Thursday, March 2, 2017

six scenes

Scene 1:

Shot 1:

Ext. a small, isolated bar, located in a seemingly abandoned lot.  Day. 

The camera looks down at the bar from above, as if suspended in the sky. 

A sign reading “Frank’s Bar” hangs over the bar's entrance.  

No people are seen, but sounds of laughter can be heard.  The laughter is slightly muffled, like it might be coming from within the bar.

Shot 2:

Int. bar. Camera looks down a long table.  Room is dark, but daylight comes in through windows.

Four green, old/hoary looking stick figures are seated at the table.  In relation to the camera, two sit on the left side of the table, and two sit on the right.  The stick figures wear casino visors with names embroidered on the crowns (above the brim).  To the left of the camera, going clockwise, the embroidered names read as follows: Buck, Brock, Bill, Buddy.


BUCK
He’s the funniest man alive!


BROCK, BILL, BUDDY
(Laughing.)


BROCK
A comedic genius!


BUCK, BILL, BUDDY
(Laughing.)

BILL
Transcendent levels of hilarity, right here!

BUCK, BROCK, BUDDY
(Laughing.)


BUDDY
I’ve whizzed myself!

BUCK, BROCK, BILL
(Laughing.)



Shot 3:

Camera angle reversed (180 flip).  The other side of table (the end previously not seen) is shown.  A green stick figure is seated.  He wears a casino visor.  Embroidered into the crown of the visor is the name “Carl.”  Carl smiles.

Shot 4:

Camera reverses (180) again.  Buck, Bill, Brock and Buddy are shown.


BUCK, BROCK, BUDDY, BILL
(Still Laughing.)

BUDDY
Tell us another joke, Carl.  Willya?

BUCK, BROCK, BILL
(They start calming down.)

Shot 5:

Camera angle flips again.  Carl grins mischievously.

Shot 6:

Camera flips.  Buck, Brock, Bill, and Buddy stare at Carl anxiously. 

Shot 7:

Camera flips.  Carl. 

CARL
Oh, alright!

Shot 8:

Camera flips.  Brock, Buck, Buddy, and Bill cheer.


Shot 9:

Ext. Frank’s Bar.

CARL
(tells joke --- inaudible)


BROCK, BUCK, BUDDY, BILL
(Start laughing again.)


Camera moves backward/fades away.


Scene 2:

Shot 1 (Similar to Shot 1 in Scene 1): Ext. a small, isolated bar, located in a seemingly abandoned lot.  Day. 

The camera looks down at the bar from above, as if suspended in the sky. 

A sign that says “Hank’s Bar” hangs over the entrance of the bar. 

No people are shown, but sound of someone laughing is heard.  The laughter is slightly muffled, like it might be coming from within the bar.  It’s very deep and resonant laughter.  

Shot 2: Int. of bar. Well lit.  Camera looks out from behind the bar. 

Three old/hoary purple stick figures sit at the counter.  Steins, poker chips, and a deck of cards rest in front of them on the counter.  Behind the three stick figures at the bar, additional old, purple stick figures play poker. 

The three stick figures at the bar all look past and to the left of the camera toward something not shown.  The glow on their faces and the garbled, mechanized sound of voices suggests they’re watching TV. 

The stick figures wear poker visors.  The visors have names embroidered on the crowns.  From left to right, the names read: Harry, Josh, and Haslow.  

HARRY, HASLOW
(Both smile.)

JOSH
(Laughing at television.)


Shot 3: Camera angled the left of the Josh, Haslow and Harry.  The TV is visible now, but what’s on the screen isn’t (hazy whiteness and vague shapes are all that’s seen).  More of the area behind the counter of the bar is show, too.  An old stick figure bartender is behind the counter, cleaning a stein with a dishrag.  He’s purple.  He grins at Josh, Harry, and Haslow, while they watch television.   Some of the stick figures behind Josh, Harry, and Harold who are playing poker are still visible.

BARTENDER
Take it easy, Mr. Josh, or you’ll hurt yourself. 

Shot 4: (Same as shot 2.)  Camera looks out from behind the bar.

JOSH
(Still laughing, but starting to calm down.)

Shot 5: (Same as shot 1.) Ext. of bar Josh’s laughter is no longer heard.  A group of birds has congregated on and around the sign that denotes the name of the bar.  (“Hank’s Bar”)

Shot 6: (Same as shots 2 and 4.)  Shot from behind bar counter.  Josh, Harry, Haslow watch TV.  Harry and Harold look impassive.  Josh smiles vaguely, the remnants of his laughing fit still showing.

