Stephanie Pegg (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} stephanie_pegg) wrote,@ 2006-03-09 16:58:00 |
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My One Attempt At Script Writing
Lonely Is Never Having To Say You’re Sorry
© Stephanie Pegg, November 2004
INT: Kitchen
A fairly typical Auckland flat. BEN is in the kitchen cooking his dinner. He is sloppily dressed in jeans and a holey jersey, but moves very precisely. As he opens cupboards and the fridge, we can see that they’re divided into four sections: one is empty barring a few stray crumbs, one is neatly stacked with a wide range of food and a seemingly unlimited variety of tea (Ben’s), another is full of health/vegetarian foods and is very untidy, the last mostly holds quick and easy snacks like 2 minute noodles and condiments like tomato sauce.
It is dark outside, and raining.
The phone starts ringing. Ben is putting down pots about to answer it when the bathroom door opens in a cloud of steam and DAVE comes out. He is damp, healthy and athletic, clutching a towel that barely covers his nether regions. He walks into the living room to answer the phone.
INT: Living Room
Immaculate but sparse. This room lets on to several closed doors. There is a couch, a table and chairs, and some prints on the walls that no-one really likes. Against one wall is a phone with a long cord sitting on a pile of phone books, on the table is a cardboard box. Dave walks in and grabs the phone, hitching up his towel as he does so.
DAVE: Hello? Dave here.
He walks over to one door and bangs on it.
DAVE: Nup. She’s out. … Didn’t say.
He scribbles a note, sticks it on one of the doors, hangs up the phone and walks into his room, shutting the door behind him.
EXT: Front of the house. It’s still raining, a light drizzle.
Dave walks out, smartly dressed and fragrant, out for a night on the town. He passes MEGAN who is coming home from work. They vaguely wave at each other, but do not speak.
INT: Back in the kitchen.
Megan has picked up the phone and is talking to someone while she makes herself something to eat. She is flamboyantly dressed, tired, eccentric, and brittle. While she speaks she dodges around Ben who is now washing his dishes. They avoid each other without really having to look – this is a dance they’ve done many times before.
MEGAN: Well, fine then. … No, I don’t see why - … Alright, just let me know how it turns out, OK?
INT: Living Room
She dissapears into her room, taking her plate of food with her. Ben walks into the living room, sits down at the table and reaches into the cardboard box.
INT: Living Room
It is now daylight, but still raining. Megan is curled up on the couch, staring out of the window. She is dressed differently, but looks as if she hasn’t slept well. When the phone rings she rushes to grab it, just missing. Ben happened to get there first.
BEN: Yeah, that’s us. … Yep, a hundred a week. … It’s pretty cool, we mostly stay out of each other’s way, really. … Non-smoking. … Nah, it’s easier to get our own food. Different schedules, y’know? Come around next Monday?
He puts the phone down; it promptly rings again. He listens for a moment, then hands it to Megan. She doesn’t look happy.
INT: Living Room, at night. (Yes, it’s still raining. Bloody Auckland weather.)
The camera is focused on the wisp of steam coming out of an old cracked teapot sitting on a tray on the table. Slowly it refocuses on Ben’s face – he is sitting with his arms crossed on the table and is fascinated by the steam. We can hear the muffled sound of a rugby game and people cheering. The doorbell rings, a door opens and the rugby game gets louder, briefly. Off-camera, we can hear Dave answering the door, collecting pizza and taking it back into his room. Ben stares at the steam throughout. Still off-camera, the front door opens again. The camera swivels around to show Megan clattering in.
MEGAN: Ben. Any messages?
Ben shakes his head and she dissapears into her room.
EXT: Front of the house, at night.
It isn’t raining right now, but it has been recently, the streets are gleaming. In an extended continuous shot, the camera shows Megan’s point of view as she walks along the street and inside the house. Dave is standing in the doorway spooning with his girlfriend KAREN. They stand aside to let Megan in, she walks into the …
INT: Living Room
Ben is sitting at the table. Strewn across the table are the contents of his box: a scale model of a space shuttle which he is painstakingly gluing together. As the phone rings he looks at Megan questioningly. She picks it up and leans against the wall, mostly listening. Throughout this conversation, the camera shows both Ben and Megan. He is engrossed with his model, she is trying not very successfully to keep her face expressionless.
MEGAN: Uh-huh. … What time? … I understand. … Yes, I’ll be there.
