Sunday, November 16, 2008

Disconnected

Scene 1
The screen fates in from black, the audience sees Jessica, a girl of about 25 or 26 years. She is very thin and pale. She walks among graves in a cemetery. She is clothed in an oversized hoodie and a baseball hat. The scene is quiet, with no sound. She slowly approaches a grave with flowers in hand. There is the faded sound of a scream from the dream sequence.
In the dream sequence, Jessica and her husband are at their small home. Husband, wearing work cloths, is angry. He slams a beer bottle down on the table. There is another faded scream. Audience can see the husband raise his hand, and there is the sound of a hit. The camera fades in and out of the dream sequence the entire scene. When the dream sequence reappears the audience sees Jessica crying. They can hear her the husband yelling multiple times. The husband’s words can be improvised along the lines that it is highly abusive wording. There is another sound of a hit and current-time Jessica flinches, revealing a bruise on her arm. Camera zooms on it. She quickly covers it up. Dream sequences continue to flash in and out throughout the remainder of the scene.
[Fade to black]
Scene 2
The camera pans and shows multiple shots of Jessica, each time showing zoomed shots of cuts and bruises. The scene is different: Jessica is sitting at the table of a friend’s apartment. It is nighttime and all the lights are out except for one above the table. The setting is reminiscent of an interrogation scene. Jessica cradles a hot cup of coffee in her hands.
[Friend]
And then what did he do? What happened?
[Jessica]
He yelled at me and said that his losing his job was my fault.
Camera pans and shows dream sequence again. The scene is silent. Husband yells at Jessica and strikes her again. After he hits her he pushes her away (on to the ground?). The audience can hear a faded ringing of a telephone. All the audience can hear is the telephone’s ringing, silent first, then louder and louder. The husband is making his way toward the phone (in another room, far away), during this time Jessica has gotten on her feet and is making her way to the bedroom. Her face is trickling with blood. She reaches into a bedside table and withdraws a handgun. The camera returns to the husband. He reaches for the phone and the camera zooms out to reveal Jessica with the gun aimed at him. The ringing stops and there is a gunshot sound and the screen is black.
[Fade to black]
Scene 3
[Fade in from black]
Jessica stands before the grave in the cemetery. It is present day. Soft music plays in the background. She lays a dozen roses on the grave and kneels before it. The camera pans to show that the name on the grave is hers.
[Fade to black]

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