Open episode
a pair of hands are typing on a
keyboard at a steady pace. After a time (30-45 seconds) we zoom out.
Other Reporter: what are you still
doing here, johnson? You were supposed to be gone hours ago
CA: head on shot of johnsonas she
continues typing.
Johnson: just orginizing some leads on
the library theft article.
OR: just write a couple paragraphs and
turn it in. it is an oddity, we have better things to report.
Johnson: Yeah, like frat rush week, and
the perrenially rigged town council election.
OR: The greeks are prestigious
orginizations
Johnson: i'm sure. <under her
breath> in between the date rapes.
OR: did you ever get ahold of that
drop-out's boyfriend?
Johnson: no. he never picked up.
OR: I'm going to head out.
Johnson: I shouldn't be too much
longer.
OR: See you.
Johnson: (unintelligable mumbling)
End scene.
Open scene
CA: following johnson as she passes the
library. (wide angle shot of the library is in the background while
johnson is in the midground)
CA: full body shot of johnson looking
at the door from behind and left.
Johnson walks away
Close scene
Open scene
exterior. Night.
CA: following johnson as she passes the
library. The shot is layered with the library in the background,
johnson in the midground and an empty foreground.
Johnson stops to look at the library
for a moment, then approaches it.
Slow zoom as johnson walks up to the
door. Switch to a close up of johnson's hand as she tries to pull it
open, but it does not budge. Johnson is interrupted by hir cell phone
ringing. Johnson steps away from the door, then walks away about
half-way through the conversation.
Johnson: didn't expect to hear back
from you... Are sure you want to do this, as late as it is?... no, it
isn't an issue for me, I probably wasn't going to get any sleep
tonight anyways... no, insomnia just works like that... yeah, i'm on
my way then.
End scene.
Open scene.
Interior. Diner. Nighttime.
AUDIO LEAD IN OVER A BLACK SCREEN FOR
THE FIRST LINE.
NOTE: spend no more than a
quarter of this scene looking at the characters' faces, focus on body
language..focus on their tension.
Johnson: so, what initially attracted
your lover to this book anyways?
CA: close up on cayce's hands as he
fidgets while he talks
Cayce: as far as I can tell, it was for
material for a research paper. Tristan was really upset when s/he
got home that day. I had never seen hir so motivated to finish a
homework assignment.
Johnson: and about how long has it been
since you've seen him, or heard from him?
Cayce: probably about a week, he left
for class before I woke up. He sent me a couple of texts, but we
just kept missing connections.
Johnson: right, so did he mention
anyone or anything out of the ordinary before the incident?
They sit in silence.
Cayce: is there anything else you need
to know?
Johnson: that should be enough.
Johnson stands up and turns to walk
away. Cayce stands up and grabs johnson's shoulder.
Cayce: please if you find out anything,
if you hear anything, please tell me.
Johnson stands there a moment, and
removes cayce's hand from her shoulder.
Johnson: I'll let you know.
Johnson puts a bill on the table and
walks away, cayce crumbles into the seat after she leaves.
End scene
open scene
Ca: creeper shot(s) as he walks down
the hallway. Switch to different angles as he walks, but all must be
creeper shots.
cayce is walking through the hallway of
his dorm, trying to dig his keys out of his pocket. Cayce turns a
corner sees a shirt tied around a door handle and stops.
CA: close up of the shirt
After a moment of looking at the shirt,
cayce walks up to the door, takes the shirt, and unlocks the door.
CA: tracking shot of cayce walking into
the room, and across it.
CA: closeup of cayce as he lays on the
bed.
Cayce enters the room walks to the
bed, lays down and starts crying. The scene ends as the shirt slips
out of cayce's hands, and falls to the floor.
End scene
open scene
CA: angled shot of Johnson as she sits
at her kitchen table, rolling cigarettes. Various angles as she rolls
two cigarettes, closeups as she goes through the process. Snap to a
stark, mid shot when the phone rings.
CA: throughout this scene we will be
jumping back and forth between johnson and cayce, both for their
dialogue and reactions. At various times in the conversation it will
change to a split screen a la the opening scene of requiem for a
dream.
Johnson will be fiddling with one of
the freshly rolled cigarettes, eventually destroying it without
realizing, while cayce will still be in bed, looking down at the
shirt, approaching it, but also avoiding it.
Johnson inspects the last cigarette
that she rolled, and answers the phone.
Johnson: hello?
Cayce: hey, it's me. Did you find
anything yet?
Johnson: no, i'm still deciding which
angle to approach it from. You said that you had received a couple
of texts, but not much else? When, and what did they say?
Cayce: that would be the afternoon of
the last day I saw him and the morning after.
Johnson: i'm listening.
Cayce: one was just telling me that he
was going to be working on a paper for a while in the library, and
that he was going to sleep in his dorm that night, and the other one
was just about some nightmare that he had had. Something about a
book reading him.
Johnson: huh... not sure what the
second one means.
Cayce: and what does the first tell
you?
Johnson: that he cares
Cayce: right... thanks...
End Scene
Open Scene
Johnson walks into the nightmare room
from the previous episode. The heartbeat from the second layer of
this scene starts to bleed over as . After inspecting the room for a
while HARD CUT to johnson standing in front of the medicine cabinet,
with the elder sign still on the mirror. The heart beat gets louder,
the sceams quiet. HARD CUT to the medicine cabinet being open,
Johnson recoils in digust and confusion. Cut to a close up of a
deformed heart, still beating, on one of the shelves. At each full
contraction, there will be a single frame of one of the pages from
the collections of mournstien. Close up of Johnson's eyes as she
starts to cry. These tears turn to blood, and she wakes up.
All of this is interlaced
with her nightmare room sequence
Johnson sits up in bed, pushes the
blankets and sheets away. She springs out of bed and goes to the
window and stares out.
The camera's focus drifts away from her
face and out the open window into the night to focus on the waxing
gibbous moon.
End scene.
Open scene
CA: close up of johnson typing on the
keyboard, as fast and as hard as she can.
Cut to
CA: medium shot of Johnson hunched over
the keyboard in the office from before
Cut to
CA: a hand gently settling on johnson's
shoulder
Cut to
johnson shocked out of her thoughts,
jumping.
Johnson: what! (a bit calmer)What do
you need, professor derlith?
Derlith: how's the story going?
Johnson: you know that one analogy for
smooth?
Derlith: yeah?
Johnson: not that.
Derlith: really? What then?
Johnson: it is going from an in depth
drop-out story to an actual missing person story.
Derlith: interesting... Keep digging.
If it is what you think, it could make your semester, and make a
nice addition to your ressume when you graduate.
Johnson: so, you're determined?
Derlith: yes.
Johnson: this is going to take more
than the allotted time.
Derlith: just get it done. You have two
aditional weeks.
End scene
open scene
Tristan is standing in the nightmare
room, holding a thick book, studying it intently. Flash back and
forth between the first incarnation of the nightmare room and the
second. The flashes become more frequent and prolonged as the
sequence
CA: close-up of the top of a desk.
There is a knife, a feather and a jar of ink. Tristan is sleeping in
a bed in the background.
Tristan gets up, takes off his shirt,
and walks over to the desk, and sits down.
He draws the elder sign onto his palm
He inspects the knife, places it
against his skin.
CUT TO a shot of his face, a peaceful
expression on his face
CUT TO the knife as he starts to carve
the elder sign into his palm.
Tristan smears the ink across the wound
with the feather
fade out.
End episode.
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