She hangs up and slowly slides down the wall until she is sitting cross-legged on the ground. The phone rings again. After a couple of rings she sighs and picks it up.
MEGAN: Oh, hi, Joanna. … No, can it wait until later? … I’m sorry, I just can’t talk right now. … Yes, I’m fine. … Everything’s fine.
She hangs up, leafs through the phone book, then dials another number.
MEGAN: Hello? Yes, I need to book a flight to Wellington. … Tomorrow. 10 o’clock is fine. … Megan Harris. H-A-R-R-I-S. … Yes, that’s right. Thank you.
She gets up and walks into her room. Ben watches her go, wondering if he should say something.
INT: Megan’s Room
Her room is gloriously untidy and full of splashes of bright colour. The walls are covered with posters, photos, paintings, postcards, cartoons, poetry, souvenirs, you name it, she’s got it. Among other things, she has a taste for Impressionist art. Visible on the walls are paintings by Degas: “New Orleans Cotton Company”, “Rene de Gas” and the “Belleli Family”; Manet: “Bar at the Folies Bergere” and Caillebotte: “Family Dinner”. Megan stands for a long moment with her back to the camera looking at the pictures on her walls. Eventually, she runs her hands through her hair and turns to close the door. The last glimpse of her face shows her still trying not to cry.
INT: Living Room
Ben is still watching Megan’s door. He gets up.
CUT TO: He knocks on her door, then walks away. She opens it, is surprised that no-one is there, then looks down. Despite herself she smiles. On the floor is a tray with a steaming cup of tea and a plate of chocolate biscuits arranged as a flower.
EXT: The front of the house.
It’s finally sunny. The front of the house is washed in golden, happy, cheerful light. Ben and Dave are sitting outside the front door, sharing a six pack of beer.
DAVE: Did you hear Meg’s news?
Ben nods.
DAVE: Bloody hell.
The front door opens. Megan comes out dragging a battered suitcase; a taxi has arrived on the street. She nods briefly to the other two and has walked halfway out to the taxi, when Dave calls out to her.
DAVE: Take care.
Meg stops, then walks back. She kisses Ben on the cheek and ruffles Dave’s hair.
MEGAN: You too.
She walks away.
THE END.
Dedicated tomashugenah, who right now seems to be preoccupied by ideas of loneliness and dissociation.
Lonely Is Never Having To Say You’re Sorry
© Stephanie Pegg, November 2004
INT: Kitchen
A fairly typical Auckland flat. BEN is in the kitchen cooking his dinner. He is sloppily dressed in jeans and a holey jersey, but moves very precisely. As he opens cupboards and the fridge, we can see that they’re divided into four sections: one is empty barring a few stray crumbs, one is neatly stacked with a wide range of food and a seemingly unlimited variety of tea (Ben’s), another is full of health/vegetarian foods and is very untidy, the last mostly holds quick and easy snacks like 2 minute noodles and condiments like tomato sauce.
It is dark outside, and raining.
The phone starts ringing. Ben is putting down pots about to answer it when the bathroom door opens in a cloud of steam and DAVE comes out. He is damp, healthy and athletic, clutching a towel that barely covers his nether regions. He walks into the living room to answer the phone.
INT: Living Room
Immaculate but sparse. This room lets on to several closed doors. There is a couch, a table and chairs, and some prints on the walls that no-one really likes. Against one wall is a phone with a long cord sitting on a pile of phone books, on the table is a cardboard box. Dave walks in and grabs the phone, hitching up his towel as he does so.
DAVE: Hello? Dave here.
He walks over to one door and bangs on it.
DAVE: Nup. She’s out. … Didn’t say.
He scribbles a note, sticks it on one of the doors, hangs up the phone and walks into his room, shutting the door behind him.
EXT: Front of the house. It’s still raining, a light drizzle.
Dave walks out, smartly dressed and fragrant, out for a night on the town. He passes MEGAN who is coming home from work. They vaguely wave at each other, but do not speak.
INT: Back in the kitchen.
Megan has picked up the phone and is talking to someone while she makes herself something to eat. She is flamboyantly dressed, tired, eccentric, and brittle. While she speaks she dodges around Ben who is now washing his dishes. They avoid each other without really having to look – this is a dance they’ve done many times before.
MEGAN: Well, fine then. … No, I don’t see why - … Alright, just let me know how it turns out, OK?
INT: Living Room
She dissapears into her room, taking her plate of food with her. Ben walks into the living room, sits down at the table and reaches into the cardboard box.
