PARTY BOY TO IRON MAN: A DOCUMENTARY PROPOSAL

Premise:

One of the most grueling tests of physical and mental endurance for a human is to compete and to complete a triathlon.  Athletes train their entire lives in order to be in top physical shape to participate in a triathlon.  One must live a completely healthy lifestyle; maintaining a strict diet, and taking on a grueling exercise regime.  Needless to say it would be impossible for the average Joe to just decide to get up and enter a race (and finish!)  Well how hard is it really to complete a triathlon?  Could you and I decide right now to train for a race and succeed in completing it?  What sort of training would be involved?

In this documentary I plan to uncover the answers to those questions and more.  Except I want to take it one step further.  When I think of one of the most unhealthy groups of individuals in the entire world one demographic really comes to mind, college students.  As a college student myself I can attest to the fact that it is very difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle being a full- time student.  Between the lack of sleep, crappy diet, and the occasional partying, competing in a triathlon seems nearly impossible.  Well you at least could not find anyone crazy enough to give it a shot, could you?  The documentary I’m describing I want to be based on me.  Nick Bancroft.  A nineteen-year-old University of Tampa sophomore, who hasn’t run more then two miles in more time then I care to mention.  Yet I am ready to do it.  I honestly think that completing a triathlon would be one of the most rewarding experiences you can do in a lifetime.  The time, work, and dedication that has to be put into such an endeavor I’m sure would be so worth it, and I think this documentary not only would be an interesting story, but it may also inspire someone else to take on such a daunting task that maybe they didn’t have the courage or motivation to try.

Story Narrative

In the beginning of the film I would like to start out with a video montage of racers competing in a grueling triathlon.  Shots of athletes with absolute pained grimaces on their faces as their sweat drenched perfectly sculpted bodies fight to finish a grueling race.  This would be accompanied by some sort of “Rockyesque” music playing in the background, and a combination of voice-overs of racers giving personal accounts of the struggle that is racing in a triathlon. This would include responses along the lines of, “One of the hardest things I’ve ever done….”, “Imagine being in complete physical pain…” etc.   I would follow this with another video montage, but this time of college kids.  Some of the shots would include things like, students with their faces painted acting belligerent at a football game screaming their heads off, another shot of a student doing a keg stand while a group of his peers cheers him on, and then finally a shot of a college student passed out on the ground somewhere looking extremely haggard.  These two video montages would display the polar opposites of these two completely separate worlds.  After these montages we would fade to black, and the opening credits would come on.  Each credit would be a different image of the University of Tampa.  For example, I would have a shot of beautiful Plant Hall with palm trees and sunshine included and the text of the title, “Party Boy to IronMan.”   After the opening credits we would introduce the main subject of the film, myself.  This would be done as an interview.  I would introduce myself, Nick Bancroft, 19 years old, UT sophomore.  Then the big question, “What are you planning on doing?” I would respond, “I plan on training for five months from December 1, 2009 to April 25, 2010 and entering in and completing the St. Anthony’s triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida.”  I would then show shots of the races route and give the exact specifics showing the 1.5 k swim, the 40 k bike ride, and the 10 k run.  This interview would also explain my intentions and give a peak into my lifestyle and physical condition.   I want to include shots of myself getting a body fat index, exercising, and a shot of myself in a Speedo.  All for the purpose of being able to show before and after shots, and to prove that I am in fact nowhere near close to being in physical shape to enter a triathlon.

Here is where the real fun will start.  I would like to schedule a meeting with someone pretty prominent in the triathlon world in the South Florida area.  I do not yet have a letter of intent signed by anyone, but in a perfect world I would love to get an interview with Tim Hudson who is the President of the St. Pete Mad Dogs which is the country’s largest triathlon club and is located right here in the Tampa/St. Pete area.  I would ask Mr. Hudson what it takes to compete in a triathlon?, What it feels like to complete one?  All general questions about training and competing in a triathlon.   I would also then ask if he would help me in my training, and I have already researched previously and the Mad Dogs offer free training even for non-members, that includes training for the bike, run, and swim.  This segment would end with Mr. Hudson and I shaking hands and agreeing to see each other soon, also I would hope that he would wish me luck.

