Below
is a selection of scenes that I have written for my piece ‘On Death and
Dying’. I have chosen to use this
sequence of scenes as they are 'dialogue heavy' and contain very little
action.
Following
these scenes I have written my reflective account of this module of the course
and my references from Part Four.
ON DEATH AND DYING
Scenes 35 - 37
INT. PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE – NIGHT
GEOFFREY sits at his desk, talking to U.N. representatives Dr Kregs and
Prof. Jiyad via a web conference.
PROF. JIYAD
Mr Soillen this is not
something
that the U.N. can ignore.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
With all due respect
Professor, if
the U.N. had intended on
assisting
I assume you would have been here
already.
DR. KREGS
We must consider the
effects of a
pandemic.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
(laughing)
Of course Gentlemen...one must
protect their own.
PROF. JIYAD
Mr Soillen, this is hardly
the
time. Your country lies in
ruins
and from our reports, it
seems that
you haven't done the
slightest
thing about it.
GEOFFREY angrily stands.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
We are a country in
quarantine.
Furthermore we are a
country in
crisis. We are losing civilians
left, right and centre.
Medical and
military staff have taken
to the
streets rioting, or worse.
Our top
scientists are baffled by
this and
it seems that we are a
nation in
exile from the world.
GEOFFREY sits back in his seat calmly.
DR. KREGS
Geoffrey...we've discussed
the
dangers of even allowing a
sample
to leave your borders.
GEOFFREY bangs his fists on the table.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
So I am supposed to watch a
nation
die?
The picture on the screens fuzz and fade.
Geoffrey bangs
the screens.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
Not now....you little
bastard.
MISS BLACKSON enters.
MISS BLACKSON
Is everything all right Sir?
GEOFFREY rubs his eyes and walks over to his drinks cabinet.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
A drink Miss Blackson?
MISS BLACKSON
Why not? It would be an
understatement to call this
a bad
day. And please, it's
Charlotte.
MISS BLACKSON sits on the sofa.
GEOFFREY hands her a glass of whiskey and sits opposite her and downs
his drink.
MISS BLACKSON (CONT'D)
Are you OK? Sir?
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
It would be safe to say no
Miss
Blackson.
MISS BLACKSON leans across the table touching GEOFFREY's
arm. GEOFFREY touches her hand, looking into her eyes,
MISS BLACKSON
(CONT'D)
Your brilliance is
unparalleled
Sir. I have nothing but
faith that
you will fix this.
GEOFFREY walks to the drinks cabinet, pouring himself
another drink.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
Your faith is quite
unfounded I'm
afraid Miss Blackson. It seems
that I have not quite
delivered
what I claimed in my
manifesto.
MISS BLACKSON
(smiling)
I am yet to a meet a
politician
who keeps his promises.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
It seems that my work has
created
more than a little stir?
MISS BLACKSON
I don't think anyone could
blame
you for this situation,
Sir.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
Tell that to the U.N.
MISS BLACKSON gets up and stands behind GEOFFREY. She puts her hand on his shoulder.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN (CONT'D)
At least I can rest assured
that I'll
be remembered.
GEOFFREY walks away and sits behind his desk.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
(CONT'D)
Yes, my name will be
printed in
every history book across
the
world. I can see it now....'THE
MAN WHO DESTROYED BRITAIN
IN A
DAY'. Quite an achievement.
GEOFFREY downs his glass of whiskey, slamming it onto the
table.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
(CONT'D)
No Miss Blackson....my time
is
done.
MISS BLACKSON
Sir, you're the reason I
went into
politics in the first
place.
MISS BLACKSON pours herself another drink.
MISS BLACKSON
(CONT'D)
My father and I attending
of your
speeches when you were MP
for
Lambeth North.
GEOFFREY tries to take a drink, realising his glass is
empty.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
That was a long time ago.
MISS BLACKSON
Your charm and charisma
transformed
our community. Your 'Music
Matters' initiative
literally
eradicated crime around the
estates.
You ended a 15-year feud
over the closure of the
hospital in
one breakfast meeting.
MISS BLACKSON sits opposite GEOFFREY.
MISS BLACKSON
(CONT'D)
(smiling)
Not to mention your work on
the
allotments.
GEOFFREY looks at MISS BLACKSON and laughs.
GEOFFREY SOILLEN
(CONT'D)
That was a long time ago
Miss
Blackson.
MISS BLACKSON
Rubbish... you're Geoffrey Soillen.
If you
can't turn this around,
no one
can.
INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT
BLAINE climbs in through a large window holding a long
metal pole. He helps SALLY through. The Library is silent
and vending machine sits in the corner.
