summary/transformation notes

Transformation:
Boss gives the woman the assignment to film a short piece on Freeganism. It’s roughly a five minute interview / informational piece on the pros and cons of the lifestyle. Although the boss wants the woman to remain neutral in her views, he is secretly anti-freegan. He thinks its disgusting and wants to have the piece being edited to portray freeganism in a bad light. She accepts the assignment, without putting much thought into what she’s going to film. She’s somewhat aware of her boss’s opinions on freeganism, but doesn’t really care. All she wants to do it get it over with, as quickly as possible.
         Her film is basically a typical news report – quick information on Freegans, an interview, and some b roll. Her first step in the filming process is the interview, and she goes into it expecting the worst. But after talking with the Freegan she realizes that it’s not a bad idea. As she works more and more on her project with him, she becomes more and more passionate about the topic and lifestyle, after not being passionate about anything for a very long time. Through the coarse of many interviews she eventually takes his side, turns against her boss, and ends up quitting her job.

Beginning: Woman walks down an empty hallway and enters her bosses office. He hands her a packet with her assignment. She skims through the packet and the camera flashes over words that give the general gist of what her assigment is. She takes the packet, nods to her boss, and walks out of his office.

Middle: She meets the freegan and interviews him. After interviewing she realizes that he’s living a better lifestyle then she is, and she begins to reflect on herself.
Questions she asks in the interview:
What exactly is a Freegan?
What inspired you to become Freegan?
How long have you been Freegan?
Has it improved your life?
How do your friends/family feel about it?
How did you discover freeganism?
Do you think that it’s important for more people to understand freeganism?
What’s the best thing about being a freegan?
What’s the worst?
What do you have to say to people who think that it is disgusting?
(It'd be great to somehow find a real Freegan to play the part so it can be a real interview instead of scripted answers)

End: Half way through her filming the freegan asks her if she’d be interested in dumpster diving. She says that she isn’t, and he doesn’t mention it again. After thinking things through a bit over the next night, she decides to hand her boss in a blank tape with a note telling him that she’s quitting. She feels that she has some good footage, but is afraid of what it’d be edited to be. The next morning the boss pops the tape in and begins to watch it, waiting for something to appear. Clips of the boss begin to cut into clips of the woman timidly approaching a dumpster. When the boss finally reaches back into the envelope and finds the note saying that she quits, things cut back to the woman finally dumpster diving for her dinner. Once it’s been established that she’s quit her job and has dumpster dived, ending credits begin to roll over a picture of her empty office.