Tài liệu Writing the short film 3th - Part 50 pdf

Chuck tosses them to Thomas.. THOMAS Things aren’t so good, are they Chuck?. Chuck throws down the letters in his hand.. STREET—AFTERNOON Thomas rides down the street between two long sn

Boss turns and leaves the room Chuck and Thomas are speechless Chuck reaches into his drawer and pulls out

a plastic bag

CHUCK

I guess I won’t give him this

THOMAS What is it?

CHUCK Jogging pants

(shrugging)

No forwarding address

Chuck tosses them to Thomas

CHUCK Here, use them with passion

Thomas looks down at the bag

THOMAS Things aren’t so good, are they Chuck?

CHUCK

No, my friend, they’re not

Chuck throws down the letters in his hand

CHUCK Well! Screw this, I’m gettin’ outta this hell hole I got a mildly attractive wife and two bug-eyed kids waitin’ for me You comin’?

THOMAS Naw Her letter comes today

Chuck throws on his coat

CHUCK Wanna see what I found today?

He holds up the drawing of the dead Santa

CHUCK Nice, huh?

THOMAS Who sent that?

Chuck crumples the picture into a ball and throws it

onto the sorting table

CHUCK

A very misdirected child

There’s a CLUNK from above

CHUCK I’ll leave you two alone

A pat on the back and Chuck’s gone Silence

The letter travels its whispering path and lands in front

of Thomas He rips open the envelope

AMANDA (V.O.)

My dearest Joshua I am writing to you for what may be the last time The little hope I’ve been clinging to is gone

CUT TO: EXT STREET—AFTERNOON

Thomas rides down the street between two long

snow banks He notices nothing The world does not exist

AMANDA (V.O.) Once, I could believe that a miracle could fall from the sky But as the season becomes colder, I now know that I can’t stay in a life that doesn’t need me

Amanda’s letter flaps inside the plastic basket.

CUT TO: EXT STREET

We follow a scruffy pair of shoes making tracks down the sidewalk A black bag bounces against his knees

Shouting and police sirens can be heard

CUT TO: EXT STREET

Thomas’s wheels crunch through the cold winter air

CUT TO: EXT STREET

The scruffy pair of shoes, now attached to a scruffy looking man round the corner and SLAM!!! Right into Thomas Police round the corner

The man untangles himself and flees, dropping the black bag on the road Police pound past

Silence Bicycle wheels spinning Thomas reaches over and pulls the bag close to him He slowly unzips it and looks in

CUT TO: EXT SHOP—AFTERNOON

Thomas’s bicycle slides to a stop in front of a small second-hand shop In the window, a Santa suit stands glowing in the cold afternoon light Thomas cuffs the kickstand and dismounts

CUT TO: EXT STREET—CHRISTMAS EVE—LATE AFTERNOON Christmas decorations droop across the street top, smothering the air with Christmas joy Snow pours out

of the sky The faint sound of Booker T & the MGs playing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

Then, out of the snow, barreling down the street is Thomas

His bicycle is decorated like a Mr Magoo version of a

Norman Rockwell Santa sled A plastic Rudolf the

Red-Nosed Reindeer with a glowing cherry red nose is wired

to the front A transistor radio propped up in his basket blares Booker T Thomas sits decked head to waist in the Santa costume from the store window On his legs are

the orange jogging pants from Chuck

The black bag sticks out of his mail sack

Madly, he steers his bike through the snow He cuts

sharp right down the next block

CUT TO: EXT EMPIRE STATE BUILDING—NIGHT

A Salvation Army Santa Claus stands in the cold next to his empty money pot senselessly ringing his bell Thomas buzzes up past him and curbs his bike He steps onto the pavement, grabs the bag and pats Rudolf on the head

THOMAS Don’t go away, I’ll be back in a zip

He approaches the entrance

DARREL (O.S.)

Yo, Santa!

A group of young black kids rouse Thomas from

behind DARREL, the leader of the boys, struts up to

Thomas and pushes him in the back Thomas turns in confusion

DARREL Santa, I’m talking to you

His friends walk up and surround Thomas

DARREL Yeah, I was just wondering if you got any presents

in that bag for me

The boys laugh

THOMAS What?

He pulls a knife from under his jacket

DARREL Let’s get this over with Give me your money

The kids pull in tighter Thomas looks over to the Salvation Army Santa and back to the kid

DARREL Come on, man I don’t need this crap tonight

THOMAS Can I ask you a question?

Darrel’s thrown back by his sincerity

DARREL (looking around to his boys)

A fuckin’ crazy man

(back to Thomas) Yeah, OK What?

THOMAS You ever believe in Santa Claus?

All the boys laugh

THOMAS

As a kid?

DARREL

I don’t believe in no fairy tales, and I sure as hell never expected no handouts I got schooled pretty quick that what you take is what you get So to answer your question, I never had a chance to believe in no Santi Claus

THOMAS I’m sorry

DARREL Yeah, so am I

Thomas grabs a couple hundred dollars from his pouch

THOMAS (dropping the bills into Darrel’s open hands) That’s all I can give you

Thomas disappears into the Empire State Building As he trails off down the hallway, satchel in hand, the camera PANS UP to the top of the Empire State Building

DISSOLVE TO: INT AMANDA’S HOUSE—NIGHT

CLOSE-UP on a framed postcard of King Kong scaling

the side of the Empire State Building SCREAMS and

HOWLS blare from off-screen The camera DOLLIES

OVER to Amanda, who stands at the kitchen sink, plate

in hand, carefully listening to an old transistor radio

which rests on the window sill A NEWS CASTER

continues:

NEWSCASTER (O.S.) The police don’t seem to know what to do Nothing like this has ever happened on Christmas Eve EXT AMANDA’S HOUSE

Thomas sits on his bike across the street watching

Amanda through the window A pile of Amanda’s letters neatly tied under a red velvet bow sits in his basket

Thomas straightens his eyebrows and readjusts his

beard

THOMAS Hello, my name is Thomas Fupper I know you don’t know me, but I (he inhales deeply) I am

in love with you

He grabs the letters and dismounts his bike Swiping his hand along Rudolf’s body, he gives him a quick pat on

the head and moves toward the house

EXT AMANDA’S FRONT WALK Long strides Slowing as they approach the door Smooth yellow paint surrounds the buzzer Thomas’s long bony finger reaches in He pauses Moving closer, now shaking The door bell shrieks He beckons the dreaded buzzer

THOMAS Hello, my name is Thomas From inside he hears the VOICE OF THE NEWSCASTER INSERT RADIO:

NEWSCASTER (O.S.) The riots started shortly after a man apparently dressed

as Santa Claus threw approximately forty thousand dollars off of the top of the building

CUT BACK TO: The voice trails off LOUD SCREAMS AND POLICE

SIRENS are heard from inside the transmitted world

Thomas stands stunned

Fire Howling sirens It can’t be real

He falters back, unable to comprehend the repercussions

of his actions Suddenly the door opens Thomas jumps and drops the letters They tumble and spill across the front steps He glances down at the letters and back to Amanda, who quickly recognizes them as hers

Embarrassment contorts in her saddened eyes

THOMAS

I, I

He slowly backs away as Amanda looks down at the letters

THOMAS (continuing to back up)

I I’m sorry

He turns and bolts right into his bike, causing it to come crashing down with him He stumbles to his feet and takes off down the block