Once in, BLAINE
places the metal pole on the floor.
SALLY
I told you. No one uses these anymore.
BLAINE
Yeah well we got Wiki now.
Who
needs these dusty old
things.
BLAINE picks up a book and drops it on the floor creating a loud bang.
SALLY
(smiling)
Ssh....they'll hear us.
BLAINE
Nah, I think we're pretty
safe in
here.
SALLY throws her bag to the ground and slumps on the floor against a
bookcase. She sighs loudly.
SALLY
(to herself)
What a great day.
BLAINE
You wanna drink? I found us a
vending machine. Reckon I've still
got the knack.
BLAINE kicks the vending machine causing the door to fly
open. BLAINE takes two cans and two
chocolate bars and sits down beside SALLY.
BLAINE
Hope you like Coke and
chocolate.
SALLY smiles and begins eating and drinking. An awkward
silence falls between the two.
BLAINE
Didn't you think it was a
bit
weird...Tara knowing so
much about
all that medical shit over
there.
SALLY
She's a Doctor,
Blaine. That's her
job. What are you getting at?
BLAINE
I just reckon it's weird
that all.
SALLY
Blaine I told you before to
drop
this.
BLAINE
I'm just sayin'. As you
said, she
knows her shit about
medicine.
She's Austrian...
SALLY gets up and stands over BLAINE.
SALLY
She's Austrian? What the
hell does
that have to do with
anything.
BLAINE
Well the journal was from Austria
and she's been acting
weird. We
don't even know her last
name.
Maybe it's Ellison?
SALLY throws her can across the room.
SALLY
(angrily)
The reason she's been
'weird'
Blaine is because her
husband and
children died today. She has had
to witness countless
murders,
suicides and acts of
brutality...all whilst
carrying
your racist arse
around. You make
me sick.
SALLY walks over to the stacks across the room. A long
silence falls.
BLAINE (CONT'D)
They drove off a bridge...
SALLY
Huh?
BLAINE
My family. They....
BLAINE begins to cry, trying to hide it from SALLY. SALLY moves towards Blaine.
BLAINE (CONT'D)
Sorry... I just...
just....all
this.
SALLY
It's one fucked up party.
SALLY sits beside BLAINE
SALLY (CONT'D)
My parents chose the old
fashioned
rope and rafters.
After a long pause, BLAINE and SALLY begins kissing and
stripping off each others' clothing.
INT. APARTMENT HOME OFFICE - NIGHT
TARA speaks via webcam to Professor Lukas Hoffer (72).
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Tara the world is fully
aware of
the situation in the
UK. The U.N.
are urging other countries
to offer
aid, but no one wants to
risk a
world wide epidemic.
TARA
All sea and airports have
been
closed. I guess to keep a
quarantine.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Please tell me how I can
help.
TARA
Ellison. Tell me what you know
about a Dr. Ellison. He was
probably in the field
during..
TARA notices a shocked look in the Professor's face.
TARA
What is it?
PROF. LUKAS HOFFER
I know who Ellison is. I'd rather
not know, but I do.
TARA
Who is he? Could he be linked.
Please Lukas.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Piotr Ellison was a
Professor of
mine for a semester. A greatly
gifted scientist, with a
taste for
power.
TARA
Power?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Many years after
University,
Ellison developed a
technology
involving
audio-reanimation.
TARA
Audio-reanimation?
TARA sits back in the chair calmly.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER (CONT'D)
This technology had the capability
to literally shape minds.
TARA
For what purpose?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Ellison found a series of
frequencies capable of
effectively
paralysing certain areas of
the
brain. Depending on the
frequencies used, it was
then
possible to use subliminal
messaging to control the
individual.
TARA
Brainwashing?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
That's how the U.N. saw
it. Of
course they dismissed his
ideas and
denied knowledge of their
existence
when 'side-effects'
starting
occurring.
TARA
Side effects...like severe
depression? Leading to suicide?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Ellison's case files were
never
released, but I do know
that a
number of his test subjects
died.
TARA
It sounds to me like
Ellison has
set his sight on something
a little
bigger than the military.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
That's not possible Tara.
TARA
It's obvious Lukas. Somehow he has
developed his technology to
a much
wider scale. And as far as test
runs go...
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
He's dead Tara. He jumped from a
16 story building in 1991
in
Istanbul.
TARA bangs her fist on the table.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER (CONT'D)
After his dismissal from
the U.N.,
Ellison was shunned by the
science
community. His papers meant
nothing, not even the
Universities
wanted him. That's when he really
changed.
TARA begins flicking through the medical journal.
