Tài liệu Writing the short film 3th - Part 48 ppt

As Sheila and Bill approach, Julie moves quickly away from the door of the room to the stairwell of the third floor.. JULIE’s BEDROOM—NIGHT Julie backs into her own bedroom and stands in

SHEILA (shrieking)

Get out of my way

BILL Come back here, come back here

Bill lurches toward her Julie watches the fight from the landing The FIGHT swirls up the stairs AD LIB As Sheila and Bill approach, Julie moves quickly away from the door of the room to the stairwell of the third floor

22 INT JULIE’s BEDROOM—NIGHT Julie backs into her own bedroom and stands in the semidarkness Sheila and Bill can be seen running up the stairs

SOUNDS of Sheila and Bill SCRAMBLING into the master bedroom The door SLAMS shut

SHEILA (O.S.) Stay away from me, don’t touch me!

BILL (O.S.) Put that gun down, put it down

SHEILA (O.S.)

I said stay away from me Sheila SCREAMS

A shotgun BLAST is heard

23 INT DOLL HOUSE—NIGHT The miniature chandelier swings in the doll house and a large armchair is overturned The SOUND of tinkling GLASS

24 INT JULIE’s BEDROOM—NIGHT Julie remains frozen and glazed, clutching the bundle of clothing Her breath rasps slightly as she holds it in

She strains for sound For a few moments SILENCE

pervades the house Finally, a DOOR OPENS and SLAMS shut, BOUNCING OPEN again from the force Sheila lets out a long SIGH

BILL (O.S.)

I can’t believe you

SHEILA (O.S.) You fat ugly thing that I married You’re a piece of shit, you know that You’re a piece of shit

Julie’s eyes blink and shift toward the direction of these sounds

Julie takes a few steps forward and listens as STEPS

bound quickly down the stairs, a dog YELPS in pain

TOM (O.S.) Hey, Bill, what’s going on?

DOOR OPENS and SLAMS shut FOOTSTEPS crunch on

GRAVEL a CAR DOOR OPENS and SLAMS shut, and a

dog BARKS, a car DRIVES away up a long GRAVEL

drive

After several beats, Sheila lets out a LONG SLOW SOB

Julie very slowly lets out her breath in an extended

sigh She moves slowly toward the stairs, stopping first

to place the laundry in her hamper, and then descends

25 INT LANDING/MASTER BEDROOM—NIGHT

Tom’s FOOTSTEPS bound up the stairs; near the top, his pace slows Julie watches from the third floor landing as Tom slowly approaches Sheila’s room Tom enters and

sees Sheila holding the smoking rifle in front of her

TOM Put the gun down, baby, put the gun down, baby

SHEILA Get out of my room Get out of my room Get out

of my room

Tom strides up to her and grabs it out of her hands,

overpowering her with no difficulty He catches her off

balance and hurts her hands

AL (O.S.) Sheila, Tom, what’s going on?

With the rifle in one hand, Tom backs out of the room

Sheila throws an ashtray at him Tom turns and sees Julie behind him

TOM (voice quivering but in command) Everything’s fine go to bed

He pushes past her and hustles down the stairs

Al, hanging back from the scene, stands midway on the stairs

He hangs his eyes on Julie as Tom pushes past

Al pauses a moment staring at Julie, then follows Tom down the stairs

Julie, standing in the open doorway, in embarrassment notices that she is still in her mother’s nightgown and pulls it close around her

TOM (O.S.) C’mon, let’s get out of here Al, c’mon move it

Julie stands silent and contorted, tears filling her eyes, but she does not cry

SHEILA Julie, Julie

Julie turns and walks slowly toward her mother The music box begins to play

26 INT MASTER BEDROOM—NIGHT Julie embraces Sheila and lays her into bed Julie sits quietly on the edge of her mother’s bed, and softly and out of key, she sings her to sleep

DISSOLVE TO:

27 INT DINING ROOM—NIGHT Passata la musica finita la festa The guests have gone home, and this is what remains Wax drips from smoldering candles, the carcasses of the turkeys are

picked bare Bottles and wine glasses are tipped on their sides A broken flower vase spills forth, and the water

makes an incessant drip into a puddle on the floor The fruit has rotted in its bowl

FADE TO BLACK

DEAD LETTERS DON’T DIE (Originally “Thomas Fupper”)

by Anais Granofsky and Michael Swanhaus

BLACK SCREEN White calligraphy text appears on the screen “Once upon a time, just a Christmas ago

INT MAILBOX—DAY Darkness

The creaking of rusty hinges

A rectangle of light creeps open, and the face of AMANDA CARSON appears in the lit frame A French chapeau rests on her flaccid brown hair Hiding behind nervous squirrel-like features are scared, world-weary eyes She glances around, tenderly marks the envelope with a kiss and drops it into what we now discover is a mailbox

The letter lazily floats downwards and lands atop a hill

of waiting letters

CUT TO: EXT DEAD LETTER OFFICE—DAY

A plaque reading “U.S POSTAL SERVICE-DEAD LETTER OFFICE” is bolted to a closed side door

INT DEAD LETTER OFFICE Mountains of jaundiced Santa letters Long-forgotten packages line the aged brick walls The depths of the Dead Letter Office

Christmas cheer hangs limp from every over-packed shelf A pathetic Post Office–issued tree struggles to hold its last two remaining bulbs The camera PANS past discarded presents A snow shaker, two dancers eternally whirling in an afternoon snow storm Lacy red panties A huge rotting teddy bear, two bags resting under its arms

We finally stop on THOMAS FUPPER, a middle-aged postman with a thin, nondescript face He’s intently

reading a weathered copy of Cyrano de Bergerac Beside him sits CHUCK SLATES, the only other worker in this office of lost dreams Chuck reads a Christmas edition of Playboy, while sucking on a Pepsi through a red

twizzler

A loud CRASH echoes throughout the room as the doors are flung open by BOSS, a grossly overweight man with the face of a bulldog He huffs and snorts with the

exertion of carrying two large mail sacks

BOSS Hey pissants! Why don’t you get your hand off your chub and help me out!

Thomas and Chuck grapple with the bags, dragging them

to the sorting table

BOSS (CONT.) Goddamn Santa Claus is gonna give me a bleedin’

hernia!

Boss sits down with a rush of air

BOSS (CONT.) All these kids do today is take Take Take That’s what you get with a world full of backseat produce

When I was a kid, a smack across the head did me just fine Hell, I’d go to the sack with a grin on my face, thinkin’ I’d had a damn good Christmas

CHUCK

I think that’s referred to as child abuse

BOSS It’s more than I get now (He glances over to Thomas.) You talkin’ today Fupper?

Thomas stops his sorting and looks up

THOMAS Sure I am, Boss

BOSS Too bad Get this crap sorted by three

Boss heads back out the door

There’s a CLUNK in the walls Thomas falters in his sorting and looks at the clock It’s four The faint sound of a letter wisping down the chutes

INT CHUTE

A letter tumbles and soars downward in a type of stationery ballet

DEAD LETTER OFFICE Thomas stares at the chute’s opening

CHUCK That her?

THOMAS Yeah

CHUTE Arching and dipping, the letter makes its way toward the dim opening

DEAD LETTER OFFICE Thomas waits Not breathing The letter approaches The far-off sound of a typewriter SWOOSH It soars out of the chute and lands directly in front of him The lipstick kiss marks the letter as Amanda’s Thomas stares

Unable to move

CHUCK

So, what doth the fair maiden have to say this week?

Thomas reaches out and picks up the envelope

Gingerly he tears it open and begins to read His voice blends with Amanda’s and continues over into the next scene