Now the training will begin!! This is where the real meat of the story will be and where I believe the most interesting portion of this journey will take place.  Since the training is taking place over six months of time, we will have countless hours of footage that will need to be broken down into the shots that will make it into the film.  After the shot with Tim, I would like to show myself sitting down to dinner with the people that know me best.  Parents, sister, girlfriend, best friends all people that can really give the viewer a sense of who I am, and also to get there thoughts on the whole idea.  I think the general affect of this scene will be that my friends and family will not think that I can do it and will think that I am completely crazy.  I can almost guarantee a shot of my girlfriend laughing hysterically into the camera.  This scene will end with me about to go to bed setting my alarm for 6:30 am and saying something along the lines of “What am I getting myself into.”

Here is where we have to be extremely selective about the shots of the next six months that I wish to include.  Since a triathlon is three different legs (swim, run, and bike) I would like to break up those up separately.  I would show the first times of training for these individual events.   For around the first month of training I would be practicing on my own.  Running on the UT track, swimming the UT pool, and biking around Tampa on my own.  After the first month I would do another body fat index, weight, muscle definition, and hopefully show my lack of prior beer belly.  I would then skip ahead and have a scene where I am eating with my friends in the caf, they would probably be eating slices of pizza and burgers, while I nibble at a plate of spinach and some grapes.

After the first month is where I would start to train with the St. Pete Mad Dogs.  I would like a shot of my first group bike ride, since it will have only been a month I can imagine that I still will be towards the back of the group, and we would include plenty of shots of me struggling to keep up and lagging behind on a steep climb.  I also think that around this time I will be very frustrated.  I have put in countless hours of work, and yet still am seeing little results.   There will be many temper-tantrums during these six months and this is where I would like to have footage of one in the film.  Something along the lines of me kicking over my bike and walking off in a huff of rage, chances are I will have the idea of giving up, but must convince myself that I have come this far and it will all be worth it in the end.

I would then like to fast forward to a month before the race.  By this time I will have been training for five months and the results will definitely be there.  I would like to show a shot of me finishing a 5k run and the absolute joy that will come from completing that.   This is also where the final body mass index and “after” shots will be shown.

Now is where the climax of the film will occur.  I would like to have a shot the day before the race of me going to the racecourse and looking it over.  I’m sure I will be in absolute awe and extremely nervous.   On the way back home after this I would have someone off screen ask me questions like, “How are you feeling?” “Are you ready?” This will serve to show my mindset going into the night before the race.  Close this segment with a scene of me getting ready to go to bed again, but this time right before race day.  The film will have come full circle.

The final chapter.  Open up with a shot of the sun rising over the race course as event planners hurriedly get everything ready for the start.   Then we will show a shot of me getting ready at home, eating a healthy breakfast, and probably looking down right terrified.  After breakfast we will ride to the race course which I would like to be completely silent as I get into “the zone.”

THE RACE!  Start off showing myself loosening up and stretching getting ready for the start of the swim.  Perhaps one of my St. Pete Mad Dog racing buddies can come up to me with a few encouraging words before the race begins.  Then BANG! The race starts and I jump into the water.  We will then show shots of myself swimming, which will be in a very large group of people so close-ups will be impossible, a wide shot of the whole racing field I think will be enough visual information to get the point across to the audience.  After the swim we will be able to get a close up of myself getting out of the water and preparing to tackle the bike portion.  During this point we will be able to have the camera with me at all times, and will show my progress during the beginning, middle, and end of this leg.  Then the final leg, the run, which I’m sure will be an epic struggle and I would like to spend more time on this leg then any other.  I want to get across to the viewers just how hard racing a triathlon really is, plenty of shots of excruciatingly painful grimaces, lots of heavy breathing,  perhaps even a stumble or two.  Then finally the moment we have all been waiting for.  The finish!!!  Obviously there will be a shot of me crossing the finish line, and probably keeling over in exhaustion.  There will be ambulances present, but hopefully those won’t have to be used!

I would like to end the film on an emotional note. This film all hinders on whether or not I will be able to actually complete this race, but for this proposals sake I do finish the race and I want it to be a very memorable emotional moment.  As I stumble across the finish line I would imagine that all the emotion and turmoil that have been building up over the past six months will spill over and I will break down crying.  I imagine there will be an epic (albeit sweaty) embrace with my girlfriend, and lots of other hugs from family and friends.   Some of the people I trained with will come over to congratulate me, and then I would like to say a few words to the camera.  I’m not sure what these words will be, but the reason I am making this film is to show just what it feels like to accomplish a goal that you thought was impossible, and hopefully I will have the words to do so.

Resources

-St. Anthony’s Triathlon official website www.satriathlon.com

-St. Pete Mad Dogs official website www.stpetemaddogs.com