Pages 1-6, Draft 2
TITLE: I, HERO
SCENE ONE
PAGE ONE
1. Full page, Wide angle, From ground level looking up.
Late Autumn.
Police station, inner city, viewed from across the street. Station is several stories high extending up out of our view. We cannot see the sky but it is a bright and sunny evening. The ground floor of the building is several feet above street level. Several stairs lead up to the art deco double doors. The visible windows are arched in the same style. The basement windows are barred. There is a ironwork fence that runs from either side of the star case at the doorway as high as the top stair and a gab of several feet between it and the building, enough for a man to walk comfortably. There is a trench in the pavement there, we presume it is as deep as the first basement’s floor.
On the far right of the frame there is a break in the fence and a parking lot filled with cruisers and several cars (Ford LTD’s, stereotypical detective’s vehicles) Likely no more than three cars are actually visible, at least two of which should be patrol cars.
Many people are going about there business. Two police officers are leaving the building, one plainclothes entering with a duffle bag. A woman walks with her young son who carries a balloon. A YOUNG WOMAN walks away searching through her purse on the far right, she is blonde in a skirt and blazer with a portfolio hung over her shoulder, she is wearing sensible shoes, she will be robbed later. A stray dog is in the near left on the far side of the road. A taxi is parked on the station side curb on the right.
Right of center on the far side looking toward the station is TED O’NEIL wearing a beaten leather jacket and fitted blue jeans, he carries a duffle, has a stocking cap on his head, his breath is visible. He is in a state of deep respect looking at the building, but not awestruck. His look betrays determination. We likely can see little of his face.
LETTER: The cars are marked Principal City Police Department.
CAPTION: 09/30 20:06:31 posted by T. R. O’Neil (1 post total)
CAPTION: My father was a patriot. They call me a hero.
CAPTION: I stood outside a police station today and watched. They don’t make the front page, their work does. They aren’t lauded on television; their names are never said unless they die.
PAGE TWO:
1. Same shot from street, sixth of a page full width.
A police cruiser obscures the far left. We see the front tire and quarter-panel.
CAPTION: They are public servants.
2. Same shot, same dimensions. Cruiser now obstructs the center of the page, we see the full vehicle. We may not see the police station now.
CAPTION: I am a public icon.
3. Same scene, cruiser is now on far left only a small portion of it is visible. An officer has a suspect in cuffs approaching the stairs.
CAPTION: Somehow I am the hero.
4. Full width, one sixth page panel. Close up.
TED’s face is deep in thought, yet calm. His shoulders a shrugged against the cold, his stubble is visible as is his breath. In the background is the police station across the street. One person, a young man in his 20’s turns and recognizes TED as he walks by but says nothing. He is visible only over TED’s shoulder.
CAPTION: Both of us clean the streets. Both of us have been for years.
5. One sixth page height one half page width. Newspaper, front page, Picture shows a man in the same clothing TED is currently wearing, with a balaclava over his face fighting a man in an alley. The man is holding a purse, presumably he has stolen it.
HEADLINE: VIGILANTE SAVING CITY!
TAGLINE: Who is this masked marauder?
5. Same dimensions. Newspaper front page, picture shows TED in NIGHTWATCH costume standing with the mayor on the steps of city hall.
HEADLINE: CITY BEGINS LICENSING VIGILANTE ‘HEROES’
TAGLINE: Ted O’Neil, AKA ‘Nightwatch’, The first of many?
6. One sixth page height full width. Medium shot on TED’s back, ahead is an intersection, the light is green and the walk sign is lit.
CAPTION: Both of us run around in gaudy costumes handed out by the city.
PAGE THREE
1. Quarter page, wide shot, a mail room in an apartment building. The walls are lined with post office boxes. On the back wall are the doors to the street and outside we can see it is getting late. TED takes several envelopes from one of the post office boxes, his duffel on the floor.
CAPTION: My name is Theodore Roosevelt O’Neil. My father was a patriot.