BARTENDER (not shown)
Wanna hear a joke, Mr. Josh?

Harry, Haslow, and Josh’s go from looking at the television toward the general direction of the bartender.  Harry and Haslow act as if they’re annoyed with the Bartender’s offer.  They roll their eyes and throw their hands up in mock despair. 

HARRY
Sweet Jesus, please don’t set him off again.

Josh looks excited and he leans across the counter some, as if to hear the joke better.

JOSH
Pay no attention to Harry, Hank.  Let ‘er rip.

(The bartender’s name is apparently Hank.)

Shot 7: (Same as shot 3.)  Camera is to the left of Haslow, Harry, and Josh.  Hank is now shown behind the bar.  He’s still cleaning steins with a dish towel. 

HANK/BARTENDER
Brace yourself, Mr. Josh …

(voice trails off as Shot changes)

Shot 8: (Same as shots 1 and 5.) Ext. of bar.

Birds are still gathered on the sign.  Suddenly, Josh’s deep laughter is heard.  The birds fly away.




Scene 3

Split-screen Montage: Josh is on right side of screen.  Carl is on left side of screen.

Both men do the same thing.  Scene is supposed to show character’s similarities in terms of attitude and living situation.  They’re a little lonely (and alone).

Shot 1: The camera shows each man’s windshield.  It’s dark out.  Carl and Josh drive home from Frank’sBar and Hank’s Bar and listen to their radios.  They both keep changing the stations.  (They’re listening to the same channels.)  The music varies: Rock, Rap, Pop, Soul, Jazz, etc.  Carl and Josh frown as they switch through these genres.  Eventually, laughter and applause replaces the sound of music then a disc jokey announces that an upcoming comedian will be heard momentarily.  Carl and Josh smile.  They stop changing the channels.  They keep driving. 

Shot 2:  The camera shows a portion of the back of each man’s television and both men sitting on their couches.  The only light in the rooms comes from the television screens.  Carl and Josh stare at their television sets.  They both wear pajamas.  The sounds of the TV’s are garbled and inaudible.   They laugh and seem interested in what they watch.  Hanging behind each man, on the wall, are framed pictures.  The vast majority of these pictures show each man with a woman stick figure of corresponding color (green for Carl, purple for Josh).  
 
Shot 3: The camera shows each man’s bedroom and their beds.  Carl and Josh are both reading.  Their beds are large – meant for two people.  Carl and Josh read for a little.  After a while, at the same time, they turn out their lights.  




Scene 4:

Shot 1: The camera shows a crowded and fluorescently lit gymnasium.  The shot is angled down slightly, as though the camera is hanging up on the wall.  A banner that reads “Senior Night: Bingo (latecomers WILL BE BEATEN)” hangs from the ceiling.  At the back of the room, on the wall, is a large clock.  The time is visible.  It is 8 (presumably) p.m.  Below the clock is a door.  Tables are spread around the gym.  Stick figures sit at the tables.  Some stick figures have walkers.  Others have canes.  All are old.  Each table is occupied by different colored stick figures.  (Purple, green, red, blue, etc.)  No different colored stick figures sit with each other.  There is a small, empty table, close to the camera, at the front of the room.  All stick figures wear nametags.

Carl’s friends (Buck, Bill, Brock, and Buddy) are seated together on the left side of the gymnasium.  Josh’s friends (Harry and Haslow) are on the right side of the gymnasium.  Josh and Carl are not present.

Everybody faces the camera.

WOMAN (not shown)
(Announces non-sequential “bingo” numbers in a monotone, nasally voice.)

She does this for almost a minute.

Suddenly, one of the doors under the clock opens. 

Shot 2: Camera is now on opposite side of gymnasium (on side of the two doors/under the large clock) and looks out toward the old bingo players and the woman at the front of the room (she’s on a pulpit).  The crowd of elderly, bingo-playing stick figures turns toward the doors (and, in doing so, turns toward the camera).  Everyone stares at the camera (supposed to be like they’re staring at the person who has just entered). 

Shot 3: Camera cuts to shot of door opener: it’s Carl.

SOMEONE (not shown)
(Coughing fit.)


Shot 4: Same as shot 1.  The camera is at the front of the gymnasium and shows everybody seated at their tables.  The camera shows Carl, too.   He’s still standing by the door, under the clock.

Carl walks to the table his friends are sitting at, realizes there’s not enough room to join them, looks around, sees the table at the front of the gym, shrugs his shoulders, and walks toward it.  His friends wave good-bye as he walks away.  Carl sits down.  Alone. 

