Believe it or not, I actually write more than just technical articles/books. Growing up, I was always writing poetry and short stories. Recently however, I have found a liking to screenplays. First off, let me first say that the screenplays are generally for 3-5 minutes short video vignettes. Most of these are due to me being the drama ministry leader at my church. Just this last week, I wrote a 3 minute screenplay, organized the actors (only 3 of us), shot the film, and then edited it. All in all, I probably spent about 12 hours on it. So, I thought I'd share the screenplay that we used.
After reading it, you may notice a few strange things. First off, there is an evil and good conscience on the main character's shoulder. Yes, we actually did do that. There is even a scene of the evil conscience jumping off the shoulder, running across the table and then being picked up by the main character and placed back on his shoulder. Yes, we did that too. We did a very cheap green screen method using green fabric from a local fabric store. You can see a very rough draft of the first minute and a half. There's no music. The editing is very rough. Basically, the finished version is soooo much better. This little video was just a proof of concept: http://www.schmidt6.com/Anger Management I.wmv. Without further ado, here's the script (oh, and we changed some lines during the filming to make them “a little better”):
FADE IN (OUTSIDE OF HOUSE)
We see a typical suburban home. Minivan in the driveway,
well kept yard and the sounds of children playing in the
neighborhood.
ZOOM IN TO CLOSE UP OF HOUSE AND FADE TO WIDE SHOT OF WINDOW
Although barely discernible, we see someone through the
window sitting at a table.
ZOOM IN TO CLOSE UP OF WINDOW AND FADE TO WIDE SHOT OF
PERSON INSIDE
Now inside, we notice a man sitting at the
table writing something. A letter perhaps? Who knows. One
thing is certain, he is deep in thought.
ZOOM IN TO CLOSE UP SHOT OF MAN
WILLIAM (VO)
...with your constant nagging at me
at every little thing I do. Don’t
you know how much I work for this
family? How hard I try and provide
the good thing’s in life?
Lifts pencil to mouth as if thinking of the next words to
say.Immediately puts the pencil back to the paper and
continues writing.
WILLIAM (VO)
What thanks do I get? Nothing but
"get off the couch and mow the lawn!
Fix the car! Bathe the children!
Put the seat down!". For once, why
can’t you ever thank me for
everything I do for you? Just once!
I’m getting sick and tired of it.
Absolutely sick and...
At this point, in William’s furious writing, the pencil lead
breaks. We see a brief slow motion playback as the lead
breaks off and the pencil tears into the paper. The camera
goes back to William and we start to see a brief glimpse of
anger forming. In a quick flash, William’s evil conscience
takes physical form as we see him/her materialize on
William’s shoulder.
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Oh no! Look what happened! Doesn’t
it always seem to go like this. The
thoughts are hatching. The words
are flowing. And then all of a sudden, just as
Murphey’s Law predicts, something
wrong happens. Doesn’t that just
make you soooooo angry?
Poof! The good conscience takes physical form on William’s
left shoulder.
GOOD CONSCIENCE
Wait a minute! Don’t listen to him.
It’s just a pencil. Sure you may
have torn your letter a little, but
it’s nothing to get upset about.
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Oh no you don’t! This is a
perfectly legitimate reason to get
angry. You’re just jealous.
GOOD CONSCIENCE
Jealous? Are you kidding me? You
think that just because he listens
to you more that you do a better
job. If it weren’t for me, he’d
probably be in jail right now.
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Take your goody-two shoes face out
of here. We don’t need your help.
We can manage just fine without you.
If you don’t...that does it, you’re
out of here.
Evil conscience jumps down off of William’s shoulder and
starts running towards the good conscience.
GOOD CONSCIENCE
You can’t make him get angry at
everything!
EVIL CONSCIENCE
It’s a dog-eat-dog world. He has to
get angry! Fight or flight? HA! You
have to fight! Flight is for the weak!
WILLIAM
WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT A MINUTE! STOP!
They both stop talking. William grabs evil conscience by the
back of the shirt and places him back on his shoulder.
WILLIAM
Can someone please explain to me
what’s going on? Who are you?
EVIL CONSCIENCE
I sir am your conscience of thought
and reasoning.
GOOD CONSCIENCE
He’s lying! I am your good
conscience and that
other...thing...is your evil
conscience.
WILLIAM
Look. I don’t have time to go crazy
right now. I’m in a very difficult
crisis right now.
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Which is all the more reason to
get angry! You broke your pencil.
Doesn’t that make you angry!
GOOD CONSCIENCE
NO! Don’t listen to him. Just get
up...
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Angry!
GOOD CONSCIENCE
...and sharpen it. It’s just a...
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Angry! Angry!
GOOD CONSCIENCE
...minor setback. Look, you have a
whole...
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Angry! Angry! Angry! Look at
me...I’m William...I’m ANGRY!
GOOD CONSCIENCE
bunch of pencils in your office.
EVIL CONSCIENCE
Give me an A! Give me an N! G! R! Y!
What does that spell? ANGRY!
At this point, William has decided. Both conscience’s poof
into thin air. The camera zooms onto William’s face.
We start to see him slowly get angry. The camera keeps
zooming. Once we get to his eyes, they take on a very angry
look, William let’s out an angry roar and the camera blacks
out.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN
The words "To be continued..." display on the screen
FADE OUT.
FADE IN Credits roll.