Logline: When a young woman witnesses the impact a terrible accident has had on her loved ones, she is forced to realize what she has lost and finally rest in peace when she decides that her loved one have to move on, too.
We fade into a wide shot of a serene lake and a wide shot of the surrounding trees. We hear some fast footsteps of two people running. There are two people running along a trail bordering the woods and a lake.
Their feet gradually slow to a halt. The guy, Nathan, stops because the young woman, Taylor, is slowing down.
Taylor checks the time on her phone and starts to run away, explaining that she has to go to her sister’s talent show, but the guy tells her to wait as second, reaching his arm out.
They hug each other and Nathan gives the girl a kiss on the cheek. Then Taylor is running toward the street to her car and she pulls out her phone. She starts texting as she runs away, and Nathan starts running again on the trail, away from her.
Taylor is rushing out of the house, shouting behind her to her sister that she’ll be gone all day and that she left some money for food in the kitchen.
The sister, Megan, is in her room with a blank expression on her face. She is looking at a picture of her sister beside a picture of her parents. She takes the picture of her sister and throws it onto the floor.
Taylor stands outside of the house and tries to call Nathan, but he doesn’t answer. She leaves a message about how it’s getting late and she stares at the running shoes on her feet and sighs. She sits on the curb and lies down.
Taylor wakes up to find her little sister sitting on the curb with her backpack not too far away. Her sister takes out a little purse and looks at the few coins in it. Taylor stands up and begins to walk toward her when a hand pulls her away.
She turns around but no one is there. When she turns back to Megan, Nathan approaches and helps Megan up.
They start walking down the sidewalk and Nathan hands Megan a few bucks. Taylor questions why Megan needs money after she left some for her. She starts to follow after them but is pulled leftward toward her house by the mysterious hand.
Taylor regains her balance after being pulled and finds herself on the trail she went running on with Nathan. She spots Nathan alone on the nearby bench with his head in his hands.
He suddenly looks up and turns around to look toward Taylor. Ecstatic at the acknowledgement of her presence, Taylor makes her way toward Nathan, but the hand pulls her to the side to show that the person Nathan was looking at was Megan walking on the trail.
Megan walks slowly toward Nathan as Taylor watches from the side. She sits on the bench beside Nathan. Taylor makes a few steps toward the bench, but is pulled once more by the hand.
As she regains her balance she is standing across the street from an unfamiliar house. Nathan and Megan walk up the pathway toward the front door.
Taylor makes her way across the street, but the hand pulls her back. She turns around but still nothing is there.
The door to the house opens and there is an older couple in the doorway. The female hugs Nathan and Megan, and she smiles and puts her arm around Megan as they walk inside.
Taylor begins to run toward the door to try to catch up to them, but the hand pulls her away as she reaches the door. The door shuts.
Taylor angrily turns around toward the owner of the mysterious hand yelling about how she can’t just let her sister and boyfriend go. Facing her is herself.
The mysterious version of herself walks up to Taylor and puts her hand on her head: A car crash sound is heard, and we see Taylor’s arm on the pavement with traces of blood on it. She is holding her phone.
A half- finished text to be sent to Megan can be seen on the screen that states that Taylor is on her way. Taylor’s “guide” takes her hand off of Taylor. Taylor shows a startled look as she realizes what happened.
Taylor glances behind her at the closed door and then back to herself and nods thoughtfully.
Taylor is on the bench by the trail looking at the text on her phone that she never finished. A hand is put on her shoulder, and we hear a voice saying that it is time to go.
Taylor nods. She disappears to reveal the serene view of the lake.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
"Fade Away"--IB Short Film Treatment
Logline: A young woman’s life comes to an end, but she can’t accept that her relationship with her boyfriend is over, so when she realizes that he is out of her life she can finally accept her death.
The guy says, “I was gonna wait until we got to the marathon, but I thought I’d just get it over with.” So the guy begins to pull out a watch from his pocket, and says, “Happy One Year Anniversary” and gives the watch to her. The girl accepts the gift and smiles with her eyes looking down and her face glowing. After Nathan tells Taylor that he has to go, so they hug each other and Nathan gives the girl a kiss on the cheek, and both go their separate ways. Then Taylor is running to her car as we fade out.
