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Drama Scripts
Newsflash
By jimbo
30 May 2007
This is recently written. The idea came from the title of a Queen album. Anyone with a working knowledge of physics may find the Laws of Physics lying beaten and bloodied in the gutter ... swaggering off into the sunset we see the broad back of Artistic Licence. Both parts of this script should run concurrently. Hope you enjoy.

NEWSFLASH

 

 

SCENE: INT; POV - A hand-held camera.
A small apartment. Sunlight streams through a partially-opened window, highlighting dust motes that fill the air. The decor, such as it is - the wallpaper is peeling; ditto the paintwork - is dull browns & creams, with a suggestion of late seventies/early eighties styling. Cheap, battered furniture - a sofa, a chest of drawers, and a TV unit (minus the TV) - is all that occupies the living-room and a tattered blanket suggests the sofa doubles as an improvised bed.
The camera pans the room, finding an open doorway. We follow the camera through the doorway into a dim hallway. To the right is a kitchen: a tinny voice - obviously from a small TV or a radio - is barely heard but increases in volume as the camera enters the dingy kitchen.
On a small four-ring electric cooker sits a pan of pasta in water that boils furiously: the pasta has expanded ... plain to see that it is already cooked. The work surface beside the cooker is filthy - stained and covered in the scattered ingredients for a basic cheese sauce: flour, cheese, milk, butter. The flour coats the worktop, the grated cheese spills from the grater (the remainder of the block is on the floor being picked at by a small, scruffy, unwashed dog of questionable parentage), the cup of milk is overturned - turning some of the flour to a paste - and a small pat of butter melts slowly on a saucer.
We can now hear clearly the voice from the radio; the radio is small and sits next to an empty pasta packet on the worktop beneath the kitchen window. As the camera turns to leave the kitchen and enters again the short, dim hallway the volume of the radio does not diminish: we can now clearly hear the story being broadcast. As we follow the restless camera the voice from the radio loses its broadcast quality and becomes more distinct - more human than machine.
From an open doorway on the right, halfway down the hallway, movement can be discerned: a shadowy figure crosses the rectangle of light.
From the doorway: a mans voice, filled with fear, is cursing and blaspheming ... a silent pause, then:

MALE VOICE (anguished) - What am I SAYING?!

A yelp of pain, then the man careens through the doorway and hits the wall opposite, directly in front of the camera. Leaning his head and left shoulder on the wall he is hopping on one foot, trying to put a shoe on his one bare foot. He wears a plain white shirt - haphazardly buttoned - blue jeans (unfastened) and his shoes; no socks. What he wears is stained and badly creased.
The camera takes a quick peek into the room on the right: it is a small bedroom; dingy decor - but no bed. Instead, the floor is littered with car stereos (still trailing their wiring), handbags, wallets and cameras ... the proceeds of a recent crime spree.
The camera turns back to the man. He is opening a door directly in front of us, at the far end of the hallway. We see a short garden path bordered on both sides by untended lawns. A gate, hanging lopsidedly by one hinge, leads to a short narrow street.
The camera pulls back a little, framing the man in the doorway. He turns and we see his face: through the snot there is stubble; behind the quivering lips lie yellowed teeth; beneath the film of tears are pale blue eyes. His eyes are panic-filled. He glances down the hallway, listening briefly to the radio broadcast. His hands fly to his mouth to stifle an anguished moan ... then he leaves in a hurry, slamming the front door.
We hear his rapidly receding footsteps, soon joined by another set ... and another.
There is yelling and many screams. Cars start and take off with tyres squealing. Adults scream for their partners; children scream for their parents.
Then ... silence.
The camera pans from its momentary stillness, moving slowly down the inside of the door to see - still swinging slightly from the hasty exit of the householder - a set of housekeys in the lock.
A keyring shows a small yellow smiley face.




RADIO NEWSCASTER (generic BBC tones) -
- This is NOT a hoax. I repeat: this is NOT a hoax.
As we reported in our previous bulletin, approximately six hours ago, at 9am Greenwich Mean Time, an as yet unidentified computer hacker intercepted an e-mail sent to the office of the President of The United States. The e-mail was originally sent to the White House by an un-named nuclear physicist from Washington State. Sources confirm that the e-mail IS genuine and in an official statement made just 45 minutes ago - to senior respected media persons - the President confirmed the existence of the e-mail and verified the contents.
The e-mail contained a report of findings by a team of scientists based in Washington State who were attempting to see the smallest sub-atomic particles that had previously only been theoretically proposed. These particles, known as Superstrings, were thought to be the basic building blocks of the physical Universe. The method used to capture these particles on film is still classified ‘Top Secret’. Also contained in the e-mail were two photographs of these particles.
The first photograph is slightly blurred, but there are definite markings to be seen on the surface of these particles. The second photograph clearly shows what is being called simply ‘The Revelation’.
Each particle has - etched on its surface - three words. These words read as follows:

MADE IN HEAVEN


 

 
Since this report was first aired people all over the world have been hurrying - in their millions - to their nearest churches and chapels. The Pope will be making a statement within the hour.
This is NOT a hoax. I repeat: this is NOT a hoax.

