Tài liệu Writing the short film 3th - Part 40 pdf

Little Anna and little Meryl toiled in the King’s dungeon.. Meryl places the bowl of soup in front of Anna.. Anna leans up, looks at the soup, then looks at Meryl.. Meryl shakes her agai

7 EXT DIRT ROAD ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST—DAY

A man pulls his GOAT down a muddied path WE SEE THREE LARGE KNIGHTS DRESSED IN BLACK RIDE UP

ON HORSEBACK They stop when they reach the peasant The knight closest to the old man points at the man’s hands, which are covered by gloves The man, who is very humble, takes off the gloves revealing that he has black fingernails He looks up at the dark knight with humility A flash of terror registers on the man’s face

TIGHT ON THE DARK KNIGHT WE SEE A CLOSE-UP OF A SWORD AS IT GOES UP CLOSE-UP ON THE BULL AS WE HEAR THE SOUND OF THE SWORD CRASH DOWN

8 EXT FOREST—DAY The sunbeams seep through the green leaves and fall upon the forest WE CAN SEE A WOMAN IN A COLORFUL DRESS WALK THROUGH THE FOREST She is Rachel (25 years old) Rachel is carrying two buckets of water attached to a yoke that goes across her shoulders Though

it appears to be spring, she is wearing gloves SHE IS HUMMING VERY SOFTLY WE HEAR IN THE DISTANCE A MAN SCREAMING, SOUNDS WE CANNOT MAKE OUT, AND CHILDREN SCREAMING SHE QUICKLY MOVES THROUGH THE FOREST She is frightened She comes upon a small fairy-tale house with a thin stream of smoke rising from its chimney Through the clearing mist WE SEE ANNA AND MERYL COME RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE WE SEE THEY ARE THE SAME GIRLS EXCEPT THEY ARE DRESSED IN FAIRY-TALE CLOTHING Both girls wear mittens They are screaming and take refuge in their mother’s skirt Rachel looks up and sees a man with a scary mask running out of the house For a moment, the mask is threatening and ominous, then we realize it

is play This is ADAM (30 years old) He is hunched over pretending to be an animal He studies Rachel carefully and pulls off his mask The two girls peek out at them

RACHEL Adam you frightened me

ADAM

I didn’t mean to, Rachel

RACHEL (to Anna)

Anna Meryl, please gather the eggs

We follow Anna and Meryl as they walk beside the

house where the chicken nests are Anna reaches in

and pulls out several eggs; they are a deep shade of

blue Meryl reaches in and gets another blue egg

WE HEAR THE SOUNDS GETTING LOUDER FROM

RACHEL AND ADAM, THOUGH WE CAN’T MAKE

OUT WHAT THEY’RE SAYING Meryl and Anna peer

back at them The children are scared We are not

sure why Adam walks over to the children Adam

smiles; he bends down to their eye level He places his finger over his mouth with a motion to shhh them

With their attention he takes off his gloves WE SEE

HE HAS BLACK FINGERNAILS HE REACHES BEHIND ANNA S EAR AND PULLS OUT A TOY THE TWO GIRLS LAUGH WE HEAR THE SUDDEN THUNDER OF HORSES TIGHT ON THE EGGS FALLING ON THE GROUND TIGHT

ON ADAM REACHING FOR HIS GLOVES Adam reaches for his ax RACHEL LOOKS CONFUSED Rachel and

Adam look around at the empty forest The children

look at their parents The sound disappears

9 EXT S0MEWHERE IN THE FOREST—DAY

Meryl is sitting with her doll across from her

MERYL (in a motherly tone) You must wear your mittens and you mustn’t talk

to anyone

(in a baby voice) But I don’t want to wear my mittens!

(in a motherly tone) You must! You have black fingernails

She puts the little mittens onto the doll’s hands Anna

jumps out, grabs the doll, and holds a stick like a sword

at Meryl

ANNA What do we have here? She doesn’t want to wear her mittens? Well, don’t believe the King would like that!

(to Meryl) You can’t be trusted!

(in baby voice) Kill her at once Anna takes the doll and runs off with it Meryl follows

in fast pursuit WE FOLLOW AS THEY DASH THROUGH THE WOODS THE CAMERA FOLLOWS THEM AS THEY DART THROUGH THE LEAVES AND BRANCHES Meryl almost catches up, only to fall Anna gains some distance; once again, Meryl gains on her Meryl stops to catch her breath and loses sight of Anna, then catches sight of her dress Off she runs

10 EXT S0MEWHERE IN THE FOREST—DAY Meryl is out of breath Anna is still in the lead, staggering ahead They approach a group of five children

at play They have not seen other children in a long time They stand statuesque for a moment and then are lured in by the children’s game

11 EXT THE SHACK—DAY Rachel is taking down the linens The sound of children laughing is in the background WE HEAR THE

CLANGING IN THE WIND OF A BELL Rachel looks up

TIGHT ON RACHEL HER STARE GOES FROM CALM TO HORROR

12 EXT S0MEWHERE IN THE FOREST—DAY They are playing King of the Mountain The sun slightly begins to set As Meryl is about to reach the top, WE FAINTLY HEAR THE SOUNDS OF HORSES The children continue to play The children stop playing They look up

at MERYL and stare in terror THREE DARK KNIGHTS ARE ON HORSEBACK BEHIND MERYL The children look down at ANNA’s hands and back away