INT: Living Room
It is now daylight, but still raining. Megan is curled up on the couch, staring out of the window. She is dressed differently, but looks as if she hasn’t slept well. When the phone rings she rushes to grab it, just missing. Ben happened to get there first.
BEN: Yeah, that’s us. … Yep, a hundred a week. … It’s pretty cool, we mostly stay out of each other’s way, really. … Non-smoking. … Nah, it’s easier to get our own food. Different schedules, y’know? Come around next Monday?
He puts the phone down; it promptly rings again. He listens for a moment, then hands it to Megan. She doesn’t look happy.
INT: Living Room, at night. (Yes, it’s still raining. Bloody Auckland weather.)
The camera is focused on the wisp of steam coming out of an old cracked teapot sitting on a tray on the table. Slowly it refocuses on Ben’s face – he is sitting with his arms crossed on the table and is fascinated by the steam. We can hear the muffled sound of a rugby game and people cheering. The doorbell rings, a door opens and the rugby game gets louder, briefly. Off-camera, we can hear Dave answering the door, collecting pizza and taking it back into his room. Ben stares at the steam throughout. Still off-camera, the front door opens again. The camera swivels around to show Megan clattering in.
MEGAN: Ben. Any messages?
Ben shakes his head and she dissapears into her room.
EXT: Front of the house, at night.
It isn’t raining right now, but it has been recently, the streets are gleaming. In an extended continuous shot, the camera shows Megan’s point of view as she walks along the street and inside the house. Dave is standing in the doorway spooning with his girlfriend KAREN. They stand aside to let Megan in, she walks into the …
INT: Living Room
Ben is sitting at the table. Strewn across the table are the contents of his box: a scale model of a space shuttle which he is painstakingly gluing together. As the phone rings he looks at Megan questioningly. She picks it up and leans against the wall, mostly listening. Throughout this conversation, the camera shows both Ben and Megan. He is engrossed with his model, she is trying not very successfully to keep her face expressionless.
MEGAN: Uh-huh. … What time? … I understand. … Yes, I’ll be there.
She hangs up and slowly slides down the wall until she is sitting cross-legged on the ground. The phone rings again. After a couple of rings she sighs and picks it up.
MEGAN: Oh, hi, Joanna. … No, can it wait until later? … I’m sorry, I just can’t talk right now. … Yes, I’m fine. … Everything’s fine.
She hangs up, leafs through the phone book, then dials another number.
MEGAN: Hello? Yes, I need to book a flight to Wellington. … Tomorrow. 10 o’clock is fine. … Megan Harris. H-A-R-R-I-S. … Yes, that’s right. Thank you.
She gets up and walks into her room. Ben watches her go, wondering if he should say something.
INT: Megan’s Room
Her room is gloriously untidy and full of splashes of bright colour. The walls are covered with posters, photos, paintings, postcards, cartoons, poetry, souvenirs, you name it, she’s got it. Among other things, she has a taste for Impressionist art. Visible on the walls are paintings by Degas: “New Orleans Cotton Company”, “Rene de Gas” and the “Belleli Family”; Manet: “Bar at the Folies Bergere” and Caillebotte: “Family Dinner”. Megan stands for a long moment with her back to the camera looking at the pictures on her walls. Eventually, she runs her hands through her hair and turns to close the door. The last glimpse of her face shows her still trying not to cry.
INT: Living Room
Ben is still watching Megan’s door. He gets up.
CUT TO: He knocks on her door, then walks away. She opens it, is surprised that no-one is there, then looks down. Despite herself she smiles. On the floor is a tray with a steaming cup of tea and a plate of chocolate biscuits arranged as a flower.
EXT: The front of the house.
It’s finally sunny. The front of the house is washed in golden, happy, cheerful light. Ben and Dave are sitting outside the front door, sharing a six pack of beer.
DAVE: Did you hear Meg’s news?
Ben nods.
DAVE: Bloody hell.
The front door opens. Megan comes out dragging a battered suitcase; a taxi has arrived on the street. She nods briefly to the other two and has walked halfway out to the taxi, when Dave calls out to her.
DAVE: Take care.
Meg stops, then walks back. She kisses Ben on the cheek and ruffles Dave’s hair.
MEGAN: You too.
She walks away.
THE END.
Dedicated to
mashugenah, who right now seems to be preoccupied by ideas of loneliness and dissociation.