The day arrives for the marathon and Taylor is waiting for Nathan to come pick her up. She tries to call him, but he doesn’t answer. She calls the guy and leaves him a message. “Hi umm. Just another message. I know I’ve sent a billion, but it’s getting late. It’s 9:44 and the marathon starts soon.” The girl sighs and puts the phone down. She stares at her running shoes and heads out of her home toward the street.
The trail empty as the girl, dressed in the running clothes she wore on the day of the marathon, stares ahead. Then it cuts to the girl as a small drip of water going down her cheek. She looks at her watch [9:45], and strokes it, remembering the time it was given to her. She turns around all of a sudden and walks away.
The girl is running by herself in the woods and by the guy’s house in different sets of clothes which each cut. Every time she passes by his house she glances over at the window, with its blinds/curtains shut. This makes Taylor mad and angry trying to figure out what is wrong.
She is in the spot where she remembered being with the guy (opening scene). She stops. There is a flash of that scene and when she returns to the present the guy is standing there in white running clothes. The girl smiles. “Get my messages?” “More or less...Look, I’m really sorry we didn’t get to do the marathon. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop running,, though. Come on [he gestures]...if you can keep up” [he half-smiles] He gestures to her to run with him. She starts to speak but then shuts her mouth and nods in agreement. They begin to run and after a bit she spots a tree and says, “Last one to the tree is a rotten egg!” She runs as fast as she can laughing. We see her from the front and see that the guy is no longer there. She reaches the tree and says as she turns around, “See I told you I could kee-”. She sees him no longer there.
Then she sees him again turning to cross the bridge not far away. The girl is running fast in that direction. She is running but is never able to catch up to him. Then she arrives at the neighborhood, by this time running out of breath yet still persevering as we have a split screen of the guy putting on a shirt, a tie (white), combing his hair.
She knocks on his door frantically and it finally opens. The guy opens the door, dressed in white. “I’ve been waiting for you,” he says half-smiling. “Let’s walk.” She looks at him unsurely and the two walk a short distance and cut to them sitting down on a bench. “You see. Nathan’s gone. You have to let him go, okay? You don’t belong here anymore, Taylor.”
The girl looks at him in confusion and looks at her watch again [9:45] and starts to speak but the guy cuts her off. “This isn’t your world,” Nathan’s subconscious says as the real Nathan, dressed in black, knocks on an unknown door. The door opens to a different girl. “You’ve been gone for months don’t you get it? Let him go. Let me go,” Nathan’s subconscious self explaining to Emily as they sit on the bench. The girl processing everything, then stands up abruptly, unsure of what to do and who the man is. She looks around, and tracking shot of her running back to his house.
The door opens to his room and she walks in slowly and hesitantly, grazing her hand over the walls. She glances over at the dresser to see her watch, and then glances at the watch on her wrist. “But how..?” She stops as she sees a photo-shopped image of her lying near the watch that says Rest In Peace Taylor 1991-2011 with a small heart at the bottom. She takes it and then drops to the floor quietly, staring at the photo. We move away from Taylor to see the subconscious of Nathan coming in.The girl says, “Is he okay?” “I told you. He’s moving on. He’s left this part of himself behind.” Nathan puts his hands on his chest, indicating that this is the subconscious part of himself he left behind. Nathan’s subconscious self reaches his hand out.
“He never forgave himself, you know. Just a minute too late,” he says as we see Nathan with the other girl and they’re walking down the sidewalk. He puts his head in his hands and the girl lays her hand on his back, consoling him. We see a pair of feet in familiar running shoes step out into the street. The sound of a car crash bridges over to Taylor’s shocked face as she suddenly realizes what is going on. Taylor takes his hand, the watch still on her wrist. We see the girl’s bloody arm lying limply on the pavement, the watch on her wrist, 9:45. “It’s time to go now,” Nathan’s subconscious says quietly. He reaches out his hand and as her shaky hand reaches out to it, they fade away to reveal on the wall a photo of her Nathan in their running clothes and holding a trophy.
Our Inspirations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj43wIBwEmw
Supernatural Episode 2.16: “Roadkill”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)