See Me - Second Sight Book One
Logline
When a friend, Nate, dies, a medical student, Shelly, discovers she can see the his spirit. Nate, who loved her in life, tries to steal Shelly from her fiancé, James, who is abusive. Shelly falls in love with Nate. Ultimately, after a crash James soul leaves this world and Nate takes over his body.
Genre
Suspense/Thriller,Romance,Drama,Other
Short Summary
Shelly’s life is idyllic. A medical student, she has a wealthy fiancé, James. James best friend Nate, is killed in Afghanistan. James drinking gets out of control, he becomes abusive & Shelly begins to see things. After a 'suicide attempt', Shelly’s gift is awakened and she can see Nate’s spirit.
Shelly falls in love with Nate & dumps James. In a drunken rage he assaults her & then crashes his car. They end up in the same hospital, James in a coma. She visits his bedside, he is in spirit & furious. There’s a fight between Nate & James, James spirit crosses over & Nate takes over his body.
Setting
The setting is ambiguous for the purpose of allowing the reader to picture a location they have seen themselves. It is quite an effective strategy and thus the story can be set almost anywhere.
Based on a True Story
No
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth,Other
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending,Twist
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence,Nudity, Language/Profanity,Substance Abuse
Main Character Details
Name: Shelly Butler
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Aspiring,Modest,Complex,Empathetic,Selfless,Engaging,Faithful,Skillful,Gracious,Sarcastic,Educated,Honorable,Insecure,Naive,Sexy
Additional Character Details
Name: Nate Stevens
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Charming,Masculine,Confident,Decisive,Empathetic,Selfless,Engaging,Outspoken,Faithful,Romantic,Heartthrob,Sexy,Heroic,Honorable,Strong Moral Code,Unapologetic
Additional Character Details
Name: James Moretti
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Aggressive,Charming,Masculine,Narcisstic,Confident,Sexy,Crazy,Blunt,Outspoken,Greedy,Heartthrob,Educated,Unapologetic,Manipulative
Additional Character Details
Name: Mia Butler
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Sexy,Aspiring,Narcisstic,Charming,Confident,Power Hungry,Greedy,Sarcastic,Secretive,Seductive,Manipulative
Development Pitch
See Me is a distinctive tale that speaks to the heart of every human being. It expresses the yearning that we all have, which is to be loved, wholly and unconditionally. It really is a story about relationships, trust and letting go. The story sees the main protagonist, Shelly, living what she believes to be a perfect life with her fiancé James, until things take a turn for the worst and James gets nasty. We can identify with Shelly because there’s a little bit of her in all of us. She has goals, dreams, and is working hard to achieve them. She also has uncertainty, vulnerability and a naivety that is both charming and awkward. Its these qualities that makes her so relatable. In such a character driven story it is vital that each individual be believable and honest. They are all ‘real’ in the true sense of the word. We can see our fellow humans in them. This honesty, relatability and frankness is what makes this book brilliant for a screen adaptation. Enter, Nate. Is he a protagonist? Or an antagonist? For a while we aren’t sure. He keeps us guessing. He is fun and playful, kind and fiercely loyal. Oh, also, he’s dead! The interaction between Shelly and Nate is something worth seeing. Nate’s ghost perceives an opportunity in death that he didn’t have in life, and that is to woo his true love, Shelly. To begin with, Shelly isn’t having any of it. It becomes comical at times, though we feel for Nate when we see his emotional struggle at the fact that Shelly doesn’t trust him.
Genre
DRAMA, ROMANCE
Brief
Shelly has a life that seems perfect, a loving fiancé (James), a good job, but suddenly it all starts to fall apart, and she notices she is living in an abusive relationship. It is then that she begins to see the spirit of a deceased friend, who supports her in this difficult time. He falls in love with her, but it seems an impossible desire since he is dead. However, when James falls into a coma after an accident, the deceased friend decides to take his body and live his romance with Shelly.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: FAIR
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: FAIR
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
It does.
Draw of Story
Knowing a little more about the protagonist is interesting. Knowing her dreams, her wishes, how she sees the world. It makes us empathize with her.
Possible Drawbacks
Some situations take a while to happen. We spend part of the book following the protagonist's life, and it takes a bit until Nate passes away, then we slowly see James becoming an abusive partner, and only after all that do we follow Nate and Shelly's relationship. As this relationship is, in fact, what matters most in the story, it ends up being a little frustrating to have to wait so long for it.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY RELIES HEAVILY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
The hook would be the impossible love between a living woman and a ghost. See how these interactions happen and how far they go with it.
Fanbase Potential
The relationship between the ghost Nate and Shelly is interesting because we see them in everyday situations that bring even dramatic relief, but I believe it would only appeal to fans of romance and this type of movie with this afterlife theme.
Awards Potential
If the story digs more on this reflection about beings who love each other in a different way, the conflicts that arise from it, and narrates in a more poetic way what this afterlife and this love that overcomes the barriers of physics would be like, I think you could have more chances for awards.
Envisioned Budget
MEDIUM BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
THE SIXTH SENSE: A BOY CAN SEE DEAD PEOPLE AND HAS A DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH A DEAD PSYCHOLOGIST. JUST LIKE HEAVEN: A MAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE APARTAMENT OWNER, WHO IS IN A COMA.
What’s New About the Story
The fact that the dead man takes another person's unconscious body to revive and live a great love turns out to be a little original.
Lead Characters
Shelly's character is active and empathetic, making us stand by her side. Seeing her relationship with a ghost makes this interaction more complex and interesting.
Uniqueness of Story
It's not a rare gem because we've seen films very similar before and because character building doesn't favor such a dramatic and in-depth creation.
Possible Formats
Film: Indie, Streaming
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.
Tips for Improvement
A change in structure would be interesting for us to spend more time following this relationship between Nate and Shelly. The fact that he only takes over James' body in the last few pages is also a little frustrating. It would be much more interesting to see this double character build taking place earlier. Characters like James and Nate could have a more interesting build as well. James seems to have undergone a very sudden change in personality and attitude. It's okay that he's an abusive man at heart, dressed up as a romantic guy, but he changes from someone who takes good care of her to someone who treats her very badly, and that seems too abrupt. Nate gets off to a bit of a shaky start, as we're not quite sure what his intentions are there, but when we find out he's a good guy and likes Shelly a lot, he turns out to be a little too passive. It would be nice to see him more attractive, more dubious, more confrontational.