Adam comes upon the house He sees the ramshackle

remains of the shack The windows of the house have all been smashed Rachel is nowhere to be seen He shakes his head in denial Adam frantically calls out Rachel’s

name WE HEAR EVER SO FAINTLY THE SOUNDS OF

HORSES He screams for Anna and Meryl

14 EXT CASTLE ON AN ISLAND—DUSK

NIVY (V.O.) The Evil King did not destroy all his subjects; for some he had other plans

The castle is dark and sinister The sunset ripples off the water

15 INT DUNGEON

Anna and Meryl are now dressed only in flimsy burlap uniforms and clogs WE SEE A DEEP SPACE WITH ONLY

A HINT OF LIGHT COMING FROM A TINY CRACK WAY

UP ABOVE As they walk into the dungeon, the sounds

of moaning are present Anna and Meryl are bothered

by the foul odor Other prisoners walk past the girls

Anna and Meryl almost get separated, but cling to each other

MERYL (whispering)

Anna, why are we here? Is it because we’re bad?

Anna motions to Meryl to be quiet Anna takes Meryl’s hand and holds it

16 INT DUNGEON ENTRANCE TO WORKERS’ ROOM

Anna and Meryl stand next to each other in a line WE HEAR THE BELL SOUND Girls are to either side of the little girls

MERYL

I like sugar and I like strawberries

I like rainbows and I like chocolate

MERYL

I like ponies and

A light from a doorway flashes a crimson glow on the girls

MERYL

I like snowmen and I like unicorns

ANNA and

DISSOLVE:

17 INT DUNGEON WORKER ROOM

NIVY (V.O.) Little Anna and little Meryl toiled in the King’s dungeon The days grew into nights, the nights into weeks

A red glow flickers in the room A small girl comes towards the camera She has a shovel in hand; her face

is covered with sweat She lifts the shovel and dumps the coal in towards the camera Anna comes up and does the same thing Meryl walks up and dumps the coal in towards the camera Another little girl follows in the same motion A bell sounds, everyone leaves frame

18 INT DUNGEON

NIVY (V.O.) That night the King’s guard entered the dungeon

WE PULL BACK AND SEE THAT TIME HAS PASSED

ANNA AND MERYL HAVE RATTED HAIR, PALE SKIN, SUNKEN EYES, AND ARE MUCH THINNER A tall man in black enters

(in NIVY’s voice) Anyone who will work all night to dig ditches will receive a bowl of soup

Meryl looks at Anna who looks frail and weak Meryl

goes with the man Anna slumps back

NIVY (V.O.) Only Meryl had the strength

SLOW DISSOLVE:

19 INT DUNGEON

Anna lays with her eyes closed, and the camera slowly rises above her

20 INT DUNGE0N—UNKN0WN

Meryl is covered in mud She staggers in, carrying a tin bowl of soup She is so exhausted that she can barely

make it to Anna Anna appears even paler than when

Meryl left her Meryl places the bowl of soup in front of Anna She shakes Anna several times to wake her up

Anna leans up, looks at the soup, then looks at Meryl

Anna lies back down Meryl shakes her again; Anna

doesn’t get up

Meryl hands Anna a spoon Anna dips her spoon in and Meryl dips hers in Anna brings her spoon to her lips

and, just before she puts it in her mouth, ever so

carefully spills the soup back into the bowl so Meryl

doesn’t see

Meryl brings her spoon to her lips and, just before she puts it in her mouth, ever so carefully, so Anna doesn’t see, spills her soup back into the bowl

Again Anna dips her spoon into the soup and again she carefully spills it back into the bowl Again Meryl dips

her spoon into the bowl and again she too spills it back into the bowl This continues again and again; the spoon drops the soup back into the bowl The soup’s level in

the bowl stays the same

Meryl stares at Anna and sees what she is doing Meryl smiles Anna sees that she has been found out Meryl

dips her spoon in and places it at Anna’s lips Anna

opens her mouth and eats the soup Anna then dips her spoon and feeds Meryl Meryl and Anna feed each other until there is no more soup

MERYL (V.O.) (impatiently)

So, what happened to them?

21 INT LIVING ROOM—DUSK THEY ARE SILHOUETTED BY THE FIRE Meryl and Anna are moved Anna stares at her fingertips, then looks at Meryl who is staring back at her

NIVY Many say that it was that simple little bowl of soup that saved Meryl and Anna But I say it was also their hope For the Evil King that had caused

so much misery was overthrown And the dark and sad dungeons were open and people with black fingernails no longer had to cover their hands

MERYL Grandma, that sounds like a real story Just like a movie

Meryl gets up and hugs Nivy Anna hugs them both

ANNA Grandma, where did you hear that story?

Nivy leans back to turn off the reading lamp behind her The light is on long enough to reveal the numbers that are tattooed into her arm

NIVY That’s another story THE LIGHT IS SWITCHED OFF—FADE TO BLACK ROLL CREDITS

THE END