Reviews

Written by philkent (157 comments posted) 30th May 2007
The subject matter put me in mind of the TV Drama The Second Coming, especially the way all the reprobates suddenly start heading for the churches once they find out HE actually exists. But this definately had it's own unique take on the whole idea of science and religion blending. 
 
I liked the offbeat inventiveness of the work, calling the particle The Revelation was inspired. 
 
I enjoyed this very much.

Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3362 comments posted) 31st May 2007
I liked the concept and especially the biblical references like calling the particle the Revelation,as has been mentioned. It's a quirky and original idea, thought provoking and witty but I'm not sure this is the ideal way to present it. It feels a bit too anonymous and there is no real lead in to the punchline which is a real killer one. 
There was too much extraneous description for me. I'd rather you had focussed on the man than the room, it's his reaction we feel. I thougth the radio monologue was pitch perfect. 
Iv'e been told that camera angles should never be mentioned, they spoil the sense of story and, if it gets staged, are always ignored by the director anyway. 
You'v e got the germ of a great concept and story, just need a more engaging way to present it. IMHO 
cheers 
J

Written by Phil (6730 comments posted) 31st May 2007
Hi Jimbo. Liked the idea, and has been mentioned, a very inventive take. I really liked it - although I'm not sure if it would work as television. It certainly worked as prose. That brings us back to BBS's comments. This may work even better as a short story. 
 
On another note, you've unlocked a problem for me. I've been working on a script for a while and it's just not working. Your style may help. Hope you don't mind if I borrow and adapt it. (Not the idea, just the style.) 
 
Really enjoyed this. :grin  
 
Phil.
Thanks again
Written by jimbo (83 comments posted) 1st June 2007
Hi. Thanks to you all for the comments and constructive criticism.  
As I said, the idea came from the title of a Queen album. I just thought 'Imagine seeing that printed on Superstrings.' So, once I got that idea I thought 'How would I react?' The 'treatment' I gave the idea stemmed from that ... although I'm not a criminal, 'merely' an unbeliever. 
As the radio monologue would be running concurrently I tried to build a little tension in using what the camera would see if this were a very short film. The interrupted meal preparation hinting at someone in a rush; the proceeds of a crime spree hinting at someone of loose morals; the screams and the sounds of people 'burning rubber' hinting at a major panic. If the timing worked the part that reads 'Then ... silence' would occur at the same precise moment as the radio monologue reached 'Made In Heaven' with the scene ending on the yellow smiley face keyring dangling from the door. 
Still, if it doesn't work then I'm happy to rework it ... although I have to be honest: I'm a very lazy writer, tending to start something new before polishing up my latest work - if, indeed, I EVER get around to polishing it up. What you read is - more or less - exactly how it comes from my head. 
Thanks again to you all ... and Phil, I don't mind at all if you borrow the style. Glad I helped in my own small way. 
 
Jim

Written by wltshr (314 comments posted) 2nd June 2007
Enjoyed the idea but I'm with Jane on this. 
 
Just thinking out loud; but if you try to think of a radio script rather than TV or film you'll think in dialogue not visuals. I would expect it to be easier to adapt a radio play into television than the other way round. 
 
But don't listen to me. What do I know? 
 
Regards 
 
Wltshr

Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 15th June 2007
I thought you took a bit too long to get to the point on this. As has been said before there was a lot of description, much of it probably extraneous. I reckon if it moved quicker then it would hold the reader more. 
 
Has a potential but you maybe need to think a bit more about getting into a scene, getting the objective accomplished and then getting out asap. 
 
Also - one thing I've been told is not to talk about the cameras and camera angles but to just describe what the viewer should be seeing. Keep at it. 
 
Elli

Written by woody44 (775 comments posted) 25th June 2007
Sorry I`ve come a bit late to this Jimbo. Like others here I think this would work better in another format, quite possibly as a radio play. There does appear to be far too much description of inanimate things instead of concentrating on the humans in the story and this really slows down the flow of the piece. The idea is a good one, so like Elli says, keep at it. 
 
 
Roger

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