owen-dm270: midterm assignment [screenplay]

a group project:
A character is tying to get from one place to another and “falls” along the way.
Constraints : 10 shots minimum, 15 shots maximum
Must be shot during class time on 10/16/07

group members:
owen franke
zach waters
tiffani waire
jonathan postal

CAST:
Spencer Somni - Cody Barnhill
Angel - Emiliya Tsankova
Professor - Henry McDaniel
Classmates - Pierre Thronton, Billy Welch
Man in Suit - Jonathan Postal

Our movie opens in an academic classroom setting.

There is a professor whose voice is heard off-camera but we never see him.

PROF: As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is indeed only a cigar..

{Spencer Somni, a student, staggers into class late. He has not slept more than 3 hours in the last several days. He is wearing an ill fitting over coat and shades. He takes a seat between his friend—a large guy with a thin beard almost reaching his chest and a Beatles T shirt on—and a beautiful girl named Angel, whom he is on the verge of falling in love with.}

She has a dark bob and is wearing a plaid skirt, a tight white shirt over a black bra and black boots (like Doc Martins).

PROF: Ah, Mr. Somni, you've decided to share some of your valuable time with us.

SOMNI: Sorry, I’ve had no time to sleep.

PROF: Not my problem. Please just settle down; I think you've disrupted this class quite enough for today. Now on to Doctor Freud's views on romantic love - or more to point.. the act, so to speak, of falling in love.

{While the professor is speaking, Angel writes a brief note and leans over toward Somni}

ANGEL: [quietly] If you need a bed after class this is my address, though I can't promise sleep.

{Spencer looks at her with adoration - he is clearly falling in love}

PROF: Mr. Somni, you are not the only student in this class; this is my last warning. If you don’t like the way this class is operated, I assume you know where the door is since you managed to stumble in here.

SOMNI: No, Sorry I…

PROF: And for God's sake take off those sunglasses. This is a University not a beach.

SOMNI: [removing the glasses] Sorry.

{Somni glances at Angel, who lovingly smiles at him}

{As the Professor talks, Somni’s head drops to his arms and he falls asleep}

The camera dollies to a close up; this has all been one shot (or no more than two or three..)

PROF: It is noted that Freud once said to his podiatrist on the topic of romantic love “how can one walk with the angels when a man’s feet are otherwise occupied parading about some woman?” The podiatrist who had already been married four times and was conducting an affair with the woman who pushed the tea trolley about said…

{Somni awakens in a black and white world. The classroom is empty and he hears a sweetly accented voice}

ANGEL: I'll be waiting Mister.

{She blows him a kiss and closes the door behind her}

{He runs after her, but when he goes through the door he finds himself in the middle of town. He brings up his hand to scratch is nose and sees the crumpled paper with the address still written on it.}

{After a few steps he finds himself at a crosswalk. The traffic sign changes to DON’T WALK, and he suddenly becomes unable to walk; he struggles - awkwardly lifting one foot at a time. When the sign changes back to walk he is caught off-guard and staggers into the intersection.}

{He looks at the address to get his bearings and starts down the street.
He is directly in the way of a MAN in a suit with a briefcase. They do the familiar little dance that people do when they are trying to get around one another, then the man tosses aside his briefcase with abandon and starts to dance something akin to a foxtrot with Somni.

MAN: You dance divinely.

SOMNI: You too, but I really got to go.

MAN: I do understand.

{The man spins Somni about in an elaborate move and he spins off, landing in front of a house. When he checks the address he finds it is his destination.}

{The door is unlocked and when he opens it he finds himself directly in Angel’s bedroom. She is on the bed an in the same clothes she wore in class.}

SOMNI: I love you.

ANGEL: I love you too.

{Angel vanishes from the bed}

initial storyboard sketches [drawn by jonathan postal]