Panel One.
A desolate hillside on Saddleworth Moor, the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire (that's in the UK, boys and girls, and just up the hill from my house). A long straight road stretches into the distance. The ground is heather and peat. The only life here: the occasional sheep. At the side of the road, a broken bicycle stands upside down, waiting for someone to mend its punctured tyre.
In the foreground, away from the road, a mound of recently disturbed earth is visible. Is this a grave? Has someone been buried here?
Panel Two.
Close on the grave. A hand tears up from the earth, grasping for life.
Panel Three.
David Kohl claws his way out of the grave, peaty soil tumbling from his hair. He’s wearing a dark jacket and a “Relaxed Muscle” T-shirt. He looks really pissed off.
KOHL: Not again.
Panel Four.
Kohl steps out into the road, shaking the soil from his clothes. He’s wearing dark jeans too. He’s really, really pissed off now. The overturned bicycle taunts him.
KOHL: What is it this time? Suffer Little Children? I Know It’s Over?
KOHL: Oh, great – the punctured bicycle. Always the bastard bicycle…
Panel Five.
As Kohl kicks the bicycle out into the road, a huge red double-decker bus can be seen hurtling towards him along the moorland road. The destination on the front of the bus is Strangeways. The bus is being driven by an evil cartoon headmaster with a mortar board hat and cane, like a character from The Beano.
KOHL: I fucking hate fighting Smiths fans…
This feels like Phonogram crossed with Scott Pilgrim. And that's not a bad thing at all.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot of BritPop references I'm not getting...but that's my problem, not yours.
Joy Division followed by The Smiths. This week is already awesome.
ReplyDeleteNice Rol, nice.
What I have loved about the topic of Phonogram this week it the varied tones that you can summon up in the same universe.
ReplyDeleteThe gritty imagery of the broken bike and the makeshift grave make for great juxtaposition with the final line with cracked me up.
I have to agree with Ryan, this feels like Phonogram crossed over with Scott Pilgrim, and that's totally awesome. Pretty sure I missed some of the jokes by not being a Smiths fan, but I get the idea behind it.
ReplyDeleteI also feel like I missed out on some of the finer aspects of the script by not being a Smiths fan, but I also feel like that's kind of what the original series was about anyways. The experience wasn't the same if you didn't know what everyone was referring to, but it still made for a good read. The same holds true for your piece, Rol. The imagery alone sells me on the script.
ReplyDeleteThere's been some good imagery in this weeks script, this one included.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure most of the references flew right over my head but I liked the script nonetheless.