TARA
And became a man hellbent on
revenge and world
domination?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
A little 'comic strip'... but yes,
that's about it. There's a fine
line between genius and
insanity
Tara.
TARA
I must be his technology Lukas. It
explains everything.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
I don't see how Tara. Those files
were destroyed. They never even
saw the light of day. His
research
laboratories were seized
and his
company was dissolved.
TARA
Perhaps he shared his ideas
with
someone?
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
I see the link Tara, but
Ellison
was a deeply private
man. Sharing
his creations would go
against his
moral grain.
TARA
The call of death makes
people do
strange things.
PROF. LUKAS
HOFFER
Even if he had shared his
knowledge, it would have
taken an
even greater thinker than
Ellison
himself to develop the
technology
to this level.
TARA
But it's possible?
PROF. LUKAS HOFFER
Tara I have seen the world's
most
brilliant scientists
stumped by the
complexities of Ellison's
work. I
sincerely doubt anyone else
could
have even made sense of his work.
TARA rubs her forehead, frowning.
Reflective account of Part Four
Throughout this section of the
course I have learnt much about the terminology, methods and techniques for writing
a screenplay.
'Film economy' refers to the way a story
‘moves’ and translates to the screen. Cowgill
(2005:163) writes that:
“Words, description and dialogue, must be as focused as
everything else in the screenplay.
Random description of every detail in a scene will only derail it.”
There is
an overwhelming temptation for a writer to use dialogue to ‘tell the whole
story’. However, real-life conversation
is short and does not describe what is happening. Thompson (2013) writes that:
“While dialogue should be rich and fully worded, useless
dialogue that does not add anything to the story should find its way to the
chopping block”.
I have
rewritten my scenes a number of times in order to ensure that I have an
economical script. However, my chosen
scenes are 'dialogue heavy', forcing me to ensure that the dialogue is
informative, but also believable and interesting enough to hold the audience's
attention.
My research
into scene descriptions led me to study the screenplays of Paul Feig (Bridesmaids
2011), Hitchcock (Vertigo 1958)
and Puzo & Ford-Copolla (The
Godfather 1972). In contrast to
Cowgill’s (2005:163) comments on the economy of the scene descriptions, both The Godfather and Vertigo contain meticulous descriptions of the scene. However, Bridesmaids
provides little scene description, allowing the director more freedom over
the story. I question whether this may
be more a sign of modern filmmaking, given the time difference between the
release dates of each film.
Imagery
and symbolism can also be used effectively to portray story events and
character traits. As Smith (2010)
suggests:
"Words can communicate at one level. But if
you want to reach down into a person's soul or touch an audience in a profound
way, you need to use Symbols, Images, and Codes".
Use of symbolism is evident
in the iconic 'rose petal' scene of Sam Mendes’ American Beauty (1999), where the falling of the coloured petals juxtaposes
the innocence and sexuality of youth. Imagery
and symbolism also play an important role in the opening scenes of Oliver
Stone's Platoon (1986) with the
cleanliness and enthusiasm of the new GIs symbolising their innocence, whilst
the image of the veterans handling dead bodies in such a detached manner
symbolises their acceptance of the horrors of war.
Whilst researching travelling and establishing
scenes I found an interesting idea by Romanek
(2013) who suggests that sequence scenes are the foundation of the story
itself, with each ‘sequence’ showing the characters overcoming an obstacle, which
in turn leads to a larger obstacle. This contrasts with the more accepted definitions of ‘scene sequences’. For example, Cowgill (2003) writes, “A
scene sequence is a group of scenes linked around a single idea or action." I feel that Romanak’s ideas provide an
interesting way of structuring story events, obstacles and sequences.
On the
suggestion of my tutor, I spent some time researching ‘reversals’. The Screen Writing Glossary (2013) describes reversals as:
“A place in the plot where a character achieves the opposite
of his aim, resulting in a change from good fortune to bad fortune”.
Whilst it is important to maintain ‘believability’ within a
story, it is also essential to create drama, and reversals serve as an
excellent way to create a realistic but unexpected change to normal
circumstances. Reversals can refer to a
character or an action and provide an opportunity to enhance and move the story
forward whilst maintaining audience interest.
John Deme’s adaptation of Thomas
Harris’ Silence of the Lambs (1991)
and Sam Mendes’ American Beauty (1999) both helped to me gain a deeper insight
into the use of reversals.
I have
enjoyed this section of the course and feel I have learnt much about how to
create a good screenplay. Using the story I have been working on over the
previous two modules, I have been able to apply what I have learnt in order to
begin to develop my story into what I hope will be an engaging and believable
screenplay.
