screen writing
screen writing
FADE IN:
BLACK.
A planet flickers across the screen. This is NUE WORLD. Discordant whirring. The planet fades, whirring fades.
INT. THE WOODS - NUE WORLD - DAY (BLACK & WHITE)
The face of a woman appears. This is THE BUREAUCRAT. A solemn look is on her face, her eyes cast downward. A bell rings rhythmically.
A woman in a white dress is crumpled on the ground. This is LENINA.
THE BUREAUCRAT takes out a cigarette, lights it, takes one drag, then puts it out. She picks up something from the ground next to Lenina and puts it in her pocket. She slicks back her hair and walks away.
INT. THE WOODS - NUE WORLD - EARLIER THAT DAY (BLACK & WHITE)
LENINA tiptoes through the woods. Discordant whirring. Leaves rustle beneath her feet as she wanders. She looks up and sees the sun peering through the tops of the trees. She looks below and sees the cracked earth and swirling water.
INT. THE WOODS - NUE WORLD - STILL EARLIER THAT DAY (BLACK & WHITE)
A loud thud. LENINA quickly looks in that direction. A tree unlike the rest appears. The whirring stops. Gentle birdsong takes its place. Under its branches, a mound of dirt is surrounded by eight sticks resembling a crescent.
LENINA walks toward the sound, cautious but unafraid. She comes upon the mound of dirt and begins to dig. A stone appears. Her hand reaches out to touch it.
EXT. THE WOODS - NUE WORLD
INT. LENINA'S MIND (FULL COLOR)
Blue light flickers in patterns across the screen. A swelling of violins and a pulsing sound. A glowing orange eye flickers. THE BUREAUCRAT mutters something, breaking the fourth wall, but it is unheard. She resumes looking forward and lights a cigarette.
A cloaked woman appears. This is THE GOD. Her voice rises.
THE GOD (V.O.) "Faith, unyielding. A force so profound and so strange..."
EXT. RIPPLING WATER - MERGING AND DIVERGING
THE GOD (V.O.) "How difficult it must be for you, to trust in a path you cannot see, to surrender to something beyond understanding. To relinquish control..."
EXT. THE GOD - NIGHT
THE GOD smiles at a painted blue circle. This is the map of LENINA'S MIND.
THE GOD (V.O.) "To let go of the certainty you once clung to..."
EXT. PRESENT DAY WORLD - DAY
A vase of lilies in a room. This is LENINA'S ROOM.
THE GOD (V.O.) "Yet, I have watched you, Lenina, open your heart and let it be filled. A quiet surrender..."
MONTAGE – QUICK CUTS
THE GOD, her left eye turned away from LENINA'S MIND
The vase of lilies again
THE GOD, her right eye, still turned away from LENINA'S MIND
The vase of lilies gazing upwards at a window and a red candle
THE GOD's mouth, lips gently parted
THE GOD (V.O.) "...one that time and time again echoes through the very fabric of your being. The stone you touched, it was not a portal, no… but a mirror—an immaterial void reflecting only what has always been inside you. What you saw was yourself. The truth you have long sought, laid bare."
EXT. PRESENT DAY WORLD - NIGHT - LENINA'S ROOM
A blue room, strobing. White curtains and a brown chair are visible. LENINA enters and sits upright and still.
LENINA drops her head into her hands. She rocks back and forth.
THE GOD (V.O.) "But beware, Lenina."
LENINA begins to sit upright, looking defeated and slouched. Her head drops down to her chest.
THE GOD (V.O.) "I will soon quiet, fading back into the silence from which I came. I could not bear to watch you stumble in the dark any longer, deceived by false lights."
THE GOD (V.O.) "Do not fear the dark."
LENINA sits still, silent.
THE GOD (V.O.) "Fear only the lights that mislead you into the shadows. The road you now walk may lead to loneliness, but within that loneliness, know that my love remains with you, infinite, unwavering. You are never truly alone."
EXT. LENINA'S MIND - NIGHT
THE GOD stands cloaked again, facing away from LENINA’S MIND. Smiling. Fade to black. Gentle organ plays.
INT. WOODS - NUE WORLD (BLACK & WHITE)
LENINA lies on her side, bloodied at her kidney. Birds sing. She sits up, glances around, touching the ground. The stone is gone, taken by THE BUREAUCRAT. LENINA holds her wound. She half-smiles. Her smile fades, hardening into a solemn look as she blankly stares around.
FROM THE FLOOR OF THE FOREST, LOOKING UP AT THE TREES.
A swelling of violins and a pulsing sound returns.
FADE TO BLACK.
END.