2. Eighth page, top right, close shot, a booted foot on stained carpet stairs.
3. Eighth page below frame 2, close shot, a hand inserting a key into a deadbolt. ‘4A’ is barely visible on the door.
4. One half page height one third page width, bottom left, wide shot, we see TED from in a less than tidy apartment living room. TED is taking off his coat; the answering machine light shows three messages.
CAPTION: Someone once asked me why do we wear masks?
5. One third height by one quarter width panel, this and the next three panels are one beside another beginning at the top right of panel four, running along the top of panel eight.
Close shot on jacket hanging over a couch.
6. Close on coffee pot, full.
7. Close on mug full of hot coffee in TED’s hand.
8. One third height by two thirds width, medium shot. TED is sitting on the couch with his feet up in a tee shirt and the jeans he has been wearing; his boots are still on, across from him is a chair draped over as if sitting in it is the upper half of his costume particularly the mask. It is as if they are staring at each other with contempt.
CAPTION: To be quite honest I have no idea whatsoever.
PAGE FOUR
1. One quarter page height by one third width, close shot. TED’s hand grabs mask.
2. Same dimensions, close shot. Mask lands in clothes hamper.
3. Same dimensions, close shot. Hand puts mug down by laptop computer.
4. Quarter height full width, wide shot.
TED sitting at a desk in a bedroom, the desk has a laptop on it and he is typing. The window just to the left of the page from the desk is open to the street; we see a fire escape outside and another building across. We cannot see the street. Under the window is the clothes hamper with the costume sticking out. An unmade bed is visible in the lower left obscuring our view of the hamper.
CAPTION: I want to answer that question, I want to answer a lot of questions.
CAPTION: I don’t think I have an answer. We wear masks. It might be stupid but we do.
5. One quarter height full width, medium shot.
TED is drinking from the cup, a profile shot we see his shoulders and up and the screen of the laptop also in profile shines on his face in the dimly lit room.
CAPTION: My father was a patriot. My mother always corrected me, when I said he was insane.
6. One quarter height, medium shot.
TED has left the frame, the laptop remains and everything else looks as it did in frame 5.
CAPTION: My father shot a man dead when I was thirteen. He spent the rest of his life in prison.
PAGE FIVE
1. Third page height, full width, wide shot. A long thin man with wild hair in his mid forties is slumped in a chair holding a gun, a young boy stands looking at him holding a toy robot. It is YOUNG TED and his FATHER.
CAPTION: He said the man was a communist. He said communists were trying to invade our country and take away our livelihood.
2. Same dimensions. Wide shot, a body in a suit lies face down on a checkered tile floor in a pool of blood. There is no visible wound, the man was shot in the chest. His face is turned away.
CAPTION: He wasn’t a spy he was an IRS auditor. It was 1987. I was thirteen years old and in the next room.
3. Same Dimensions. Wide shot, police are taking FATHER away in hand cuffs, MOTHER holds YOUNG TED close on the porch steps crying. The house is kind of run down, broken shutters etc.
CAPTION: He plead not guilty, dragged the trial on for more than a year. My father was a mad man; my mother said he was a patriot, a hero.
PAGE SIX
1. Half page panel. Wide shot, TED stands on the fire escape outside his apartment looking out over the city holding his coffee cup still seaming. He is wearing his tee shirt and jeans. He appears serious.
CAPTION: My mother never recovered from the shock. Shut in for the rest of her life.
CAPTION: She convinced herself all of my father’s delusions were gospel truth.
CAPTION: She had to.
CAPTION: Madness is catching, and my father was the Hatter.
CAPTION: My father was her patriot, her hero, until her dying day.
2. Quarter page full width, Medium shot. TED is climbing back in the window.
CAPTION: Every story starts somewhere, not all of them start with a bang.
3. Same dimensions, close shot. TED’s hand places empty cup on desk.
CAPTION: I want to tell mine if only because I’ve never told it before. -Ted
SCENE ONE
PAGE ONE
1. Full page, Wide angle, From ground level looking up.
Late Autumn.