The gym is quiet the entire time.  All stick figures watch Carl, until he sits, then, in unison, their heads turn back toward camera/front of gym/pink lady stick figure on pulpit.

WOMAN (still not shown)
(Starts reading “bingo” numbers again.  Her voice sounds even more monotone and nasally than before.)

Carl looks back at his friends, longingly, then down at his bingo card. 

Time passes.

Suddenly, the door under the clock opens again. 

Shot 5: (Same as shot 2.  Everyone’s head swivels toward the camera, under the clock.)

The stick figure lady on the pulpit is heard muttering nasally/monotone obscenities. 

Shot 6: (Same as shot 3.)  Camera cuts to shot of door opener: it’s Josh.

The gymnasium is quiet.  

SOMEONE (not shown)
(Sneezing fit.)

After sneezing fit, gymnasium is quiet again.

Shot 7: (Same as shots 1 and 4.)  The camera is at the front of the room.  Everybody is shown sitting at their respective tables.  Josh walks to the table his friends are sitting at, realizes there’s not enough room, looks around, sees that the only table with room is the one at the front of the gym where Carl is seated, shrugs his shoulders, and walks toward it.  His friends wave good-bye as he walks away.  Josh sits down next to Carl. 

Gym is quiet the whole time Josh does this.  Everyone watched Josh intently/intensely while he moves about the gymnasium.  The moment Josh sits, all heads, in unison, turn back toward camera and the woman (not shown) on the pulpit.

WOMAN
(Clears her throat.  Starts listing “bingo” numbers.  Additional nasal-ness and monotony is manifested in her tone.)

Carl and Josh look at each other.  They look shy/nervous.  They nod to one another then go back to looking at their bingo cards.

Time (for the audience/watcher of movie) speeds up.  This is depicted by the clock in the back of the room spinning quickly and scenes (shot from the same angle) shifting/fading into one another.

Josh and Carl don’t speak to each other the whole time. 

Eventually, time slows returns to normal.

WOMAN (not shown)
Bingo is over.  Go with God. 

Carl and Josh, without acknowledging each other, walk toward their friends. 



Scene 5: (similar to scene 3)

After bingo.

Split-Screen Montage.  (Background music: first minute of Mozart’s Symphony 40.)

Shot 1: Camera shows each man walking home from bingo in the rain.  As they walk, both men look worried.  They’re thinking. 

Dialogue:

VOICEOVER
After bingo, Carl and Josh thought about race.

(In the movie, this is shown by thought bubbles floating above Josh’s head and Carl’s head.  Inside each of the thought bubbles is the word “race,” followed by a question mark.)

Shot 2:

(Still split-screen.)

VOICEOVER
Later, both men started realizing the prevalence of race.

Camera shows back of couches.  Carl and Josh are sitting on the couches and changing the channel.  Their television sets both depict people of various races holding hands.    


(Floating above each stick figure's head is a thought bubble with the following punctuation: “?!”.)

(This scene is meant to show that Carl and Josh are each somewhat resistant/averse to the notion of racial intermingling.)

Shot 3:

(Still split-screen.)

VOICEOVER
Finally, as the day drew to a close, Carl and Josh considered the following question: why do people treat others differently because of colors?

The camera shows Carl and Josh sitting on their beds.  Both men have books out, but the books are face down and on their laps.  They still look worried.  Their bubbles depict segregated races.

VOICEOVER
Neither man came up with an answer.



Scene 6: (similar to scene 1)

(Sometime after Josh and Carl become friends.)

Shot 1: Ext. a small bar (“Frank’s Bar”) located in a seemingly abandoned lot.  Camera looks down from above.  Day.

The sound of people laughing is audible.  Josh’s laughter (deep/resonant) is heard mixed with the others. 

Shot 2: Int. of bar. Camera is positioned at the head of the table (like in Scene 1).  Six stick figures sit at the table.  In relation to the camera, three stick figures sit on the left side of the table, and three sit on the right.  The stick figures are purple and green.  They sit in no particular color-order.  They wear casino visors with names embroidered into the crowns: Buck, Harlow, Buddy, Bill, Harry, and Brock.   

Shot 3: Camera angle reversed (180).  Josh and Carl are seated at the head of the table.  Josh leans on Carl’s shoulder while he laughs, and Carl smiles.

Shot 4: Ext. bar.  Birds have congregated on and around the front of Frank’s Bar (on the sign and on the roof).  The laughing continues.  The birds stay put.


The camera moves back then fades to black. 

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