Script
The Portal
Written by Jessica Carter
SCENE ONE: THE MYSTICAL WORLD (COLOUR)
EXT. MONSTER
This scene opens
with an establishing shot of the village. At this time of year, the snow falls
over the mountains which is home to the village community. They live in
broken-down wooden cabins that creak when the wind blows. The moonlight
glistens along the mountains as the snow slowly falls; the snow covers the ground
leaving a print over the mountains and the roof tops of the cabins as the temperature
drops causing it freezes over.
A neon glow slowly coats
the surface of the town as thundering footsteps echo throughout. The camera
pans in as the MONSTER approaches through the mountains. A CLOSE-UP of the
monster as it roars ready to attack.
The camera pans in
on the MONSTER as it locks eyes with its target: BLUE (THE BOY).
BLUE starts to
sprint towards the dark woods where the trees are crooked and barely any light
lays. As the MONSTER continues to chase BLUE through the village, BLUE finds a
tree to rest behind. BLUE is panting as the camera starts to fade into the
FLASHBACK.
SCENE TWO: REALITY WORLD (BLACK AND WHITE)
A car stops abruptly
outside a worn-down house. GRANDMA’S old-fashioned house is the only place on
the street surrounded by crooked fencing, round windows that are broken with old
wooden shutters on each side, and a large wooden door with steel panels across
the entrance. A dead tree hangs outside of the house with no sign of life
attached to it.
(DOORBELL SOUND)
INT. GRANDMA’S HOUSE
The door creaks open
as GRANDMA is standing behind the door. GRANDMA invites BLUE in with the motion
of her hand and a peculiar smile and as he is left alone to explore the house.
The camera pans to a montage of BLUE looking for things to do all summer until
he tires from boredom.
BLUE is sitting up
against a wall when a bright light shines behind the basement door across the
room. Feeling curious, BlUE follows the light down to the dingy basement stairs
until he gets to the bottom. A CLOSE-UP shot shows the shocked emotion on
BLUE’S face as the camera pans around to the basement wall. Along the basement
wall are six coloured doors: RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, YELLOW, AND PURPLE.
SCENE THREE: MAKING IT HOME (COLOUR)
EXT. MONSTER
The FLASHBACK ends
as the MONSTER approaches BLUE from his hiding space. Out of the corner of his
eye, BLUE sees the door through the trees. The MONSTER roars out as BlUE runs
towards the door for safety. Running in and out of the trees as the camera pans
to a LONG SHOT, the MONSTER continues to chase BLUE as the trees fall down and
the village is left destroyed and burning down.
SCENE FOUR: MAKING IT HOME (COLOUR TO BLACK AND WHITE)
INT. GRANDMA’S HOUSE
As BLUE reaches the
door, he falls through with a thump and slams the door shut behind him. After
BLUE has brushed the dirt off of his clothes, he leaves the basement. One of
the doors is seen opening and the camera fades to black as the MONSTERS arms start
to crawl out of the doorway.
This is the first draft of my script for the short animation that I will be creating in response to the extended practice module. The title for the short story is going to be called, 'The Portal'. The story leads with the idea of two worlds in which the little boy travels to from a portal. The portal for the little boy is going to be the five doors that he finds in his mysterious grandma's basement during a boring summer. After discussing the original idea with my peers in my class, the feedback I received was that there needed to be a clear connection between the little boys character and the monster. By showing a link between these two characters will explore the idea around why the monster is chasing the little boy out of the mystical world in the first place.
After receiving this feedback I decided to act upon it and change small details within the script. When the flashback starts this will show the main character travelling to his grandmas house in the car. In his hands will be a toy robot. When the montage begins, it shows the boy struggling to entertain himself in grandma's house. The toy robot will be shown throughout the boy's time in the house and within the mystical world. When the basement is found, and the boy is intrigued by the idea of what is behind each door and starts to explore what the reason is for is Grandma having them in her basement. The camera will then pan back into the mystical world and the monster chasing the boy will be recognised as the toy robot he has back in the reality world. However, in the mystical world the toy robot is not small anymore and towers over Blue.