Police station, inner city, viewed from across the street. Station is several stories high extending up out of our view. We cannot see the sky but it is a bright and sunny evening. The ground floor of the building is several feet above street level. Several stairs lead up to the art deco double doors. The visible windows are arched in the same style. The basement windows are barred. There is a ironwork fence that runs from either side of the star case at the doorway as high as the top stair and a gab of several feet between it and the building, enough for a man to walk comfortably. There is a trench in the pavement there, we presume it is as deep as the first basement’s floor.
On the far right of the frame there is a break in the fence and a parking lot filled with cruisers and several cars (Ford LTD’s, stereotypical detective’s vehicles) Likely no more than three cars are actually visible, at least two of which should be patrol cars.
Many people are going about there business. Two police officers are leaving the building, one plainclothes entering with a duffle bag. A woman walks with her young son who carries a balloon. A YOUNG WOMAN walks away searching through her purse on the far right, she is blonde in a skirt and blazer with a portfolio hung over her shoulder, she is wearing sensible shoes, she will be robbed later. A stray dog is in the near left on the far side of the road. A taxi is parked on the station side curb on the right.
Right of center on the far side looking toward the station is TED O’NEIL wearing a beaten leather jacket and fitted blue jeans, he carries a duffle, has a stocking cap on his head, his breath is visible. He is in a state of deep respect looking at the building, but not awestruck. His look betrays determination. We likely can see little of his face.
LETTER: The cars are marked Principal City Police Department.
CAPTION: 09/30 20:06:31 posted by T. R. O’Neil (1 post total)
CAPTION: My father was a patriot. They call me a hero.
CAPTION: I stood outside a police station today and watched. They don’t make the front page, their work does. They aren’t lauded on television; their names are never said unless they die.
PAGE TWO:
1. Same shot from street, sixth of a page full width.
A police cruiser obscures the far left. We see the front tire and quarter-panel.
CAPTION: They are public servants.
2. Same shot, same dimensions. Cruiser now obstructs the center of the page, we see the full vehicle. We may not see the police station now.
CAPTION: I am a public icon.
3. Same scene, cruiser is now on far left only a small portion of it is visible. An officer has a suspect in cuffs approaching the stairs.
CAPTION: Somehow I am the hero.
4. Full width, one sixth page panel. Close up.
TED’s face is deep in thought, yet calm. His shoulders a shrugged against the cold, his stubble is visible as is his breath. In the background is the police station across the street. One person, a young man in his 20’s turns and recognizes TED as he walks by but says nothing. He is visible only over TED’s shoulder.
CAPTION: Both of us clean the streets. Both of us have been for years.
5. One sixth page height one half page width. Newspaper, front page, Picture shows a man in the same clothing TED is currently wearing, with a balaclava over his face fighting a man in an alley. The man is holding a purse, presumably he has stolen it.
HEADLINE: VIGILANTE SAVING CITY!
TAGLINE: Who is this masked marauder?
5. Same dimensions. Newspaper front page, picture shows TED in NIGHTWATCH costume standing with the mayor on the steps of city hall.
HEADLINE: CITY BEGINS LICENSING VIGILANTE ‘HEROES’
TAGLINE: Ted O’Neil, AKA ‘Nightwatch’, The first of many?
6. One sixth page height full width. Medium shot on TED’s back, ahead is an intersection, the light is green and the walk sign is lit.
CAPTION: Both of us run around in gaudy costumes handed out by the city.
PAGE THREE
1. Quarter page, wide shot, a mail room in an apartment building. The walls are lined with post office boxes. On the back wall are the doors to the street and outside we can see it is getting late. TED takes several envelopes from one of the post office boxes, his duffel on the floor.
CAPTION: My name is Theodore Roosevelt O’Neil. My father was a patriot.
2. Eighth page, top right, close shot, a booted foot on stained carpet stairs.
3. Eighth page below frame 2, close shot, a hand inserting a key into a deadbolt. ‘4A’ is barely visible on the door.
4. One half page height one third page width, bottom left, wide shot, we see TED from in a less than tidy apartment living room. TED is taking off his coat; the answering machine light shows three messages.
