These are sketches for a narrative which I would like to create in the form of a short film.
As I've worked on my project, I have found myself feeling that it is running away from me a little, and so I wish to reign it in by keeping the subject matter more personal and more focused. My idea of creating multiple dwellings and creating a vast cityscape started to feel a little overwhelming and I became worried that it was more of great sociological study and less concerned about people as individuals.
Reflecting on my practice and my working methods, I realised that I become more enthusiastic about personal stories, and about the plight of individuals. I am still intent on investigating the subject of urban living of the future, but I prefer to focus it through small, particular situations and events.
This is why my project has changed direction. Looking back on my notes has led me to writing a script for a short film. It is about a man who increasingly isolates himself from the world into ever decreasing spaces, while still attempting to live a normal life and have a relationship. The sketches and scenario are below.
Short Film
ECU of an electric screwdriver screwing into a wall.
CU of man’s face as he concentrates, finishes, and steps back. A light from above shines on his face
and he looks up.
CU from below looking up of a small square skylight. We can see the moon. Snow begins to fall.
MS. The man stands in a tiny room which becomes darker as the snow settles on the skylight above,
blocking the only source of light. He immediately reaches down to a lamp and turns it on, then sits
down in a small armchair wedged in the corner of the room. He picks up a book from a table by his
arm and begins to read.
Camera pans across and around room 360degrees, revealing possessions on tables/shelves: books,
crockery, bedlinen, radio, pictures, writing materials etc. We notice that the only door has been
permanently boarded up.
CU of the bulb in the lamp fizzing out.
CU of man’s face, very dimly lit by whatever moonlight can still make it through the skylight.
Fade out.
Fade in.
CU of man’s face, lit by warm light. He moves towards camera and out of focus.
MS through doorway of apartment. Man moves past, along corridor. He is sitting in a large box on
wheels with only his head visible from the top. He moves out of shot. There is the sound of electric
wheels and cogs turning. He reappears, and waits in kitchen doorway looking in.
CU of toaster.
ECU of man’s hand, inside box, moving a switch.
CU of toast popping out of the toaster.
CU of the man smiling. His eyes look across.
CU of the hob, a coffee pot on one of the electric rings. Camera pans across to the knob, which turns
by itself.
Cut to CU of man’s face looking straight on as he munches (presumably toast). He finishes, and his
eyes look sideways. A woman’s hand, holding a napkin, appears and dabs his chin.
CU of his hand inside the box as he flicks some other switches.
Ms. We can see that the woman’s hand is in fact a fake hand, attached to retractable device, like
that of a shaving mirror but much longer, which moves the hand back into a hole in the wall, which
is then covered by a painting.
Fade to black.
Fade in.
LS of a park. The man, still in his box with wheels, moves clumsily down a path.
MS. Man facing camera. He stops as he sees something.
CU of a woman looking at him, her head protruding from a similar box.
MS. We see the whole of the box the woman is in.
CU of the man’s face. He looks a little embarrassed, nervous. He looks as if he is about to smile.
Cut to black.
Fade in.
CU. Man’s face. He is lying down. Shot from above. He is on some kind of bed but there is a wall
directly on either side. He turns his head to one side. The wall he faces has a round attachment with
holes and looks a bit like a speaker. He hesitates.
ECU. He whispers ‘I love you’. We don’t hear him, but we can read his lips clearly.
CU. Camera shooting down from above pans across ‘through’ the wall and along wires and cables,
sparks, switches, electrical noises etc into darkness. It then fades into a ‘speaker’ in another wall.
CU of speaker. A robotic voice says ‘I love you’.
The camera pulls out to reveal the woman, also lying down in a tiny space. She turns her head away
from the speaker and smiles.
MS (from above) The man lying in the narrow confined space. He finishes eating something, staring
ahead absent-mindedly. He picks up a glass of water next to him.
MS from the side. We realise the space he is in is like a tunnel. He moves his head up as much as he
can to take a sip of water. Puts it down. Switches off the light.
He then shuffles himself along in the direction of his feet until his whole body slides downwards into
another equally confined space. Here he reaches for a blanket, all the time remaining lying down,
and covers himself, ready to sleep. He moves himself a little to get comfortable, before reaching for
a cord and turning off the light.
Black.
The End.
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