the building may be interpreted that they are on a top floor, the number "2" (indicating "second floor") can be seen on a plate in the elevator doorway. It is likely that Daniel was being held on one of the top floors, and Lucy and the men brought him down to the second floor, where they could make the trade for Bree, from some sort of Order headquarters.

* The confusion about this was later cleared up in a meta sense, as Glenn Rubenstein confirmed that the building they shot the interior of this video in, Miles's dad's office, only had two stories. In spite of this, the location was used because it had an elevator and roof access. [3]

* Helicopters have been seen in other videos and were always thought to be connected with the Order. But it may be that the helicopter sightings were Brother or Tachyon.
* Tachyon and Bree's heroic actions to rescue Daniel poke at traditional thriller gender roles and could be regarded as feminist actions.
* The original working title of this video was "Bree and Tachyon in BFF." [4]
* This video was shot in around two hours, including blocking. [5]
* This video was filmed from a parallax perspective.