CAPTION: Someone once asked me why do we wear masks?
5. One third height by one quarter width panel, this and the next three panels are one beside another beginning at the top right of panel four, running along the top of panel eight.
Close shot on jacket hanging over a couch.
6. Close on coffee pot, full.
7. Close on mug full of hot coffee in TED’s hand.
8. One third height by two thirds width, medium shot. TED is sitting on the couch with his feet up in a tee shirt and the jeans he has been wearing; his boots are still on, across from him is a chair draped over as if sitting in it is the upper half of his costume particularly the mask. It is as if they are staring at each other with contempt.
CAPTION: To be quite honest I have no idea whatsoever.
PAGE FOUR
1. One quarter page height by one third width, close shot. TED’s hand grabs mask.
2. Same dimensions, close shot. Mask lands in clothes hamper.
3. Same dimensions, close shot. Hand puts mug down by laptop computer.
4. Quarter height full width, wide shot.
TED sitting at a desk in a bedroom, the desk has a laptop on it and he is typing. The window just to the left of the page from the desk is open to the street; we see a fire escape outside and another building across. We cannot see the street. Under the window is the clothes hamper with the costume sticking out. An unmade bed is visible in the lower left obscuring our view of the hamper.
CAPTION: I want to answer that question, I want to answer a lot of questions.
CAPTION: I don’t think I have an answer. We wear masks. It might be stupid but we do.
5. One quarter height full width, medium shot.
TED is drinking from the cup, a profile shot we see his shoulders and up and the screen of the laptop also in profile shines on his face in the dimly lit room.
CAPTION: My father was a patriot. My mother always corrected me, when I said he was insane.
6. One quarter height, medium shot.
TED has left the frame, the laptop remains and everything else looks as it did in frame 5.
CAPTION: My father shot a man dead when I was thirteen. He spent the rest of his life in prison.
PAGE FIVE
1. Third page height, full width, wide shot. A long thin man with wild hair in his mid forties is slumped in a chair holding a gun, a young boy stands looking at him holding a toy robot. It is YOUNG TED and his FATHER.
CAPTION: He said the man was a communist. He said communists were trying to invade our country and take away our livelihood.
2. Same dimensions. Wide shot, a body in a suit lies face down on a checkered tile floor in a pool of blood. There is no visible wound, the man was shot in the chest. His face is turned away.
CAPTION: He wasn’t a spy he was an IRS auditor. It was 1987. I was thirteen years old and in the next room.
3. Same Dimensions. Wide shot, police are taking FATHER away in hand cuffs, MOTHER holds YOUNG TED close on the porch steps crying. The house is kind of run down, broken shutters etc.
CAPTION: He plead not guilty, dragged the trial on for more than a year. My father was a mad man; my mother said he was a patriot, a hero.
PAGE SIX
1. Half page panel. Wide shot, TED stands on the fire escape outside his apartment looking out over the city holding his coffee cup still seaming. He is wearing his tee shirt and jeans. He appears serious.
CAPTION: My mother never recovered from the shock. Shut in for the rest of her life.
CAPTION: She convinced herself all of my father’s delusions were gospel truth.
CAPTION: She had to.
CAPTION: Madness is catching, and my father was the Hatter.
CAPTION: My father was her patriot, her hero, until her dying day.
2. Quarter page full width, Medium shot. TED is climbing back in the window.
CAPTION: Every story starts somewhere, not all of them start with a bang.
3. Same dimensions, close shot. TED’s hand places empty cup on desk.
CAPTION: I want to tell mine if only because I’ve never told it before. -Ted
posted by AsbestosBill at 9:16 AM
3 Comments:
Hello? Kris? Kris Doucette? You are Kris and not Chael, right???
*Trapeze artist falls*
*Gunshot*
*The audience laughs at my garbage "play"*
*end*
Was that an insult or was it more clouds vieling the moon?
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